Story:

Seven astronauts are on their way to earth. They respond to a distress signal they cannot ignore. They land on a distant and uninhabited planet and discover a new lifeform, evoluated to wipe out the human race. All crew members are slaughtered, except Lieutenant Ripley. The terrified Ripley now must face the horrible and indestructible alien all alone ....

Alien is the first part of the Alien Saga, one of the most popular science fiction franchises of all time. Alien was followed by the sequels Aliens, Alien3 and Alien Resurrection.

Science Fiction - Running Time approx. 117 min. - colour

Studio..................................20th Century Fox
Director.............................Ridley Scott
Executive Producer....Ronald Shusett
Produced by....................Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill
Story by............................Dan O´Bannon and Ronald Shusett
Screenplay by................Dan O´Bannon
Music by............................Jerry Goldsmith

Cast Captain Dallas........Tom Skeritt
Kane.............................John Hurt
Lambert.....................Veronica Cartwright
Ripley..........................Sigourney Weaver
Ash................................Ian Holm
Brett............................Harry Dean Stanton
Parker.........................Yaphet Kotto

Birgitte S.C.´s opinion:

Alien is one of my favourite science fiction movies, a good mix between science fiction and horror and a must-see classic.

The dark mood created by Ridley Scott (which he later used in Blade Runner as well) gives you a claustrofobic and uneasy feeling. The biggest quality of the movie, however, is the beautiful and imaginative art of H.R. Giger and the wonderful acting of the entire cast. Although the actors all complained that the characters were too one-dimensional, they managed to create believable characters.

Favourite scenes:

- the discovery of the "Space Jockey" (in the chair)
- the chestburster coming out of Kane
- Ash going crazy and trying to kill Ripley, after which the crew finds out he´s a robot sent by the Company
- the Alien coming out of the machinery in the Narcissus

Favourite (and famous) quotes:

- "This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."
(Ripley)
- "How do you feel?" "Terrific. Next stupid question."
(Dallas and Kane)
- "You...are...my...lucky star. You...are...my lucky, lucky, lucky....star..."
(Ripley)