Alien (film)
From Xenopedia
| Alien | |
 Movie poster by Bill Gold | |
| Directed by | Ridley Scott |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Gordon Carroll David Giler Walter Hill |
| Written by | Story: Dan O'Bannon Ronald Shusett Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon David Giler (uncredited) Walter Hill (uncredited) |
| Starring | Tom Skerritt Sigourney Weaver Veronica Cartwright Harry Dean Stanton John Hurt Ian Holm Yaphet Kotto |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Cinematography | Derek Vanlint |
| Editing by | Terry Rawlings Peter Weatherley David Crowther (Director's cut) |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | May 25, 1979 |
| Running time | 119 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Budget | $11 million[2][3] |
| Gross revenue | $104,931,801 |
| Next (series) | Aliens |
| Next (production order) | Aliens |
| Prev. (in-universe chronology) |
Predators |
| Next (in-universe chronology) |
Aliens |
Alien is a 1979 film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and Ian Holm. This film's popularity and success led to it becoming the first film in what would prove to be a decades-spanning multi-media franchise.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
In the future, the seven crewmembers of an interstellar freighter, are woken ahead of time from their cryosleep when they receive a distress beacon from an uninhabited planet. Some of the crew are initially relucant to investigate, but company policy forces them to.
Upon investigation, they discover a vicious parasite, that attaches itself to the face of one of the crewmembers (Kane), and they return to space with him in a coma. Eventually, the parasite drops off and he appears to have returned to normal, but a short while later, a small creature bursts, from his chest, killing him.
It soon grows larger and begins killing the crew, starting with Brett. As soon as the first crewmember is lost; however, they decide to fight back, making flamethrowers and attempting to hunt it down in the air ducts. The only result of the counterattack, is that Dallas is ambushed and killed.
Lambert, the only other female crewmember besides Ripley, panics and starts arguing that they should run, but before they can discuss the course of action any further, Ripley elects to ask the ship's computer for advice. It reveals that they were considered expendable in the course of bringing the creature back to Earth. Ash, the ship's science officer, is revealed to be an android and to have deliberatley woken the crew so that they would discover the beacon. Ripley confronts him on this, and in response Ash attacks Ripley in a way which is distinctly sexual.
Parker and Lambert save Ripley before Ash can kill her, however, and the three attempt to make an escape in the lifeboat. Before they can escape, the alien attacks again, killing Parker and Lambert. Ripley retrieves her cat and makes a run for the lifeboat herself after setting the ship to self-destruct, on the way she finds the cocooned bodies of Dallas and Brett, and destroys them (only in the director's cut, however.).
She makes her way to the lifeboat and sets off as the ship detonates behind her, but finds that the alien has taken refuge in the lifeboat. She dons a spacesuit and decompresses the lifeboat, throwing the alien into space, and activates the lifeboat's engines as the alien is in the path of the exhaust, killing it.
As the movie ends, she returns to cryosleep with her cat.
[edit] Cast
- Bolaji Badejo as The Alien
- Veronica Cartwright as Lambert
- Ian Holm as Ash
- John Hurt as Kane
- Yaphet Kotto as Parker
- Tom Skerritt as Dallas
- Harry Dean Stanton as Brett
- Sigourney Weaver as Ripley
[edit] References
- ↑ The cinematic release of the film ran 119 minutes, while later video and DVD versions ran 116 minutes due to the different frame rates between film and video. McIntee, 14.
- ↑ Official documentation for the film states that the budget was $11 million, but other sources give different numbers. Sigourney Weaver has stated that it was $14 million, while Ridley Scott, Ivor Powell, and Tom Skerritt have each recalled it being closer to $8.4 million. McIntee, 14–15.
- ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=alien.htm
[edit] External link
- Alien at the Internet Movie Database
