Alien (1979) - first time watching and it's incredible

For some reason, despite this movie's stature as the one of the all-time greats, I've never actually gotten around to it. It popped up on one of my streaming sites recently so I decided to check it out. I have to say, I was a little skeptical at first - I thought I would get something dated and cheesy with only the concept/alien design giving it its reputation.

But then I actually watched it, and holy shit, what a movie. There's a lot of amazing things about it but the biggest one is that it actually feels like it's barely aged at all. The production design is incredible, as is the atmosphere, and aside from a few sequences that kind of the show the film's age it still looks pretty fucking good.

It's just a really efficient and lean thriller without a single wasted sequence, where each scene builds upon the last to create a sense of dread, anxiety and fear. You barely ever see the Alien, but its presence looms large. There's a sense of claustrophobia that just adds to the atmosphere, knowing that there's literally nowhere to run.

The cast is solid all-around, with Sigourney Weaver and Ian Holm being the standouts. The characters act like real, flawed human beings thrust into a desperate situation. Sometimes they're smart and resourceful, sometimes they give in to their panic. It all feels genuine.

Visually, it's just amazing. The alien's design is obviously legendary, and as I mentioned, the design of the ship is incredible. The way the camera lingers on the empty spaces and inhuman architecture of the ship, and the vast emptiness of space, really adds to the feel. Some scenes are straight up nightmarish, like the chest-bursting sequence, and when the crew is talking to Ash's severed head.

It's also really just a fun, exciting and scary experience, and I'd call it pretty much a perfect film in terms of what it's trying to achieve.

Submitted December 27, 2020 at 02:03AM by fabrar https://ift.tt/3ppYDee