Second Viewing: Alien (1979)

I’ve never been the biggest Alien fan. It’s a fine movie, but it is a movie that I find a little dull. While I appreciate that this movie aims for a very realist tone at some point in the future, with all the characters just kind of being normal people out traversing space, I wish there was more character to these people. The actors are all good, but the characters are lacking.

This is a Ridley Scott movie, of course, and I think that’s chief among the complaints I have here, because I don’t think I’ve ever felt an emotion watching a Ridley Scott movie. Maybe Gladiator a bit, I don’t know.

I must say that I do like that the only thing that really makes Ripley the main character here is that she’s the last one alive. The movie starts out as if the cast will be an ensemble cast, and it’s only when people are killed off that you realize Sigourney Weaver has a bigger role. I like that kind of thing for its realism, and I would like to see that in more horror movies.

As for the actual horror, it’s good. I mean that’s why we’re here, right? The facehugger, the chestburster…that stuff is all great.

And the effects remain incredibly believable even when we get to the full sized xenomorph. Yet even when there’s a full monster roaming around, the movie takes its time at what I find to be a frustratingly slow pace. Take Harry Dean Stanton’s death scene, for instance. It goes on forever, and it doesn’t really build suspense because with how tight the camera is on him most of the time, we know what’s going to happen.

Anyways, the movie’s good, but I don’t really consider it to be a great one.

My friend and I have a podcast episode on this and G.I. Blues coming out soon, so keep an eye out for that one.

Rating: 6/10