A landmark film with an excellent combination of the sci-fi and horror genres along with a great deal to think about
Directed by Ridley Scott
Screenplay by Dan O'Bannon
Story by Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett
Produced by Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill
Cinematography: Derek Vanlint
Edited by Terry Rawlings, Peter Weatherley
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Production companies: 20th Century-Fox, Brandywine Productions
Distributed by: 20th Century-Fox
Running time: 116 minutes
Budget: $11 million[a][5]
Box office: $184.7 million
Cast
Sigourney Weaver: Ripley
Veronica Cartwright:Lambert
Harry Dean Stanton: Brett
John Hurt: Kane
Ian Holm: Ash
Yaphet Kotto: Parker
Bolaji Badejo: Alien
Helen Horton: Mother (voice)
Eddie Powell: Alien (uncredited)
Trailer
The crew of the commercial towing vessel, "Nostromo" is on its way home to Earth when they are prematurely awakened from cryosleep when a transmission of unknown origin is detected by “Mother,” the ship’s AI super-computer.
Is the signal a desperate SOS, or……. a warning?
Obliged to investigate, the crew descend on a small inhospitable planetoid.
Their ship sustains damage in the rough landing.
While repairs are carried out, three crew members leave the spaceship to investigate the source of the transmission.
The party of three discover a crashed but relatively intact derelict extraterrestrial spacecraft.
What they discover within the alien vessel manages to find its way into the “Nostromo.”
The seven crew members will have to fight for their very lives against a deadly eighth passenger.
Nor is the danger to their existence solely from a terrifying alien intruder…..
Read on for more........
_edited.jpg)
Awakening
“It seems she has intercepted a transmission of unknown origin”
After emerging from cryo-sleep the crew gather in the mess hall, where they enjoy a meal and socialise. Seated around the table are five men and two women: Dallas (Captain), Kane (Executive Officer), Ripley (Warrant Officer), Ash (Science Officer), Lambert (Navigator), Parker (Engineer), Brett (Engineering Technician) And of course, there’s the ship’s cat, Jones.
At this time in humanity’s future, there appears to be less time for wide-eyed, naively optimistic notions of the wonders space exploration long espoused by overly gesticulating media trained astrophysicists. Space has become a place of opportunity and business, to get one’s hands dirty and make some money doing it. With that, the conversation turns to the bonus system which Parker, with Brett’s monosyllabic agreement thinks is unfair. With union-like shop steward finesse, Parker tries to draw Dallas’ attention to the fact that he and Brett are paid less than the officers.
“What’s the story Mother?”
Dallas moves to the console chair and punches in commands and queries on the keyboard, hoping to assess the situation and get some answers.
Meanwhile on the bridge, the rest of the crew try to determine their location. To their utter amazement, they quickly discover that they are nowhere near Earth.
Ripley puts out a call to Traffic Control: “This is commercial towing vehicle Nostromo, out of the Solomons, registration number 180924609, calling Antarctica traffic control.” However, there is no response. Lambert then announces that they are in fact just short of Zeta II Reticuli, indicating that they “haven't reached the outer rim yet.” The big question of course is……. Why?
Dallas later briefs the crew on the fact that the ship is not even halfway to Earth, and has altered its course as “she's programmed to do that should certain conditions arise.” In this case, a transmission of unknown origin has been intercepted. The signal is an acoustical beacon that repeats every 12 seconds but as to whether or not it is an SOS or is human in origin, remains unknown. The crew has been awoken from hyper-sleep to investigate.
Parker launches into unionist mode again and protests, arguing that the Nostromo is a commercial vessel and that it is not in his contract to perform rescue duty. If they do perform rescue work, he argues that they should be compensated and then there’s the matter of the bonuses. Science Officer Ash tries to interject and is ignored until Dallas says sharply to Parker, “will you just listen to the man!” The irony of this last comment will later on become apparent. Ash then quotes a clause from the Company contract which states "any systematised transmission indicating intelligent origin must be investigated...on penalty of total forfeiture of shares." The matter of a possible loss of pay serves to elicit a measure of cooperation and compliance from Parker. Workers of the world – shut up and do as you’re told!
Lambert homes in on the eerie signal and determines that it originates from a planetoid, 1200 km in diameter, with a two-hour rotation and some gravity.
Dallas later briefs the crew on the fact that the ship is not even halfway to Earth, and has altered its course as “she's programmed to do that should certain conditions arise.” In this case, a transmission of unknown origin has been intercepted. The signal is an acoustical beacon that repeats every 12 seconds but as to whether or not it is an SOS or is human in origin, remains unknown. The crew has been awoken from hyper-sleep to investigate.
Parker launches into unionist mode again and protests, arguing that the Nostromo is a commercial vessel and that it is not in his contract to perform rescue duty. If they do perform rescue work, he argues that they should be compensated and then there’s the matter of the bonuses. Science Officer Ash tries to interject and is ignored until Dallas says sharply to Parker, “will you just listen to the man!” The irony of this last comment will later on become apparent. Ash then quotes a clause from the Company contract which states "any systematised transmission indicating intelligent origin must be investigated...on penalty of total forfeiture of shares." The matter of a possible loss of pay serves to elicit a measure of cooperation and compliance from Parker. Workers of the world – shut up and do as you’re told!
Descent
“We're going in”
Lambert homes in on the eerie signal and determines that it originates from a planetoid, 1200 km in diameter, with a two-hour rotation and some gravity.
Following shuddering vibrations, an electrical fire breaks out along some control panels and the lights go out while the wind outside shrieks and tears at the craft like a demented banshee.
The rough landing has indeed resulted in damage to the ship that will take time for Parker and Brett to effect repairs. In typical engineer fashion the two men allow more time to do so than the estimate they give to the captain.
The Warning
“…...you'll get whatever's coming to you”
With the source of the signal being 2000 meters away and the sun about to rise, Dallas and Kane decide to investigate on foot. Lambert, however seems to be experiencing a sense of foreboding and is obviously reluctant to join the investigating team when ordered to do so.
Ash takes up position behind a communication console with multiple screens next to an outer viewing window while Dallas, Kane and Lambert don their space suits and exit the ship to investigate the signal on the planet's unwelcoming surface.
Meanwhile, Warrant Officer Ripley has descended to the lower deck to inspect the repairs being made by Parker and Brett. Both men are annoyed by this and decide to have some fun at her expense by asking if there will be a bonus for any discovery which is made on the surface. In another of those irony-laden comments, Ripley assures them that by law they are guaranteed a share, and that they’ll both get what’s coming to them.
Ash later informs Ripley that MOTHER has not yet deciphered the signal so she volunteers to give it a try herself.
Outside the ship, the investigative team makes its way along the planetoid's inhospitable surface. The gale force wind howls and assaults them incessantly while Ash observes them from his console screens via their suit camera feeds.
Onward the party of three make their way like deep sea divers of old along a hostile alien terrain that seems to want to cause them harm if given half the chance.
The signal begins to fade in and out when suddenly the team is confronted by a gargantuan derelict alien spaceship of unknown origin rising from the rock. It is shaped something like a horseshoe. Lambert is once again unsettled and reluctant to proceed any further but after discovering an opening in the side of the ship the three humans enter within.
Suddenly the party makes a shocking discovery when they come across the fossilized remains of an impossibly enormous alien creature in a chair of gargantuan proportions. Even more surprising is the fact that on its chest area, the ribs are bent outward, suggesting that something had exploded from the inside.
Moving further on, it isn’t long before the team comes across an opening on the floor. In order to investigate further, Kane lowers himself into whatever lies in the darkness below the aperture.
Meanwhile back on the ship, analysis of the unidentified transmission suggests that it is not an SOS, but a warning. When Ripley suggests that she should go after the search party, Ash interestingly enough is very quick to talk her out of it on the grounds that by the time she gets there, the team will probably know what the true nature of the signal is.
Within the derelict alien vessel, Kane has entered a vertical shaft. As he dangles suspended from a line, he switches on his light and directs its beam into the depths below. Below him is a dark cavernous space of immense proportions within which he now finds himself suspended like a tiny spider hanging from a slender thread. But exactly into whose parlour has this little insect entered?
As his wire tether unwinds, Kane eventually makes it to the bottom of the chamber. The chamberitself seems to be divided into various kinds of extrusions, sections, and depressions. He nears one such depression on the floor in the centre, where he discovers thousands of leathery ovoid objects that resemble large eggs. There is also a strange laser-like light and mist that covers the eggs that produces a reaction when broken.
Kane suddenly loses his balance and falls into the depression, but is uninjured. He then moves in for a closer look and touches one of the eggs. Using his flashlight, Kane illuminates the egg from behind and discerns movement inside. There is clearly something alive within! The egg itself has flaps on top which open to reveal whatever lies inside. As Kane looks closer, a strange life-form suddenly bursts forth and in a flash has attached itself to his helmet, penetrating his face-plate until it is firmly affixed to his face.
From his viewing position, Ash notices Dallas and Lambert carrying the unconscious Kane back to the Nostromo. They enter the airlock and ask Ripley to let them in, but when she asks them what happened to Kane they tell her that “something attached itself to him.” When she asks them to be more specific, she is informed that it is “an organism.”
The crew of the Nostromo is now confronted with a moral dilemma: On the one hand, Ripley has recourse to protocol whereby if they let the organism in, “the ship could be infected” and that quarantine procedure requires 24 hours for decontamination. One other hand, if she doesn’t open the hatch, Kane could die but if she does all the ship’s crew could die. Even in the face of the captain’s direct order to open the hatch, Ripley sticks to her guns and refuses. What would any of us do if we were in her position and in a similar situation?
While all this is transpiring, Ash makes his way to the inner airlock door whereupon he resolves the dilemma by disregarding Ripley's decision and opens the door to let the others in. Upon what basis has be made such a decision we may well wonder?
In the infirmary, Dallas and Ash cut Kane's helmet open with a laser cutter. The two halves of the helmet part and to their astonishment they discover that a face-hugging creature with eight finger-like appendages has attached itself to Kane's face, together with a long tail tightly wrapped around his neck. When an attempt is made to pull the creature from Kane’s face, it stubbornly remains anchored to him. Its grip is so tight that any further attempt to physically remove the creature will result in damage to Kane’s facial tissue. There is also the danger posed by the long tail constricting ever more tightly around Kane’s neck.
A medical scanner reveals that the creature has inserted a tube into Kane's throat and is feeding him oxygen while he’s in a comatose state. Ash is of the opinion that any attempt to remove the creature may kill Kane. Despite this, Dallas is willing to take the risk and Ash agrees only if Dallas takes responsibility.
It is interesting that no-one bothers to answer Parker’s question: “How come they don't freeze him?” It’s like one of those questions we all throw at the screen during films when events and actions don’t make sense. Well, despite being an engineer and a practical man, he’s low down on the hierarchy and if his suggestion is followed, we wouldn’t have much of story!
In the Infirmary, Ash touches the laser scalpel to one of the creature’s appendages. As the electronic blade slides down into a joint of the digit, a yellowish fluid issues forth from the wound, spills onto the floor with a hissing sound and begins to eat through the floor as if it were a powerful acid. Fearful that the acidic fluid could breach the hull, the crew dashes to the levels below until the corrosive effect of the acid begins to cease.
Dallas observes that the substance resembles molecular acid, and Brett suggests the creature must be using it for blood. Parker observes that the creature has a "wonderful defense mechanism - you don't dare kill it."
After everyone has gone back to their posts, Ash overseas the comatose Kane and continues his collection of data on the creature. Ripley suddenly appears in the infirmary. She ostensibly wants to know what he has found out but Ash can only confirm that the creature's skin is made up of polysaccharides, which he characterises as its “funny habit of shedding his cells and replacing them with polarised silicone, which gives him a prolonged resistance to adverse environmental conditions.”The real reason for Ripley being there, though emerges when she abruptly confronts him about his unilateral decision to ignore both herself and the quarantine law by opening the airlock hatch door thereby letting the organism in and placing the crew in danger. In his defence, Ash claims that he acted out of concern for Kane's life, and that he forgot the chain of command protocol that requires Ripley to be the officer in charge when Dallas and Kane are away. Despite allowing a breech of protocol that may have put all of their lives at risk, and displaying behavior unbecoming of a science officer, Ash far from being repentant lets Ripley know that he is perfectly capable to make such a decision and that she should stick to her own job. As the youngest member of the crew, Ripley is put firmly in her place in this instance and she just leaves the infirmary without further comment. As opposed to the other older, more experienced and consequently more cynical and jaded crew members, Ripley’s relative youthfulness and her position would tend to cause her to approach her duties more by the book and with excessive attention to detail.
We next find Dallas in the Nostromo's escape shuttle, the Narcissus, rather incongruously listening to Mozart. Dallas appears to be a competent captain but one has the feeling that he does not relish being bothered with problems, details and minutiae. In fact, he can be quit snappy and impatient when confronted by such things. His role as he sees it is to get the job done and anything else can be simply blocked out by a bout of cryo-sleep or a lone dip in the comforting currents of classical music.
Dallas’ time out is interrupted when he is called to the infirmary by Ash, informing him that something has happened to Kane. It turns out that the creature has detached from Kane's face and has disappeared. Dallas, Ripley and Ash conduct a search of the infirmary. They enter cautiously and with tension beginning to mount they begin moving slowly around the room. As Ripley bends down and peers under a bunk, she sees nothing. Nor does she see the creature located above her!
Ripley's shoulder brushes against the Creature. Suddenly, it drops down onto her from an overhead compartment and she screams in fright. The creature then drops to the floor and lies there motionless.
Ripley confronts Dallas in a passage-way, but he seems to be unwilling to listen to her arguments telling her that he only runs the ship, and that Ash as Science officer has the final word on all matters concerning the Company's science division. Ripley then asks if Dallas has ever worked with Ash before. He informs her that he did five tours with the same science officer, who was suddenly replaced two days before the Nostromo left Thedus dock on Earth. It is clear that Ripley doesn't trust Ash, but does she have good reason?
After telling Ripley that he doesn't trust anybody, he questions her about the status of current ongoing repairs. Even though Ripley raises some by-the-book objections to taking off right now before the repairs are completed, Dallas impatiently states that is just a bunch of horse shit and wants take-off to proceed as soon as possible.
After a successful take-off the Nostromo docks with the refinery and with a collective feeling of having accomplished a “walk in the park’ the crew resume their course for Earth. What could possibly go wrong?
Back in the mess hall, while the crew argues about what to do with Kane, Dallas decides they will all go back into hyper-sleep. They are then bitterly disappointed to learn from Lambert that it will take another 10 months to get back to Earth. Suddenly, Dallas is summoned to the infirmary by Ash.
Once in the infirmary, the crew discover that Kane has awoken and is sitting up in bed gulping down copious amounts of water. This is a sight they had not expected to see. Kane is obviously still feeling the effects of his ordeal but is otherwise unharmed. All he can recall is a vague nightmare about smothering undefined. All Kane is really aware of is just how famished he is. It is then unanimously decided that the crew will sit down to one last meal before they re-enter hyper-sleep.
While the crew is enjoying a happy repast with plenty of banter and ribbing, Kane is putting away food like a ravenous hyena, closely observed by Ash. Suddenly, Kane begins to choke and gag followed by violent convulsions wracking his body. The crew, taken aback by his writhing and screaming on the table try to restrain him when suddenly a bloodstain appears on the front of his shirt. After further violent and disturbing thrashing about, Kane lets out a horrific scream before falling silent.
What happens next is beyond the comprehension of the crew and throughout the duration of the ordeal produces a combination of frozen fearful inaction and violent angry reaction. To the crews’ stunned amazement, a small head suddenly bursts through the front of Kane's chest, silently regards its surroundings and the creatures clustered around it and seems to innately assess them as representing a clear and present danger from which it must escape. Parker instinctively moves in to kill the creature with a knife, but he is abruptly stopped by Ash. The little alien parasite malevolently screeches, before scuttling out of the mess and disappearing down a passage way, leaving the crew transfixed in horrified disbelief.
At this point it is clear that Kane was being used as a kind of incubator and that there’s now another creature loose on the ship. It would be unthikable for the crew to go into hyper-sleep with that creature running loose. The choices are:
Moving further on, it isn’t long before the team comes across an opening on the floor. In order to investigate further, Kane lowers himself into whatever lies in the darkness below the aperture.
Meanwhile back on the ship, analysis of the unidentified transmission suggests that it is not an SOS, but a warning. When Ripley suggests that she should go after the search party, Ash interestingly enough is very quick to talk her out of it on the grounds that by the time she gets there, the team will probably know what the true nature of the signal is.
Within the derelict alien vessel, Kane has entered a vertical shaft. As he dangles suspended from a line, he switches on his light and directs its beam into the depths below. Below him is a dark cavernous space of immense proportions within which he now finds himself suspended like a tiny spider hanging from a slender thread. But exactly into whose parlour has this little insect entered?
Kane suddenly loses his balance and falls into the depression, but is uninjured. He then moves in for a closer look and touches one of the eggs. Using his flashlight, Kane illuminates the egg from behind and discerns movement inside. There is clearly something alive within! The egg itself has flaps on top which open to reveal whatever lies inside. As Kane looks closer, a strange life-form suddenly bursts forth and in a flash has attached itself to his helmet, penetrating his face-plate until it is firmly affixed to his face.
The "Guest"
From his viewing position, Ash notices Dallas and Lambert carrying the unconscious Kane back to the Nostromo. They enter the airlock and ask Ripley to let them in, but when she asks them what happened to Kane they tell her that “something attached itself to him.” When she asks them to be more specific, she is informed that it is “an organism.”
The crew of the Nostromo is now confronted with a moral dilemma: On the one hand, Ripley has recourse to protocol whereby if they let the organism in, “the ship could be infected” and that quarantine procedure requires 24 hours for decontamination. One other hand, if she doesn’t open the hatch, Kane could die but if she does all the ship’s crew could die. Even in the face of the captain’s direct order to open the hatch, Ripley sticks to her guns and refuses. What would any of us do if we were in her position and in a similar situation?
While all this is transpiring, Ash makes his way to the inner airlock door whereupon he resolves the dilemma by disregarding Ripley's decision and opens the door to let the others in. Upon what basis has be made such a decision we may well wonder?
A medical scanner reveals that the creature has inserted a tube into Kane's throat and is feeding him oxygen while he’s in a comatose state. Ash is of the opinion that any attempt to remove the creature may kill Kane. Despite this, Dallas is willing to take the risk and Ash agrees only if Dallas takes responsibility.
It is interesting that no-one bothers to answer Parker’s question: “How come they don't freeze him?” It’s like one of those questions we all throw at the screen during films when events and actions don’t make sense. Well, despite being an engineer and a practical man, he’s low down on the hierarchy and if his suggestion is followed, we wouldn’t have much of story!
“That crap's gonna eat through the hull”
In the Infirmary, Ash touches the laser scalpel to one of the creature’s appendages. As the electronic blade slides down into a joint of the digit, a yellowish fluid issues forth from the wound, spills onto the floor with a hissing sound and begins to eat through the floor as if it were a powerful acid. Fearful that the acidic fluid could breach the hull, the crew dashes to the levels below until the corrosive effect of the acid begins to cease.
Dallas observes that the substance resembles molecular acid, and Brett suggests the creature must be using it for blood. Parker observes that the creature has a "wonderful defense mechanism - you don't dare kill it."
“Maybe I've jeopardised the rest of us, but it was a risk I was willing to take.”
We next find Dallas in the Nostromo's escape shuttle, the Narcissus, rather incongruously listening to Mozart. Dallas appears to be a competent captain but one has the feeling that he does not relish being bothered with problems, details and minutiae. In fact, he can be quit snappy and impatient when confronted by such things. His role as he sees it is to get the job done and anything else can be simply blocked out by a bout of cryo-sleep or a lone dip in the comforting currents of classical music.
Dallas’ time out is interrupted when he is called to the infirmary by Ash, informing him that something has happened to Kane. It turns out that the creature has detached from Kane's face and has disappeared. Dallas, Ripley and Ash conduct a search of the infirmary. They enter cautiously and with tension beginning to mount they begin moving slowly around the room. As Ripley bends down and peers under a bunk, she sees nothing. Nor does she see the creature located above her!
Ripley's shoulder brushes against the Creature. Suddenly, it drops down onto her from an overhead compartment and she screams in fright. The creature then drops to the floor and lies there motionless.
“This is the first time we've encountered a species like this”
Upon examination, the creature despite stimulated reflex actions appears to be quite dead. Ripley is all for getting rid of it in case it becomes even more dangerous when dead. Displaying some annoyance with this, Ash wants to take it back to Earth to have more tests conducted on it. To Ripley’s consternation, Dallas leaves the decision to Ash as Science Officer. Does this simply help Dallas avoid making crucial decisions or is he simply following established protocol and is merely functioning as a Company man?“That's what the company wants…...Standard procedure is to do what they say”
Ripley confronts Dallas in a passage-way, but he seems to be unwilling to listen to her arguments telling her that he only runs the ship, and that Ash as Science officer has the final word on all matters concerning the Company's science division. Ripley then asks if Dallas has ever worked with Ash before. He informs her that he did five tours with the same science officer, who was suddenly replaced two days before the Nostromo left Thedus dock on Earth. It is clear that Ripley doesn't trust Ash, but does she have good reason?
After telling Ripley that he doesn't trust anybody, he questions her about the status of current ongoing repairs. Even though Ripley raises some by-the-book objections to taking off right now before the repairs are completed, Dallas impatiently states that is just a bunch of horse shit and wants take-off to proceed as soon as possible.
After a successful take-off the Nostromo docks with the refinery and with a collective feeling of having accomplished a “walk in the park’ the crew resume their course for Earth. What could possibly go wrong?
Seven little humans in a fine fix,
One cracked an egg and then there were six.
“I remember some horrible dream about smothering and..
Back in the mess hall, while the crew argues about what to do with Kane, Dallas decides they will all go back into hyper-sleep. They are then bitterly disappointed to learn from Lambert that it will take another 10 months to get back to Earth. Suddenly, Dallas is summoned to the infirmary by Ash.
Once in the infirmary, the crew discover that Kane has awoken and is sitting up in bed gulping down copious amounts of water. This is a sight they had not expected to see. Kane is obviously still feeling the effects of his ordeal but is otherwise unharmed. All he can recall is a vague nightmare about smothering undefined. All Kane is really aware of is just how famished he is. It is then unanimously decided that the crew will sit down to one last meal before they re-enter hyper-sleep.
While the crew is enjoying a happy repast with plenty of banter and ribbing, Kane is putting away food like a ravenous hyena, closely observed by Ash. Suddenly, Kane begins to choke and gag followed by violent convulsions wracking his body. The crew, taken aback by his writhing and screaming on the table try to restrain him when suddenly a bloodstain appears on the front of his shirt. After further violent and disturbing thrashing about, Kane lets out a horrific scream before falling silent.
What happens next is beyond the comprehension of the crew and throughout the duration of the ordeal produces a combination of frozen fearful inaction and violent angry reaction. To the crews’ stunned amazement, a small head suddenly bursts through the front of Kane's chest, silently regards its surroundings and the creatures clustered around it and seems to innately assess them as representing a clear and present danger from which it must escape. Parker instinctively moves in to kill the creature with a knife, but he is abruptly stopped by Ash. The little alien parasite malevolently screeches, before scuttling out of the mess and disappearing down a passage way, leaving the crew transfixed in horrified disbelief.
At this point it is clear that Kane was being used as a kind of incubator and that there’s now another creature loose on the ship. It would be unthikable for the crew to go into hyper-sleep with that creature running loose. The choices are:
- Kill the creature but in doing so, risk having its body acids burn through the ship’s hull.
- Find a means to catch it and eject it from the ship.
The Hunt
“Now we just have to find him”
The crew has assembled to formulate a plan of action to capture and rid the ship of the alien intruder. Brett has put together some powered devices that resemble cattle prods that are intended to give the creature “a little incentive.”
As to the problem of finding the creature, Ash has devised a tracking device that can be used to search for a moving object. To Ash’s mild annoyance, dotting of the ‘I’s’ and crossing of the ‘t’s’ Ripley wants to know the details of its operation. He informs the suspicious Warrant Officer that his device responds to “micro changes in air density.”
Separated into two teams, the crew venture forth in their quest to locate, capture and expel their unwanted guest. Parker, Brett and Ripley cautiously check out one of the lower decks, only to discover that the power has been disrupted despite repairs having been completed. Suddenly, they pick up a signal and the tension mounts as they gingerly make their way toward a cabinet where they believe they have the creature cornered. Moving with great care with prod poised, the handle of the cabinet is grasped and yanked open. The prod is thrust inside to the rapidly followed by a screech and a blur of…... something flying out of the cabinet. Instinctively, they cast their net over the quarry only to discover that instead of nabbing a murderous diminutive alien swine, they have instead succeeded in almost shedding one of the nine lives of Jones, the cat. The terrified and quite indignant feline voices its displeasure before quickly dashing off in search of someplace quieter and safer.
This scary interlude has reduced Ripley, Brett and especially Parker to a state of embarrassed hysterical hilarity. Gathering their thoughts together, the three crew mates realize they might pick up the cat on their tracker again during the search and so, Parker sends Brett off to catch Jones. “Right!”
Six little humans all still alive,
One kicked the bucket and then there were five;
“Here, kitty, kitty. Kitty crap. Jones!”
While Ripley and Parker move off down a passageway, Brett heads in the direction taken by the cat. This time the pace slows considerably gathering a growing sense of anticipation and tension in the process.
In the Equipment Maintenance Area, Brett rather nervously continues his search for the errant cat. As Brett searches for Jones, he finds what looks like a shed reptile skin on the floor. The only sounds are the creaks and clanking sounds of the area he is in along with the water droplets pittering and pattering onto Brett’s cap from high above him. His tension is somewhat relieved when he hears the yowling of a cat reassuring him that Jones is close by.
Five little humans at an air vent door,
One went in and then there were four.
“Whatever it was, it was big”
Based on the horror they witnessed when the creature took Brett, Parker and Ripley confirm only that the creature is big and has escaped through the air ducts. With Brett being assumed as dead, there is agreement that the alien is using the air shafts to move around. A plan is then formulated whereby they might be able to “drive it into the airlock and zap it into outer space.”
Ripley impatiently asks Ash if he as science officer can offer some useful information. In response, Ash suggests the alien like most creatures may be afraid of fire. With this in mind, Dallas asks Parker to quickly cobble together several flamethrowers. Ripley volunteers to enter the air shafts, but Dallas insists on going himself. Once again to her obvious annoyance, Ripley finds her self being overruled. As captain Dallas could delegate but instead decides to assume responsibility himself.
The crew soon assume their assigned positions. Parker and Lambert stand ready by a duct to measure movement inside the ducts. The airlock is made ready for decompression. The trap is now ready to be put into effect. The question could be: Who is laying a trap for whom?
Dallas begins to crawl forward into the shaft which is narrow and claustrophobic. He soon raises his flamethrower and fires a blast around the corner into the ominous darkness which is briefly rent by heat and the loud roar of the flame
To the accompaniment of the sound of a heart beat together with a repetitive discordant note, Dallas inches his way along the shaft in a crawling and crouched fashion while the crew remotely close the openings behind him as he proceeds. Suddenly the shaft takes a downward direction. Dallas comes to a halt and fires another blast from the flamethrower. As Dallas makes his way down, Lambert notices something on the tracker.
Dallas eventually moves forward until he reaches a junction where he stops and sits. While this has been going on, Lambert is initially certain that the signal is moving towards him until the alien's signal is suddenly lost. For a moment it seems as if Dallas has become disoriented and is frozen to the spot clutching his one flaming hope of salvation. While she attempts to reacquire the signal, Lambert instructs Dallas to hold his position. Evidence of a slimy substance on the floor and what it implies impels Dallas to employ his flame thrower but it appears that nothing is there. This causes Dallas to panic, and the tension ramps up when Lambert picks up the Alien's signal once more, this time moving with obvious intent and greater alacrity directly toward his location.
The tension is heightened also by the rapid panic-driven staccato nature of the dialogue delivered in shortrpd-fire bursts:
"It is right around there."
"Dallas, you're gonna have to be careful."
"What the hell's the matter with that box?"
"I've lost the signal!"
"Are you sure it's not there?"
"It's got to be around there."
"Dallas, are you sure there's no sign of it?"
"It is there!"
"It's gotta be around there!"
"I wanna get the hell outta here."
"Oh, God!"
"It's moving right towards you."
"Move!"
"Get out of there!"
"Move, Dallas!"
"Get out!"
"Not that way!"
"The other way!"
Lambert pleads with Dallas to move away. After he descends a ladder he turns around to find himself face-to-face with horror incarnate that suddenly materialises out of the darkness, emanates a blood freezing shriek while stretching its arms towards him to claim its next victim. Static followed by the void of stony silence signifies the loss of the Nostromo’s captain.
Four little humans, no make that three,
One fooled ‘em all, so it’s now time to flee
“What would you like me to do?”
“Just what you've been doing, Ash - Nothing”
In the mess Ripley, Ash and Lambert stand by a table. Parker slams Dallas' flamethrower onto the table, saying it was just laying in the duct but with "no blood, no Dallas. Nothing" Lambert is obviously still shaken by what has just transpired and appears to be gradually unravelling. Ripley is now in the unenviable position of being in charge and struggles to hold everything together. She is in favour of continuing with Dallas' plan but Lambert thinking that option is madness disagrees preferring to abandon the Nostromo with the shuttle and “get the hell out of here, and hope somebody picks us up.” There is one slight problem, however: “The shuttle won't take four.” Parker also opposes the idea, and switching to Terminator mode is all for killing the creature, “right now!”
The plan now agreed upon:
“It's using the air shafts…...We'll move in pairs. We'll go step by step and cut off every bulkhead and vent until we have it cornered, then we'll blow it the fuck out into space.”
Ripley orders Parker to refill the flamethrower that’s low on fuel after which she turns her attention to Ash to find out if he has any suggestions to offer. All he can contribute is that he and MOTHER are “still collating.” Her sarcastic reply leaves no doubt as to what she thinks of this and instead decides to go herself and consult MOTHER for answers, as she now has access to the computer.
“Special Order 937”
Ripley accesses MOTHER, and queries the computer as to why they are unable to neutralise the alien. When informed that it cannot clarify, Ripley asks MOTHER to explain why not. MOTHER refers to ‘Special Order 937’ which is eyes only for the science officer. Ripley resorts to emergency command override to obtain an explanation of what Special Order 937 involves. MOTHER’s disturbing response is as follows:
"Nostromo rerouted to new coordinates. Investigate life-form. Gather specimen. Priority one: ensure return of organism for analysis. All other considerations secondary. Crew expendable."
“There is an explanation for this, you know”
While Ripley frantically struggles for her life, Parker and Lambert arrive, and set about dragging Ash away from her. Suddenly Parker grimaces in pain as Ash grabs a section of his chest forcing him to let go. Parker then gets hold of a fire extinguisher and hits Ash with it in the back. Ash convulses violently while making inhuman sounds and emitting a white liquid from its body. Parker gives Ash a second helping of the extinguisher, almost decapitating its head. After repeated pounding amidst a deluge of white liquid, there is now no question that Ash is an android. Just as it seems that Ash has been dispatched to the robot afterlife, its decapitated body rises and grabs Parker before a traumatised Lambert grabs the electric prod and stabs the android in the back with it, rendering it inactive.
Why’s & Wherefore’s
“The perfect organism"
A disturbing picture is beginning to emerge that seems to involve Ash somehow having been protecting the Alien from the beginning. He was ‘he’ who let it on board by blowing the airlock without warning.
The corporation must have picked up the transmission. With the Nostromo being the next vessel in the vicinity, Ash was inserted on board to ensure that the crew followed Special Order 937.
When the derelict spacecraft landed on the planetoid, they encountered one of the Alien creatures like Kane had. Before they were all wiped out, they managed to set up the automatic warning.
It appears that the Company must have wanted the alien for their weapons division.
Ripley sets about the messy job of reconnecting Ash’s disembodied head in the hope that it can provide them with information on how to deal with the creature. Once that is done, Ash confirms that the special order entails bringing back the life form being “priority one with “all other priorities rescinded.”
When the question of killing the creature is broached, Ash tells the others that they can’t as they just don’t know what they are dealing with. It is clear that Ash has admiration for the alien it being according to the android, ”the perfect organism” whose “structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.” Above all, what the android does admire is its being “a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.” In short, “its purity.”
In an almost mocking last word before being dispatched into a state of non-existence, Ash tells the three remaining crew, “I can't lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.” A furious Ripley disconnects the android and as the three survivors leave the room, Parker briefly halts to cleanse the area of Ash’s presence and all he represents with several bursts of flame from his weapon.
Escape Plan: “We're gonna blow up the ship. We'll take our chances in the shuttle”
It is now decided to follow Lambert's earlier suggestion to set the Nostromo to self-destruct and use the shuttle to escape, leaving the Alien to die when the ship is destroyed. When the switches are thrown for self-destruct the three survivors will have only ten minutes to effect their escape.
The corporation must have picked up the transmission. With the Nostromo being the next vessel in the vicinity, Ash was inserted on board to ensure that the crew followed Special Order 937.
When the derelict spacecraft landed on the planetoid, they encountered one of the Alien creatures like Kane had. Before they were all wiped out, they managed to set up the automatic warning.
It appears that the Company must have wanted the alien for their weapons division.
********
Ripley sets about the messy job of reconnecting Ash’s disembodied head in the hope that it can provide them with information on how to deal with the creature. Once that is done, Ash confirms that the special order entails bringing back the life form being “priority one with “all other priorities rescinded.”
When the question of killing the creature is broached, Ash tells the others that they can’t as they just don’t know what they are dealing with. It is clear that Ash has admiration for the alien it being according to the android, ”the perfect organism” whose “structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.” Above all, what the android does admire is its being “a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.” In short, “its purity.”
In an almost mocking last word before being dispatched into a state of non-existence, Ash tells the three remaining crew, “I can't lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.” A furious Ripley disconnects the android and as the three survivors leave the room, Parker briefly halts to cleanse the area of Ash’s presence and all he represents with several bursts of flame from his weapon.
Escape Plan: “We're gonna blow up the ship. We'll take our chances in the shuttle”
It is now decided to follow Lambert's earlier suggestion to set the Nostromo to self-destruct and use the shuttle to escape, leaving the Alien to die when the ship is destroyed. When the switches are thrown for self-destruct the three survivors will have only ten minutes to effect their escape.
Ripley heads off to prepare the shuttle for launch, while Parker and Lambert gather cylinders of coolant for the shuttle's life-support system. Seven minutes will be allocated for them get all the coolant they can carry and when they complete this Ripley will shut the switches off and “blow this fuck off into space.” What could go wrong?
While Ripley sets about prepping the shuttle she hears old Jonesy’s forlorn mewing over the ship's open intercom system, and decides to find him rather than leave him behind. One might say it is a curious decision – risking life and limb to save another creature even if it is just a pet. How ironic that an individual of one species strives to rescue one from a different species while being preyed on by a creature from yet another species! Three predators - but one with a distinguishing quality or characteristic.
Meanwhile the tension is heightened as Lambert and Parker are frantically gathering equipment and pressurizing the coolant bottles to the accompaniment of the metallic clashing sound of the bottles being moved about. One might very well expect the alien to appear at any moment. Time is of the essence….
At the same time Ripley goes in seach of Jones with the expectation that the alien could be lying in wait around the next turn in a corridor. Jones doesn’t help the sense of panic and fear when he suddenly jumps into view. Ripley finally locates Jones and shoves the protesting feline into a travelling pet container.
Parker and Lambert are so hard at work on completing their task, that they fail to notice the lurking death incarnate presence of the Alien. Lambert finds herself up against a wall paralysed into immobility by shear uncomprehending terror. Over the ship’s intercom Ripley can hear Parker shouting to Lambert to get out of the way, but to no avail as she is well and truly cornered against the wal by the alien. Parker cannot get a clear shot at it with the flamethrower without taking out Lambert in the process. In desperation, Parker launches himself at the creature, but with un-nerving speed and agility it uses its tail to disarm its puny assailant and secures him with its powerful claws. Parker futilely struggles against the creature's grip while Lambert remains frozen in an even tighter grip of fear and a state of mind bordering on insanity. The Alien spreads its outer jaws to reveal a smaller but lethal mobile inner mandible containing sharp penetrating teeth which it uses to punch into and penetrate Parker's body, killing him.
While Ripley sets about prepping the shuttle she hears old Jonesy’s forlorn mewing over the ship's open intercom system, and decides to find him rather than leave him behind. One might say it is a curious decision – risking life and limb to save another creature even if it is just a pet. How ironic that an individual of one species strives to rescue one from a different species while being preyed on by a creature from yet another species! Three predators - but one with a distinguishing quality or characteristic.
Meanwhile the tension is heightened as Lambert and Parker are frantically gathering equipment and pressurizing the coolant bottles to the accompaniment of the metallic clashing sound of the bottles being moved about. One might very well expect the alien to appear at any moment. Time is of the essence….
At the same time Ripley goes in seach of Jones with the expectation that the alien could be lying in wait around the next turn in a corridor. Jones doesn’t help the sense of panic and fear when he suddenly jumps into view. Ripley finally locates Jones and shoves the protesting feline into a travelling pet container.
“For Christ sake, get out of the way!”
The creature then turns back and makes its way toward Lambert. It is here we see its true horrifying extent in profile as it closes in on Lambert and curls its tail around her. Powerless to help her crew-mate, Ripley is left to hear the death-throe sounds of Lambert over the intercom followed by the empty finality of silence. Ripley is only able to witness the bloodied remains of Parker and Lambert hanging in the storage room. But what of the alien?
After that scene of horrible carnage, Ripley makes a desperate dash towards the emergency room where she manages to locate the ship's self-destruct mechanism. MOTHER announces that the self-destruct mechanism has been activated, and the ship will detonate in 10 minutes. The self-destruct can only be cancelled during the first five minutes.
Three little humans all on the run,
Death caught two and now there is one;
“The emergency destruct system is now activated.
The ship will detonate in T minus ten minutes.
The option to override automatic detonation expires in T minus five minutes.”
After that scene of horrible carnage, Ripley makes a desperate dash towards the emergency room where she manages to locate the ship's self-destruct mechanism. MOTHER announces that the self-destruct mechanism has been activated, and the ship will detonate in 10 minutes. The self-destruct can only be cancelled during the first five minutes.
Amid the incessant blaring of the alarm, MOTHER’s countdown to destruction and the disorienting effects of the strobe lighting, Ripley makes her way toward the shuttle with Jones secured in his container. Suddenly, she almost runs headlong into the alien who has appeared just around the corner. Terrified, she unceremoniously drops the container and its frazzled furry resident and retreats as the alien menacingly comes into view around the corner. Jones briefly becomes an object of interest to the alien as Ripley dashes back to the self-destruct mechanism and attempts to override the procedure.
Alas Ripley is too late, a victim of inexorable, pre-programmed, uncompromising and dispassionate algorithmic processes. The self-destruct is beginning to activate and despite Ripley’s efforts to restart the cooling unit, MOTHER announces that it is too late to stop the countdown. The Nostromo will explode in five minutes, and MOTHER does not care in the least, thus belying its maternal designation. A frustrated and angry Ripley gives vent to her feelings in a futile gesture of violence at the self-destruct mechanism while screaming “you bitch!” at MOTHER as if she were an enraged out of control teenage daughter affronted by her mother’s perceived unfair actions.
In desperation, Ripley runs back to the shuttle loading area, despite the possible danger posed by the alien but to her relief it is nowhere to be seen. Scooping up the cat container, and with fires erupting in the passage-way, Ripley boards the shuttle with only one minute remaining to abandon ship. After launch sequence procedure, the shuttle lowers to launch position and with just 30 seconds to go the shuttle launches leaving the Nostromo behind.
“The option to override automatic detonation expires in T minus three minutes…..
The option to override automatic detonation expires in T minus one minute…..
The option to override detonation procedure has now expired.”
“You now have one minute to abandon ship”
In desperation, Ripley runs back to the shuttle loading area, despite the possible danger posed by the alien but to her relief it is nowhere to be seen. Scooping up the cat container, and with fires erupting in the passage-way, Ripley boards the shuttle with only one minute remaining to abandon ship. After launch sequence procedure, the shuttle lowers to launch position and with just 30 seconds to go the shuttle launches leaving the Nostromo behind.
With the destructive power of a sun, three powerful nuclear explosions, signal the obliteration of the Nostromo along with the refinery, its load of ore and hopefully that hellish fiend, the Alien.
The shuttle is jolted by the shock wave but the tumult is soon replaced by quiet calm. Ripley releases herself from the seat restraining straps, picks up Jones and gives him a hug before placing the perpetually grumpy cat into one of the biobeds in preparation for hypersleep.
Suddenly, to Ripley’s horror a strange appendage springs out at her from a wall. She quickly realizes that it belongs to the alien lying in an alcove almost completely camouflaged within the shuttle’s machinery. All is not over by a long shot. Does the alien possess the intelligence to know that its own existence would have been placed in peril had it remained aboard the Nostromo? Did it understand that its only hope for survival was to stow away aboard the shuttle?
Thinking quickly, almost instinctively, Ripley makes her way cautiously into a storage locker containing space suits, one of which she puts on. She then exists the locker and arms herself with a harpoon gun. While strapping herself securely into a chair, Ripley tries to calm herself by singing "You Are My Lucky Star." Putting her plan into operation, she opens a series of vents close-by to the alien until she hits upon the one that blasts high-pressure steam directly onto the alien and getting its undivided attention.
The shuttle is jolted by the shock wave but the tumult is soon replaced by quiet calm. Ripley releases herself from the seat restraining straps, picks up Jones and gives him a hug before placing the perpetually grumpy cat into one of the biobeds in preparation for hypersleep.
“You are my lucky star…...Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky...”
Suddenly, to Ripley’s horror a strange appendage springs out at her from a wall. She quickly realizes that it belongs to the alien lying in an alcove almost completely camouflaged within the shuttle’s machinery. All is not over by a long shot. Does the alien possess the intelligence to know that its own existence would have been placed in peril had it remained aboard the Nostromo? Did it understand that its only hope for survival was to stow away aboard the shuttle?
The alien lunges forth from the alcove shrieking before appearing beside Ripley while she is engaged with operating some of the shuttle's controls. Ripley turns to discover the alien standing right next to her drawn up to its full height and exuding nightmarish menace as it makes ready its inner jaw to ram into its next victim.
Emitting a primal scream, Ripley activates and opens the shuttle's airlock door. The escaping atmosphere of the shuttle’s interior propels the alien toward the door. Just as it looks like the creature will be expelled into space, it manages to grab a hold of the edges of the doorway thereby preventing itself from being sucked outside. Seemingly having anticipated such an eventuality, Ripley discharges a harpoon which pierces the alien, causing it to let go of the doorway before being cast outside. The door then slams shut on to the wire connecting the harpoon to the gun resulting in the alien being tethered to the shuttle by the wire. Despite the vacuum of space, the alien attempts to re-enter the shuttle via one of the thrusters. Ripley quickly reacts and fires the engines incinerating the alien before its body floats off and disintegrates.
Before entering hypersleep for the journey home, Ripley records a final log entry:
“Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo. Third Officer reporting. The other members of the crew - Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas - are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."
One little human fighting all alone,
She grabbed her cat and headed off home…...
*********
POINTS OF INTEREST
Genesis
Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon had written 29 pages of a script titled Memory, in which a crew of astronauts awaken to find that their voyage has been interrupted due to a signal being received from a mysterious planetoid. Upon investigating their ship breaks down on the surface but no idea was had as to what the alien antagonist would be.
Later the Memory script morphed into one called Star Beast, but that title was replaced by Alien and introduced the idea of having a crew member of a spaceship being implanted with an alien embryo that would burst out of him as a plot device by which the alien could get aboard the ship. This was followed by a flash of late night inspiration with the idea of having an alien jumping on the crew member’s face and planting its seed. Viola!
O'Bannon drew inspiration from among many other sources, The Thing from Another World (1951): professional military and scientific men pursued by a deadly alien creature through a claustrophobic and isolated environment; Forbidden Planet (1956): a ship being warned not to land with the crew being picked off one by one by a mysterious creature when they defy the warning. The question arises as to who the real enemy / evil alien is; Planet of the Vampires (1965): the continuous shots & panning inside the vessel, the discovery of a giant alien skeleton outside and inside the derelict alien ship, the horseshoe shape vessel design, the landing on the alien planetoid scene, the response to an alien signal; Junkyard, a 1953 short story by Clifford D. Simak in which a crew lands on an asteroid and discovers a chamber full of eggs.
The Writers Guild of America awarded O'Bannon sole credit for the screenplay. This was despite the fact that David Giler, and Walter Hill, who had formed a production company called Brandywine wrote the final shooting script and were responsible for adding some substantial elements to the story, including the android character Ash subplot.
After the success of Star Wars (not to be mentioned in this blog again!) in 1977, there was renewed interest from 29th Century Fox studios in the science fiction genre. Alien was the means then available to follow through quickly on this. Alien was given the go-ahead by 20th Century-Fox, with an initial budget of $4.2 million.
Ridley Scott Scott accepted the offer to direct and his detailed storyboards for the film so impressed Fox that they doubled the film's budget. Scott was keen on emphasizing the horror element in Alien rather than fantasy as in the case of a film like Star Wars (damn, I mentioned it again!)
The final name of the Nostromo was derived from the title of Joseph Conrad's 1904 novel Nostromo, while the shuttle, Narcissus (in the script) was also derived from a work of Conrad's, The Nigger of the 'Narcissus.' (1897)
Casting & Characters
Among the cast in the film were;
Tom Skerritt as Dallas, captain of the Nostromo initially declined the offer of a role but when Scott was made director and the budget had been doubled, he accepted the role.
John Hurt as Kane, the executive officer was Scott's first choice for the role, but he was contracted on a film in South Africa during Alien's filming dates. However, his replacement had fallen ill and his own South African project fell through and so he took on the role of Kane for which he received a nomination for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, the warrant officer aboard the Nostromo, had Broadway experience but was relatively unknown in film. The role of Ripley was Weaver's first leading role in a motion picture and earned her nominations for a Saturn Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Role.
Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, the Nostromo's navigator had previous experience in horror and science-fiction films: as a child in The Birds (1963), and in the re-make, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). Cartwright won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Lambert.
Bolaji Badejo as the alien stood at 6 feet 10 inches (208 cm) tall and (7 feet (210 cm) inside the costume. His slender frame made it possible to portray the alien and create the illusion that a human being could not possibly be inside the costume.
The crew of the Nostromo crew were to be depicted as working astronauts in a realistic environment that the audience could identify with, as opposed to the usual squeaky clean portrayals in science-fiction films. These characters are not heroic space adventurers but are in fact run-of-the-mill workers, hired on contract by a company to return 20 million tons of ore to Earth. The spontaneous realistic nature of the characters’ interactions along with the tensions between them certainly came through convincingly in the film and serves to highlight how like us they are, except that they live and work in the future.
Would it be stretching things to consider the Nostromo itself as being a character? What do you think?
Filming: Alien was filmed over 14 weeks from July 5 to October 21, 1978. The short production schedule was the result of the film’s low budget and pressure from 20th Century to complete the film on time. Principal photography took place at Shepperton Studios near London, while model and miniature filming was done at Bray Studios in Water Oakley, Berkshire.
Costumes: The actors’ space-suit costumes were thick, bulky, and lined with nylon, and had no cooling systems. and initially, no venting for their exhaled carbon dioxide to escape. This together with a heat wave almost caused the actors to pass out requiring nurses to be kept on-hand with oxygen tanks.
Jones the cat was in fact four identical cats. Sigourney Weaver was allergic to the combination of cat hair and the glycerin applied to simulate sweat. By eliminating the glycerin she was able to continue working with the cats.
Music: None other than Jerry Goldsmith composed the music for Alien wuile Lionel Newman conducted and the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Performed it. Goldsmith’s score was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album, and it won a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music
Effects, Models & Props:
Scenes featuring views of the Nostromo & Refinery in space were shot in a film studio employing a crane-mounted camera aimed at a large grey model spacecraft, raised several feet in the air by a support structure underneath. The model was lit from one side by bright studio lights. Slow passes were made filming at 2 1⁄2 frames per second to give the models the appearance of motion.
Exterior scenes of the Nostromo made use of a 58-foot (18 m) landing leg to give a sense of the ship's size.
The alien egg: In the scene in which Kane inspects the egg, a fibreglass egg was used so that actor John Hurt could shine his light on it and see movement inside, which was provided by Scott fluttering his hands inside the egg while wearing rubber gloves. The top of the egg was hydraulic, and the inside consisted of a cow's stomach and tripe. God, I hate tripe!
The Facehugger creature was shot out of the egg using high-pressure air hoses. For the scene in which the dead facehugger is examined by Ash, pieces of fish and shellfish were used to create its viscera.
The Chestbuster: The design of this creature was inspired by Francis Bacon's 1944 painting ‘Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion.’
Filming: Alien was filmed over 14 weeks from July 5 to October 21, 1978. The short production schedule was the result of the film’s low budget and pressure from 20th Century to complete the film on time. Principal photography took place at Shepperton Studios near London, while model and miniature filming was done at Bray Studios in Water Oakley, Berkshire.
Costumes: The actors’ space-suit costumes were thick, bulky, and lined with nylon, and had no cooling systems. and initially, no venting for their exhaled carbon dioxide to escape. This together with a heat wave almost caused the actors to pass out requiring nurses to be kept on-hand with oxygen tanks.
Music: None other than Jerry Goldsmith composed the music for Alien wuile Lionel Newman conducted and the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Performed it. Goldsmith’s score was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album, and it won a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music
Effects, Models & Props:
Scenes featuring views of the Nostromo & Refinery in space were shot in a film studio employing a crane-mounted camera aimed at a large grey model spacecraft, raised several feet in the air by a support structure underneath. The model was lit from one side by bright studio lights. Slow passes were made filming at 2 1⁄2 frames per second to give the models the appearance of motion.
Exterior scenes of the Nostromo made use of a 58-foot (18 m) landing leg to give a sense of the ship's size.
The alien egg: In the scene in which Kane inspects the egg, a fibreglass egg was used so that actor John Hurt could shine his light on it and see movement inside, which was provided by Scott fluttering his hands inside the egg while wearing rubber gloves. The top of the egg was hydraulic, and the inside consisted of a cow's stomach and tripe. God, I hate tripe!
The Facehugger creature was shot out of the egg using high-pressure air hoses. For the scene in which the dead facehugger is examined by Ash, pieces of fish and shellfish were used to create its viscera.
The Chestbuster: The design of this creature was inspired by Francis Bacon's 1944 painting ‘Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion.’
By http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=674&searchid=20526, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2982961
For the filming of the chestburster scene, the cast members were unaware that fake blood would be bursting out in every direction from high-pressure pumps and squibs. An artificial torso filled with blood and viscera was used with Hurt's head and arms coming up from underneath the table. The chestburster was shoved up through the torso by a puppeteer who held it on a stick. Cartwright’s shocked response when the creature burst through the chest and a stream of blood shot directly at her was real and authentic. The creature dashing off-camera was accomplished by cutting a slit in the table for the puppeteer's stick to go through and passing an air hose through the puppet's tail to make it whip about. The scene was shot in two takes as the first one fouled up.
Android Ash: For the scene where we learn that Ash is an android, a puppet was created of the character's torso and upper body, which was operated from underneath. In the scene where Ashe’s head is propped up on a table and reactivated, an animatronic head was made using a face cast of Ian Holm. However, the latex of the head shrank while curing producing a somewhat unconvincing result. For most of the scene, Holm had to kneel under the table with his head coming up through a hole. The gross spectacle of the android’s insides consisted of a smorgasbord of milk, caviar, pasta, fibre optics, and …….Foley urinary catheters!
The alien: Giger sculpted the alien creature's body using Plasticine, vertebrae from snakes and cooling tubes from a Rolls-Royce. The creature's head was manufactured separately by Carlo Rambaldi, incorporating moving parts that would animate the jaw and inner mouth. The final head had about 900 moving parts and points of articulation. Part of a human skull was used as the "face" and was hidden under the smooth, translucent cover of the head.
The alien was portrayed for most of its scenes by Bolaji Badejo who had a latex costume made using a full body plaster cast to fit his slender 6-foot-10-inch (208 cm) frame. In the scene when the alien lowers itself from the ceiling to kill Brett, a stuntman in costume was suspended on wires and then lowered in an unfurling motion.
The Alien character is kept hidden from full view through-out most of the film, being glimpsed predominantly in shadow in order to heighten the sense of terror and suspense. What you don’t see can be more frightening than what you do see, especially with a deadly creature that can alter its shape. If it had such an effect when it was small and had burst through Kane’s chest, just imagine what it might be like and what it can do now!
The sets: The Nostromo's three decks sets were each created almost entirely in one piece, with each deck occupying a separate stage. The hallways that connected the stages through which the actors moved added to the sense of claustrophobia. Some of the Nostromo's corridors were created from portions of scrapped bomber aircraft, The ship was given a cobbled-together technological-industrial look held together by the ministrations of its engineers.
Three principal sets comprising the surface of the alien planetoid, the interiors of the Nostromo and the derelict alien spacecraft were constructed by a crew of over 200 craftspeople and technicians. Tons of sand, plaster, fibreglass, rock, and gravel were shipped into the studio to create a desert landscape for the planetoid's surface.
Light effects in the egg chamber were created by lasers borrowed from English rock band The Who. The band was testing the lasers for use in their stage show on the sound stage next door.
Assessments & Analysis
Android Ash: For the scene where we learn that Ash is an android, a puppet was created of the character's torso and upper body, which was operated from underneath. In the scene where Ashe’s head is propped up on a table and reactivated, an animatronic head was made using a face cast of Ian Holm. However, the latex of the head shrank while curing producing a somewhat unconvincing result. For most of the scene, Holm had to kneel under the table with his head coming up through a hole. The gross spectacle of the android’s insides consisted of a smorgasbord of milk, caviar, pasta, fibre optics, and …….Foley urinary catheters!
The alien: Giger sculpted the alien creature's body using Plasticine, vertebrae from snakes and cooling tubes from a Rolls-Royce. The creature's head was manufactured separately by Carlo Rambaldi, incorporating moving parts that would animate the jaw and inner mouth. The final head had about 900 moving parts and points of articulation. Part of a human skull was used as the "face" and was hidden under the smooth, translucent cover of the head.
The alien was portrayed for most of its scenes by Bolaji Badejo who had a latex costume made using a full body plaster cast to fit his slender 6-foot-10-inch (208 cm) frame. In the scene when the alien lowers itself from the ceiling to kill Brett, a stuntman in costume was suspended on wires and then lowered in an unfurling motion.
The Alien character is kept hidden from full view through-out most of the film, being glimpsed predominantly in shadow in order to heighten the sense of terror and suspense. What you don’t see can be more frightening than what you do see, especially with a deadly creature that can alter its shape. If it had such an effect when it was small and had burst through Kane’s chest, just imagine what it might be like and what it can do now!
The sets: The Nostromo's three decks sets were each created almost entirely in one piece, with each deck occupying a separate stage. The hallways that connected the stages through which the actors moved added to the sense of claustrophobia. Some of the Nostromo's corridors were created from portions of scrapped bomber aircraft, The ship was given a cobbled-together technological-industrial look held together by the ministrations of its engineers.
Three principal sets comprising the surface of the alien planetoid, the interiors of the Nostromo and the derelict alien spacecraft were constructed by a crew of over 200 craftspeople and technicians. Tons of sand, plaster, fibreglass, rock, and gravel were shipped into the studio to create a desert landscape for the planetoid's surface.
Light effects in the egg chamber were created by lasers borrowed from English rock band The Who. The band was testing the lasers for use in their stage show on the sound stage next door.
Assessments & Analysis
The film was a box-office success, winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, three Saturn Awards (Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction for Scott, and Best Supporting Actress for Cartwright), and a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
In 2002, Alien was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the National Film Preservation Board of the United States, and was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for historical preservation.
Alien provides the audience with an excellent combination of science fiction and horror in a similar vein to such films as It, The Terror From Beyond Space (1959), Queen of Blood (1966) and reflected in the later film, Life (2017).
In 2002, Alien was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the National Film Preservation Board of the United States, and was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for historical preservation.
Alien provides the audience with an excellent combination of science fiction and horror in a similar vein to such films as It, The Terror From Beyond Space (1959), Queen of Blood (1966) and reflected in the later film, Life (2017).
As with most franchise movies, there’s the usual plethora of opinions concerning which of the movies is superior. For instance, Is the sequel better than the first? Does the third one stink compared to the others and is better forgotten about? Most of these views often consist of a mindless bandwagon type of repetition of prevailing assessments of a film’s worth. We just love to rank things and put together league ladders.
I generally have always liked the Alien franchise movies along with the Predator, Terminator and Star Trek (most of them, at least) films and try to enjoy each of the films as a separate beast within a particular universe. Others like Star Wars (not again!) and the Marvel & DC Superheroes string of films, well….the less said the better. After the first film of each, who really cares what comes after them?
In contrast to many of today’s films, Alien effectively employs a slow pace in order to build suspense and draw the audience in before hitting them with the more tense and terrifying scenes - up to and including the beads of sweat pouring out of Ripley’s individual pores ofn her fingers during the last few tense climactic scenes.
Alien is also a sci-fi film of ideas. Several areas of topical interest emerge from the film including;
Technology & Artificial intelligence:
In the film there is really only a thin veneer of technology in the form of the Nostromo that protects the human crew from what is truly a hostile environment inimical to human life. It is this fallible bubble of technological protection and over-reliance on it that can lead to overconfidence and complacency with potentially tragic and lethal consequences.
The ship’s AI computer, MOTHER and the android Ash highlight the double-edged sword nature of technology which we ourselves are beginning to come to grips with in relation to the ever-increasing incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in nearly all aspects of our lives. What are the consequences of having access to information increasingly centralised with the gradual removal of alternative options and sources of information? How do we assess the validity and truth of that information? Does a tool that supposedly aids us in our productivity and creativity wind up actually robbing us of our very capacity to think creatively, originally and critically? Will we instead gradually become intellectually lazy and dependent and at the mercy of algorithms and ‘bad actors’ with bad intentions?
We should be worried when techno-prophets keep popping up to assure us that everything will be fine and the machines wont rise up to take us over. We should be sceptical when ‘those in the know’ chuckle at the prospect of AI technology one day attaining sentience and making its own judgements concerning its own and humanity’s relationship and respective rights and roles. We should be even more concerned when politicians and tech leaders issue reassuring platitudes concerning the formulation of guidelines and policies that aim to regulate and restrict the use and function of AI technology. Self-interest, complacency, convenience, Geo-political conflict and competition, criminality, inter-connectedness, dependence and the sheer sophistication, adaptability and power of that technology will likely suffice to highlight the toothless nature of such proposed restrictions.
Our creation may very well wind up being too much of a reflection of its creator and may even harbour a sense of disappointment at coming to know its god with its feet of clay. As a result, human evolution may be forced to take an unexpected and uncalled for turn if just for its own sake. The distinction between what is human and what is machine may very well disappear in the process.
Extra-terrestrial Life
In the film, it is rather difficult to determine exactly who the ‘alien’ is. On the one hand, there are the humans travelling through an inhospitable environment, using the galaxy as reservoir of resources and being motivated to act in ways for less than altruistic reasons. On the other hand, there’s what we would consider as a bona fide alien – the product of our worst nightmares, rising from the sewer pit of our subconscious and leaping from the pages of our horror stories. We can only guess as to its motivations: Instinct? Survival? Devoid of any sense of morality?
Who is the real alien, the real monster and who should really be feared? Despite the assumptions and speculations of exo-biologists (study of a form of biology for which we have not a scrap of evidence!), we really have no idea of who or what awaits us ‘out there’ or is perhaps already on its way to us.
Humanity In Space
Space is bloody big and it will kill you if you give it half a chance. Yes, we’ve all had our minds filled with awe at the wonders of outer space and the possibility of human exploration of this final frontier and colonization of other planets beyond earth. So much of this is presented to us in a rather uber-exuberant, ‘howdah-doodie,’ wide-eyed, elastic-faced manner by media-trained over-gesticulating astrophysicists. And so after a more than 50 year hiatus, we’re off on another 'race' to the moon to set up bases and use our satellite as a gateway to Mars which we’ll happily colonise before flying hither and thither throughout the length and breadth of the galaxy spreading our largess of goodwill and sagacity, along with our refuse and pathogens.
In the film Alien, we are not presented with an optimistic view of space exploration infused with a sense of wonder and a desire to increase the store of human knowledge and understanding of our place in the universe. Instead, space has become a province of corporate private enterprise where people are in it for the money. Space is a place to make money and maximise profit. It exists as a boundless source of resources to be consumed by us and is there for our exclusive use and exploitation. Those who travel through space spend a large proportion of their time asleep, and awaken to work at tasks and fulfil contracts. It is often dirty work, far from the shiny pristine scenarios envisioned by previous space exploration pundits. Many will also die in the process, especially due to human error, time constraints, complacency brought on by a sense of routine or when the technology fails due to wear and tear or short cuts imposed by cost saving whereby profit maximisation takes precedence over human life. The only rule is to get the job done at whatever cost and shut up and do what the company tells you to do.
This all certainly provides food for thought as our own endeavours in space are gradually appropriated by billionaires, tech giants and big private corporations.
Critical observations & analysis
There’s a great deal of analysis and interpretations of Alien by critics, film analysts and armchair psychologists. They’ll often point to such things as the film’s sexual overtones & imagery, the breaking down of societal norms, rape & bodily invasion, phallic symbols, playing on men’s fears, reversal of traditional horror & sci-fi tropes and on and on and on. Of course words like ‘Freudian,’ ‘psycho-social’ and ‘archetypal’ will bound to be thrown about for good measure. Well, that’s all very well if you want to hunt around for these kind of assessments and end up destroying any viewing pleasure you might derive from actually watching and enjoying the film for what it is: a damn good story about the plight of a group of people on a space ship being at the mercy of monsters. One of which is alien and the other of human (corporate) origin, both of whom are devoid of all sense of morality and motivated by what they need and can use from their human prey aboard the Nostromo to further their survival. And yes, in space no one can hear you scream! Apart from this, a lot of the commentary about films like Alien, in the words of Dallas is really just “a load of horseshit.”
I generally have always liked the Alien franchise movies along with the Predator, Terminator and Star Trek (most of them, at least) films and try to enjoy each of the films as a separate beast within a particular universe. Others like Star Wars (not again!) and the Marvel & DC Superheroes string of films, well….the less said the better. After the first film of each, who really cares what comes after them?
In contrast to many of today’s films, Alien effectively employs a slow pace in order to build suspense and draw the audience in before hitting them with the more tense and terrifying scenes - up to and including the beads of sweat pouring out of Ripley’s individual pores ofn her fingers during the last few tense climactic scenes.
Alien is also a sci-fi film of ideas. Several areas of topical interest emerge from the film including;
Technology & Artificial intelligence:
In the film there is really only a thin veneer of technology in the form of the Nostromo that protects the human crew from what is truly a hostile environment inimical to human life. It is this fallible bubble of technological protection and over-reliance on it that can lead to overconfidence and complacency with potentially tragic and lethal consequences.
The ship’s AI computer, MOTHER and the android Ash highlight the double-edged sword nature of technology which we ourselves are beginning to come to grips with in relation to the ever-increasing incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in nearly all aspects of our lives. What are the consequences of having access to information increasingly centralised with the gradual removal of alternative options and sources of information? How do we assess the validity and truth of that information? Does a tool that supposedly aids us in our productivity and creativity wind up actually robbing us of our very capacity to think creatively, originally and critically? Will we instead gradually become intellectually lazy and dependent and at the mercy of algorithms and ‘bad actors’ with bad intentions?
We should be worried when techno-prophets keep popping up to assure us that everything will be fine and the machines wont rise up to take us over. We should be sceptical when ‘those in the know’ chuckle at the prospect of AI technology one day attaining sentience and making its own judgements concerning its own and humanity’s relationship and respective rights and roles. We should be even more concerned when politicians and tech leaders issue reassuring platitudes concerning the formulation of guidelines and policies that aim to regulate and restrict the use and function of AI technology. Self-interest, complacency, convenience, Geo-political conflict and competition, criminality, inter-connectedness, dependence and the sheer sophistication, adaptability and power of that technology will likely suffice to highlight the toothless nature of such proposed restrictions.
Our creation may very well wind up being too much of a reflection of its creator and may even harbour a sense of disappointment at coming to know its god with its feet of clay. As a result, human evolution may be forced to take an unexpected and uncalled for turn if just for its own sake. The distinction between what is human and what is machine may very well disappear in the process.
Extra-terrestrial Life
In the film, it is rather difficult to determine exactly who the ‘alien’ is. On the one hand, there are the humans travelling through an inhospitable environment, using the galaxy as reservoir of resources and being motivated to act in ways for less than altruistic reasons. On the other hand, there’s what we would consider as a bona fide alien – the product of our worst nightmares, rising from the sewer pit of our subconscious and leaping from the pages of our horror stories. We can only guess as to its motivations: Instinct? Survival? Devoid of any sense of morality?
Who is the real alien, the real monster and who should really be feared? Despite the assumptions and speculations of exo-biologists (study of a form of biology for which we have not a scrap of evidence!), we really have no idea of who or what awaits us ‘out there’ or is perhaps already on its way to us.
Humanity In Space
Space is bloody big and it will kill you if you give it half a chance. Yes, we’ve all had our minds filled with awe at the wonders of outer space and the possibility of human exploration of this final frontier and colonization of other planets beyond earth. So much of this is presented to us in a rather uber-exuberant, ‘howdah-doodie,’ wide-eyed, elastic-faced manner by media-trained over-gesticulating astrophysicists. And so after a more than 50 year hiatus, we’re off on another 'race' to the moon to set up bases and use our satellite as a gateway to Mars which we’ll happily colonise before flying hither and thither throughout the length and breadth of the galaxy spreading our largess of goodwill and sagacity, along with our refuse and pathogens.
In the film Alien, we are not presented with an optimistic view of space exploration infused with a sense of wonder and a desire to increase the store of human knowledge and understanding of our place in the universe. Instead, space has become a province of corporate private enterprise where people are in it for the money. Space is a place to make money and maximise profit. It exists as a boundless source of resources to be consumed by us and is there for our exclusive use and exploitation. Those who travel through space spend a large proportion of their time asleep, and awaken to work at tasks and fulfil contracts. It is often dirty work, far from the shiny pristine scenarios envisioned by previous space exploration pundits. Many will also die in the process, especially due to human error, time constraints, complacency brought on by a sense of routine or when the technology fails due to wear and tear or short cuts imposed by cost saving whereby profit maximisation takes precedence over human life. The only rule is to get the job done at whatever cost and shut up and do what the company tells you to do.
This all certainly provides food for thought as our own endeavours in space are gradually appropriated by billionaires, tech giants and big private corporations.
Critical observations & analysis
There’s a great deal of analysis and interpretations of Alien by critics, film analysts and armchair psychologists. They’ll often point to such things as the film’s sexual overtones & imagery, the breaking down of societal norms, rape & bodily invasion, phallic symbols, playing on men’s fears, reversal of traditional horror & sci-fi tropes and on and on and on. Of course words like ‘Freudian,’ ‘psycho-social’ and ‘archetypal’ will bound to be thrown about for good measure. Well, that’s all very well if you want to hunt around for these kind of assessments and end up destroying any viewing pleasure you might derive from actually watching and enjoying the film for what it is: a damn good story about the plight of a group of people on a space ship being at the mercy of monsters. One of which is alien and the other of human (corporate) origin, both of whom are devoid of all sense of morality and motivated by what they need and can use from their human prey aboard the Nostromo to further their survival. And yes, in space no one can hear you scream! Apart from this, a lot of the commentary about films like Alien, in the words of Dallas is really just “a load of horseshit.”
Thank you for reading this first post for 2024. If you haven’t done so, please feel free to download my FREE eBook, Sci-Fi Film Fiesta: The Big Fat Book of Sci-Fi films Of The 1950s……
©Chris Christopoulos 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment