Alien

March 15, 2002

Alien(1979) Rating:**** SF(R);116 min.
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright.
Director: Ridley Scott.

Filmed almost entirely in the oil refinery spaceship Nostromo, Alien delivers a strong sense of claustrophobia aided by its confined film direction. You may also become stricken with fear and edginess due to the ships vastness and mysterious corridors.The film begins with the awakening of the seven crew members of the Nostromo who fight for survival against an alien which impregnates itself in one particular crew member, Kane. This leads to the infamous chest-burster scene after Kane supposedly recovers. The alien, after being birthed out of Kanes' chest, runs amuck on the ship and the remaining crew members desperately attempt to locate and destroy it. What they don't know is that it is growing at a rapid and steady rate. One by one, all the crew members are slaughtered by the vicious alien except Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo(not to mention the ultimate sci-fi heroin). With her extraordinary wit under the circumstances she is faced, Ripley prevails in outsmarting and henceforth defeating the alien in a memorable final confrontation. Truly a must see for any science ficton finatic.