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Alien (1979)

R | | Horror, Sci-Fi | 22 June 1979 (USA)
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After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as distress call, their landing on the source planet finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious lifeform. Continuing their journey back to Earth with the attacked crew having recovered and the critter deceased, they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

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Writers:

(story), (story) | 1 more credit »
Popularity
389 ( 13)
Top Rated Movies #53 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 16 wins & 19 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
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...
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...
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Ash
...
...
Helen Horton ...
Mother (voice)
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Storyline

A commercial crew aboard the deep space towing vessel, Nostromo is on its way home when they pick up an SOS warning from a distant planet. What they don't know is that the SOS warning is not like any other ordinary warning call. Picking up the signal, the crew realize that they are not alone on the spaceship when an alien stowaway is on the cargo ship. Written by blazesnakes9

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

The scariest movie ever made... just got scarier. (UK 2003 re-release) See more »

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sci-fi violence/gore and language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

Country:

|

Language:

|

Release Date:

22 June 1979 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Alien: The Director's Cut  »

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£208,081 (UK) (31 October 2003)

Gross:

£379,140 (UK) (7 November 2003)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

(70 mm prints)| (as Dolby Stereo)

Color:

(Eastman Kodak)|

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

According to John Hurt in the DVD Documentary, he was considered at the beginning of casting to play Kane but had already committed to another film that was set to take place in South Africa, so Jon Finch got the role instead. However, two separate incidents occurred which got Hurt the role. First was the fact that he was banned from South Africa because the country mistook him for actor John Heard who strongly opposed Apartheid (Hurt points out that he was opposed to it too, but was lucky enough not to get blacklisted) so he was unable to do the other film. Second, Finch became seriously ill from diabetes and had to pull out. Ridley Scott immediately contacted Hurt, pitched him the script over a weekend and Hurt arrived on the set Monday morning with little to no sleep to begin filming. See more »

Goofs

When Dallas is climbing through the air shafts of the Nostromo, a ladder he uses wobbles. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Brett: This is the worst shit I've ever seen, man.
Parker: What you say? You got any biscuits over there?
Ripley: Here's some cornbread.
Parker: Cornbread. Yeah.
Lambert: I am cold.
Parker: Still with us, Brett?
Brett: Right.
Kane: Oh, I feel dead.
Parker: Anybody ever tell you you look dead, man?
See more »

Connections

Spoofed in We Are Not Angels (1992) See more »

Soundtracks

Eine kleine Nachtmusik'
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (as W.A. Mozart)
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Structural perfection matched only by its hostility
20 July 1999 | by (Brooklyn, NY) – See all my reviews

Director Ridley Scott's well-honed talents of pacing and editing create a tense atmosphere that superbly conveys dread and fear of an unknown, unseen evil entity. In 1979, the technology didn't exist to generate a computer image of a Being from another world, and thank God, because this film would have sucked just like all these post-Alien creature features do. Everyone who loves this movie knows what I'm talking about. Ridley Scott had to be extremely careful not to show a full shot of the Alien, except in very brief scenes, and not to reveal exactly how it moves, because then we would see that it is just some tall, skinny guy in a rubber suit. Nowadays, some computer guy would whip up a really scary-looking, but nevertheless FAKE-looking (yes, computer guys, we can tell) Alien, and the director would not have to even think about trying to breathe life into H.R. Giger's hallucinations to make a successful picture.

The dark, cold beauty of this film will never be equaled.


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Derelict cargo hold RickyDeg
The dumbest crew of all time? d-garutti
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Props on display when ALIEN opened in theaters ctbowne
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ALIEN & MOEBIUS's Compression/Spacesuits lukekywalkrawakenz
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