Alien (1979)

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers (WGA):

Dan O'Bannon (story) and
Ronald Shusett (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

25 May 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

In space no one can hear you scream.

Plot:

The crew of a commercial deep space mining ship, investigating a suspected S.O.S., lands on a distant planet and discovers a nest of strange eggs.

Plot Keywords:

Spaceship | Egg | Warning | Parasite | Deep Space

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 12 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Tom Skerritt	...	Dallas
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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Powell	...	Alien (uncredited)

Directed by
Ridley Scott

Writing credits (WGA)
Dan O'Bannon		(story) and
Ronald Shusett		(story)
Dan O'Bannon		(screenplay)

Produced by
Gordon Carroll	....	producer
David Giler	....	producer
Walter Hill	....	producer
Ivor Powell	....	associate producer
Ronald Shusett	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
Derek Vanlint		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Crowther		(director's cut)
Terry Rawlings
Peter Weatherley

Production Design by
Michael Seymour

Art Direction by
Roger Christian
Leslie Dilley		(as Les Dilley)

Set Decoration by
Ian Whittaker

Costume Design by
John Mollo

Makeup Department
Pat Hay	....	makeup artist
Tommie Manderson	....	makeup supervisor (as Tommy Manderson)
Sarah Monzani	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Garth Thomas	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Raymond Becket	....	assistant director
Steve Harding	....	assistant director
Paul Ibbetson	....	first assistant director
Bob Jordan	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Jonathan Amberston	....	assistant art director
Eddie Butler	....	modeller
Ron Cobb	....	concept artist
John Davey	....	head painter
Shirley Denny	....	modeller
Benjamín Fernández	....	assistant art director (as Benjamin Fernandez)
Chris Foss	....	concept artist
Jean Giraud	....	concept artist (as Jean 'Moëbius' Giraud)
George Gunning	....	head carpenter
Dave Jordan	....	property master
Dan O'Bannon	....	visual design consultant
Jill Quertier	....	production buyer
Patti Rodgers	....	modeller
Bert Rodwell	....	head plasterer
Peter Voysey	....	supervising modeller
Bill Welch	....	construction manager
José María Alarcón	....	assistant set decorator (uncredited)
Gari Bacon	....	props (uncredited)
John Chisholm	....	prop man (uncredited)
Paul James	....	plasterer (uncredited)
Brian Muir	....	sculptor (uncredited)
Stuart Rose	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Keith Short	....	sculptor (uncredited)

Sound Department
Max Bell	....	sound consultant: Dolby
Andrew I. King	....	sound re-recording mixer: director's cut
Derrick Leather	....	production sound mixer
Ray Merrin	....	sound re-recording assistant
Bill Rowe	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jim Shields	....	sound editor
Bryan Tilling	....	dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Nick Allder	....	special effects supervisor
Alan Bryce	....	floor effects supervisor (as Allan Bryce)
Clinton Cavers	....	coordinator: 'Alien' effects
Carlo De Marchis	....	additional 'Alien' mechanics (as Carlo DeMarchis)
Roger Dicken	....	maker: small 'Alien' forms
Guy Hudson	....	special effects technician
Brian Johnson	....	special effects supervisor
Phil Knowles	....	special effects technician
Dennis Lowe	....	special effects technician
Roger Nichols	....	special effects technician
Carlo Rambaldi	....	creator: 'Alien' head effects
Neil Swan	....	special effects technician
David H. Watkins	....	special effects technician (as David Watkins)
David Watling	....	additional 'Alien' mechanics (as Dr. David Watling)
Anton Furst	....	special effects (uncredited)
Bob Keen	....	modeller (uncredited)
Philip Sharpe	....	special effects technician (uncredited)
Christian Wolf-La'Moy	....	model maker (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Dennis Ayling	....	director of photography: miniature effects (as Denys Ayling)
Martin Bower	....	supervising model maker: miniature effects
Ray Caple	....	matte artist
Dick Hewitt	....	electronics and video coordinator: main unit
David Litchfield	....	operator: miniature effects
Bernard Lodge	....	special graphic effects
Terry Pearce	....	focus: miniature effects
Bill Pearson	....	supervising model maker: miniature effects
Peter Woods	....	key grip: miniature effects
Alan Buchan	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Rick Cortes	....	Inferno artist (2003 director's cut re-release) (uncredited)
Jon Sorensen	....	visual effects miniatures (uncredited)

Stunts
Eddie Powell	....	stunts
Roy Scammell	....	stunt coordinator
Monty Jordan	....	assistant stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Adrian Biddle	....	camera focus: main unit
Colin Davidson	....	camera focus: main unit
Ray Evans	....	lighting gaffer: main unit
Bob Penn	....	still photographer
Jimmy Walters	....	key grip: main unit
Wick Finch	....	electrician (uncredited)
David Johnson	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Micky Wilson	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Mary Goldberg	....	casting: USA
Mary Selway	....	casting: UK

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tiny Nicholls	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Peter Baldock	....	assistant film editor
Peter Culverwell	....	assistant film editor
Les Healey	....	first assistant editor
Maureen Lyndon	....	assistant film editor
Bridget Reiss	....	assistant film editor
Brian Q. Kelley	....	editor: additional material for special edition (uncredited)

Music Department
Robert Hathaway	....	music editor (as Bob Hathaway)
Lionel Newman	....	conductor
Percy Edwards	....	alien vocalizator (uncredited)
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Stanley Bielecki	....	advertising and publicity consultant
Lori Covel	....	assistant to producers
Valerie Craig	....	production assistant
Brian Doyle	....	unit publicist
Kay Fenton	....	continuity
Bill Finch	....	production accountant
H.R. Giger	....	'Alien' design
Mark Haggard	....	production executive
Alice Harmon	....	assistant to producers
Charles Lippincott	....	advertising and publicity consultant
Sandy Molloy	....	assistant to director
Saul Bass	....	title designer (uncredited)
Robert H. Lemer	....	associate to producer (uncredited)
Jake Scott	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Brandywine Productions
• Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1979) (USA) (theatrical) (released by) (as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.)
• 20th Century Fox (1979) (Japan) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Brazil (1979) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (1979) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (1979) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia-Fox (1979) (Cyprus) (theatrical)
• Columbia-Fox (1980) (Greece) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Film de Mexico (2003) (Mexico) (theatrical) (director's cut)
• 20th Century Fox Italia (2003) (Italy) (theatrical) (director's cut)
• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (director's cut)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical) (director's cut)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2003) (Germany) (theatrical) (director's cut)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS) (as "Alien - O Oitavo Passageiro")
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1984) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• CBS / Fox Video (1987) (Greece) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (198?) (New Zealand) (VHS) (original video release)
• CBS/Fox (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (198?) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• City Video International (CVI) (19??) (Netherlands) (video) (Betamax)
• Fox Video (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS) (retail)
• Fox Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Odeon (2004) (Greece) (DVD) (director's cut)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (1997) (Germany) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS) (director's cut)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (Alien Anthology)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2012) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (Prometheus to Alien: The Evolution boxset)

Special Effects

• Filmfex Animation Services (special optical effects by) (as Filmfex Animation Services Ltd.)

Other Companies

• Steve Frankfurt Communications  title design
• R/Greenberg Associates  title design (as R. Greenberg Associates)
• Tony Silver Films  title design
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production (as Dolby Stereo) (uncredited)
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints by (as DeLuxe)
• Sony U.K. Ltd.  video equipment by
• Anvil Studios  music recorded at (as Anvil Recording Studios, Denham England)
• E.M.I. Elstree Studios  post-production (as E.M.I. Elstree Studios, England)
• Anvil Recording Studios  music recorded at (as Anvil Recording Studios, Denham, England)
• Intrada  soundtrack (complete score) (uncredited)
• Lee Electrics  lighting by

Also Known As:

"Alien: The Director's Cut" - USA (director's cut)

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi violence/gore and language

Runtime:

117 min | 116 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (as Dolby Stereo)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 (director's cut) (2003) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating: director's cut) (2003) | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) (1991) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R (certificate #25541) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (director's cut) (2003) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) (director's cut) (2003) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) (director's cut) (2003) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (director's cut) (2003) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) (original rating) | New Zealand:M (re-release) | New Zealand:R16 (original rating) | Italy:T | Finland:K-18 (director's cut) (DVD rating) | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Portugal:M/16 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 (re-rating) (2003) | South Korea:18 (original rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:14 | West Germany:16 (f) | Israel:16 | India:A | Czech Republic:18 | Japan:G (2010) | UK:15 (video rating) (2010) | UK:18 (video rating: DVD audio commentary) (2003) | UK:18 (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Brandywine Productions

Trivia:

An early draft of the script had a male Ripley, making this one of at least three films where Sigourney Weaver played a character originally planned to be a man. The second is The TV Set (2006) and the third is Vantage Point (2008).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ripley comes out of the closet with her spacesuit on in the shuttle to try and get rid of the Alien and she straps herself into the seat the straps are up over her shoulders. Then she scene switches to her fingers pushing the switches and the scene then goes back to her in the seat and the straps are down on her arms. The next time the scene changes again the straps are up over her shoulders.

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?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Alien Encounters: Superior Fan Power Since 1979 (2013)

Soundtrack:

Incidental music from 'Symphony No. 2 ('Romantic')

The mother of all movies

Back in early 20th century, Lumière brothers didn't have a clue of what they were playing with. I'm freaking sure that if somebody could have magically told them that thanks to their work, a movie like 'Alien' would have been made in the future, they both would have died of a sudden, shocked by the consequences of their labor, like an honest scientist would if he was shown an evil use of his research. In that sense, but in the best way imaginable, 'Alien' is the atomic bomb.

In my opinion, 'Alien' is the only perfect movie in the history of cinema. Of course, this could be debatable, but of all the films I've watched since I was born, this is the only one in which I haven't been able to find the slightest flaw. It gets a golden ten out of ten. Bright, solid and massive.

I could go on with a panegyric, but I'll try to be short and accurate:

The direction is just perfect. Every shot is marvellous, every movement of the camera is breathtaking. There is absolutely nothing you could add or subtract. Touch it, and you spoil it. Seriously.

The acting is splendid. The performances build a credible world centuries away. I don't know about you, but this take on the future was unveliabably acceptable. Sigourney Weaver is more than a revelation, John Hurt is a master, and the rest are nothing short of marvellous.

The script is a work of art, the story is mesmerizing, well-constructed, well-developed, and free of absurd twists. Its simplicity and efectiveness are yet, 25 years after, to be matched.

The atmosphere is pure genius. Gothic, claustrophobic and sometimes baroque. The use of light and dark is beyond description, the use of sound is as creepy as it gets.

The FX are the best possible for 1979. In the time of the release, some scenes were stomach churning.

The score. Jerry Goldsmith's work matches the images so perfectly it seems to bleed from them. It is and will be the best soundtrack for a sci-fi flick in space ever.

The tagline. "In space, no one can hear you scream". THIS is a tagline.

And, of course... the alien. The only alive creature that can steal Weaver the movie. Its design is the most innovative I've seen. It has spawned dozens of disgraceful imitations. This is the real deal. Not only the look, but the complete design of a life form, including biological features. Acid instead of blood. Jaws inside jaws. What more could you possibly want? This is how a movie is done.

A very good sign of a movie that has gone down in history is the amount of collectively well remembered scenes. Well, 'Alien' has so many that I won't go into it. This movie contains so many iconic scenes that has become an icon itself.

So, what else? I urge all young directors to watch this movie a zillion times, as I've already done, and take notes all along. But not in order to rip off from it, as many others have done, but to learn, learn, learn, learn and learn how a movie should be done. 'Casablanca'? You must be joking.

Oh, I almost forget! There's a lovable cat in it.

RATING: 10