Alien - Collectors Edition

Contains the classic 1979 theatrical version and the all-new 2003 director's cut, digitally restored and recut by Ridley Scott! When the crew of the space-tug Nostromo answers a distress signal from a desolate planet, they discover a deadly life form that breeds within a human host. And so the horror begins - a horror which will end the lives of six crewmembers and alter the life of the seventh forever. Sigourney Weaver stars as Ellen Ripley in one of the most suspenseful and powerful science fiction films of all time.

Director Ridley Scott's breakthough film, an immensely successful blend of horror and science fiction, is a classic in both genres and spawned a host of sequels and imitators. Starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley, ALIEN focuses on the crew of the space cargo ship Nostromo, which lands on a

moribund planet in response to a faint SOS. Inside a crashed ship, the crew members come upon strange pods, one of which spews forth a repellently fleshy insectile creature that locks on to the face of the unlucky Kane (John Hurt).

Despite Ripley's advice, science officer Ash (Ian Holm) allows Kane to return to the ship, where the creature finally releases its grip. Soon, however, in one of the film's most infamous scenes, one of its offspring explodes horribly from Kane's stomach and scurries away. Dallas (Tom Skerritt), the vessel's captain, leads the others in a search for the rapidly growing, acid-dripping alien before it can cut them down--one by one.

A triumph of art direction, set design, and special effects, ALIEN gains much of its impact from the contrast between the bleak, antiseptic beauty of the space vessel's interior and the primordial horror of the alien, a brilliantly original fusion of insect, man, and machine designed by Swiss surrealist painter H.R. Giger. The top-notch cast also includes Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto, and Harry Dean Stanton.

ALIEN 1979 TRIVIA | Sources: MovieMistakes.com, IMDB.com

When Kane is in the egg pit on the alien ship and shines his light on one of the eggs, the shape we see moving inside is in fact the hands of director Ridley Scott clad in rubber gloves.

For the wide shots where we see Kane and Co. walking around outside the Nostromo, Ridley Scott used children (two of which were his own) in special child sized space suits so the sets would appear bigger in comparison to the people on screen. He used the same tactic again when they discover the fossilised space jockey on the alien ship.

Originally the design for the alien called for it to have pulsing brains in its head (the idea being so we could see the creature 'thinking' while it moved around). The effects department accomplished this by having live maggots placed underneath the transparent dome on the head. Unfortunately the maggots refused to wriggle and move around on command, so the effects dept. doused them with LSD right before the cameras started rolling. Sadly the idea was later scrapped.

Ridley Scott is reportedly quoted as saying that originally he wanted a much darker ending. He planned on having the alien bite off Ripley's head in the escape shuttle, sit in her chair, and then start speaking with her voice in a message to Earth. Apparently, 20th Century Fox wasn't too pleased with such a dark ending.

The models had to be repainted every evening of the shoot because the slime used on-set removed the acrylic paint from their surfaces.

ALIEN 1979 REVIEWS

Roger Ebert - October 26, 2003 | Source: SunTimes.com
At its most fundamental level, "Alien" is a movie about things that can jump out of the dark and kill you. It shares a kinship with the shark in "Jaws," Michael Myers in "Halloween," and assorted spiders, snakes, tarantulas and stalkers. Its most obvious influence is Howard Hawks' "The Thing" (1951), which was also about a team in an isolated outpost who discover a long-dormant alien, bring it inside, and are picked off one by one as it haunts the corridors. Look at that movie, and you see "Alien" in embryo. . . . . continue

James Berardinelli | Source: ReelViews.net
When Alien was first released during the summer movie season of 1979, science fiction films were all the rage. The trend had been started two years earlier with the unexpected box office success of Star Wars, and, by 1979, anything even remotely connected with space and/or aliens was guaranteed to raise some interest. Two highly anticipated efforts - the big-screen debut of Star Trek (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and the Star Wars sequel (The Empire Strikes Back) - both of which were within a year of their opening dates, further invigorated the atmosphere. . . . . continue

Bruce Westbrook/Houston Chronicle | Source: Chron.com
The biggest lure for seeing Alien: The Director's Cut on the big screen isn't brief new footage or remastered visuals and sound. It's the big screen itself, which properly showcases a genuine fright classic. Alien, the tale of a bickering space crew taking aboard a small critter who morphs into a large, insectile killing machine, catapulted director Ridley Scott (Gladiator) into the big time. From H.R. Giger's Oscar-winning "bio-mechanical" alien effects to Jerry Goldsmith's elegant, haunting score to a potent cast led by Sigourney Weaver, Alien is a monster movie with class. . . . . continue

Ty Burr/Boston Globe | Source: Boston.com
"The perfect organism," the science officer coolly calls the beast stalking his spaceship. "Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility -- I admire its purity." Ash (Ian Holm) could be speaking of the movie that surrounds him. Ridley Scott's 1979 "Alien" is remembered as the film that not only fused the sci-fi of "Star Wars" with the splatter of "Halloween" but that helped launch the careers of Sigourney Weaver and, ultimately, directors James Cameron and David Fincher, who both oversaw controversial sequels. What's most unusual about the original 24 years later, though, is its elegant minimalism. . . . . continue