Alien

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ridley Scott directs. Derek Vanlint behind the camera. Jerry Goldsmith scores. Terry Rawlings cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Made its money back 9.5× over at the box office.
• 247 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
• 4International production across 2 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom.
• 5Part of the "Alien Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 6Directed by Ridley Scott, shot by Derek Vanlint. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 8Editor Terry Rawlings shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9Tom Skerritt and Sigourney Weaver and Veronica Cartwright carry the top of the cast.
• 10Marketing tagline: "In space no one can hear you scream.".
• 11IMDB entry: tt0078748 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 1216,942 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
• 13Classified under 16 themes, including "android", "spacecraft", "space marine", "biology".
• 14Released under 30 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Derek Vanlint

Original score

Jerry Goldsmith

Editing

Terry Rawlings

Production design

Michael Seymour

Costume design

John Mollo

Makeup / hair

Sarah Monzani

Sound

Ben Burtt

Stunt coordinator

Roy Scammell

Runtime

117 min · 1h 57m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$11,000,000

Box office

$104,931,801

Return

954% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Alien (1979) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

93% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

89/100

IMDB rating

8.5/10 · 1,061,640 votes

MPAA

R

Part of

Alien Collection

A science fiction horror film franchise, focusing on Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her battle with an extraterrestrial life-form, commonly referred to as "the Alien". Produced by 20th Century Fox, the series started with the 1979 film Alien, then Aliens in 1986, Alien³ in 1992, and Alien: Resurrection in 1997.

• 
  Alien

  1979 · this one
• 
  Aliens

  1986
• 
  Alien³

  1992
• 
  Alien Resurrection

  1997

Also by

Ridley Scott

• 
  Gladiator

  2000 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Le court des grands

  2005 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Robert

  1967 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Blade Runner

  1982 · ★ 7.9
• 
  The Martian

  2015 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Thelma & Louise

  1991 · ★ 7.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Impossible Build: How They Made the Alien Suit

  Behind the Scenes
• 

  ▶
  Ridley Scott & Yaphet Kotto on ALIEN: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT (2003) | TIFF REWIND

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  Behind the Scenes #4

  Behind the Scenes
• 

  ▶
  Behind the Scenes #3

  Behind the Scenes
• 

  ▶
  Behind the Scenes #2

  Behind the Scenes
• 

  ▶
  Behind the Scenes

  Behind the Scenes

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Patrick E. Abe2016-09-21
  ★ 8/10

  Described by Roger Ebert as a "trapped in a haunted house" movie, this movie set the bar for Horror in the Summer. The "Nostromo," like "Star Wars" spacecraft, looks worn and in use, compared to the "just out of the box" look of "Star Trek" spacecraft. (And I'm a fan of the "Star Trek" universe!) The claustrophobic feel of the "Nostromo" is due to "filming inside of a tube" location shooting next seen in "Das Boot." A band of "space truckers" are awakened from hibernation, and are shocked to find that they are only half way home. The Company orders them to investigate an Alien transmission, which sets up a descent into Hell as the crew finds themselves being stalked by an opportunistic "Exomorph." As the crew is picked off one by one, the true nature of the beast and the odd attitude of the Science officer, Ash, raise the anxiety level over 100%. What sets this tale apart from other "space monster" films is the character of Third officer Ripley, who raises uncomfortable questions to Capt. Dallas about company policy in general and Science officer Ash in particular. After Capt. Dallas disappears, take-charge-female-Ripley discovers Ash's true intentions and leads her diminished crew to action. The level of violence has been described as "near pornographic," which is helped along by H.R. Giger's "worst nightmare" mature Alien. This is the first of a memorable franchise, featuring a strong female leader that continues into the "Prometheus" prequel.(?)

  Read full review ↓
• John Chard2019-05-12
  ★ 10/10

  There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated... Alien is directed by Ridley Scott and written by Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon. It stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Ian Holm and Harry Dean Stanton. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Derek Vanlint. The space merchant vessel Nostromo receives an unknown transmission as a distress call and land on the moon where the call had come from. Bad idea... Back on release it was one of the most talked about movies of 1979, backed by a terrifically tantalising trailer - which itself was backed by one of the greatest tag-lines of them all, the weight of expectation of a genre blending classic was colossal. This was only after all director Ridley Scott's second feature length film, could a sophomore pic really be all that? History as we now know has proven that to be the case. On plot synopsis it's standard format, where the haunted house and a killer on the loose has been replaced by a space ship in space. Yet once the pic plays its alien hand, and it becomes a battle of survival in one location, it dawns on you there is really no escape. No running into the garden and down the street, no hiding in the attic hoping the killer saunters off home, this is find and destroy or be destroyed yourself - with the future of mankind depending on the humans to succeed. Some still go into a viewing of Alien nowadays and decry it for being too much of a slow burn, yet this is one of the pic's biggest assets. Time in space is slow anyway, and lonely one would guess, so Scott wisely lets the characters be introduced, lets us understand just enough about their psychological make up before things go belly up (literally as it happens). When the pot finally boils over it's terrifying, the bar well and truly raised for horror/sci-fi hybrid conventions. With art design by H.R. Giger and Goldsmith producing eerie musical rumbles, the whole piece has a disquiet about it, notably with distressing sexual connotations and symbolism that haunts the mind as the body horror unfolds. The quiet passages are nerve shredders, Alien across the board is a visceral experience, especially for those who have ever watched it on a big screen in a darkened theatre. It made a star of Weaver, who unbeknown to those on first viewing is the main character, another masterstroke by Scott, with Ripley the character in Weaver's hands shunting women's character's in big budget films forward by some considerable margin. All the cast are on great form, there's no showy stars in here, a collection of hard working British and American actors feeding off their director for super returns. Now 40 years old, Alien shows no sign of losing its classic status, and rightly show. A seminal class act that still holds all the qualities it had back in 1979. In space no one can hear you scream - indeed! 10/10

  Read full review ↓
• Repo Jack2020-10-28
  ★ 10/10

  The standard bearer of horror in space, Ridley Scott's masterpiece still thrills new generations of fans. The Giger-inspired alien induces a claustrophobic nightmare that still carries on in sequels and prequels.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Brandywine Productions

  US

• TW

  Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

  GB

• RO

  Ronald Shusett Productions

  US

Key crew

• Production DesignMichael Seymour
• Art DirectionRoger Christian
• Executive ProducerRonald Shusett
• Special EffectsBrian Johnson
• CastingMary Goldberg
• Set DecorationIan Whittaker
• EditorTerry Rawlings
• EditorPeter Weatherley
• Costume DesignJohn Mollo
• ProducerWalter Hill
• ProducerGordon Carroll
• Art DirectionLeslie Dilley
• CastingMary Selway
• ProducerDavid Giler
• Associate ProducerIvor Powell
• Still PhotographerBob Penn
• Dolby ConsultantMax Bell
• Stunt CoordinatorRoy Scammell
• Assistant Art DirectorJonathan Amberston
• Property MasterDave Jordan
• Dialogue EditorBryan Tilling
• Costume AssistantGraham Churchyard
• Special Effects SupervisorNick Allder
• Modelling SupervisorPeter Voysey

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• android
• spacecraft
• space marine
• biology
• dystopia
• countdown
• space suit
• beheading
• space travel
• cowardice
• alien
• space
• female protagonist
• parasite
• space opera
• cosmos

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)1979-05-25R
• Theatrical1979-06-21R
• Theatrical2003-10-29R· Director's Cut
• Theatrical2024-04-26R· 45th Anniversary Edition
• Physical1999-06-01R· DVD
• Physical2004-01-06R· DVD (Director's Cut)
• Physical2011-05-10R· Blu-ray (Theatrical and Director's Cuts)
• Physical2014-10-07R· 35th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray (Theatrical and Director's Cuts)
• Physical2019-04-01R· 40th Anniversary Edition 4K UHD (Theatrical and Director's Cuts)

Also known as

International titles

• Alien: The Director's CutUS
• Alien, el 8º pasajeroES
• Alien - den åttonde passagerarenSE
• Alien, o Oitavo PassageiroPT
• Alien, le 8ème passagerFR
• Alien 1US
• Alien 1DE
• Alien: Das unheimliche Wesen aus einer fremden WeltDE
• 異形HK
• ObcyPL
• Obcy: 8 Pasażer NostromoPL
• Alien: O 8º PassageiroBR
• 异形1CN
• Alien : Le 8e PassagerCA
• TulnukasEE