rues-films - Tumblr blog

[rues-films]

Alien (1979)

Alien is a paragon of the sci-fi movie genre and has influenced many more of its kind to date. It's timeless, atmospheric, and iconic.

I also think it's overrated.

The biggest issue I had with this movie was its sound design. Attempts to build tension with deathly silence were annihilated by eardrum-bursting, blaring noise, which defeated the purpose of a lengthy period in the film where very little actually happens. When I wasn't bleeding from my ears, I was listening to the sounds of keyboard tapping from across a room, barely-audible lines, and my verbal discomfort at gratuitous Weaver panty shots (why does she wear them like that?!).

Sigourney Weaver and Ian Holm's performances were fantastic, though each actor flourished in their role. The costuming stood out to me, as well as character and creature design. I especially enjoyed Harry Dean Stanton's performance, which is criminally undervalued. Seeing a Hawaiian shirt in a literally dark sci-fi film was a welcome form of whiplash. Every character felt like a real person, and none were overshadowed by others — a merit we often miss in today's film. The Xenomorph is unforgettable, thanks to designer H. R. Giger, whose IMDB photo represents my face after researching whether or not "Alien 1979 Bush CGI" was legit or not to include in this post. (It's not.)

I struggled with Alien's pacing. Looking at a breakdown of the film, it seems balanced, but many scenes are slow and drag. I think this is in part due to littered establishing information to remind us that yes, we're in space! I was surprised to discover this film's plot takes place over multiple days, rather than hours, but perhaps I didn't pick it up as I was too busy reattaching my own eyeballs, which had melted out of my head, scuttled away, and evolved out of view in a matter of minutes, due to strobe lighting effects.

The set design is remarkable. Sci-fi movies tend to date themselves with their tech, though Alien doesn't suffer from this flaw - simple yet detailed props and scenery make the ship ageless. The film's palette is dark with bursts of light and the blues and greys are evocative of a real sci-fi feeling. The colours make for a great range of shades to pick for your dad's seventh consecutive pair of pyjama pants bought for him for Christmas.

In conclusion:

6/10. That poor cat would have scratched her face off with the jump-rope technique on its cat box.