Does Strange Days with Ralph Fiennes count as Sci-Fi? If so then definitely Strange Days (1995). Well Alien and Aliens and the Back To The Future Films as well.
Aliens, terminator 2, starship troopers, and recently Dune (masterpiece worth watching and rewatching). This one hits hard because its scifi and horror, and more of a pshycological thriller :D (just right in my sweet spot).
I feel like not enough credit is given to Ian Holme for his interpretation of Ash. If you watch his acting at the begining of the movie his emotion are forced like an actor who can't get natural, but as the movie advance he get more and more cold and when the reveal drop it feel so right. Such competent acting. Ian Holm was a tresor, I don't remember seing him in a role that didn't suited him. Such a amazing actor. RIP Sir Ian Holm.
He was such a good actor. He fit into everything so well. And he's creepy as hell in this when you realize what's going on and rewatch it. He knows full well the danger and he's playing them the whole time.
Ash’s “perfect organism” speech for me is the scariest part of the movie. With another actor, it might’ve come off as cheesy, but not here. There’s such a deep emptiness in his eyes, like the void itself.
As scary as the Xenomorphs are. Facehuggers have always been scarier to me. The thought of them fitting in small spaces and latching on your face, only to wake up and knowing you’re done for was so horrifying for me when I first saw this film.
I'm pretty sure that Steve O'Bannon's original idea was a space-parasite of some kind, but Giger was the one who made it truly nightmarish by adding the face-rape and implantation aspect.
"SPACE SPIDERS THAT ATTACH THEMSELVES TO YOUR FACE AND INFECT YOU WITH AN INCURABLE PARASITE THAT ULTIMATELY KILLS YOU" I don't really think you need too much imagination to make that a horrific prospect.
Even after all this time, the design of the Xenomorphs has never been surpassed. It is just so iconic. Also, wow, this movie sure invented a lot of classic horror tropes.
It was based on a painting called Necronom IV by swiss artist H.R. Giger. Ridley Scott contacted Giger and became the designer of all three forms of the Alien: The Facehugger, The Chestburster and the Full-Grown Alien, plus the Space Jockey.
@@7RendarHardly. They were just tree-squids that spoke a weird hypothetical language. I think the cosmic horror of the Alien xenomorph is as scary as it gets.
My problem with that whole scene... Ripley is 2nd in command of that ship. So shouldn't she have already known that he was new to the crew? Or is it implying Ripley is new also?
@@kevinmurphy2286 I don't think the crew knew everybody else too much. Surely some of them have been in one or two missions together, but it looks to me that every individual mission has its own crew made from the people they could find. In fact, only the technician pair seems to have some kind of common history and bonding. Ash was not as 'new' as he was unexpected. Dallas already had contacted a science advisor, but the company sent a substitute 2 days prior of the start of the mission. Probably Ripley didn't know any of them prior, being as she is the youngest member of the crew.
This movie does suspense and atmosphere so well. 1h 57m runtime and the Xenomorph is only on screen for around 4 mins. It's incredible what this movie does to your brain. Edit: The alien in all scenes was a 7ft guy in a costume, unless it was a close-up(animatronics). That's why the jump scare at 26:46 seemed so human the way it reached out going HEEEEY like Hayley says lol. The set design for this movie is phenomenal
The xenomorph's design was made for this movie, by Giger himself. It was strongly inspired by Necronom IV, but Giger made the final Alien design custom for the movie (especially adapting it to be feminine, which was central to he and Ridley's ideas for the monster). A lot of broad strokes come from Necronom IV, but a lot of the xenomorph's defining characteristics-such as the mouth within a mouth- were custom-made for the movie.
@@sumnerhayes3411 Apparently, the mouth-within-a-mouth is actually based off a moray eel’s second set of jaws, which it uses to pull prey into its mouth.
Yep, morays were one inspiration. But the final design was made by Giger for the movie, based on morays, Necronom IV, and a bunch of other sources: you can find interviews where he talks about the design process. The Quadrilogy boxed set is a good jumping off point if you want the gory details.
Thank you for sharing your reaction to "Alien." You mentioned its minimalist marketing. The ad simply had the film's title and the statement, "In space, no one can hear you scream."
The trailer was almost none of the movie, and a shrieking alarm with orange flashing lights, while camera passed over a set of eggs in British-style carboard eggboxes. Unnerving and actually silly seen today, but very intriuging back then.
@@stevetheduck1425 I think you're possibly misremembering it, and I don't think it's silly at all, even today. Maybe you should look it up again; I rewatch it every so often just to remind myself how terrifying it was. In a time when every film trailer was still made from extended scenes from the movie played out complete with dialogue, with a bombastic male voice describing the plot in unnecessary detail (compare it to the genuinely cheesy original trailer for Star Wars only 2 years earlier) it was unlike _anything_ that had come before it, and arguably anything since. One of the greatest trailers ever made.
As others have stated, this movie is iconic. So many movies pull from Alien. This is what happens when a mining crew comes across an alien species. They made many, many mistakes just like untrained people would. Ash orchestrated and used their mistakes to get his sample to the company. A lot is kept in the dark because that's how it would be. You know what they know which is next to nothing. And, that's why it's scarier than some silly slasher movie.
I just thought of two plot holes; 1) how in HELL did the company know about the xenomorph, 2)why didn't Dallas know enough to demand to see Ash''s x-ray before they let him rejoin the crew?
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Ash had orders to prioritize any alien lifeforms over the crew. Those orders kicked in the very moment they found the alien ship. He easily could send reports back to the company about the xenomorphs. He broke protocol by allowing a infected crew member back on the ship.
@@IamnotJohnFordI don't think they had instantaneous communication with home- the whole point of the movie was that they were in interstellar space. You can't just call home.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 They didn't. It would take whatever time to send and later receive a response. But, he was sophisticated enough to fool everyone until he was revealed. It would be pretty easy for him to act on orders independently. The primary order was programmed into him long before they even Earth.
Your confusion about the big thing in the Ailen Ship was reasonable. I glad that you guys mentioned that it looked Mechanical yet skeletal/Organic. It's the common trait of H. R. Geiger's art. He's the one who designed much of the film's stuff.
That was one thing that always bothered me; they never explain how a creature could grow from a pound to 250-300 lbs in such a short span of time. The shedding of skin implies a metamorphoses, but there's no food source. I wish they implied that the creature was able to digest metal or something. Otherwise there are very few plot holes in this film.
It could literally absorb energy from heat/radiation/oxygen and/or some pre-caked level of growth from the egg/parasite. Part of why it's so 'alien' is the inexplicable biology of it.@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017Recall that while the crew were searching for the Alien, the light's didn't come on, Parker goes to fix it, backs away, then the lights come on anyway? The Alien was in the large room they just passed, it was still (did not appear on the tracker) while the cat was moving (they did pick it up on the tracker). It only moved to attack Brett. Alien is bio-mechanical, and connected to a power source, using energy for nourishment. Hinted, but no-one in the film works this out.
@@mrb2349Absolutely. However physics is the same the universe over, so conservation of mass is still required. There should have been some suggestion that the creature could eat metal or something. It's a small nitpick though.
Rewatching the movie after having seen it once can be a very different experience. What’s notable are all of Ash’s interactions with the crew and his facial expressions when they aren’t looking especially the “dinner” scene.
there's a lot of stuff going on. the tension between Ripley and Parker/Lambert/Brett. Parker/Lambert's bond. The subtle hints that ripley and Dallas are romantically involved. the way Ash uses Dallas's negligent command style to go about his special order. Kane's fearless adventurous spirit - always wanting to be the first one to dive into the unknown.
@@Laidengizer011 there's a scene in the script and in the novel where ripley finds dallas relaxing in the shuttle after kane's death. she starts undressing and says something to effect of "we got a few minutes. i need to let off some steam." its a well known subplot that ridley left out.. poke around you'll find it.
Is not that it's a 100% surprise-they knew it was coming, they just didn't know the extent of the special effects the production was pulling. The blood and puppetry was pretty realistic.
@@nitrokid correct part of the reaction was due to them not being warned about how much blood and blood spray there would be. The lady that got a face full was not happy at all.
And the scary thing is that they're real , in real life ,can you believe it ? The SSP, US govt. and many governments of the world know that they actually exist !
I love "The Thing". This movie pre-dates it by some years...The lack of exposition is kinda why 'Alien' lasted longer (not that it wasn't ruined by terrible sequels...) The lore of Alien was built around some solid books written after this movie to expand it. John Carpenter wrote "The Thing" and was very reluctant to allow Hollywwod to own his creation...probably for the best.
@@AutoAlligator Carpenter's The Thing was actually a remake. The story was very similar to the original, but Carpenter did an amazing job, and the special effects of that time allowed for a much scarier creature. One of those rare occasions where the remake is better than the original.
This movie is an absolute master class in slow burn horror movies and ratcheting up the tension and really took a lesson from Jaws in how you actually make a creature terrifying. Easily makes my top 10 all time list. Wonderful reaction. You were correct when you were saying the crew wasn't trained for this; they're basically the interstellar version of truckers. I don't think we needed any more backstory than we got for this story to get off the ground and, while it spawned a franchise, there initially wasn't a plan for there to be more than one of these movies.
The movie didn't start out as part of a franchise. It was a stand alone film. James Cameron had an idea for a sequel which he co-wrote and directed. 'Aliens' didn't come out until 1986 - seven years after the original had come out. Other sequels followed after that.
So glad you watched this. Aside from how good the film is, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley is the original Action Girl. There are dozens of writers, actresses, stuntwomen, and so on who cite this character as their inspiration, including people who have become iconic in their own right like Linda Hamilton in the Terminator movies. Since you mostly watch paranormal horror, it's worth considering that Alien is basically a haunted house film with the xenomorph as the ghost. It's a large but static location that's completely isolated from the outside world.
I like that you guys admit to knowing, at least, something about the franchise. I hate when people spend the first 10 minutes trying to convince me that they know absolutely nothing, despite having a considerable social media footprint. Other channels would say that they can't even spell Alien if they could get away with it lol
Alien is a perfect movie. It has a perfect story, cast, direction, and score. I saw it in the theater in 1979. I still remember the teaser trailer on TV, "In space, no one can hear you scream." I absolutely loved it!
You're in for one hell of a ride! It won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, it made $200 million dollars against an $11 million dollar budget, it put Sigourney Weaver on the map, it spawned 3 sequels, 2 spin-off films, video games, comics, books, boardgames toys, and an upcoming live action TV series, as well as a third film, which has wrapped filming, ALIEN: Romulus, for August 2024.
@@khristopherloh1877 I mean I get it (though I like them, shame on me yes), but even if I didn't, I'd MUCH rather forget the AVPs. Especially that second one...I mean I saw it...but I didn't see it
@@GamingEntertainment12 Hey guys, I liked all the prequels, despite knowing the books, as well as a few of the AvP's. I just like the lore so much. Sue me. I'll take what I can get! lol
The Alien lore was developed in more detail in the sequels. Alien was the first to abandon the "cheesy" production and creature design look for sci fi/horror movies so it makes it seem deeper than it really is and people often expect more from it. Alien(1979) is definitely one of my favorites. Some will say to skip Alien 3 and 4 but I think they are worth watching at least once.
Yeah, I enjoyed both 3 & 4. 3 is more ‘artistic’ of the two, though the 4th definitely has its own cinematic flourishes. I think they’re both fun, provided you don’t go into them with expectations of another film like Aliens. They’re simply not that good. I feel kind of bad, cause it seems like the 3rd could have been a very good film, if it had been given a little more care (or probably a lot less studio interference).
I remember the third movie as being pretty horrible, but it might be because of the really bad Hollywood decision it starts off with. #nospoilers. I quite enjoyed the fourth one though,.
The 3rd movie has it's flaws but i'll always love the lore it introduced, such as the concepts of xenomorphs getting different forms based off of their hosts and also the first implications that the Xenomorphs have psychic powers.
I never had a problem with 3 personally, but I can't argue against the most common complaint everyone has, which is Hicks and Newt. You don't win against a cosmic horror like the xenomorph. You can break even, but people (including myself honestly) want a happy ending. 4 drops the seriousness of the series for an artsy/comedy vibe, but you might as well watch it. Nobody gets into horror without appreciating cheese.
They used to spend more attention on making horror movies scarier using atmospheric techniques back then, rather than excessive blood and gore. That's why old school horror movies were far more haunting than they typically are today. They would keep more mystery involved with the antagonist character, so that you would dread him/it even more when he/it did make an appearance on screen. Made things more ominous.
The pacing of this movie is typical of the scifi/horror genre of the 50s to 70s. But I think this movie may be the first scifi movie that is not brightly lit all around all the time. Everything prior to this was so uniformly lit (because the future has more lights, right?) so this was a wonderful, new approach that changed the aesthetics of scifi movies.
Also every trope has been done to death at this point so every movie feels like a remake of a remake of some kind. Every once in awhile someone stumbles on a new idea like they did with the found footage genre started by Blair Witch Project and then there are tons of imitators. Sadly the writing in Hollywood has been dismally bad in the last few decades and it's ironic that they are striking right now- they suck!
An umbilicus is indeed like an umbilical cord. It's a sort of walkway that attaches your ship to the "mother" ship to maintain pressure and atmosphere so you can move from one to the other. As for the crew, they are cargo haulers, not explorers. They just work for a company with a standing order that requires them to investigate signals or forfeit their pay.
Yeah, and it´s similar to our classic sailors. If a ship catches a distress call from another ship, they ARE expected to go there and help, with the most famous example being Carpathia during the sinking of Titanic.
@@veronikamajerova4564 Very true. It wouldn't be remotely possible to do it in space because of the tyranny of the rocket equation, but space in pop culture and most sci fi has long been like another ocean with similar tropes at play.
I'm glad ya'll mentioned the whole way it was in the past, where previews hardly gave away ANYTHING. I miss that as well. You didn't know WHAT the damn movie was about, and then you were totally SHOCKED when you saw the movie!! That was the best feeling.
The creature work & special effects was big for the time. I think it holds up because you see less of the creature (like with Jaws), it's helped the film age well. This is a suspense horror and the atmosphere helps build that. I think coming from modern times viewing this film most people now aren't phased because we see more carnage and gore often in horror movies but a lot of the classic tropes or themes started with films like Alien, people grew up watching this film and other movies were inspired from this film. I still find the creature, even just the idea of it very scary. The design and characteristics of the creature was so well done. The "face huggers" as the are called now, terrified me almost as much as the full grown "xenomorph" did.
In the book they replaced the previous science office with Ash and the previous Warrant Officer with Ripley a few days before shipping out. Dallas, and the other crew had shipped out together before on other jobs. In the movie they only talk about Ash being new, but Ripley was as well.
I dove into this film long after the first Alien VS Predator film because I got curious about the extraterrestrial life forms. In this films’ case, the Xenomorphs. Definitely an interesting film, ominous, creepy, and suspenseful.
Great reaction, great channel!! I was in first grade when this came out, and I remember hearing ALOT of rumors, whispers, and gossip about "that scary space monster movie". The art direction was done by H.R. Giger, a surrealist, horror artist who chronically suffered from night terrors. He designed the alien, the face hugger, the landscape, etc... giving the movie that creepy, ghastly look.
A piece of serendipity made this film look so good. A group of artists got together under Alessandro Jodorowsky to make a film of 'Dune'. Chris Foss, H R Giger, Syd Mead, Jean Giraud (Moebius), all contributed, but the project failed shortly before shooting. This group stayed together when hired on by Ridley Scott, and he also contributed sketches of how he intended to film scenes, simplifying the process. Look up any of those artists with 'Alien' or 'Dune' added, and you'll see what I mean. Some of the designs Hans-Rudi G came up with for the Harkonnens were used in Denis Villenueve's 'Dune' as well.
The lights in Mother's room are colloquially called 'das Blinkenlights' in tech speak. When this movie was made, they were still common in computers. They let you know what data is in various registers in a computer circuit. Plus they just look hella cool!
No, lights showing data register values were not at all common in 1979. The computer tech in this movie looked old the day it was released. That was intentional, to give the impression that this was not a sleek, high-tech operation with unlimited resources (like Star Trek), but rather it was a working ship that had seen more than a few years and more than a few voyages - a tug with a working-class crew working under real economic constraints.
@@markhamstra1083 You did still get them on some computers - look up the Connection Machine series of supercomputers (A CM-5 was featured in Jurassic Park as well as being a favourite of the NSA who bought a machine called FROSTBURG to break crypto codes)
I love it that Stella and Haley are both straining to see what's in the Alien ship, but they can't because it's so dark. 👍❤ The frustration they were feeling was exactly how it was for the theater audience. So, they're getting the full theater experience of seeing it for the first time.
@@t0dd000 Maybe they missed some nuance, but their facial expressions were just like mine in the theater as I was trying to figure out what I was seeing.
Their back-lighting and front-lighting is OTT. They need a fader on their lights. We would still be able to see their reactions if they toned their lighting down a bit for movies like this.
I love how for the first half there is no main character but it explores most of the characters that it could of followed them , so Ripley works when it focuses more on her but it’s not made for her to be a bad ass that she knew what she was doing, yes her smarts , skill helps her but also a bit of luck as well
Also, when Ripley becomes the main character and is doing all the stuff to get off the ship, fight the alien on the shuttle, etc, they don't have her acting like a movie action hero. We see her being afraid, stressing out, trying really hard to keep it together, nearly breaking down a few times, etc. She acts like an actual human in a life-or-death situation. What makes her a hero is that, even though she's scared af, she forces herself to get on with it, keep going, and do what needs to be done IN SPITE of her fear. By contrast, the only other female character in the movie, Lambert, was a stressball who panicked at the drop of a hat and froze in the face of danger, resulting in both her and Parker getting got. At a time when female action heroes weren't really a thing, I have to imagine this stark contrast between the only two female characters was done on purpose.
back in 79 you had no idea that ripley was the main character. you thought the Captain was. then Dallas died and most people gravitated toward parker. the feeling was that ripley was a bit of an overachieving teachers pet/tattle tale/bitch right up until the end. the pandemic really altered a lot of n00b's perception of ripley and made it cool to be sort of a by-the-book protocol monkey.
Great reaction you guys!😊Ellen Ripley will always be boss and we all love Jonesy too! Also i couldnt help but laugh at Stella's genuine question "why is there milk dripping down his face"😂
Fun Fact: did you know that everyone in the cast of Alien never knew what the actual full sized Xenomorph design looked like till it was their death scene, so their reaction was 100% real from pure shock, fear and tension.
A lot of the unsettling designs for the ship and alien are based on the art of HR Giger. He helped with creature design for the film. Look up some of his art if you want a freaky time.
They did not sign up to explore for science. They’re a basically a mining and trucker kinda ship. They find minerals, mine them and take them back to Earth. It’s in their contracts if they find any possible intelligent life; they have to investigate.
Most People missing this point, including the last prequel movie. You can expect them to be dumb but not for scientist Who repopulate a planet in 2017 movie
Amazing. Looking forward to your reaction to "Aliens" the 2nd film. It's quite outstanding. A truly fine sequel. Look for the extended edition. It reveals some relevant plot points. Enjoy.
6:05 "Like umbilical cord?" Yes, there are so many subtle subliminal body and sex organs in this movie, and even the ship's computer is called MOTHER. The ship hallway looks like a womb, the sleeping pods are like baby basinets, the xenomorph's head is like a dong, the egg, the facehugger penetrates the host, it is like 'birthing'. Carnal horror is what it is.
Not to mention the full-grown xenomorph's second mouth being a little prong that gets erect and forcefully penetrates people; the fact that Ash tries to choke Ripley by rolling up a magazine into a thick cylinder and shoving it into her mouth/down her throat (without her consent, I might add); how, rather than punching it's little mouth through Lambert's face like it does with everyone else, the alien's tail (which is long and has a bit of a pointy "head" on it) curls around to spike up into her torso from below; etc. The symbolism is wall-to-wall in this movie. I'm not one of those people who's watched all the behind-the-scenes and making of stuff but I have to imagine a lot of that stuff was inspired by H.R. Giger's designs since that vibe is pretty much Giger's whole deal.
I was 9 when this came out, and had a foot tall action figure of the alien (with working jaws). Still boggles my mind that they had action figures for kids from an R-rated movie.
There's backstory references to "The Company" who, aside from hauling raw minerals across space, also apparently employs covert robots and a weapons division. The opening literally spells out the ship, the number of crew, their mission and what they were ferrying. The story reveals they have been in long term "sleep" months away from Earth when the "beacon" was picked up and they awakened. Commercial crew asleep for some months between the actual work presumably involved with interstellar transport. The intention was basically "truckers in space." Dallas literally tells Ripley Ash was a last minute replacement inserted into the crew two days before their departure. The sequel Aliens is very bit as a good an action film as Alien is a horror film. Both stand on their own as two great films. Ripley is one of the great badasses of cinema - the movies she's in all deserve a look.
Love the reaction girls! If you're looking for space horror, Event Horizon is a big one, but a lot of other space horrors don't really hit the mark. Personally I would recommend 'The Thing', its not quite in space but its definitely related, plus it's an iconic movie and most react channels end up watching it at some point.
HR Giger, 1944-2014, was a genius when he made the most terrifying extra terrestrials to ever grace the silver screen. The design of the Xenomorph is based in a phallus, the facehugger is based on a fossilized prehistoric sea sponge, and the finger like appendages are based on Crab's legs, the chest burster was going to be a featherless chicken, but without eyes or a nose, until it was decided that Giger was going to make it into a smaller version of the Xenomorph.
Apparently the alien's lifecycle is based on that of parasitoid wasps - horrifying but fascinating creatures that even use symbiotic viruses to destroy the immune systems of their hosts.
@@trolleriffic Xenomorph also reminds me of somekind of deep sea fish. I haven't seen the whole movie so far but of course depticions of the Xenomorph were it is shown more clearly.
This is what I’ve been waiting for ladies! Alien (1979) is such a great movie and one of the best horror films of all time next to John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), and The Thing (1982), The Exorcist (1973), Black Christmas (1974), and Evil Dead (1981) to name just a few. I’m really looking forward to your reactions to the sequel Aliens (1986)!
This movie is both a horror and sci-fi film, and the combination really works! The effects to this day still holds up, the scenery is fantastic, the music is brilliant, and the set designs are excellent! The debate will rage on whether Aliens was better, but one thing I'm sure people agree with, is that the first two Alien films are all-time sci-fi classics.
If nobody explained the dripping water Brett was walking through here it is. The towing vessel Nostromo is hauling a gigantic automated ore processing plant to Earth. The water is presumably from condensation forming on the plant's coolant system and is pretty safe for humans because it's distilled. It's hot and humid in the section Brett is searching, so he stopped for a moment to cool down.
Fun fact: Sigourney Weavers name wasnt plastered on the movie posters or across theaters when this came out, instead, the actor who played Dallas' name, Tom Skerritt, was put up to give the idea that HE was the main character, and was going to be the one that survived in the end. Only for him to die and it be Ripley to survive. That played a large part in building up the suspense, then the shock, and then the elation when she survived. Also very much looking forward to the 'Aliens' watch, one of only a few movies to be widely regarded as better than the first movie, and my personal favourite. Such a great movie.
Well, this was Sigourney Weaver's actual first movie and she was a relative unknown in Hollywood. She was the daughter of Pat Weaver, former host of the first years of the Today show on NBC, so she had her foot in the door there, but was never given an opportunity in her career on Broadway and at Yale. Tom Skerritt was a much more well-known actor (the Movie version of MASH, and some other horror fare) as well as Yaphett Kotto perhaps best known for his role as the villain in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. Weaver was a newcomer and Yaphett Kotto in particular was rumored to have resented her for her starring role. Ridley Scott took the opportunity to channel this resentment into the interaction between the two characters.
I wouldn't say Aliens is necessarily widely regarded to be better than Alien in the sense of a majority of people prefer Aliens to Alien. It really differs from person to person. I, for example, prefer Alien.
@mjm105 so, you're telling me you're not aware of the claims that have been around longer than I've been alive, that Aliens is considered by audiences, critics and film makers alike over several decades, to be one of the few sequels in cinema history to be considered as good if not better than the original? Yes each person's opinion is different, but when you've had a claim to be better than the original circling around for 40 plus years, that makes personal opinion a null factor.
The original THE THING was a 1951 movie. It was called THE THING FROM OUTER SPACE. It was directed by the famous Howard Hawks from a story by the noted sci-fi writer John W. Campbell Jr. and it was a good movie.
The sequel goes in an interesting direction and completely different vibe. I think you will enjoy. Thanks for watching! Sigourney Weaver helped create an iconic character that was a badass. I love the fact the crew is just like commercial oil rig workers or coal miners. And they were thrust into a situation they weren't prepared to handle. Such a haunting, atmospheric movie that was really made to be seen on the big screen. You miss a lot of the detail. Enjoy the sequel! IMO, after that the movies are not up to par, especially 3.
34:19 - I remember when I first watched this scene, the silence after Lambert's blood curdling scene really sets the stage for the realization that Ripley is now totally alone on that ship, in deep space, with a dangerous alien onboard was quite chilling!
In terms of Ash, and him being planted amongst them and for how long, I believe that Dallas or Ripley do mention at one point that their normal science officer was replaced with Ash at the last minute, so its safe to say this is the first time they are flying with him
Glad you are diving into the Alien franchise. So many iconic images, from the alien forms to H R Giger's inspired designs of the alien tech. And, long before woke culture, this and the following movies show how heroic female characters can be portrayed on screen. Check out any list of bad ass female characters and you usually find Ellen Ripley at the top of the list (along with another character from Aliens). This is also considered on of the best horror flicks of its day. Enjoy.
When I was a kid, my mom and dad went out to the theater to see this movie for a date night (yeah, strange date movie choice, I know, lol), and I remember my mom used to say how annoyed she was at the Ripley character for going back for that "stupid cat", as she put it. LOL.
back in 79, not knowing anything about the movie - it was established via brett that going after the cat alone means you're going to die. it was a nice bait and switch. no one expected ripley was going to survive until she was literally the last one left. everyone thought it was Dallas. then they though it was going to be Parker
The actor which the alien first burst from his chest , was in the movie " The Elephant Man ". Based on a true story and produced by Mel Brooks . Although Mel Brooks didn't want his name shown on such a serious movie , so he used a diff name .
Hi "Girls", the one of you on our left said she's seen the original movie "The Thing". You probably haven't seen the original, it was called "The Thing from Another World" and came out in 1951. It was based on the same book that the Kurt Russell 1982 "The Thing" and the 2011 movies are based on.
Sunshine 2007! not an alien movie exactly, but easily my favourite sci fi film! Amazing soundtrack and an absolutely stacked cast! Incredible hidden gem!
It gets some demerits from me for having characters joke about running into an alien on a derelict ship, and then later on unironically using the tropes from those kinda of movies anyways.
Some people ask how the Alien grows so fast, which is one of their hallmarks. It's not really explained in the movie, but I'd argue that the baby-Alien probably did one or more of these things: got into their food stores and ate what's there, found vermin in the ducts to monch (rats, roaches, spiders), and simply ate whatever inorganic stuff caught its fancy. Ash notes that it is at least partially silicon and, with acid for blood and a very fast metabolism, one can imagine it can eat just about anything.
I’d like to point out that I’m not sure why you guys are so worried about masks when they enter Kane’s room looking for the now detached xenomorph when a full EVA suit didn’t protect Kane out on the planet. Also, I’d imagine any vessel that has to produce its own oxygen would have some kind of filter/scrubber to eliminate contaminants from the air. I mean, this is the future! All that tech’s gotta be cutting edge! I’d also like to think that by the point where they’re not wearing masks, Ash has determined that the “creature” is not carrying anything harmful.
Originally Ridley Scott was intending to Ripley to die as well and the Alien ripping her head off, uses her voice to send a transmission to Earth stating it will reach the planet in six weeks. The producers objected the idea and wanting it to die, hence changing to a "happier" ending.
FYI Everyone: The aliens aren't actually called "Xenomorphs". "Xenomorph" is just a descriptor meaning "strange/alien/foreign form". It's equivalent to saying "extra-terrestrial". One means "foreign form" and the other means "creature from beyond Earth". Neither is a species name. Their designation "xenomorph XX121" is the equivalent of saying "primate #47428". The actual name of the species is "Internecivus raptus" or "Linguafoeda acheronsis". They only have the two scientific names, and no official common name. They have loads of nicknames though - "Kane's son", a "creature", a "serpent", a "beast", a "dragon", a "monster", a "nasty", "bug", the "Organism", the "Crawler", etc.
Yes, finally! It's always annoyed me that everyone seems to think that Gorman was referring to the aliens by name when he said: "All we know is that there is still is no contact with the colony and that a xenomorph may be involved." - it's not even ambiguous, the guy is obviously just using a fancy word for "alien" but maybe they're not taught about the origins of words as much as people used to be.
An underlying theme of this film is the idea of prenatal trauma. Psychologists say the trauma of being born is so great that everyone has a subconscious desire to return to the womb. This might clarify things about the film that might seem odd, like calling the ship “mother.”
Two things. 1)- The ship isn't called Mother, the ship's computer is. 2)- I don't understand why folks find it odd that the computer is named Mother. The computer is ment to take care of the ship and it's crew just like a mother looks after her children.
In the book 2010 as the American and Soviet engineers first board the abandoned USS Discovery the ship is dark, cold and creepy. One says to the other, "Watch out for the cat." and the other says, "Who thought *THAT* movie should be put on a real spaceship?" A clear reference to Alien.
The "rain" was not actually rain. It's condensation from the ship's cooling units. Similar to your car's AC, it drips water (condensation) when the air conditioner is running.
The chest burst scene is Iconic, what I love is that, the entire scene it's real fear from the cast, no one told anyone what would happen, the script simply said "alien emerges" and none of them were prepared at all for that. 😂
@@avikchakraborty5536 it's not a myth, Ridley never told them how it was going to happen, the cast themselves have talked about it, one even passed out once cameras stopped rolling because of it. All they had to go off of was Ridley saying you are gonna see it. They didn't know what or how, they had no clue other than than Ridley, the filming crew and John(Kane). The rest of the cast had no clue.
Aliens: Watch the Extended Cut Alien 3: People will tell you not to watch it. It's still good. If you do watch it, watch the Assembly Cut Alien Resurrection: Not necessary to watch and not really worth it Prometheus: Worth a watch, but flawed. Alien Covenant: Avoid avoid avoid Alien vs Predator: Not canon. First one is passable if you're a fan of both series. Second one is a psychic infection.
It’s interesting to watch reactions to this beloved classic, especially from young viewers. I feel like their frustrations about “why aren’t you doing this,” “how could you have not thought that,” etc. are misplaced. The crew on this ship are not experienced alien hunters or scientists; they are a salvage crew. This situation is 1000% outside their wheelhouse.
It is the year 2122. I believe the final voyage of the USCSS Nostromo depicted in this movie took around 2 years. (The trip from Earth was 9 months, 2 months at the destination, and more than 9 months return trip due to being slower with a full cargo load.) So this crew has been together for AT LEAST that long. I'm not sure how many voyages the crew has done together. the robot, Ash, was only added to the crew for the return trip. So he's only been around for around 9 months.
@@sarahfullerton6894 They don't have to watch everything! Maybe: top ten Classic episodes = Star Trek 1 to 6 = top ten "The Next Generation" episodes = Star Trek 7 to 10 = the three J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies? ✌️
Id like to see one sci-fi movie where the corperation is like: 'Crew not expedible, human lives top priority.' But theres some sociopath on the crew all like: 'I'm sure they're just saying that for liability, lets get some people killed for science!'
You have to remember that these people are basically truckers in space, they have no training, no knowledge and very few skills and tools suitable for battling an unknown murder alien. They're just regular Joes and Janes doing the best they can in an impossible situation. A situation that has also been deliberately and severely stacked against them.
This was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. I was 13. My father knew how much I loved science fiction, so he took me in. As you pointed out, the commercials showed us NOTHING about the story. The movie poster on the wikipedia page was ALL I had seen. Can you imagine?? I was obsessed with this creature ever since. (BTW, my father was never vocal or demonstrative in movie theaters, but during the finale, he said out loud "LEAVE THE CAT!")
What is your favorite work of film sci-fi??
The "Back to the Future" trilogy.
I love Star Trek.
Alien, Star Wars and in 3rd Back to the future ;-)
Does Strange Days with Ralph Fiennes count as Sci-Fi? If so then definitely Strange Days (1995).
Well Alien and Aliens and the Back To The Future Films as well.
Aliens, terminator 2, starship troopers, and recently Dune (masterpiece worth watching and rewatching). This one hits hard because its scifi and horror, and more of a pshycological thriller :D (just right in my sweet spot).
I feel like not enough credit is given to Ian Holme for his interpretation of Ash. If you watch his acting at the begining of the movie his emotion are forced like an actor who can't get natural, but as the movie advance he get more and more cold and when the reveal drop it feel so right. Such competent acting.
Ian Holm was a tresor, I don't remember seing him in a role that didn't suited him. Such a amazing actor. RIP Sir Ian Holm.
He was such a good actor. He fit into everything so well. And he's creepy as hell in this when you realize what's going on and rewatch it. He knows full well the danger and he's playing them the whole time.
Love rewatching with full knowledge, so cool
Ash’s “perfect organism” speech for me is the scariest part of the movie. With another actor, it might’ve come off as cheesy, but not here. There’s such a deep emptiness in his eyes, like the void itself.
As scary as the Xenomorphs are. Facehuggers have always been scarier to me. The thought of them fitting in small spaces and latching on your face, only to wake up and knowing you’re done for was so horrifying for me when I first saw this film.
I'm pretty sure that Steve O'Bannon's original idea was a space-parasite of some kind, but Giger was the one who made it truly nightmarish by adding the face-rape and implantation aspect.
"SPACE SPIDERS THAT ATTACH THEMSELVES TO YOUR FACE AND INFECT YOU WITH AN INCURABLE PARASITE THAT ULTIMATELY KILLS YOU"
I don't really think you need too much imagination to make that a horrific prospect.
They are literally having sex with your mouth.....
Even after all this time, the design of the Xenomorphs has never been surpassed. It is just so iconic. Also, wow, this movie sure invented a lot of classic horror tropes.
They are super iconic and I love their design, but the aliens in Arrival beats them in pure alien strangeness IMO.
It was based on a painting called Necronom IV by swiss artist H.R. Giger. Ridley Scott contacted Giger and became the designer of all three forms of the Alien: The Facehugger, The Chestburster and the Full-Grown Alien, plus the Space Jockey.
They are not only the ultimate monsters but the ultimate nightmare no monster is a match for the Xenomorph if I'm wrong correct me.
H.R. Giger was a mad genius.
@@7RendarHardly. They were just tree-squids that spoke a weird hypothetical language. I think the cosmic horror of the Alien xenomorph is as scary as it gets.
With Ripley saying she didn't trust him, Dallas did mention that Ash was a recent addition to the crew, implying the rest of them were more familiar.
I believe he says it was two days prior to the mission, which further reinforces the idea that the company was aware from the outset.
My problem with that whole scene...
Ripley is 2nd in command of that ship. So shouldn't she have already known that he was new to the crew? Or is it implying Ripley is new also?
@@kevinmurphy2286 I don't think the crew knew everybody else too much. Surely some of them have been in one or two missions together, but it looks to me that every individual mission has its own crew made from the people they could find. In fact, only the technician pair seems to have some kind of common history and bonding. Ash was not as 'new' as he was unexpected. Dallas already had contacted a science advisor, but the company sent a substitute 2 days prior of the start of the mission. Probably Ripley didn't know any of them prior, being as she is the youngest member of the crew.
Correct. They left the planet Thedus with Ash as a replacement for another science officer.
I think the only two who really knew each other were Parker and Brett. They got along too well to be strangers.
This movie does suspense and atmosphere so well. 1h 57m runtime and the Xenomorph is only on screen for around 4 mins. It's incredible what this movie does to your brain.
Edit: The alien in all scenes was a 7ft guy in a costume, unless it was a close-up(animatronics). That's why the jump scare at 26:46 seemed so human the way it reached out going HEEEEY like Hayley says lol. The set design for this movie is phenomenal
"Tadaaa here I am, you found me" xD
The guy in the Alien suit was a Nigerian actor and visual artist by the name of Bolaji Badejo. Unfortunately, he passed away in December of 1992.
@@badgerden7080 that's funny because of black American guy play a predator and he died in a1990sto weird
My brain always said "Jazz hands!" At the jump scare in the vents.
Xenomorphs design was very well made for this movie. And the scariest thing about the creatures themselves is that the blood is deadly acid.
Its design wasn't made for this movie, but was taken from H. R. Giger's lithograph Necromon IV. Also, Stella looking like a million bucks! 🙃
The xenomorph's design was made for this movie, by Giger himself. It was strongly inspired by Necronom IV, but Giger made the final Alien design custom for the movie (especially adapting it to be feminine, which was central to he and Ridley's ideas for the monster). A lot of broad strokes come from Necronom IV, but a lot of the xenomorph's defining characteristics-such as the mouth within a mouth- were custom-made for the movie.
@@sumnerhayes3411 Apparently, the mouth-within-a-mouth is actually based off a moray eel’s second set of jaws, which it uses to pull prey into its mouth.
Yep, morays were one inspiration. But the final design was made by Giger for the movie, based on morays, Necronom IV, and a bunch of other sources: you can find interviews where he talks about the design process. The Quadrilogy boxed set is a good jumping off point if you want the gory details.
That’s definitely _nowhere near_ the scariest thing about them.
Thank you for sharing your reaction to "Alien." You mentioned its minimalist marketing. The ad simply had the film's title and the statement, "In space, no one can hear you scream."
The trailer was almost none of the movie, and a shrieking alarm with orange flashing lights, while camera passed over a set of eggs in British-style carboard eggboxes.
Unnerving and actually silly seen today, but very intriuging back then.
@@stevetheduck1425 I think you're possibly misremembering it, and I don't think it's silly at all, even today. Maybe you should look it up again; I rewatch it every so often just to remind myself how terrifying it was. In a time when every film trailer was still made from extended scenes from the movie played out complete with dialogue, with a bombastic male voice describing the plot in unnecessary detail (compare it to the genuinely cheesy original trailer for Star Wars only 2 years earlier) it was unlike _anything_ that had come before it, and arguably anything since. One of the greatest trailers ever made.
@@ArcaneAzmadi💯 Facts
As others have stated, this movie is iconic. So many movies pull from Alien. This is what happens when a mining crew comes across an alien species. They made many, many mistakes just like untrained people would. Ash orchestrated and used their mistakes to get his sample to the company.
A lot is kept in the dark because that's how it would be. You know what they know which is next to nothing. And, that's why it's scarier than some silly slasher movie.
That also puts the viewer in the same position as most of the crew, since they know nothing either.
I just thought of two plot holes; 1) how in HELL did the company know about the xenomorph, 2)why didn't Dallas know enough to demand to see Ash''s x-ray before they let him rejoin the crew?
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 Ash had orders to prioritize any alien lifeforms over the crew. Those orders kicked in the very moment they found the alien ship. He easily could send reports back to the company about the xenomorphs. He broke protocol by allowing a infected crew member back on the ship.
@@IamnotJohnFordI don't think they had instantaneous communication with home- the whole point of the movie was that they were in interstellar space. You can't just call home.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 They didn't. It would take whatever time to send and later receive a response. But, he was sophisticated enough to fool everyone until he was revealed. It would be pretty easy for him to act on orders independently. The primary order was programmed into him long before they even Earth.
Your confusion about the big thing in the Ailen Ship was reasonable. I glad that you guys mentioned that it looked Mechanical yet skeletal/Organic. It's the common trait of H. R. Geiger's art. He's the one who designed much of the film's stuff.
That was one thing that always bothered me; they never explain how a creature could grow from a pound to 250-300 lbs in such a short span of time. The shedding of skin implies a metamorphoses, but there's no food source. I wish they implied that the creature was able to digest metal or something. Otherwise there are very few plot holes in this film.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 it is a completely foreign biology, so while it doesn't make sense to us, the unfamiliarity adds to the creepiness.
It could literally absorb energy from heat/radiation/oxygen and/or some pre-caked level of growth from the egg/parasite. Part of why it's so 'alien' is the inexplicable biology of it.@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017Recall that while the crew were searching for the Alien, the light's didn't come on, Parker goes to fix it, backs away, then the lights come on anyway?
The Alien was in the large room they just passed, it was still (did not appear on the tracker) while the cat was moving (they did pick it up on the tracker). It only moved to attack Brett.
Alien is bio-mechanical, and connected to a power source, using energy for nourishment. Hinted, but no-one in the film works this out.
@@mrb2349Absolutely. However physics is the same the universe over, so conservation of mass is still required. There should have been some suggestion that the creature could eat metal or something. It's a small nitpick though.
Rewatching the movie after having seen it once can be a very different experience. What’s notable are all of Ash’s interactions with the crew and his facial expressions when they aren’t looking especially the “dinner” scene.
And one of the few things we see him consume (even when not being observed by crew) is 'milk'...
there's a lot of stuff going on. the tension between Ripley and Parker/Lambert/Brett. Parker/Lambert's bond. The subtle hints that ripley and Dallas are romantically involved. the way Ash uses Dallas's negligent command style to go about his special order. Kane's fearless adventurous spirit - always wanting to be the first one to dive into the unknown.
@@penoyer79 I never noticed anything to imply or heard anyone say that Ripley and Dallas were romantically involved.
@@Laidengizer011 there's a scene in the script and in the novel where ripley finds dallas relaxing in the shuttle after kane's death. she starts undressing and says something to effect of "we got a few minutes. i need to let off some steam." its a well known subplot that ridley left out.. poke around you'll find it.
Fun fact: the chest explosion scene was a surprise for everyone else on set, their reactions are genuine
Urban legend
Is not that it's a 100% surprise-they knew it was coming, they just didn't know the extent of the special effects the production was pulling. The blood and puppetry was pretty realistic.
False
@@nitrokid correct part of the reaction was due to them not being warned about how much blood and blood spray there would be. The lady that got a face full was not happy at all.
@@tj_2701also there was a behind the scenes showing her actually slipping on the fake blood and falling
So what you girls think of the scariest ALIEN film?
Aside from the THING, Xenomorphs are the scariest creatures beyond the stars.
True, some of the best horrific alien creatures ever created.
And the scary thing is that they're real , in real life ,can you believe it ?
The SSP, US govt. and many governments of the world know that they actually
exist !
I love "The Thing". This movie pre-dates it by some years...The lack of exposition is kinda why 'Alien' lasted longer (not that it wasn't ruined by terrible sequels...) The lore of Alien was built around some solid books written after this movie to expand it. John Carpenter wrote "The Thing" and was very reluctant to allow Hollywwod to own his creation...probably for the best.
@@AutoAlligator Carpenter's The Thing was actually a remake. The story was very similar to the original, but Carpenter did an amazing job, and the special effects of that time allowed for a much scarier creature. One of those rare occasions where the remake is better than the original.
@@yepimheretoo2270 it was a remake of 1950s b-movie which Mr Carpenter bought the rights to...and never let go of.
This movie is an absolute master class in slow burn horror movies and ratcheting up the tension and really took a lesson from Jaws in how you actually make a creature terrifying. Easily makes my top 10 all time list. Wonderful reaction. You were correct when you were saying the crew wasn't trained for this; they're basically the interstellar version of truckers. I don't think we needed any more backstory than we got for this story to get off the ground and, while it spawned a franchise, there initially wasn't a plan for there to be more than one of these movies.
The movie didn't start out as part of a franchise. It was a stand alone film. James Cameron had an idea for a sequel which he co-wrote and directed. 'Aliens' didn't come out until 1986 - seven years after the original had come out. Other sequels followed after that.
So glad you watched this. Aside from how good the film is, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley is the original Action Girl. There are dozens of writers, actresses, stuntwomen, and so on who cite this character as their inspiration, including people who have become iconic in their own right like Linda Hamilton in the Terminator movies.
Since you mostly watch paranormal horror, it's worth considering that Alien is basically a haunted house film with the xenomorph as the ghost. It's a large but static location that's completely isolated from the outside world.
I like that you guys admit to knowing, at least, something about the franchise. I hate when people spend the first 10 minutes trying to convince me that they know absolutely nothing, despite having a considerable social media footprint. Other channels would say that they can't even spell Alien if they could get away with it lol
😀👍
Alien is a perfect movie. It has a perfect story, cast, direction, and score. I saw it in the theater in 1979. I still remember the teaser trailer on TV, "In space, no one can hear you scream." I absolutely loved it!
I hope you both react to the sequel _Aliens_ which is considered one of the best sequels ever made.
T2 has entered the chat. But yeah, def one of the best
Alien is for adults. Aliens, like all of James Cameron's movies, is for tweens.
@@michaelw8262 You know both movies are damn good, right? Lol!
@@michaelw8262 oh my god, here come the elitists
@@michaelw8262 yep The Terminator is for pansies like you.
You're in for one hell of a ride!
It won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, it made $200 million dollars against an $11 million dollar budget, it put Sigourney Weaver on the map, it spawned 3 sequels, 2 spin-off films, video games, comics, books, boardgames toys, and an upcoming live action TV series, as well as a third film, which has wrapped filming, ALIEN: Romulus, for August 2024.
Don't forget the two Prequels
@@GamingEntertainment12 I try to forget they exist
@@khristopherloh1877 I mean I get it (though I like them, shame on me yes), but even if I didn't, I'd MUCH rather forget the AVPs. Especially that second one...I mean I saw it...but I didn't see it
It also inspired numerous other movies, like The Thing and Event Horizon. It really raised the bar for horror films.
@@GamingEntertainment12 Hey guys, I liked all the prequels, despite knowing the books, as well as a few of the AvP's. I just like the lore so much. Sue me. I'll take what I can get! lol
"I cant see anything, its so grainy and dark" She says while sitting in a room with the lights turned up to 500% brightness
The Alien lore was developed in more detail in the sequels. Alien was the first to abandon the "cheesy" production and creature design look for sci fi/horror movies so it makes it seem deeper than it really is and people often expect more from it. Alien(1979) is definitely one of my favorites.
Some will say to skip Alien 3 and 4 but I think they are worth watching at least once.
Yeah, I enjoyed both 3 & 4. 3 is more ‘artistic’ of the two, though the 4th definitely has its own cinematic flourishes. I think they’re both fun, provided you don’t go into them with expectations of another film like Aliens. They’re simply not that good.
I feel kind of bad, cause it seems like the 3rd could have been a very good film, if it had been given a little more care (or probably a lot less studio interference).
I remember the third movie as being pretty horrible, but it might be because of the really bad Hollywood decision it starts off with. #nospoilers. I quite enjoyed the fourth one though,.
The 3rd movie has it's flaws but i'll always love the lore it introduced, such as the concepts of xenomorphs getting different forms based off of their hosts and also the first implications that the Xenomorphs have psychic powers.
Alien 3 Director's cut is quite a bit different and better than the cinematic version.
I never had a problem with 3 personally, but I can't argue against the most common complaint everyone has, which is Hicks and Newt. You don't win against a cosmic horror like the xenomorph. You can break even, but people (including myself honestly) want a happy ending.
4 drops the seriousness of the series for an artsy/comedy vibe, but you might as well watch it. Nobody gets into horror without appreciating cheese.
Y'all reacting to horror stuff has become my fav reactions. Can't wait to see what's next.
They used to spend more attention on making horror movies scarier using atmospheric techniques back then, rather than excessive blood and gore. That's why old school horror movies were far more haunting than they typically are today. They would keep more mystery involved with the antagonist character, so that you would dread him/it even more when he/it did make an appearance on screen. Made things more ominous.
Yeah I think the Ring is also a great scary movie because the girl is mostly a mystery for much of the run time. Alien is an almost perfect movie.
The pacing of this movie is typical of the scifi/horror genre of the 50s to 70s. But I think this movie may be the first scifi movie that is not brightly lit all around all the time. Everything prior to this was so uniformly lit (because the future has more lights, right?) so this was a wonderful, new approach that changed the aesthetics of scifi movies.
Also every trope has been done to death at this point so every movie feels like a remake of a remake of some kind. Every once in awhile someone stumbles on a new idea like they did with the found footage genre started by Blair Witch Project and then there are tons of imitators. Sadly the writing in Hollywood has been dismally bad in the last few decades and it's ironic that they are striking right now- they suck!
An umbilicus is indeed like an umbilical cord. It's a sort of walkway that attaches your ship to the "mother" ship to maintain pressure and atmosphere so you can move from one to the other. As for the crew, they are cargo haulers, not explorers. They just work for a company with a standing order that requires them to investigate signals or forfeit their pay.
This was a standalone film that spawned 3 direct sequels and two prequels, as well as crossovers with the Predator franchise.
Yeah, and it´s similar to our classic sailors. If a ship catches a distress call from another ship, they ARE expected to go there and help, with the most famous example being Carpathia during the sinking of Titanic.
@@veronikamajerova4564 Very true. It wouldn't be remotely possible to do it in space because of the tyranny of the rocket equation, but space in pop culture and most sci fi has long been like another ocean with similar tropes at play.
I'm glad ya'll mentioned the whole way it was in the past, where previews hardly gave away ANYTHING. I miss that as well. You didn't know WHAT the damn movie was about, and then you were totally SHOCKED when you saw the movie!! That was the best feeling.
The creature work & special effects was big for the time. I think it holds up because you see less of the creature (like with Jaws), it's helped the film age well. This is a suspense horror and the atmosphere helps build that. I think coming from modern times viewing this film most people now aren't phased because we see more carnage and gore often in horror movies but a lot of the classic tropes or themes started with films like Alien, people grew up watching this film and other movies were inspired from this film. I still find the creature, even just the idea of it very scary. The design and characteristics of the creature was so well done. The "face huggers" as the are called now, terrified me almost as much as the full grown "xenomorph" did.
In the book they replaced the previous science office with Ash and the previous Warrant Officer with Ripley a few days before shipping out. Dallas, and the other crew had shipped out together before on other jobs. In the movie they only talk about Ash being new, but Ripley was as well.
ripley being a newcomer is noted in the script by dallas
I dove into this film long after the first Alien VS Predator film because I got curious about the extraterrestrial life forms. In this films’ case, the Xenomorphs. Definitely an interesting film, ominous, creepy, and suspenseful.
Great reaction, great channel!! I was in first grade when this came out, and I remember hearing ALOT of rumors, whispers, and gossip about "that scary space monster movie". The art direction was done by H.R. Giger, a surrealist, horror artist who chronically suffered from night terrors. He designed the alien, the face hugger, the landscape, etc... giving the movie that creepy, ghastly look.
A piece of serendipity made this film look so good. A group of artists got together under Alessandro Jodorowsky to make a film of 'Dune'.
Chris Foss, H R Giger, Syd Mead, Jean Giraud (Moebius), all contributed, but the project failed shortly before shooting.
This group stayed together when hired on by Ridley Scott, and he also contributed sketches of how he intended to film scenes, simplifying the process.
Look up any of those artists with 'Alien' or 'Dune' added, and you'll see what I mean.
Some of the designs Hans-Rudi G came up with for the Harkonnens were used in Denis Villenueve's 'Dune' as well.
The lights in Mother's room are colloquially called 'das Blinkenlights' in tech speak. When this movie was made, they were still common in computers. They let you know what data is in various registers in a computer circuit. Plus they just look hella cool!
No, lights showing data register values were not at all common in 1979. The computer tech in this movie looked old the day it was released. That was intentional, to give the impression that this was not a sleek, high-tech operation with unlimited resources (like Star Trek), but rather it was a working ship that had seen more than a few years and more than a few voyages - a tug with a working-class crew working under real economic constraints.
@@markhamstra1083 You did still get them on some computers - look up the Connection Machine series of supercomputers (A CM-5 was featured in Jurassic Park as well as being a favourite of the NSA who bought a machine called FROSTBURG to break crypto codes)
That's a iconic movie... Sigourney plays wonderfully in this opus.
The ambiance is so spooky, you'll enjoy for sure
I love it that Stella and Haley are both straining to see what's in the Alien ship, but they can't because it's so dark. 👍❤ The frustration they were feeling was exactly how it was for the theater audience. So, they're getting the full theater experience of seeing it for the first time.
Well. That and they are watching it in a lit environment, which is not ideal. They missed a lot of nuance.
@@t0dd000 Maybe they missed some nuance, but their facial expressions were just like mine in the theater as I was trying to figure out what I was seeing.
Their back-lighting and front-lighting is OTT. They need a fader on their lights. We would still be able to see their reactions if they toned their lighting down a bit for movies like this.
I love how for the first half there is no main character but it explores most of the characters that it could of followed them , so Ripley works when it focuses more on her but it’s not made for her to be a bad ass that she knew what she was doing, yes her smarts , skill helps her but also a bit of luck as well
Also, when Ripley becomes the main character and is doing all the stuff to get off the ship, fight the alien on the shuttle, etc, they don't have her acting like a movie action hero. We see her being afraid, stressing out, trying really hard to keep it together, nearly breaking down a few times, etc. She acts like an actual human in a life-or-death situation. What makes her a hero is that, even though she's scared af, she forces herself to get on with it, keep going, and do what needs to be done IN SPITE of her fear. By contrast, the only other female character in the movie, Lambert, was a stressball who panicked at the drop of a hat and froze in the face of danger, resulting in both her and Parker getting got. At a time when female action heroes weren't really a thing, I have to imagine this stark contrast between the only two female characters was done on purpose.
back in 79 you had no idea that ripley was the main character. you thought the Captain was. then Dallas died and most people gravitated toward parker. the feeling was that ripley was a bit of an overachieving teachers pet/tattle tale/bitch right up until the end. the pandemic really altered a lot of n00b's perception of ripley and made it cool to be sort of a by-the-book protocol monkey.
For this movie and the sequel, everyone would save themselves a lot of trouble if they just took notice of three little words: Listen to Ripley.
Great reaction you guys!😊Ellen Ripley will always be boss and we all love Jonesy too! Also i couldnt help but laugh at Stella's genuine question "why is there milk dripping down his face"😂
One of my all time favourites! I've lost count of how many times i've watched Alien. I never get tired of it. I Love the whole franchise!
Fun Fact: did you know that everyone in the cast of Alien never knew what the actual full sized Xenomorph design looked like till it was their death scene, so their reaction was 100% real from pure shock, fear and tension.
Also they're confusion as to just what they're looking at.
Not believing for a second that the one on our left hadn't seen this film before. Never jumped once. Was too calm throughout the whole film. Scam!!!
A lot of the unsettling designs for the ship and alien are based on the art of HR Giger. He helped with creature design for the film. Look up some of his art if you want a freaky time.
My stepsister was so inspired, her oldest daughter is named Ripley.
They did not sign up to explore for science. They’re a basically a mining and trucker kinda ship. They find minerals, mine them and take them back to Earth. It’s in their contracts if they find any possible intelligent life; they have to investigate.
Most People missing this point, including the last prequel movie. You can expect them to be dumb but not for scientist Who repopulate a planet in 2017 movie
In this universe, the central computer is dubbed mother on civilian ships and father on military ships
Amazing. Looking forward to your reaction to "Aliens" the 2nd film. It's quite outstanding. A truly fine sequel. Look for the extended edition. It reveals some relevant plot points. Enjoy.
6:05 "Like umbilical cord?" Yes, there are so many subtle subliminal body and sex organs in this movie, and even the ship's computer is called MOTHER. The ship hallway looks like a womb, the sleeping pods are like baby basinets, the xenomorph's head is like a dong, the egg, the facehugger penetrates the host, it is like 'birthing'. Carnal horror is what it is.
Not to mention the full-grown xenomorph's second mouth being a little prong that gets erect and forcefully penetrates people; the fact that Ash tries to choke Ripley by rolling up a magazine into a thick cylinder and shoving it into her mouth/down her throat (without her consent, I might add); how, rather than punching it's little mouth through Lambert's face like it does with everyone else, the alien's tail (which is long and has a bit of a pointy "head" on it) curls around to spike up into her torso from below; etc. The symbolism is wall-to-wall in this movie. I'm not one of those people who's watched all the behind-the-scenes and making of stuff but I have to imagine a lot of that stuff was inspired by H.R. Giger's designs since that vibe is pretty much Giger's whole deal.
Is it wrong that I always think of A street Car Named Desire when Stella introduces herself? "Stellaaaaaaaa!" Lol
I was 9 when this came out, and had a foot tall action figure of the alien (with working jaws). Still boggles my mind that they had action figures for kids from an R-rated movie.
I was 11 when it came out and saw it in the theater too. I remember the alien toy in the toy store as well.
There's backstory references to "The Company" who, aside from hauling raw minerals across space, also apparently employs covert robots and a weapons division. The opening literally spells out the ship, the number of crew, their mission and what they were ferrying. The story reveals they have been in long term "sleep" months away from Earth when the "beacon" was picked up and they awakened. Commercial crew asleep for some months between the actual work presumably involved with interstellar transport. The intention was basically "truckers in space." Dallas literally tells Ripley Ash was a last minute replacement inserted into the crew two days before their departure.
The sequel Aliens is very bit as a good an action film as Alien is a horror film. Both stand on their own as two great films. Ripley is one of the great badasses of cinema - the movies she's in all deserve a look.
Love the reaction girls!
If you're looking for space horror, Event Horizon is a big one, but a lot of other space horrors don't really hit the mark.
Personally I would recommend 'The Thing', its not quite in space but its definitely related, plus it's an iconic movie and most react channels end up watching it at some point.
HR Giger, 1944-2014, was a genius when he made the most terrifying extra terrestrials to ever grace the silver screen.
The design of the Xenomorph is based in a phallus, the facehugger is based on a fossilized prehistoric sea sponge, and the finger like appendages are based on Crab's legs, the chest burster was going to be a featherless chicken, but without eyes or a nose, until it was decided that Giger was going to make it into a smaller version of the Xenomorph.
I thought the facehugger was straight up based off a vagina
Apparently the alien's lifecycle is based on that of parasitoid wasps - horrifying but fascinating creatures that even use symbiotic viruses to destroy the immune systems of their hosts.
@@trolleriffic Xenomorph also reminds me of somekind of deep sea fish. I haven't seen the whole movie so far but of course depticions of the Xenomorph were it is shown more clearly.
Alien is great but If ya do this ya gotta do Aliens (1986) it's a mix of scifi/action/horror in one!
This is what I’ve been waiting for ladies! Alien (1979) is such a great movie and one of the best horror films of all time next to John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), and The Thing (1982), The Exorcist (1973), Black Christmas (1974), and Evil Dead (1981) to name just a few. I’m really looking forward to your reactions to the sequel Aliens (1986)!
This movie is both a horror and sci-fi film, and the combination really works! The effects to this day still holds up, the scenery is fantastic, the music is brilliant, and the set designs are excellent! The debate will rage on whether Aliens was better, but one thing I'm sure people agree with, is that the first two Alien films are all-time sci-fi classics.
If nobody explained the dripping water Brett was walking through here it is. The towing vessel Nostromo is hauling a gigantic automated ore processing plant to Earth. The water is presumably from condensation forming on the plant's coolant system and is pretty safe for humans because it's distilled. It's hot and humid in the section Brett is searching, so he stopped for a moment to cool down.
Fun fact: Sigourney Weavers name wasnt plastered on the movie posters or across theaters when this came out, instead, the actor who played Dallas' name, Tom Skerritt, was put up to give the idea that HE was the main character, and was going to be the one that survived in the end. Only for him to die and it be Ripley to survive. That played a large part in building up the suspense, then the shock, and then the elation when she survived.
Also very much looking forward to the 'Aliens' watch, one of only a few movies to be widely regarded as better than the first movie, and my personal favourite. Such a great movie.
Well, this was Sigourney Weaver's actual first movie and she was a relative unknown in Hollywood. She was the daughter of Pat Weaver, former host of the first years of the Today show on NBC, so she had her foot in the door there, but was never given an opportunity in her career on Broadway and at Yale. Tom Skerritt was a much more well-known actor (the Movie version of MASH, and some other horror fare) as well as Yaphett Kotto perhaps best known for his role as the villain in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. Weaver was a newcomer and Yaphett Kotto in particular was rumored to have resented her for her starring role. Ridley Scott took the opportunity to channel this resentment into the interaction between the two characters.
I wouldn't say Aliens is necessarily widely regarded to be better than Alien in the sense of a majority of people prefer Aliens to Alien. It really differs from person to person. I, for example, prefer Alien.
@mjm105 so, you're telling me you're not aware of the claims that have been around longer than I've been alive, that Aliens is considered by audiences, critics and film makers alike over several decades, to be one of the few sequels in cinema history to be considered as good if not better than the original? Yes each person's opinion is different, but when you've had a claim to be better than the original circling around for 40 plus years, that makes personal opinion a null factor.
@@cyanide7270 There have also been claims longer than I have been alive that Alien is better than Aliens, and that's my entire point.
no one expected ripley to survive until she was literally the last one left.
At its core, the film is just a monster movie. Its the logic, world building, characters and setting that elevates it.
I can see everything in this movie actually happening besides how quickly she crated the cat... That's the real science fiction of this film 😂
😹😹😹
😂haha stellas reaction and facial expression with the alien chest burst scene "owee that littel fella can move"!
The original THE THING was a 1951 movie. It was called THE THING FROM OUTER SPACE. It was directed by the famous Howard Hawks from a story by the noted sci-fi writer John W. Campbell Jr. and it was a good movie.
The Thing from Another World
1951 did changed thing from the book.
"Space U-Haul", good catch :) "Truckers in Space" was the expression they used to describe the vibe to everybody involved
The sequel goes in an interesting direction and completely different vibe. I think you will enjoy. Thanks for watching! Sigourney Weaver helped create an iconic character that was a badass. I love the fact the crew is just like commercial oil rig workers or coal miners. And they were thrust into a situation they weren't prepared to handle. Such a haunting, atmospheric movie that was really made to be seen on the big screen. You miss a lot of the detail. Enjoy the sequel! IMO, after that the movies are not up to par, especially 3.
34:19 - I remember when I first watched this scene, the silence after Lambert's blood curdling scene really sets the stage for the realization that Ripley is now totally alone on that ship, in deep space, with a dangerous alien onboard was quite chilling!
In terms of Ash, and him being planted amongst them and for how long, I believe that Dallas or Ripley do mention at one point that their normal science officer was replaced with Ash at the last minute, so its safe to say this is the first time they are flying with him
The trailer for this movie was very short and had one sentence which was "In space no one can hear you scream".
Glad you are diving into the Alien franchise. So many iconic images, from the alien forms to H R Giger's inspired designs of the alien tech. And, long before woke culture, this and the following movies show how heroic female characters can be portrayed on screen. Check out any list of bad ass female characters and you usually find Ellen Ripley at the top of the list (along with another character from Aliens). This is also considered on of the best horror flicks of its day. Enjoy.
The "face-huggers" and chest bursting scenes in this movie were iconic.
When I was a kid, my mom and dad went out to the theater to see this movie for a date night (yeah, strange date movie choice, I know, lol), and I remember my mom used to say how annoyed she was at the Ripley character for going back for that "stupid cat", as she put it. LOL.
back in 79, not knowing anything about the movie - it was established via brett that going after the cat alone means you're going to die. it was a nice bait and switch. no one expected ripley was going to survive until she was literally the last one left. everyone thought it was Dallas. then they though it was going to be Parker
The actor which the alien first burst from his chest , was in the movie " The Elephant Man ". Based on a true story and produced by Mel Brooks . Although Mel Brooks didn't want his name shown on such a serious movie , so he used a diff name .
I love the olde movies like this. They don't rush into scenes like today. They build it up and make the jump scares even scarier.
Hi "Girls", the one of you on our left said she's seen the original movie "The Thing". You probably haven't seen the original, it was called "The Thing from Another World" and came out in 1951. It was based on the same book that the Kurt Russell 1982 "The Thing" and the 2011 movies are based on.
Sunshine 2007! not an alien movie exactly, but easily my favourite sci fi film! Amazing soundtrack and an absolutely stacked cast! Incredible hidden gem!
It gets some demerits from me for having characters joke about running into an alien on a derelict ship, and then later on unironically using the tropes from those kinda of movies anyways.
Beautifully shot as well. Some absolutely stunning sequences in it.
Some people ask how the Alien grows so fast, which is one of their hallmarks. It's not really explained in the movie, but I'd argue that the baby-Alien probably did one or more of these things: got into their food stores and ate what's there, found vermin in the ducts to monch (rats, roaches, spiders), and simply ate whatever inorganic stuff caught its fancy. Ash notes that it is at least partially silicon and, with acid for blood and a very fast metabolism, one can imagine it can eat just about anything.
27:51 " This man talks like a computer " Hayley with the intuitive brain. : D
I’d like to point out that I’m not sure why you guys are so worried about masks when they enter Kane’s room looking for the now detached xenomorph when a full EVA suit didn’t protect Kane out on the planet. Also, I’d imagine any vessel that has to produce its own oxygen would have some kind of filter/scrubber to eliminate contaminants from the air. I mean, this is the future! All that tech’s gotta be cutting edge! I’d also like to think that by the point where they’re not wearing masks, Ash has determined that the “creature” is not carrying anything harmful.
not a planet
Originally Ridley Scott was intending to Ripley to die as well and the Alien ripping her head off, uses her voice to send a transmission to Earth stating it will reach the planet in six weeks. The producers objected the idea and wanting it to die, hence changing to a "happier" ending.
Oh my God! Will definitely watch this reaction. Can't wait.😁
FYI Everyone: The aliens aren't actually called "Xenomorphs".
"Xenomorph" is just a descriptor meaning "strange/alien/foreign form". It's equivalent to saying "extra-terrestrial".
One means "foreign form" and the other means "creature from beyond Earth".
Neither is a species name.
Their designation "xenomorph XX121" is the equivalent of saying "primate #47428".
The actual name of the species is "Internecivus raptus" or "Linguafoeda acheronsis".
They only have the two scientific names, and no official common name.
They have loads of nicknames though - "Kane's son", a "creature", a "serpent", a "beast", a "dragon", a "monster", a "nasty", "bug", the "Organism", the "Crawler", etc.
Yes, finally! It's always annoyed me that everyone seems to think that Gorman was referring to the aliens by name when he said: "All we know is that there is still is no contact with the colony and that a xenomorph may be involved." - it's not even ambiguous, the guy is obviously just using a fancy word for "alien" but maybe they're not taught about the origins of words as much as people used to be.
Original series:
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Alien 3 (1992)
Alien Resurrection (1997)
Alien vs. Predator films:
Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
Prometheus films:
Prometheus (2012)
Alien: Covenant (2017)
For Aliens , please make it the Director's Cut , its way better
i love that the subtitles have parker's dying words to Lambert as "Get ready to roll!" what a bad ass.
An underlying theme of this film is the idea of prenatal trauma. Psychologists say the trauma of being born is so great that everyone has a subconscious desire to return to the womb. This might clarify things about the film that might seem odd, like calling the ship “mother.”
As a recovering heroin addict, this makes some sense.
Two things. 1)- The ship isn't called Mother, the ship's computer is. 2)- I don't understand why folks find it odd that the computer is named Mother. The computer is ment to take care of the ship and it's crew just like a mother looks after her children.
@@eddhardy1054yes exactly there's no big reveal there.
In the book 2010 as the American and Soviet engineers first board the abandoned USS Discovery the ship is dark, cold and creepy. One says to the other, "Watch out for the cat." and the other says, "Who thought *THAT* movie should be put on a real spaceship?"
A clear reference to Alien.
You girls should do prometheus sometime 😊
The "rain" was not actually rain. It's condensation from the ship's cooling units. Similar to your car's AC, it drips water (condensation) when the air conditioner is running.
On spacecraft, condensation doesn't drip... - that could be the alternative tagline!
The chest burst scene is Iconic, what I love is that, the entire scene it's real fear from the cast, no one told anyone what would happen, the script simply said "alien emerges" and none of them were prepared at all for that. 😂
Yeah that is a myth
There is no way they would be able to film such a scene without telling everybody how the scene is gonna play out
@@avikchakraborty5536 it's not a myth, Ridley never told them how it was going to happen, the cast themselves have talked about it, one even passed out once cameras stopped rolling because of it. All they had to go off of was Ridley saying you are gonna see it. They didn't know what or how, they had no clue other than than Ridley, the filming crew and John(Kane). The rest of the cast had no clue.
Aliens: Watch the Extended Cut
Alien 3: People will tell you not to watch it. It's still good. If you do watch it, watch the Assembly Cut
Alien Resurrection: Not necessary to watch and not really worth it
Prometheus: Worth a watch, but flawed.
Alien Covenant: Avoid avoid avoid
Alien vs Predator: Not canon. First one is passable if you're a fan of both series. Second one is a psychic infection.
It’s interesting to watch reactions to this beloved classic, especially from young viewers. I feel like their frustrations about “why aren’t you doing this,” “how could you have not thought that,” etc. are misplaced. The crew on this ship are not experienced alien hunters or scientists; they are a salvage crew. This situation is 1000% outside their wheelhouse.
It is the year 2122.
I believe the final voyage of the USCSS Nostromo depicted in this movie took around 2 years.
(The trip from Earth was 9 months, 2 months at the destination, and more than 9 months return trip due to being slower with a full cargo load.)
So this crew has been together for AT LEAST that long.
I'm not sure how many voyages the crew has done together.
the robot, Ash, was only added to the crew for the return trip. So he's only been around for around 9 months.
Please give the Star Trek franchise a chance. 🖖
Agreed, start with the original series tv show. It's great!👍
@@sarahfullerton6894 They don't have to watch everything! Maybe: top ten Classic episodes = Star Trek 1 to 6 = top ten "The Next Generation" episodes = Star Trek 7 to 10 = the three J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies? ✌️
YES 🙌🏽 agreed
Which one
Id like to see one sci-fi movie where the corperation is like: 'Crew not expedible, human lives top priority.'
But theres some sociopath on the crew all like: 'I'm sure they're just saying that for liability, lets get some people killed for science!'
Loved your reactions, you also kept it clean, so thank you.
I’m getting up there in years now but”Event Horizon” still gives me goose bumps.
"Ripley is kind of a girl boss, making the choices that need to be made." Oh Stella, you called it so early!
Perfect movie. Its simplicity and ambiguity and mystery are incredible strengths
its too dark.. whine whine whine. maybe you should watch it in the dark then since thats how it was made... to watch in a dark theater.
The "THING" is an oldy but a goodie.
You have to remember that these people are basically truckers in space, they have no training, no knowledge and very few skills and tools suitable for battling an unknown murder alien. They're just regular Joes and Janes doing the best they can in an impossible situation. A situation that has also been deliberately and severely stacked against them.
This was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. I was 13. My father knew how much I loved science fiction, so he took me in. As you pointed out, the commercials showed us NOTHING about the story. The movie poster on the wikipedia page was ALL I had seen. Can you imagine?? I was obsessed with this creature ever since. (BTW, my father was never vocal or demonstrative in movie theaters, but during the finale, he said out loud "LEAVE THE CAT!")
Ash tripping out with Ripley is always a wild scene, especially when they have a talk with his head 🤯😱🤯😱🤯👽👽👽👽👽