I saw ALIEN on May 26, 1979 the second day of its release. The audience knew it was somewhat scary, but we had no idea what we were in for! The theatre was packed, and people were screaming and jumping out of their seats! This was one of the greatest times I had at the movies!
Yes! I saw it on the first day of release in NYC! The line to get in was wrapped around the block. When the 'chest-burster' scene occured...the entire audience applauded! It was wild!😊
This is even more obscure: I also remember a cheap teen comedy at the time Alien came out called "Hog Wild" that parodied that tag line with their own version: "In deep fat, no one can hear you gag." That always cracked me up.
I've always really liked that Ripley went back for Jonesy. It shows how compassionate she is as a character, she wasn't willing to leave anyone behind, even the cat.
Ridley Scott said on the commentary that he's a dog owner and would go back to get his dogs in a situation like that, which makes me like Ridley Scott rather a lot.
Carrie Fisher had a great story about the whole bra thing: George (Lucas) comes up to me the first day of filming (Star Wars) and he takes one look at the dress and says, "You can't wear a bra under that dress." "So, I say, "Okay, I'll bite. Why?" And he says, "Because. . . there's no underwear in space." Now George came to my show when it was in Berkeley. He came backstage and explained why you can't wear your brassiere in other galaxies, and I have a sense very soon, so here's why you cannot wear your brassiere, per George. So, what happens is when you go to space and you become weightless. So far so good, right? But then your body expands? But your bra doesn't -- so you get strangled by your own bra. Now I think that this would make for a fantastic obit -- so I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.
Fun fact, when the script was written, the character genders were not chosen. They were all written with just the personalities in mind. Then they gave the parts to the best actors for those parts. Also, Sigourney Weaver had actually suggested to be naked at the end, but Ridley Scott opted not to in favor of the underwear.
Yeah, according to Scott, the skimpy underwear scene was sort of added after the studio started asking for some sexiness to be included in the movie (funnily enough, a sex scent between Ripley and Dallas was in the script but never filmed). Weaver was fine with nudity but had said more recently that looking back, she was a bit troubled with how easily she considered it, and how easily it would've been to have exploited a naive young actress in that way, had Scott gone for it.
I think the Ripley-naked-at-the-end option wouldv'e made artistic sense if it was bookending the entire Nostromo crew emerging naked-at-the-beginning idea they'd originally had. The whole emerging-from-the-womb imagery would've compounded the surviving character being at their most vulnerable again.
"Truckers in space" to quote the film makers. It's also much closer to modern day than even the OG Star Trek. Prometheus is set in 2090 ish, so Alien is about 100 years from now at 30 years later.
A few years earlier, Dan O'Bannon wrote Dark Star with John Carpenter, which was even more "human". One of the very first lines in the film is about how the short circuit that killed the captain remains a problem, but even worse is a problem in a storage area has destroyed the rest of their toilet paper.
"Nobody smoked on Star Trek" -- except Iman in Star Trek VI. Everyone else obeyed the No Smoking sign on the Bridge Simulator at Starfleet Academy from Star Trek II.
The sequence with Ripley trying to enforce quarantine procedure and being ignored is really great. It establishes the main character as not only sympathetic (others ignore her good advice or trying to follow rules) but it also shows the viewer that all the bullshit that happens afterward is in no way her fault. The film doesn't make her act stupid or commit silly mistakes in order to allow room for the story to happen. The rest of the movie reinforces this, but the whole thing really respects the both viewer's and the characters' intelligence.
The entirety of the documentaries shot and produced by Charles de Lauzirika for the original Alien Quadrilogy DVD set are all worth watching in my opinion. That guy really knows how to produce a making of doc well. He also did 'Dangerous Days: The making of Blade Runner' too, of a similar length and quality, and just as worth watching.
I'm only 38 so I wasn't even born when this came out, but about seven years ago I saw this and it's sequel Aliens back to back at the cinema on Halloween. Was brilliant seeing it on the big screen with the volume jacked up. There were a bunch of 16 or so year Olds sat near the front and they were gigleing like children when ash was laid in his undies. Left before it even really got started.... Their loss really 😂🤣😂
A couple of notes on some of the cast members: Ian Holm who played Ash was also old Bilbo in Lord of the Rings John Hurt who played Kain was the chancellor in V for Vendetta
Veronica Cartwright (Lambert) was in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as a kid (she and her sister Angela were kid actors) the 1978 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and The Witches Of Eastwick. Yaphet Kotto (Parker), who passed away this year, was the first Black actor to play a James Bond villain in "Live and Let Die". He was also in The Running Man.
Having lived and survived the 1970's, women going braless was a thing at that time as it was the peak era of feminism. Being a man I had no issues with it.😁
Yeah, bras were for some reason equated with male oppression. Even burning bras in protest was a thing for a time. I’ve no idea why any of that happened.
@@WallyHartshorn It wasn't *really* a ~thing~. It was more of a media-spread exaggeration and catchy nickname for feminists based on some clever headlines and someone tossing (not burning) a bra into a trash bin of different things at one protest. There may have been the odd copycat once the stereotype had been spread around, but it wasn't really a common thing among feminist protestors.
I was in middle school in the early '70s and 1 day my French teacher came to class bra-less, which was clearly evident. I didn't learn a thing in class that day.
The entire Nostromo ship interior was built as one continuous set like a submarine on the soundstage, with only one entrance/exit to keep the actors feeling claustrophobic all the time. The atmosphere of the film is just so amazing as a result in my opinion.
The dark visions of Swiss artist H.R. Giger were largely responsible for the set design in the horseshoe shaped alien ship as well as the Alien Xenomorph. Google his work to see what nightmarish drawings / paintings were the source material and inspiration for his designs in this film. You'll be fascinated, though perhaps a little sickened at times.
When Ridley Scott saw Gigers work the first time , he was in shock , and asked Giger how he get those ideas. Giger answered: he doesnt need inspiration ; he has every night those nightmares, even worse nightmares. So he paints them.
@@PygmalionFaciebat That reminds me of how the horror author H.P. Lovecraft got some of his inspiration from his nightmares. I am quite fond (if that's the correct word in this context) of Giger's art, but wasn't aware that he based it off dreams. Thanks for mentioning this!
@@ShanelleRiccio Make "Aliens" next on the list, then "Thing." I'm sick of all the "Thing" reaction videos everyone's doing in October. But I can never get sick of "Alien" and "Aliens" reaction videos.
@@ShanelleRiccio And for Aliens, watch the theatrical version. The Special Edition is fun once you're a fan of the movie, but it's not the best telling of the story. And I won't tell you my reasons why due to spoilers. But I'll say I love Aliens even better than the first movie, although they're both fantastic in their own right. They are very different stylistically, but complement each other so well.
Ripley being ignored when giving advice, and having so much stuff explained to her is because she's a stand-in for the audience. Most people watching have the reaction of "Run, just get the hell out of there." when they encounter the eggs. They kept explaining the stuff to her so the viewers would understand what and why they were doing it.
I love that she and Parker were so much on the same page about handling business and surviving. Also their compassion in the face of death - her going back to save Jones the cat, his refusing to burn up Lambert along with the Alien. RIP Parker.
Did you seriously just mansplain what an audience surrogate is? Shanelle is fully aware of what that is because she's seen at least one movie in her life.
@@uosdwiSrdewoH I'm glad everything in filmmaking is so obvious to you, but not all explanations come from a place of condescension. It's there for people who might not understand. You can always just ignore comments explaining things you already know instead of being toxic and assuming people are trying to talk down to you.
@@iremainteague5653 What are you talking about? It was very much condescension and it wasn't directed at the folks who post comments. It was directed at a comment Shanelle made during the video with the underlying assumption being she doesn't understand what the audience stand in, or surrogate, is. Shanelle is an actor so would be fully aware of what the role of the surrogate is. The explanation also came from a misread whether intentional or not of what she was talking about. She was saying how nobody listened to Ripley despite her being right pretty much every time while everyone else makes stupid choices. Paraphrasing. Which somehow got the OP explaining why people explain things to Ripley. Although ignoring her doesn't really help the audience understand. It just shows that everyone not named Ripley on that ship is an idiot. Whether they meant to or not they were talking down to her and making the assumption she didn't understand the situation. I was a bit quick to jump into the reply. I should've just ignored it. I was probably feeling a little feisty that day and decided to be a jerk to someone in a comment section which I can't stand when other people do. I promise that I'm usually slightly less of a jerk. I will be more mindful in the future.
This was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. I begged my father to take me and my best friend to see it. Being adolescent girls, we made my dad sit separately from us. When the thing jumped out of the egg onto his face, we screamed and practically jumped into the row behind us! I can still hear my dad laughing from several rows away. 🤣
The shrinking set trick is also done in the original classic 12 Angry Men. The jury room gets smaller and smaller and the camera framing gets closer and closer to the characters throughout the film.
Well that and Parker/Lambert were making a shit load of noise while she looked for Jones 😅 In all seriousness though, the concept of quarantine is an extremely serious one where space and foreign life is concerned. (For good reasons why watch 'The Andromeda Strain', one of Michael Crichton's less well known novel -> film adaptations that deals with a deadly pathogen of extraterrestrial origin, it was made around the same time period as Westworld, also a Crichton story!) Probably the biggest plot hole in this film is that the captain of the ship blithely ignores the safety of everyone else to save one crew member who may already be dead, not to mention the organism attached to his helmet could be infectious as Ripley herself mentioned. Quarantine procedures would demand some sort of separate module to examine and potentially treat crew members suspected of infection - not to mention that they did not rescan him after the face hugger leaves him.
This is what you can do with a small cast, if the whole cast is really good. And these guys were. It put Sigourney Weaver on the map, but for me - he doesn't last long here , but I can watch John Hurt in anything. I remember when I was a kid, seeing him play Caligula in I Claudius, and he was so convincing playing a complete lunatic that I couldn't get him out of my head.
_I Claudius_ is one of the greatest television series ever made. I remember watching it when it was first broadcast, it was absolutely unmissable, no-one was talking about anything else. Great performances all around - Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, George Baker, Patrick Stewart, Christopher Biggins, John Rhys-Davies (25 years before LOTR!), Sheila White, Sian Phillips, Patricia Quinn... but yes, John Hurt's performance of quite insanity was arresting.
Terminator and T2 are about the only other exception to this rule. "The sequel is always inferior to the original; but the original will arguably be eclipsed by the finale in a trilogy." See also: all 3 Star Wars trilogies, the matrix trilogy...
I felt the same way. A haunting scream that gave me chills. Then when Ripley went to the room to find them, I felt sorrow for them, anger towards the alien, and fear for Ripley.
I really love the trivia sections in all your videos, I've watched a lot of different reaction videos from different creators, and you're the only one that I've seen do this! Also really enjoy the filmmaker's perspective, hearing details that I didn't pick up on when I watched the films myself is what makes reaction videos so enjoyable.
Actually think that Dallas insisting on going to the air vent instead of Ripley, it's his guilty conscience. Because he knows she insisted on bringing cane of aboard when he was infected.
In the 70´s, the feminists were burning bras on the streets because they considered them symbols of masculinity oppression and the sexualization of women. Many other people end up agreeing with them at some point and bras became somewhat out of fashion. That´s why you don´t usually see bras in the movies of those times, specially in a movie like this, being Ripley a (strong) woman.
totally agree. i saw Magic in the theater when it came out and it really made an impression on me. it was the first time i'd seen anthony hopkins and i was amazed at what an incredible actor he was.
Ian holm also played the priest Cornelius in the fifth element. Tom skerritt (Dallas) played viper in top gun. Harry dean stanton(Brett) played toot-toot the trustee in the green mile.
It's still hard for me to believe American adults haven't seen certain movies, like this one. I refuse to believe I'm that old, or that culturally competent adults have missed them. But mostly I refuse to believe I'm that old.
A large part of it is the corporate media keeps trying to (as they did with books) make old films 'uncool'. That way their contrived, poorly written twaddle isn't seen as the vapid swill it is because - they hope - the audience won't have a proper frame of reference for what a movie should be.
Yes, I think we need to take this with a grain of salt sometimes,its epic,legendary movies we are talking about here that its really weird that so many people can have missed...even 20+ people...the millenials. I dont really buy it,so I have to take it with some grains of salt..really...that said,its still interesting to see the best reactors out there do reactions on legendary movies like,this one..
I understand the feeling, but this movie's almost 45 years old now. We're old. There's a great comic about growing up and aging where it shows a progression of bodies from child to elderly, but behind every facade is the same child holding up different masks.
Shanelle, I've truly enjoyed your reactions and commentaries. I was 31 when my wife and I saw this movie in a big theater, Mission Valley in San Diego during the summer of '79, with several other couples. To set the scene: hot summer afternoon, everybody in our group of friends clad in shorts, tank tops and sandals...we enter the theater and suddenly realize it was oddly cold. We were all shivering and had goose bumps before the first frame of the film appeared on the screen. Suffice to say the first jump scare set the tone for the rest of the movie. Just wondering if all the theaters chilled their auditoriums for an added scare factor. Thanks for reviving the memories about this movie...one of my fav of all times.
ya know -- so many people say that about the voice and I don't get it! haha I guess too many people told me to stop talking in school 😂😂 and welcome! happy to have you!
@@notmee2388 haha im trying to think, like when I speak I'm doing a softer tone for the channel to save my voice from constant vocal fry, so maybe that's it? I'm just over here like how do I make this intentional? 😂😂
In discussing how people didn’t follow Ripley from the start, I think you may be overlooking the hierarchy of the ship. She wasn’t being ignored because she was a woman; her comments were simply coming from someone who was lower down in the ship’s hierarchy and therefore didn’t carry as much weight. Dallas’s not allowing Ripley to go into the tunnels wasn’t because they were forcing her to take a subordinate role; as the captain, it was Dallas’s responsibility to take on such a dangerous job.
"as the captain, it was Dallas’s responsibility to take on such a dangerous job". Not at all, as captain he has a responsibility of not partaking in such dangerous activities at all.
@@Henrik_Holst huh? The captains job is to ensure the safety of the ship and crew. If he felt he was best suited for that mission of course he’d take it. They dont take missions thinking - we will probably die, so send a recruit.
@@normcmiller The captains job is administering the ship, that means delegating the job to the crew (via the XO) and not doing them himself. If he goes on a dangerous mission himself then he risks the ship ending up without a captain which means leaving it without a leader. In the chain of command on a ship the crew is expendable, not the captain.
She was the Warrant Officer third in command after Captain Dallas and Executive Officer Kane, after Kane's death she's second in command. Sure Dallas' decision overrules hers but it is frustrating that she wasn't listened too more, as she was the one going by the book and following regulations.
I read a quote from Sigourney Weaver suggesting that at one point, she was in favor of starting out that last fight scene completely undressed, and underwear was a compromise. Not because she was excited to do a nude scene specifically, but because she felt that the less she was wearing, the more vulnerable she would seem in that scene, which would make the realization that the alien was there with her seem all the more terrifying for the viewer.
hey for her artistry im so into that and ultimately always glad when the actress is totally on board with what she's doing, ya know instead of being forced by contract or something
@@shinrapresident7010 You're... aware there's a difference between partial and complete nudity, right? And specifically-different and -gendered social mores around same?
also, i have never seen another alien movie where the title doesn't just reference the monster but the look of the ship and the dead pilot. the ship is the first time i ever saw something not of this earth, truly 'alien', made of bone, skin and leeches but also looking like organically grown metal and not like all other movies, where the ships look like every ufo ever seen in a movie
Shanelle, if you really like the deep quiet of space in movies, you might like 2001: A Space Odyssey. The out-in-space POV shots, were absolutely silent. No noise, no score (except the early shots with the space shuttle approaching the space station accompanied by the Blue Danube). It's the only a movie I can think of that has done silent space shots like that. And the silent shots go on forever, primarily to give the idea of how deliberately slow things have to happen when there's no gravity and people have to move around. I saw that movie for the first time in a movie theater in Detroit when I was 10 and I was absolutely enthralled.
On the Silver Globe is pretty coconuts and does some silent shots but it's like the most heavy and intense polish dialogue that barely makes sense and ends horrifically. and like hardly ANYONE has seen that movie. The Holy Mountain is also bananas, pretty sure it's the most expensive movie made in mexico ever and hardly anyone has seen that. Stalker is a very grim Russian Scifi and widely acclaimed. Hardly anyone has seen that either.
Ironically the Kachachurian theme used in 2001 when we first see the Discovery and its crew was ripped off for the score James Horner composed for Aliens and used in a very similar context.
@@criss_x "The Holy Mountain is also bananas, pretty sure it's the most expensive movie made in mexico ever and hardly anyone has seen that." Hardly anyone has seen Alejandro Jodorowsky's work full stop. Ironic considering he was the first to try and adapt Dune to film as the new adaptation is released and has some visual elements noticeably similar to Jodorowsky Dune's pre production art (some of which was also used to inspire art for Alien and Prometheus too, as well as Flash Gordon).
70's movies are still in the period of the 60's - 70's burn the bra era. The burn the bra name though isn't referring to real bra burning but a rebellion to wearing them.
My girlfriend and I were so freaked out by the movie, that we ended up seeing it about 15 or 16 times at the theater. Even after seeing it many times, and knowing what was going to happen, we still jumped at the scary spots. Yeah, it was great. IN SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM.
The exposition that Ash gives is so much more diabolical in hindsight than just simple in-character exposition. He casually calculated threatening their pay and lives for this alien to come home to the company.
It was the end of the 70's. Women's Lib was still pretty strong. Many women weren't wearing bras, but in the fiction, yes, it makes sense that you wouldn't want to wear a bra (especially a 70's one) for the months and months of a hypersleep journey.
I had a girlfriend in the 80s who frequently didn't bother with a bra. My wife can't get away with that, but she still hates them, and certainly never sleeps in one.
The best , most perceptive movie reaction I have yet watched ! The summary and trivia section told me a few things I had never heard before . Saw this movie when it first hit the theater - and it has remained one of my favorites all these years ! Keep up your high quality work !
Loved your reaction! You were biting your nails at the jump scares lol. You asked about the first time we saw Alien and if it blew our minds. To be completely honest, I don't remember when I actually saw it the first time. I was only 8 years old when it came out and nobody was taking me to the theater to see it!🤣 But I remember all the TV commercials for it and it was huge! I eventually got ahold of the book version when I was 11. I was an advanced reader so I didn't have any trouble with a science fiction book. (I had my trusty dictionary beside me lol!). I tell, you, as an 11 year old experiencing that story with nothing but my imagination to tell me what that alien looked like, it was beyond scary! Probably way scarier than actually watching it at that age would've been! And the scene with the chestburster! The book said it was "trailing bits of Kane" across the table. Trailing BITS!🤣🤣🤣 OHMYGOD! That book scared the crap out of me! And the big deleted scene was in the book where Ripley found Dallas being changed! OMG! Definitely an unforgettable experience!
There are three other documentaries that you should watch that are associated with the Alien series. One is "Dark Star: HR Giger's World." It covers the life of HR Giger, who came up with the design of the xenomorph. Then there is "Memory: The Origins of Alien" which delves into the lore and mythology that inspired the story. And the third is "Jodorowski's Dune" which doesn't have anything to do directly with the Alien series but the team Jodorowski assembled for his movie ended up being instrumental in the sci-fi film industry in the 70's and 80's (including the Alien series).
They aren't "consistently keeping her back". I don't know where you're getting this from. Dallas overrode Ripley volunteering to go into the vents because they all knew how dangerous it was and it could be a one way trip. As captain, he wasn't going to let one of his crew risk themselves like that. He'd already lost too many under his command, so he took responsibility for it. If he hadn't, Tom Skerritt would have been the face of the franchise going forward instead of Sigourney Weaver. Ripley isn't supposed to be a heroic figure. She's just a blue collar industrial worker trying to do her job, like the rest of them. But with a bit of luck, ingenuity and determination, she's the one who gets to escape the Nostromo. Ripley "the hero" emerges in the next film.
As a captain he is not allowed to put himself under such a risk at all, if anything it actually was Ripley's task of going to the vents as the warrant officer.
Hey Shanelle, here's a fun one for you! The North Bergen High School in New Jersey decided to do a stage play of Alien, from beginning to end. Clips of it were found on UA-cam and the videos became so popular, that they decided to do an encore production of the play to a sold out crowd. Another fun fact: The night of the encore play, that night, Sigourney Weaver herself came backstage to visit the cast and faculty, letting them know how proud and excited she was to see a bunch of kids do a stage play of the film. She even came onstage before the curtains opened up, and gave a small speech and introduced the play to the crowd. The whole visit was completely unexpected by both the crowd and the school. You can actually find the whole encore production here on UA-cam, and I highly recommend it, it's totally worth the watch, I promise!!! Here's the link, with introduction by SIgourney Weaver: ua-cam.com/video/DX3VaFG7AvU/v-deo.html And here's the link for Sigourney Weaver's backstage visit: ua-cam.com/video/i3vKX6VrNvs/v-deo.html
@@ShanelleRiccio You've earned it and your appreciation of your fans shows. Excellent content and great personality. Remain humble, it's what makes you endearing to your fans.
Having watched Alien when I was 8 or 9, I was absolutely ready for Aliens when it was released. I was 11, and a neighbor friend accompanied me to the theater. He wasn't allowed to watch R rated films, though, so he saw Howard The Duck 😖 instead. As Aliens was quite long, he was already waiting in the parking lot with my mother when I came out. I was like "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "WOOOOOO"-ing like a madman. My friend tried to say that Howard The Duck was probably just as good, but I wasn't buying what he was selling 🤘
SO GOOD! Lol, you were *so* into this movie, it was infectious. Great movie, great reaction, thanks for posting.👽 Oh, yeah... saw it in the theater with my dad, think I was... 11? Mind. Blown!
technology she says as she looks at a miniature :p Also, it's a delight to see someone really watch the movie as you do. And I guess a Spaceship is the ultimate cabin in the woods
A very interesting podcast, with your more intellectual analysis of this film that will, as you say, "stand the test of time." Also, especially enjoyed the trivia section. Thanks for posting this podcast on UA-cam - which was the 1st I've seen of yours. Looking forward to checking out similar podcasts!
In the 1970s and 1980s smoking was very normal, and they wanted to show that life on a commercial spacecraft was as simple and normal as life in any job on Earth. If I remember correctly, the promotion for the movie said something like "in space no one can hear you scream". In the long version there's a scene that explains why they couldn't find the remains of Dallas. I'm glad not even you were able to foresee that Ash was a robot
If you are going to watch the sequel, I'd recommend the director's cut. There are a couple of scenes early in the film that flesh out Ripley's character and put things that happen later in better context.
How hilarious is this? Just as the face hugger jumped out of the egg, my UA-cam feed cut to a commercial- for a first aid kit!😂😂 Who said the algorithm isn't helpful 🤔🤔🤔😂😂😂
Subscribed. As someone born in 1971, it always brings me a smile to my face and a heartwarm to me when younger persons dig what is now seen as "older" movies. So cool!
I only just watched this recently myself! It’s so beautiful and tense. Even though I knew about the chest burster, it was still really upsetting! The face hugger is like all my arachnid nightmares made fleshy and I KNEW that it was made of real fleshy stuff.
Watched this movie dozens of times and just realized the grammatical error in the computer: "Insure protection of organism" It should be *ensure* , unless they're paying premiums on policy for alien organisms
Just wanna say thanks so much for make all your reaction videos. I love movie-reaction youtubers watching the classics for the first time. It's so invigorating to re-experience watching a movie for the first time from the perspective of someone who actually is. Also since you work in movies yourself it's great to get the reaction from someone with highly qualified opinions ( because they know the craft ). Also loved you're reaction to Pulp Fiction. I feel so high seeing someone put that movie on, having NO idea what they're in for, about to get a shot of adrenaline that is a Tarantino movie!
Just to add to the conversation about how the crew treated Ripley. In the corridor conversation with Dallas it is confirmed that while the rest of the crew have worked together many times before both Ash and Ripley were new members thus were not part of the close knit crew. Also before shooting began a small plot point was dropped from the shooting script that had Dallas and Ripley in a semi romantic relationship. And the Director's Cut has a bit more to say about Dallas' encounter with the Alien in the shafts. I saw Alien in the summer of 1979 at 14. One of my most vivid movie memories is watching the Chestburster scene. Saw it in the theater atleast 30 times. And read and collected every book and magazine ever written about Alien. Even owned the 18 inch figure that Kenner released in December '79. Alien quite literally changed how I viewed films forever.
There's an absolutely wonderful book called "Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo" done in the style of a children's' story picture book, that tells the plot of the movie from the slice-of-cat-life perspective. Given the subject matter, I wouldn't actually recommend it for children. Although, that's never stopped people in the past. When this movie came out, Kenner Toys made action figures, playsets, and even a movie viewer toy based on this film. Years later, Froot Loops cereal had a commercial that recreated the facehugger scene.
The same year Alien came out, Ridley Scott was hired by Dino De Laurentiis to direct Dune years after the Jodorowsky version fell apart. Ridley's version fell apart as well, and he went on to do Blade Runner.
I saw it at the drive-in with my family when I was 7 years old. My mother tried to cover my eyes during the chest-burster scene but I could still see through her fingers............hahahahaha! A memorable movie moment for me! Then, when Aliens came out in 1986, I saw it 6 times at the cinema! Great reaction as usual.........xx
Awesome reaction to a great movie, you discussed some great points about this movie. Definitely check out Aliens The Special Edition that film is on par with this, it's bad ass.
A smart and articulate reaction and analysis! Subscribed! I saw this when it opened at a theater in Denver, while attending tech school at Lowry AFB. Scared the sh!^ outta me, when that xenomorph popped outta the egg! My roommate and I sat about 3 or 4 rows away from the screen. This is one of the best sci-fi movies ever. You are now ready to proceed to watch "Aliens."
You came up on my feed randomly. You’re watching my favourite movie and reacting to it. And your first reaction was to the sound of the Nostromo ship as the camera pans it’s underbelly. Awesome. The sound design in this film is incredible, and it’s one of the reasons I can watch it over and over. New sub here!
There's definitely sooo much more to it than that. Watching the "Beast Within" documentary shows just how much work went into it, even before Ridley first set eyes on the script.
Very good review...Veronica Cartwright played Lambert already had a well established career like Witches of Eastwick,Invasion of the Body Snatchers(70's) she played Cassandra Crossing in 4 episodes of Xfiles as the Smoking Mans ex-wife,plus many other roles/movies,all the cast except for Weaver were established actors actually well known,you might be surprised at some of their roles/movies if you check IMDB.
Glad you read the trivia section regarding the chestburster sequence...people have for years been spreading the myth that the cast didn't even know that that was going to happen in the scene, as if you could hide the fact that they were working with a dummy and a bunch of tech guys under the table. They were just surprised by the spray of entrails.
If you watch the Abyss... watch the special edition. The theatrical cut is missing really important scenes that are super important. (Like the scene that was based on the dream that was the inspiration for the movie).
I’ve always like Tom Skerritt, also in Top Gun, Space Camp, Contact & A River Runs Through It. The alien erupting from the stomach, repeated many times since, in Space Balls, even cartoons.
Great reaction Shanelle! An interesting casting coincidence (rather than pure trivia) is the fact that Alien is about a ship that is lost in space and runs into something unexpected. Veronica Cartwright, who played the frightened navigator Lambert has a younger sister, Angela. Angela Cartwright played Penny Robinson in the TV series Lost in Space back in the 60's. Now you need to watch Aliens, which is among the best sci-fi sequels, right up there with Terminator 2 and The Empire Strikes Back.
For a 2nd flick, Scott knocked it out of the park. In spades. I hope you try his first flick (The Duellists is pretty great) sometime, even if on your own time.
@@skyhawksailor8736 Now you had me wondering, so I checked again. One of the black guys KINDA looks a little like Yaphet Kotto, but it definitely isn't him.
Fun fact about the set of the movie - a lot of it was properly built, with the rooms connecting to each other. Basically, once you entered the ship, you were ON the ship, there were very few spots that lead back out onto soundstages. So for the actors, who spent months wandering the insides of a fairly self-contained structure, they grew to have a real sense of "home" aboard the Nostromo.
I saw ALIEN on May 26, 1979 the second day of its release. The audience knew it was somewhat scary, but we had no idea what we were in for! The theatre was packed, and people were screaming and jumping out of their seats! This was one of the greatest times I had at the movies!
Yes! I saw it on the first day of release in NYC! The line to get in was wrapped around the block. When the 'chest-burster' scene occured...the entire audience applauded! It was wild!😊
And Aliens was just as great - ‘get away from her you bitch!’
@@QueensLadyDay Haha, I saw it in Syosset Long Island the same day.
@@HistoritorJimaldus No. Good, but not great. Singular far superior to plural.
@@ralphficker167 in fairness, alien is a great space horror thriller. Where as aliens in a great space action thriller.
This movie also had one of the great ad tag lines: "In space, no one can hear you scream."
Frightening! haha
But somehow "Here, Kitty, Kitty" is scarier.
This is even more obscure: I also remember a cheap teen comedy at the time Alien came out called "Hog Wild" that parodied that tag line with their own version: "In deep fat, no one can hear you gag." That always cracked me up.
The tag line alone made an impression on a very young version of myself, several years before I actually saw the film.
but they can if you are in a ship...
I've always really liked that Ripley went back for Jonesy. It shows how compassionate she is as a character, she wasn't willing to leave anyone behind, even the cat.
Ridley Scott said on the commentary that he's a dog owner and would go back to get his dogs in a situation like that, which makes me like Ridley Scott rather a lot.
Not only that, but according to surrounding lore such as the Trading Cards sold at the time with tidbits of character info, Jones was HER cat.
Yea it was a nice touch, even if he is a little shit-head.
If a better film about one woman's love for her cat exists, i haven't seen it.
Carrie Fisher had a great story about the whole bra thing: George (Lucas) comes up to me the first day of filming (Star Wars) and he takes one look at the dress and says, "You can't wear a bra under that dress." "So, I say, "Okay, I'll bite. Why?" And he says, "Because. . . there's no underwear in space."
Now George came to my show when it was in Berkeley. He came backstage and explained why you can't wear your brassiere in other galaxies, and I have a sense very soon, so here's why you cannot wear your brassiere, per George.
So, what happens is when you go to space and you become weightless. So far so good, right? But then your body expands? But your bra doesn't -- so you get strangled by your own bra.
Now I think that this would make for a fantastic obit -- so I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.
A lot of Star Wars fans quoted that message in Carrie's honour when she died. "Strangled by her own bra." She would have loved that.
But many more have said that she rests now forever in the embrace of the Force. ❤️
Omg that’s funny as hell!!!
I knew a few girls who didnt like wearing bras, my ex only wore her's outside the house.
Fun fact, when the script was written, the character genders were not chosen. They were all written with just the personalities in mind. Then they gave the parts to the best actors for those parts.
Also, Sigourney Weaver had actually suggested to be naked at the end, but Ridley Scott opted not to in favor of the underwear.
LOVE THIS you can totally tell too, because there isn't much cliched dialogue/character behvaior
It’s one of those I get I like it but … damn what a loss too lol
Yes, Ripley is an actual character and not just "muh skrong wamen"
Yeah, according to Scott, the skimpy underwear scene was sort of added after the studio started asking for some sexiness to be included in the movie (funnily enough, a sex scent between Ripley and Dallas was in the script but never filmed). Weaver was fine with nudity but had said more recently that looking back, she was a bit troubled with how easily she considered it, and how easily it would've been to have exploited a naive young actress in that way, had Scott gone for it.
I think the Ripley-naked-at-the-end option wouldv'e made artistic sense if it was bookending the entire Nostromo crew emerging naked-at-the-beginning idea they'd originally had. The whole emerging-from-the-womb imagery would've compounded the surviving character being at their most vulnerable again.
"The cat who played Jones: "acatemy" award." Lol
Nobody smoked on Star Trek... I think they wanted to show that this wasn't Star Trek (or Wars) but a Sci-Fi future with pretty familiar humans in it.
it was VERY human, I Loved that touch. All of the conversations felt like eavesdropping
"Truckers in space" to quote the film makers.
It's also much closer to modern day than even the OG Star Trek.
Prometheus is set in 2090 ish, so Alien is about 100 years from now at 30 years later.
A few years earlier, Dan O'Bannon wrote Dark Star with John Carpenter, which was even more "human". One of the very first lines in the film is about how the short circuit that killed the captain remains a problem, but even worse is a problem in a storage area has destroyed the rest of their toilet paper.
"Nobody smoked on Star Trek" -- except Iman in Star Trek VI. Everyone else obeyed the No Smoking sign on the Bridge Simulator at Starfleet Academy from Star Trek II.
Dont forget Jabba the Hutt smoked a hookah pipe in Jedi!
I love watching these reviews, it's like watching a movie with a friend whose never seen it, and they have a ton to say about it.
The sequence with Ripley trying to enforce quarantine procedure and being ignored is really great. It establishes the main character as not only sympathetic (others ignore her good advice or trying to follow rules) but it also shows the viewer that all the bullshit that happens afterward is in no way her fault. The film doesn't make her act stupid or commit silly mistakes in order to allow room for the story to happen. The rest of the movie reinforces this, but the whole thing really respects the both viewer's and the characters' intelligence.
The 3 hour long documentary you mention (available on UA-cam: "The Beast Within: The Making of Alien"), is highly recommended.
The entirety of the documentaries shot and produced by Charles de Lauzirika for the original Alien Quadrilogy DVD set are all worth watching in my opinion.
That guy really knows how to produce a making of doc well.
He also did 'Dangerous Days: The making of Blade Runner' too, of a similar length and quality, and just as worth watching.
I'm only 38 so I wasn't even born when this came out, but about seven years ago I saw this and it's sequel Aliens back to back at the cinema on Halloween. Was brilliant seeing it on the big screen with the volume jacked up.
There were a bunch of 16 or so year Olds sat near the front and they were gigleing like children when ash was laid in his undies. Left before it even really got started.... Their loss really 😂🤣😂
"There's a horror movie called Alien?! That's really offensive. No wonder everybody keeps invading you." - Doctor Who
A couple of notes on some of the cast members:
Ian Holm who played Ash was also old Bilbo in Lord of the Rings
John Hurt who played Kain was the chancellor in V for Vendetta
Veronica Cartwright (Lambert) was in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as a kid (she and her sister Angela were kid actors) the 1978 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and The Witches Of Eastwick.
Yaphet Kotto (Parker), who passed away this year, was the first Black actor to play a James Bond villain in "Live and Let Die". He was also in The Running Man.
@@Madbandit77 And Yaphet was Lt. Al Giardello in the series "Homicide: Life On The Streets".
@@Madbandit77 How could you mention Angela Cartwright without mentioning that she was most famously in "Lost in Space"? ;)
@@lafelong Mea culpa, sir. 😊
John Hurt also hilariously lampooned his own character in Mel Brooks' "Space Balls": ua-cam.com/video/otJ2rXMuLno/v-deo.html
In space no one can hear you scream was the. tag line for this movie thought of it when you mentioned sound design
Having lived and survived the 1970's, women going braless was a thing at that time as it was the peak era of feminism. Being a man I had no issues with it.😁
Yeah, bras were for some reason equated with male oppression. Even burning bras in protest was a thing for a time. I’ve no idea why any of that happened.
It was a very nippley era, and it was wonderful
@@WallyHartshorn I maintain the more important thing to find out is why it stopped.
@@WallyHartshorn It wasn't *really* a ~thing~. It was more of a media-spread exaggeration and catchy nickname for feminists based on some clever headlines and someone tossing (not burning) a bra into a trash bin of different things at one protest. There may have been the odd copycat once the stereotype had been spread around, but it wasn't really a common thing among feminist protestors.
I was in middle school in the early '70s and 1 day my French teacher came to class bra-less, which was clearly evident. I didn't learn a thing in class that day.
The entire Nostromo ship interior was built as one continuous set like a submarine on the soundstage, with only one entrance/exit to keep the actors feeling claustrophobic all the time.
The atmosphere of the film is just so amazing as a result in my opinion.
If i were rich,id have the entire set rebuilt and live there.
@@promnightdumpsterbaby9553 Damn bruh I damn near shit myself watching it as a kid, I wouldn't last a single night in that set 😅🤣🤣🤣
The dark visions of Swiss artist H.R. Giger were largely responsible for the set design in the horseshoe shaped alien ship as well as the Alien Xenomorph. Google his work to see what nightmarish drawings / paintings were the source material and inspiration for his designs in this film. You'll be fascinated, though perhaps a little sickened at times.
My first glimpse of H.R., Giger's work was the Emerson, Lake And Palmer album, "Brain Salad Surgery" (1973). Hauntingly beautiful!
I lived in Switzerland. One of my favorite places was Gruyere, where there is a museum and cafe/bar complete with alien style chairs.
When Ridley Scott saw Gigers work the first time , he was in shock , and asked Giger how he get those ideas. Giger answered: he doesnt need inspiration ; he has every night those nightmares, even worse nightmares. So he paints them.
@@PygmalionFaciebat That reminds me of how the horror author H.P. Lovecraft got some of his inspiration from his nightmares. I am quite fond (if that's the correct word in this context) of Giger's art, but wasn't aware that he based it off dreams. Thanks for mentioning this!
If you've not watched The Thing (1982), you may also like that one.
I think that's next on the list!
Followed by Aliens.
@@ShanelleRiccio Make "Aliens" next on the list, then "Thing." I'm sick of all the "Thing" reaction videos everyone's doing in October. But I can never get sick of "Alien" and "Aliens" reaction videos.
@@DMichaelAtLarge making a request/suggestion is way cooler than making demands 👍 be cool stay in school... And stop being a douche
@@ShanelleRiccio And for Aliens, watch the theatrical version. The Special Edition is fun once you're a fan of the movie, but it's not the best telling of the story. And I won't tell you my reasons why due to spoilers. But I'll say I love Aliens even better than the first movie, although they're both fantastic in their own right. They are very different stylistically, but complement each other so well.
Poor Dallas! The first victim killed by "jazz hands"!
That scene is 90% of why I watch reactions to this movie! 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
Ripley being ignored when giving advice, and having so much stuff explained to her is because she's a stand-in for the audience.
Most people watching have the reaction of "Run, just get the hell out of there." when they encounter the eggs. They kept explaining the stuff to her so the viewers would understand what and why they were doing it.
I love that she and Parker were so much on the same page about handling business and surviving. Also their compassion in the face of death - her going back to save Jones the cat, his refusing to burn up Lambert along with the Alien. RIP Parker.
Did you seriously just mansplain what an audience surrogate is? Shanelle is fully aware of what that is because she's seen at least one movie in her life.
@@uosdwiSrdewoH I'm glad everything in filmmaking is so obvious to you, but not all explanations come from a place of condescension. It's there for people who might not understand. You can always just ignore comments explaining things you already know instead of being toxic and assuming people are trying to talk down to you.
@@iremainteague5653 What are you talking about? It was very much condescension and it wasn't directed at the folks who post comments. It was directed at a comment Shanelle made during the video with the underlying assumption being she doesn't understand what the audience stand in, or surrogate, is. Shanelle is an actor so would be fully aware of what the role of the surrogate is. The explanation also came from a misread whether intentional or not of what she was talking about. She was saying how nobody listened to Ripley despite her being right pretty much every time while everyone else makes stupid choices. Paraphrasing. Which somehow got the OP explaining why people explain things to Ripley. Although ignoring her doesn't really help the audience understand. It just shows that everyone not named Ripley on that ship is an idiot. Whether they meant to or not they were talking down to her and making the assumption she didn't understand the situation. I was a bit quick to jump into the reply. I should've just ignored it. I was probably feeling a little feisty that day and decided to be a jerk to someone in a comment section which I can't stand when other people do. I promise that I'm usually slightly less of a jerk. I will be more mindful in the future.
This was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. I begged my father to take me and my best friend to see it. Being adolescent girls, we made my dad sit separately from us. When the thing jumped out of the egg onto his face, we screamed and practically jumped into the row behind us! I can still hear my dad laughing from several rows away. 🤣
The shrinking set trick is also done in the original classic 12 Angry Men. The jury room gets smaller and smaller and the camera framing gets closer and closer to the characters throughout the film.
Only Lumet used depth of field for that-not moving walls.
Many have said that Ripley survived because she's the only one on the ship who is *actually good at her job.*
haha yup!
Well, if they'd just talked about the damn bonus situation, Parker wouldn't have been distracted during the movie.
Ash is superb at their job.
That... doesn't seem to follow. These are space truckers. None of this is their job.
Well that and Parker/Lambert were making a shit load of noise while she looked for Jones 😅
In all seriousness though, the concept of quarantine is an extremely serious one where space and foreign life is concerned.
(For good reasons why watch 'The Andromeda Strain', one of Michael Crichton's less well known novel -> film adaptations that deals with a deadly pathogen of extraterrestrial origin, it was made around the same time period as Westworld, also a Crichton story!)
Probably the biggest plot hole in this film is that the captain of the ship blithely ignores the safety of everyone else to save one crew member who may already be dead, not to mention the organism attached to his helmet could be infectious as Ripley herself mentioned.
Quarantine procedures would demand some sort of separate module to examine and potentially treat crew members suspected of infection - not to mention that they did not rescan him after the face hugger leaves him.
This is what you can do with a small cast, if the whole cast is really good. And these guys were. It put Sigourney Weaver on the map, but for me - he doesn't last long here , but I can watch John Hurt in anything. I remember when I was a kid, seeing him play Caligula in I Claudius, and he was so convincing playing a complete lunatic that I couldn't get him out of my head.
Loved John Hurt in Midnight Express...Spectacular filwork!!
He is a great actor my favorite of his is The Elephant Man with him and Anthony Hopkins
_I Claudius_ is one of the greatest television series ever made. I remember watching it when it was first broadcast, it was absolutely unmissable, no-one was talking about anything else. Great performances all around - Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, George Baker, Patrick Stewart, Christopher Biggins, John Rhys-Davies (25 years before LOTR!), Sheila White, Sian Phillips, Patricia Quinn... but yes, John Hurt's performance of quite insanity was arresting.
ALIENS is one of the best sequels of all time. Not much holds a candle to these films.
Terminator and T2 are about the only other exception to this rule. "The sequel is always inferior to the original; but the original will arguably be eclipsed by the finale in a trilogy." See also: all 3 Star Wars trilogies, the matrix trilogy...
I love Aliens even more than this one. My fave in the franchise.
Yes Aliens is my favorite ! Awesome sequel !
More of an action movie than scary but I think that's why it works.....
Die Hard and Die Harder is a close runner up for a good sequel.
Aliens is a worthy sequel for sure. Can't say the same for the rest of the sequels however.
18:31 "There's no bras in space" - George Lucas to Carrie Fisher
Lambert's screams coming over the comms will always be chilling. Can't imagine something much worse to listen to
I felt the same way. A haunting scream that gave me chills. Then when Ripley went to the room to find them, I felt sorrow for them, anger towards the alien, and fear for Ripley.
I really love the trivia sections in all your videos, I've watched a lot of different reaction videos from different creators, and you're the only one that I've seen do this! Also really enjoy the filmmaker's perspective, hearing details that I didn't pick up on when I watched the films myself is what makes reaction videos so enjoyable.
Actually think that Dallas insisting on going to the air vent instead of Ripley, it's his guilty conscience. Because he knows she insisted on bringing cane of aboard when he was infected.
No she didnt...she vehemently fought against it!
In the 70´s, the feminists were burning bras on the streets because they considered them symbols of masculinity oppression and the sexualization of women. Many other people end up agreeing with them at some point and bras became somewhat out of fashion. That´s why you don´t usually see bras in the movies of those times, specially in a movie like this, being Ripley a (strong) woman.
A cool Sigourney Weaver story: She was at the Beatles Hollywood Bowl performance in 1965 there are a few photos of her, how awesome! 🤘🤘
I saw that in a documentary about Beatles live proformaneces on Hulu
She a Beatles fan?? Wow!!
Hey Shanelle, you should watch 1978's "Magic" starring Anthony Hopkins!
totally agree. i saw Magic in the theater when it came out and it really made an impression on me. it was the first time i'd seen anthony hopkins and i was amazed at what an incredible actor he was.
People always refer to Silence and Hopkins but I found him scary before that; in this.
Ian holm also played the priest Cornelius in the fifth element. Tom skerritt (Dallas) played viper in top gun. Harry dean stanton(Brett) played toot-toot the trustee in the green mile.
Tom Skerritt was also in Cheech -n- Chong's Up In Smoke. : D
@@fakereality96 thank you… it’s been so many years since I’ve seen that movie
It's still hard for me to believe American adults haven't seen certain movies, like this one. I refuse to believe I'm that old, or that culturally competent adults have missed them. But mostly I refuse to believe I'm that old.
How old are you lol
@@-M0LE Old as dirt, and nearly as gritty. OK, only in my 50's, but I feel older. Every year things seem stranger and more stupid.
A large part of it is the corporate media keeps trying to (as they did with books) make old films 'uncool'. That way their contrived, poorly written twaddle isn't seen as the vapid swill it is because - they hope - the audience won't have a proper frame of reference for what a movie should be.
Yes, I think we need to take this with a grain of salt sometimes,its epic,legendary movies we are talking about here that its really weird that so many people can have missed...even 20+ people...the millenials. I dont really buy it,so I have to take it with some grains of salt..really...that said,its still interesting to see the best reactors out there do reactions on legendary movies like,this one..
I understand the feeling, but this movie's almost 45 years old now. We're old.
There's a great comic about growing up and aging where it shows a progression of bodies from child to elderly, but behind every facade is the same child holding up different masks.
So when are we getting your reaction to Aliens? Alien and Aliens, The Terminator and Terminator 2. Two pairs of perfect movies.
Shanelle, I've truly enjoyed your reactions and commentaries. I was 31 when my wife and I saw this movie in a big theater, Mission Valley in San Diego during the summer of '79, with several other couples. To set the scene: hot summer afternoon, everybody in our group of friends clad in shorts, tank tops and sandals...we enter the theater and suddenly realize it was oddly cold. We were all shivering and had goose bumps before the first frame of the film appeared on the screen. Suffice to say the first jump scare set the tone for the rest of the movie. Just wondering if all the theaters chilled their auditoriums for an added scare factor. Thanks for reviving the memories about this movie...one of my fav of all times.
The chemistry within these actors is the best. So practical and believable.
Just found your channel!
Subscribed immediately!
This is SO much fun!!
Also, I love your voice
(but I’m sure you get that a LOT)
ya know -- so many people say that about the voice and I don't get it! haha I guess too many people told me to stop talking in school 😂😂 and welcome! happy to have you!
@@ShanelleRiccio you should do radio
@@ShanelleRiccio I've never really thought about it, but yeah, your voice is kinda smooth and sensual.
@@ShanelleRiccio I love your voice too but it's cause I'm from Philly and my mom's from Brooklyn so you remind me of home :)
@@notmee2388 haha im trying to think, like when I speak I'm doing a softer tone for the channel to save my voice from constant vocal fry, so maybe that's it? I'm just over here like how do I make this intentional? 😂😂
Oh man yes - "Gravity" was a brilliant big-screen watch! And this is a distant second for my favorite Harry Dean Stanton role after "Repo Man".
Gravity in 3D. The ONLY way to experience it.
OMG, Shanelle that light behind you makes it look like you have a halo or at least some kind of heavenly aura, LOL
“There are no bras in space…” - George Lucas
Or
"In space, no one can see your nipples!"
In discussing how people didn’t follow Ripley from the start, I think you may be overlooking the hierarchy of the ship. She wasn’t being ignored because she was a woman; her comments were simply coming from someone who was lower down in the ship’s hierarchy and therefore didn’t carry as much weight. Dallas’s not allowing Ripley to go into the tunnels wasn’t because they were forcing her to take a subordinate role; as the captain, it was Dallas’s responsibility to take on such a dangerous job.
This. As someone who was in the military, this goes on all the time. They generally tell you nothing & don’t listen to your ideas.
"as the captain, it was Dallas’s responsibility to take on such a dangerous job". Not at all, as captain he has a responsibility of not partaking in such dangerous activities at all.
@@Henrik_Holst huh? The captains job is to ensure the safety of the ship and crew. If he felt he was best suited for that mission of course he’d take it. They dont take missions thinking - we will probably die, so send a recruit.
@@normcmiller The captains job is administering the ship, that means delegating the job to the crew (via the XO) and not doing them himself. If he goes on a dangerous mission himself then he risks the ship ending up without a captain which means leaving it without a leader. In the chain of command on a ship the crew is expendable, not the captain.
She was the Warrant Officer third in command after Captain Dallas and Executive Officer Kane, after Kane's death she's second in command. Sure Dallas' decision overrules hers but it is frustrating that she wasn't listened too more, as she was the one going by the book and following regulations.
I read a quote from Sigourney Weaver suggesting that at one point, she was in favor of starting out that last fight scene completely undressed, and underwear was a compromise. Not because she was excited to do a nude scene specifically, but because she felt that the less she was wearing, the more vulnerable she would seem in that scene, which would make the realization that the alien was there with her seem all the more terrifying for the viewer.
hey for her artistry im so into that and ultimately always glad when the actress is totally on board with what she's doing, ya know instead of being forced by contract or something
more likely the viewer would be like "Was there an alien there, too?"
@@notmee2388 lol
The alien is naked.
@@shinrapresident7010 You're... aware there's a difference between partial and complete nudity, right? And specifically-different and -gendered social mores around same?
also, i have never seen another alien movie where the title doesn't just reference the monster but the look of the ship and the dead pilot. the ship is the first time i ever saw something not of this earth, truly 'alien', made of bone, skin and leeches but also looking like organically grown metal and not like all other movies, where the ships look like every ufo ever seen in a movie
"Ash. Is a hobbit, Ash is a God damn hobbit!"
Shanelle, if you really like the deep quiet of space in movies, you might like 2001: A Space Odyssey. The out-in-space POV shots, were absolutely silent. No noise, no score (except the early shots with the space shuttle approaching the space station accompanied by the Blue Danube). It's the only a movie I can think of that has done silent space shots like that.
And the silent shots go on forever, primarily to give the idea of how deliberately slow things have to happen when there's no gravity and people have to move around. I saw that movie for the first time in a movie theater in Detroit when I was 10 and I was absolutely enthralled.
On the Silver Globe is pretty coconuts and does some silent shots but it's like the most heavy and intense polish dialogue that barely makes sense and ends horrifically. and like hardly ANYONE has seen that movie. The Holy Mountain is also bananas, pretty sure it's the most expensive movie made in mexico ever and hardly anyone has seen that. Stalker is a very grim Russian Scifi and widely acclaimed. Hardly anyone has seen that either.
The Expanse tv show, as realistic as space can get.
Agreed. Perfect example of "show it don't explain it".
Ironically the Kachachurian theme used in 2001 when we first see the Discovery and its crew was ripped off for the score James Horner composed for Aliens and used in a very similar context.
@@criss_x "The Holy Mountain is also bananas, pretty sure it's the most expensive movie made in mexico ever and hardly anyone has seen that."
Hardly anyone has seen Alejandro Jodorowsky's work full stop.
Ironic considering he was the first to try and adapt Dune to film as the new adaptation is released and has some visual elements noticeably similar to Jodorowsky Dune's pre production art (some of which was also used to inspire art for Alien and Prometheus too, as well as Flash Gordon).
70's movies are still in the period of the 60's - 70's burn the bra era. The burn the bra name though isn't referring to real bra burning but a rebellion to wearing them.
My girlfriend and I were so freaked out by the movie, that we ended up seeing it about 15 or 16 times at the theater. Even after seeing it many times, and knowing what was going to happen, we still jumped at the scary spots. Yeah, it was great. IN SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM.
The exposition that Ash gives is so much more diabolical in hindsight than just simple in-character exposition. He casually calculated threatening their pay and lives for this alien to come home to the company.
It was the end of the 70's. Women's Lib was still pretty strong. Many women weren't wearing bras, but in the fiction, yes, it makes sense that you wouldn't want to wear a bra (especially a 70's one) for the months and months of a hypersleep journey.
Bra burning for protest was a thing too
I had a girlfriend in the 80s who frequently didn't bother with a bra. My wife can't get away with that, but she still hates them, and certainly never sleeps in one.
Also, the male gaze is a thing.
"It's a little bigger than I remember" - That's what she said!
The best , most perceptive movie reaction I have yet watched ! The summary and trivia section told me a few things I had never heard before . Saw this movie when it first hit the theater - and it has remained one of my favorites all these years ! Keep up your high quality work !
Loved your reaction! You were biting your nails at the jump scares lol. You asked about the first time we saw Alien and if it blew our minds. To be completely honest, I don't remember when I actually saw it the first time. I was only 8 years old when it came out and nobody was taking me to the theater to see it!🤣 But I remember all the TV commercials for it and it was huge! I eventually got ahold of the book version when I was 11. I was an advanced reader so I didn't have any trouble with a science fiction book. (I had my trusty dictionary beside me lol!). I tell, you, as an 11 year old experiencing that story with nothing but my imagination to tell me what that alien looked like, it was beyond scary! Probably way scarier than actually watching it at that age would've been! And the scene with the chestburster! The book said it was "trailing bits of Kane" across the table. Trailing BITS!🤣🤣🤣 OHMYGOD! That book scared the crap out of me! And the big deleted scene was in the book where Ripley found Dallas being changed! OMG! Definitely an unforgettable experience!
You want to walk around on that set. You need to play "Alien: Isolation"
There are three other documentaries that you should watch that are associated with the Alien series. One is "Dark Star: HR Giger's World." It covers the life of HR Giger, who came up with the design of the xenomorph. Then there is "Memory: The Origins of Alien" which delves into the lore and mythology that inspired the story. And the third is "Jodorowski's Dune" which doesn't have anything to do directly with the Alien series but the team Jodorowski assembled for his movie ended up being instrumental in the sci-fi film industry in the 70's and 80's (including the Alien series).
Kane's burial in space is less about protecting the ship, and more an extension of a "burial at sea" for ocean ships.
I love this channel. Someone who appreciates films, loves films, *but* hasn't seen loads of great films (yet).
The women in my life are not big fans of the bra. To me it seems normal for her not to be wearing one, especially if going to sleep.
same. my boobs are big but i only wear a bra at work or in some other professional~ situation. at home or doing errands or whatever? nah.
They aren't "consistently keeping her back". I don't know where you're getting this from. Dallas overrode Ripley volunteering to go into the vents because they all knew how dangerous it was and it could be a one way trip. As captain, he wasn't going to let one of his crew risk themselves like that. He'd already lost too many under his command, so he took responsibility for it. If he hadn't, Tom Skerritt would have been the face of the franchise going forward instead of Sigourney Weaver.
Ripley isn't supposed to be a heroic figure. She's just a blue collar industrial worker trying to do her job, like the rest of them. But with a bit of luck, ingenuity and determination, she's the one who gets to escape the Nostromo. Ripley "the hero" emerges in the next film.
As a captain he is not allowed to put himself under such a risk at all, if anything it actually was Ripley's task of going to the vents as the warrant officer.
"It looks like some kind of egg, I'm gonna stick my face REALLY close to it and see what happens."
Shanelle's nervous singing. 🤣🤣🤣
Hey Shanelle, here's a fun one for you! The North Bergen High School in New Jersey decided to do a stage play of Alien, from beginning to end. Clips of it were found on UA-cam and the videos became so popular, that they decided to do an encore production of the play to a sold out crowd. Another fun fact: The night of the encore play, that night, Sigourney Weaver herself came backstage to visit the cast and faculty, letting them know how proud and excited she was to see a bunch of kids do a stage play of the film. She even came onstage before the curtains opened up, and gave a small speech and introduced the play to the crowd. The whole visit was completely unexpected by both the crowd and the school. You can actually find the whole encore production here on UA-cam, and I highly recommend it, it's totally worth the watch, I promise!!! Here's the link, with introduction by SIgourney Weaver:
ua-cam.com/video/DX3VaFG7AvU/v-deo.html
And here's the link for Sigourney Weaver's backstage visit:
ua-cam.com/video/i3vKX6VrNvs/v-deo.html
I love this channel. Shan, thank you for the great content.
I appreciate that!
@@ShanelleRiccio You've earned it and your appreciation of your fans shows. Excellent content and great personality. Remain humble, it's what makes you endearing to your fans.
@@astclaire8981 thanks so much for writing me those things! :):) Sometimes im like wow I suckkkkkk at this. ahah Appreciate you!
@@ShanelleRiccio ☺
Having watched Alien when I was 8 or 9, I was absolutely ready for Aliens when it was released. I was 11, and a neighbor friend accompanied me to the theater. He wasn't allowed to watch R rated films, though, so he saw Howard The Duck 😖 instead. As Aliens was quite long, he was already waiting in the parking lot with my mother when I came out. I was like "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, "WOOOOOO"-ing like a madman. My friend tried to say that Howard The Duck was probably just as good, but I wasn't buying what he was selling 🤘
Gravity in theaters was a spiritual experience
SO GOOD! Lol, you were *so* into this movie, it was infectious. Great movie, great reaction, thanks for posting.👽
Oh, yeah... saw it in the theater with my dad, think I was... 11? Mind. Blown!
The very best Harry Dean Stanton film: 'Paris Texas' directed by Wim Wenders, written by playwright Sam Shepard, 1984. A great 'film buff' film.
Harry's greatest role. I could watch it every week and never tire of it. What a triumph of filmmaking.
technology she says as she looks at a miniature :p
Also, it's a delight to see someone really watch the movie as you do.
And I guess a Spaceship is the ultimate cabin in the woods
The graphics shown as they enter the atmosphere demonstrating the ship path/orientation are 3D CGI though, albeit very basic.
@@mnomadvfx That's true😃
A very interesting podcast, with your more intellectual analysis of this film that will, as you say, "stand the test of time."
Also, especially enjoyed the trivia section.
Thanks for posting this podcast on UA-cam - which was the 1st I've seen of yours. Looking forward to checking out similar podcasts!
In the 1970s and 1980s smoking was very normal, and they wanted to show that life on a commercial spacecraft was as simple and normal as life in any job on Earth.
If I remember correctly, the promotion for the movie said something like "in space no one can hear you scream".
In the long version there's a scene that explains why they couldn't find the remains of Dallas.
I'm glad not even you were able to foresee that Ash was a robot
When Dallas dies in vents, the scene is known as “jazz hands”.
Great videos 🤟🥩
Also the "surprise party". "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"
If you are going to watch the sequel, I'd recommend the director's cut. There are a couple of scenes early in the film that flesh out Ripley's character and put things that happen later in better context.
How hilarious is this? Just as the face hugger jumped out of the egg, my UA-cam feed cut to a commercial- for a first aid kit!😂😂
Who said the algorithm isn't helpful 🤔🤔🤔😂😂😂
Subscribed.
As someone born in 1971, it always brings me a smile to my face and a heartwarm to me when younger persons dig what is now seen as "older" movies. So cool!
I only just watched this recently myself! It’s so beautiful and tense. Even though I knew about the chest burster, it was still really upsetting! The face hugger is like all my arachnid nightmares made fleshy and I KNEW that it was made of real fleshy stuff.
Watched this movie dozens of times and just realized the grammatical error in the computer: "Insure protection of organism"
It should be *ensure* , unless they're paying premiums on policy for alien organisms
Probably just a leximoron. Bad speller I'd assume.
Just wanna say thanks so much for make all your reaction videos. I love movie-reaction youtubers watching the classics for the first time. It's so invigorating to re-experience watching a movie for the first time from the perspective of someone who actually is. Also since you work in movies yourself it's great to get the reaction from someone with highly qualified opinions ( because they know the craft ). Also loved you're reaction to Pulp Fiction. I feel so high seeing someone put that movie on, having NO idea what they're in for, about to get a shot of adrenaline that is a Tarantino movie!
Just to add to the conversation about how the crew treated Ripley. In the corridor conversation with Dallas it is confirmed that while the rest of the crew have worked together many times before both Ash and Ripley were new members thus were not part of the close knit crew. Also before shooting began a small plot point was dropped from the shooting script that had Dallas and Ripley in a semi romantic relationship. And the Director's Cut has a bit more to say about Dallas' encounter with the Alien in the shafts. I saw Alien in the summer of 1979 at 14. One of my most vivid movie memories is watching the Chestburster scene. Saw it in the theater atleast 30 times. And read and collected every book and magazine ever written about Alien. Even owned the 18 inch figure that Kenner released in December '79. Alien quite literally changed how I viewed films forever.
There's an absolutely wonderful book called "Jonesy: Nine Lives on the Nostromo" done in the style of a children's' story picture book, that tells the plot of the movie from the slice-of-cat-life perspective. Given the subject matter, I wouldn't actually recommend it for children.
Although, that's never stopped people in the past. When this movie came out, Kenner Toys made action figures, playsets, and even a movie viewer toy based on this film. Years later, Froot Loops cereal had a commercial that recreated the facehugger scene.
The same year Alien came out, Ridley Scott was hired by Dino De Laurentiis to direct Dune years after the Jodorowsky version fell apart. Ridley's version fell apart as well, and he went on to do Blade Runner.
@Gerald H Agree. I utterly despise Lynch's Dune.
I saw it at the drive-in with my family when I was 7 years old. My mother tried to cover my eyes during the chest-burster scene but I could still see through her fingers............hahahahaha! A memorable movie moment for me! Then, when Aliens came out in 1986, I saw it 6 times at the cinema! Great reaction as usual.........xx
Great reactions and review! Glad to have discovered your channel, with your unique approach and wrap-ups.
Ridley Scott is responsible for three of my favourite SciFi movies:
Alien, Blade runner and The Martian
And Gladiator. At least it's so historically inaccurate that it's almost science fiction.
Awesome reaction to a great movie, you discussed some great points about this movie.
Definitely check out Aliens The Special Edition that film is on par with this, it's bad ass.
A smart and articulate reaction and analysis! Subscribed!
I saw this when it opened at a theater in Denver, while attending tech school at Lowry AFB. Scared the sh!^ outta me, when that xenomorph popped outta the egg! My roommate and I sat about 3 or 4 rows away from the screen. This is one of the best sci-fi movies ever. You are now ready to proceed to watch "Aliens."
You came up on my feed randomly. You’re watching my favourite movie and reacting to it. And your first reaction was to the sound of the Nostromo ship as the camera pans it’s underbelly. Awesome.
The sound design in this film is incredible, and it’s one of the reasons I can watch it over and over. New sub here!
If you ever thought of becoming a director, THIS movie is one of your "must watch" for end result!!
There's definitely sooo much more to it than that.
Watching the "Beast Within" documentary shows just how much work went into it, even before Ridley first set eyes on the script.
Very good review...Veronica Cartwright played Lambert already had a well established career like Witches of Eastwick,Invasion of the Body Snatchers(70's) she played Cassandra Crossing in 4 episodes of Xfiles as the Smoking Mans ex-wife,plus many other roles/movies,all the cast except for Weaver were established actors actually well known,you might be surprised at some of their roles/movies if you check IMDB.
And don't forget legendary The Birds with Veronica playing a little girl
Just absolutely one of the best of all time, without a doubt. A masterclass in film-making. Loved your reaction, thanks :)
The actor who played the titular alien ended up opening an art gallery in his native Nigeria. Unfortunately he died of Sickle Cell Anemia in the 90s.
Thank you again for another great reaction If you like Sigourney Weaver try Gorilla's In The Mist.. It is based on the life of Dian Fossey.
Love this movie!
me too! As of this week haha
Glad you read the trivia section regarding the chestburster sequence...people have for years been spreading the myth that the cast didn't even know that that was going to happen in the scene, as if you could hide the fact that they were working with a dummy and a bunch of tech guys under the table. They were just surprised by the spray of entrails.
Veronica Cartwright was also the kid in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. And John Hurt is in I, Claudius. Both in a list of must-see films and TV shows.
Oh do you like aliens and deep ocean? May I suggest The Abyss by James Cameron?
Good one!
If you watch the Abyss... watch the special edition. The theatrical cut is missing really important scenes that are super important. (Like the scene that was based on the dream that was the inspiration for the movie).
I’ve always like Tom Skerritt, also in Top Gun, Space Camp, Contact & A River Runs Through It. The alien erupting from the stomach, repeated many times since, in Space Balls, even cartoons.
spoiler
Great reaction Shanelle! An interesting casting coincidence (rather than pure trivia) is the fact that Alien is about a ship that is lost in space and runs into something unexpected. Veronica Cartwright, who played the frightened navigator Lambert has a younger sister, Angela. Angela Cartwright played Penny Robinson in the TV series Lost in Space back in the 60's.
Now you need to watch Aliens, which is among the best sci-fi sequels, right up there with Terminator 2 and The Empire Strikes Back.
Can't thank you enough this show is like having a good friend to watch movies with
For a 2nd flick, Scott knocked it out of the park. In spades. I hope you try his first flick (The Duellists is pretty great) sometime, even if on your own time.
You are now going to have to watch Mel Brooks' Space Balls, he actually has the crew from this movie in Space Balls doing a cameo.
One of the crew.
@@DMichaelAtLarge I thought there were two.
@@skyhawksailor8736 Maybe I missed one, but the only one I saw was John Hurt. The others were generic crew trying to duplicate the movie's crew.
@@skyhawksailor8736 Now you had me wondering, so I checked again. One of the black guys KINDA looks a little like Yaphet Kotto, but it definitely isn't him.
@@DMichaelAtLarge Thanks for correcting me, I have always thought it was at least two of the original crew.
Ehhehhhee....even with yer predetermination determination...ya got jumpscared...mission accomplished Ridley Scott 🤣🤣🤣
Fun fact about the set of the movie - a lot of it was properly built, with the rooms connecting to each other. Basically, once you entered the ship, you were ON the ship, there were very few spots that lead back out onto soundstages. So for the actors, who spent months wandering the insides of a fairly self-contained structure, they grew to have a real sense of "home" aboard the Nostromo.