Wow! This video has been blowing up recently! Even 350 views was beyond my dreams when I started making this video. Thanks to everyone who took the time to watch it, it means a lot!
Fantastic video, really, really good review and content. Awesome editing and footage. My favourite part? "Hell, even the cat was great..." *cut to close up for cat in shadow*
Two of the scariest films ever made, shocking tbh. Watching these far too young, thinking no problem was a mistake Lol. The terror, fear, tension, makes it pure horror, and the Aliens you hardly see makes them frightening. Both masterpieces way ahead of it's time. Great video 👍
I adore the whole Alien franchise but the original film is really phenomenal and impactful. Thanks for this video. I even discovered some new facts about this masterpiece. I'd love to see a video about Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) too - my second favorite Sci-Fi/Horror film
Incredible insight, thanks for your time and effort. It’s unfortunate, this type of movie will never be made again in Hollywood. I loved the slow pace while telling good story. Movies of today, just a roller coaster ride, and usually a bad one.
Excellent piece, Thomas - thanks. Scott's favoured ending to Alien was that, as Ripley looks around from inside her spacesuit, preparing to blow the hatch in the shuttle, the Alien lunges at her and kills her - fade to black... I'm really glad Ripley survived...
The Ash reveal is one of the most underrated twists ever. Alien is at it's best while the characters are trying to asses the danger and struggle together (as they get picked off, the drama narrows IMO). Ian Holm (Ash) is marvelsous as "the science guy that can provide the solution" which turns out to be: "we"re just bait". But my point is that rewatching Alien and observing Ash lead them all into this hell is sublime.
@@dvdrtrgn Oh, that's interesting. I take it you mean to say, upon subsequent viewings, knowing full well Ash's full arc - you found it confusing that he didn't steer them away from the danger? Or that you were confused by the fact he somehow turned mean? Very interesting to me. I first saw Alien around 13 yrs old so the Ash twist never confused me - but it wasn't until several years later, when I "rediscovered" the movie and was blown away by the characters (and performances), particularly Ash/Holm's double talk and misdirection.
@@VirtualSG I meant to say that his illogic was confusing as his actions fit neither human nor robot. Also his perverse treatment of Ripley was at odds with the revelation of his cybernetic nature. On that point, I don't know that I had ever seen the conceptualization of a synthetic as milky tubes. I wonder if somehow the company directives were at odds with his programming and that led to the malfunction. My imagination was reeling.
Great video Sir! I'm old enough to have seen Alien on its release but only since the ''invention'' of the internet have I learnt so much about this movie. It's great to see that it still holds a grip on today's audience.
When my brother and I went to go see this movie when it was released - we almost walked out of the theater bored to tears. But we stayed long enough to see the scene where the creature burst out of Cain's chest at the dinner table!?!?!?! We looked at each and said: "You ain't never seen anything like this before!" We hid under the seats and waited for the second showing to watch it again!
I saw this one when it first came out in 1979. It scared me enormously. What do you mean you want to bring the creature back? And that the crew is expendable? I don't think so! Well done.
Criminally under-watched video. I'm a long time fan of this movie and I learned a lot from this vid. New sub. PS I am among the minority who may enjoy 3 more than 2, so feel free to ignore everything I say. :)
The MST3K version? Something that "Saturday Night Live" would do? As for versions, the 1979 cut has been scaring even the most jaded first time viewer for decades. "Alien" practical effects make today's DFX look like screensaver tech.;)
The character of Ash was already in the script by name. The re-writes turned him into an android run by The Company. Ladd did not suggest Ripley be a woman. Ladd kept the studio off of Scott's back due to his experience with Star Wars. H. R. Giger's last name is pronounced using a long E sound in place of the I like GHEE-ger.
Great job Sir! Best wishes from an English Alien Geek, currently making armour for a film in a French forest. Subscribed..... Don't let me down! 😉🏆⚒️🇬🇧👽 Edit: Seeing 'The Blob' here has made me hungry!
Similar to jaws, we don't see a lot of the "monster", leaving room for the implication that it's near, using our own imagination, the creepiest movies are the ones that leave the audiences imagination to work, because the imagination is endless.
1979 version is better, not because I saw it in the theater as a teen but Scott said the scene where Ripley finds Dallas and Kane cocooned would have slowed the pace of the film and it does. If the ship is going to blow, you are not going to slow down to see if you are going to rescue your shipmates lol.
I honestly prefer to watch the 2003 Director's Cut, however I find myself skipping the Alien Nest Scene with Dallas as I find it disruptive to the film's pace. At that point in the movie Ripley just activates the Self Destruct system, she (along with the audience) are in a race against time for survival. Suddenly we're hit with a jarring speed bump that halts the movie. We saw what it did to Bret and Parker, and what is implied with Lambert is just horrific, imo, not seeing what it did to Dallas is far more effective. That said, I can still watch and enjoy the '79 theatrical when it makes the rounds at the theater for Classics Night.
Claustrophobia is a scary thing, I am not claustrophobic, but once I felt that fear, I was visiting one relative of mine and the elevator went down and when I opened the door I saw a concrete wall, I was still young and I felt incredible fear. But it is interesting that something opposite exists, claustrophilia, some people like small spaces, not to be locked, but like to work and stay in small spaces. A famous example is the sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov.
@@EverySingleFilm Yeah, when I was reading this there was a picture, he had some really small room, I doubt that one can stand up in that, and he was sitting there with his type machine and writing... Maybe such small spaces give to some people certain relief, when I was studying psychology somewhere it was written that we don't use blankets just because we are cold, they give a certain psychological sense of protection.
That’s why the 2003 cut makes sense. David made the first one then the cycle became, egg, face hugger, chest burster-adult, captured host morphing into egg. There was no concept of a queen alien in the original thought processes simply a self contained life cycle. David Cameron came up with the idea of a queen. If the idea of Covenant was ignored, why did the original Alien ship have so many eggs? This would mean there could be a low chance of adult survival, would have been interesting to explore what would cause this? A super alien hunter creature? From covenant the alien isn’t a weapon it’s David’s creation, the black goo virus was the weapon. Covenant completely breaks the AVP story. How is David going to get the aliens he’s taking to The colonists destination back to the LV system ready for the Nostromo to find? I love the Alien franchise but it’s all got a bit messy.
@@Strixx23 I'm happy with the AVP storyline being broken tbh. But I don't really see Prometheous and Covernant as "prequels" to the Alien franchise. It's exploring completely new realms. And I don't like that smug ass David. I want to see a Xenomorph tear his head off if I'm honest. In fact, I'd rather see no David, and see the movie which would take place between Newt's family discovering the eggs, and the subsequent "Last Stand" and it could end just as the dropship from Aliens lands. 🤷🏻♂️ I feel that would be full circle and a satisfactory conclusion to me.
The book doesn't have the Space Jockey. It has a hole in the floor where Kane was lowered into where the eggs were. It's 258 pages long. I'm on page 168 and the chest buster has only just jumped out of Kane. In the movie... that's about 25/30 minutes in. Yaffet also thought that his character was going to kill the Alien. To the point Scott had to find out where he was, then he'd take another route onto set. 🤣
When the book was written, the author wasn't allowed to see the alien, believe it or not - the production team didn't want to give any clue as to what it was like to the public before they saw the film. That's why there is so little descriptive text about it. What little there is, is misleading - once a glimpse of the alien reveals 'a huge pair of eyes' for example...
This film freak me out ,I'd just love everything about it ! Too bad about the in fighting from the outset of the writing to the production & music,,they screwed Jerry goldsmith over....to bad his score gave " creepy" ah new life when speaking of science fiction horror films..... Yuh can't clone this badass baby!!
You win the prize! Many videos on UA-cam have poor narration, and I last a few minutes before switching off. I lasted 38 seconds with this piece of tripe, and so you win the booby price. Well done, you!
@@hangoutwithme346 Because good people, far cleverer than I am, produce millions of videos to entertain us - but fail to follow basic commensense. I am not angry; I am exasperated
Great video. please do star wars next
Would rather Harry Potter next!!
Star Wars is an inevitability!
Wow! This video has been blowing up recently! Even 350 views was beyond my dreams when I started making this video. Thanks to everyone who took the time to watch it, it means a lot!
The algorithm is your friend ;)
From the alien derelict, the Space Jockey, and the title creature no other film has really shown things that are so truly alien and unknowable.
This is a super underrated and underappreciated documentary.
Wow, thanks so much for the kind words!
Fantastic video, really, really good review and content. Awesome editing and footage.
My favourite part?
"Hell, even the cat was great..."
*cut to close up for cat in shadow*
Most thorough retrospective I've seen on Alien yet. Keep 'em coming!
Thank you!
Great job on presenting the back story to one of my favorite films of all time! Thank you!
Thanks for the kind words!
Two of the scariest films ever made, shocking tbh. Watching these far too young, thinking no problem was a mistake Lol. The terror, fear, tension, makes it pure horror, and the Aliens you hardly see makes them frightening. Both masterpieces way ahead of it's time. Great video 👍
I adore the whole Alien franchise but the original film is really phenomenal and impactful. Thanks for this video. I even discovered some new facts about this masterpiece. I'd love to see a video about Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) too - my second favorite Sci-Fi/Horror film
Wow thanks so much for the comment! Invasion of the Body Snatchers is going in the pipeline!
Incredible insight, thanks for your time and effort. It’s unfortunate, this type of movie will never be made again in Hollywood. I loved the slow pace while telling good story. Movies of today, just a roller coaster ride, and usually a bad one.
Thanks for the kind words! I couldn’t agree more
Hello just discovered your channel. Love this video on Alien, it’s very insightful and things I didn’t know about.
I love the spoilers warning at the beginning of the video. :)
Great and very informative video.
GJ mate.
Thumbs up and subbed with great expectations ;)
Great video! Thanks
Excellent piece, Thomas - thanks.
Scott's favoured ending to Alien was that, as Ripley looks around from inside her spacesuit, preparing to blow the hatch in the shuttle, the Alien lunges at her and kills her - fade to black...
I'm really glad Ripley survived...
Thanks for the kind words! And I completely agree, although it'd be interesting to ponder how Aliens would've turned out without Ripley.
The Ash reveal is one of the most underrated twists ever.
Alien is at it's best while the characters are trying to asses the danger and struggle together (as they get picked off, the drama narrows IMO).
Ian Holm (Ash) is marvelsous as "the science guy that can provide the solution" which turns out to be: "we"re just bait".
But my point is that rewatching Alien and observing Ash lead them all into this hell is sublime.
Couldn’t agree more!
I remember being confused by most of Ashes behavior. I was a kid. Then I was triple mystified by the nature of his malfunctions and physiognomy.
@@dvdrtrgn Oh, that's interesting. I take it you mean to say, upon subsequent viewings, knowing full well Ash's full arc - you found it confusing that he didn't steer them away from the danger? Or that you were confused by the fact he somehow turned mean?
Very interesting to me. I first saw Alien around 13 yrs old so the Ash twist never confused me - but it wasn't until several years later, when I "rediscovered" the movie and was blown away by the characters (and performances), particularly Ash/Holm's double talk and misdirection.
@@VirtualSG I meant to say that his illogic was confusing as his actions fit neither human nor robot. Also his perverse treatment of Ripley was at odds with the revelation of his cybernetic nature. On that point, I don't know that I had ever seen the conceptualization of a synthetic as milky tubes. I wonder if somehow the company directives were at odds with his programming and that led to the malfunction. My imagination was reeling.
Great video Sir! I'm old enough to have seen Alien on its release but only since the ''invention'' of the internet have I learnt so much about this movie. It's great to see that it still holds a grip on today's audience.
It certainly does! I’d have loved to watch Alien in the cinema when it first released.
Thanks for the kind words!
quality content!! good sources!!!!!
Thank you so much!
When my brother and I went to go see this movie when it was released - we almost walked out of the theater bored to tears. But we stayed long enough to see the scene where the creature burst out of Cain's chest at the dinner table!?!?!?! We looked at each and said: "You ain't never seen anything like this before!" We hid under the seats and waited for the second showing to watch it again!
I saw this one when it first came out in 1979. It scared me enormously. What do you mean you want to bring the creature back? And that the crew is expendable? I don't think so! Well done.
Great video.
Excellent. Just excellent.
Great retrospective
Thank you!
This film and John Carpenters “The Thing” are the two greatest horror films ever made.
Criminally under-watched video. I'm a long time fan of this movie and I learned a lot from this vid. New sub.
PS I am among the minority who may enjoy 3 more than 2, so feel free to ignore everything I say. :)
Thank you for the kind words!
Ian Holm really does not get his due. Everyone in the film were good of course, but I think he deserves a send up.
its really quit fascinating how alien is like a spiritual successor to star wars
Great, only thing is that i like the theatrical cut more.
Alien inspired Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Interesting!
26:15 would of been a beautiful shot to have in the 2003 cut
A man of quality!
The MST3K version? Something that "Saturday Night Live" would do? As for versions, the 1979 cut has been scaring even the most jaded first time viewer for decades. "Alien" practical effects make today's DFX look like screensaver tech.;)
The character of Ash was already in the script by name. The re-writes turned him into an android run by The Company.
Ladd did not suggest Ripley be a woman. Ladd kept the studio off of Scott's back due to his experience with Star Wars.
H. R. Giger's last name is pronounced using a long E sound in place of the I like GHEE-ger.
Great job Sir!
Best wishes from an English Alien Geek, currently making armour for a film in a French forest.
Subscribed..... Don't let me down! 😉🏆⚒️🇬🇧👽
Edit: Seeing 'The Blob' here has made me hungry!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate it
Similar to jaws, we don't see a lot of the "monster", leaving room for the implication that it's near, using our own imagination, the creepiest movies are the ones that leave the audiences imagination to work, because the imagination is endless.
16:53 Actual name is “Carlo (Rambaldi)”
its beautiful
1979 version is better, not because I saw it in the theater as a teen but Scott said the scene where Ripley finds Dallas and Kane cocooned would have slowed the pace of the film and it does. If the ship is going to blow, you are not going to slow down to see if you are going to rescue your shipmates lol.
I like many of the additions to the '03 cut but '79 all the way.
I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but his name is pronounced "Geeg-er" not like a Geiger counter.
I honestly prefer to watch the 2003 Director's Cut, however I find myself skipping the Alien Nest Scene with Dallas as I find it disruptive to the film's pace. At that point in the movie Ripley just activates the Self Destruct system, she (along with the audience) are in a race against time for survival. Suddenly we're hit with a jarring speed bump that halts the movie. We saw what it did to Bret and Parker, and what is implied with Lambert is just horrific, imo, not seeing what it did to Dallas is far more effective.
That said, I can still watch and enjoy the '79 theatrical when it makes the rounds at the theater for Classics Night.
Claustrophobia is a scary thing, I am not claustrophobic, but once I felt that fear, I was visiting one relative of mine and the elevator went down and when I opened the door I saw a concrete wall, I was still young and I felt incredible fear. But it is interesting that something opposite exists, claustrophilia, some people like small spaces, not to be locked, but like to work and stay in small spaces. A famous example is the sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov.
Wow, I didn’t know that about Asimov, that’s so interesting.
@@EverySingleFilm Yeah, when I was reading this there was a picture, he had some really small room, I doubt that one can stand up in that, and he was sitting there with his type machine and writing... Maybe such small spaces give to some people certain relief, when I was studying psychology somewhere it was written that we don't use blankets just because we are cold, they give a certain psychological sense of protection.
Captain Planet could Defeat the Xenomorphs... ALL the Xenomorphs, all at once. 😏
Alien is a SciFi movie, not a Horror movie...
Does anyone know how that creepy sound effect in the opening is made? Alien 3 has something similar, too. It made me shit my pants when I was a kid.
And David is becoming the creator of Xenomorphs.
He even built an egg!?
From Liz Shaw's body apparently?????
Huh?
That’s why the 2003 cut makes sense. David made the first one then the cycle became, egg, face hugger, chest burster-adult, captured host morphing into egg. There was no concept of a queen alien in the original thought processes simply a self contained life cycle. David Cameron came up with the idea of a queen. If the idea of Covenant was ignored, why did the original Alien ship have so many eggs? This would mean there could be a low chance of adult survival, would have been interesting to explore what would cause this? A super alien hunter creature? From covenant the alien isn’t a weapon it’s David’s creation, the black goo virus was the weapon. Covenant completely breaks the AVP story. How is David going to get the aliens he’s taking to The colonists destination back to the LV system ready for the Nostromo to find? I love the Alien franchise but it’s all got a bit messy.
@@Strixx23 I'm happy with the AVP storyline being broken tbh.
But I don't really see Prometheous and Covernant as "prequels" to the Alien franchise.
It's exploring completely new realms.
And I don't like that smug ass David.
I want to see a Xenomorph tear his head off if I'm honest.
In fact, I'd rather see no David, and see the movie which would take place between Newt's family discovering the eggs, and the subsequent "Last Stand" and it could end just as the dropship from Aliens lands. 🤷🏻♂️
I feel that would be full circle and a satisfactory conclusion to me.
Cameron and Scott held back Giler and Hill from turning these films into the absolute dumpster fire that they ended up becoming from Alien 3 forward.
11:23 I actually like the original "hell of" better than "wonderful"
The book doesn't have the Space Jockey.
It has a hole in the floor where Kane was lowered into where the eggs were.
It's 258 pages long.
I'm on page 168 and the chest buster has only just jumped out of Kane.
In the movie... that's about 25/30 minutes in.
Yaffet also thought that his character was going to kill the Alien.
To the point Scott had to find out where he was, then he'd take another route onto set. 🤣
When the book was written, the author wasn't allowed to see the alien, believe it or not - the production team didn't want to give any clue as to what it was like to the public before they saw the film. That's why there is so little descriptive text about it. What little there is, is misleading - once a glimpse of the alien reveals 'a huge pair of eyes' for example...
@@gsmdo8836 Yeah it was written from an earlier shooting script that went thru changes.
It looks like you're off to a good start with production. I just got done with your Batman vid.
The original is superior to the 2003 cut. Start with that if you haven’t seen it.
alien is one of my favorite films of all time
so much about it so amazing
aliens is really good tho
shame ridley scott has gone a bit down hill.
Mouth noise. A retrospective.
😂😂
I should add that I really liked this video. Hopefully that makes things clearer. 😂
All good, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I definetely agree about the mouth noises, it’s something I’ve been working on stopping for future vids!
Lambert death is still the WORST scene in this iconic film
This film freak me out ,I'd just love everything about it ! Too bad about the in fighting from the outset of the writing to the production & music,,they screwed Jerry goldsmith over....to bad his score gave " creepy" ah new life when speaking of science fiction horror films..... Yuh can't clone this badass baby!!
You win the prize! Many videos on UA-cam have poor narration, and I last a few minutes before switching off. I lasted 38 seconds with this piece of tripe, and so you win the booby price. Well done, you!
Thank you! Winning a prize is always very humbling, especially from someone as honorary as yourself.
@@EverySingleFilm Good, I am delighted for you! Now perpetrate another poor narration and I may last 25 seconds before switching off.
Lol dude why so angry? Geeez.
@@hangoutwithme346 Because good people, far cleverer than I am, produce millions of videos to entertain us - but fail to follow basic commensense. I am not angry; I am exasperated
🐖🎼🎶
Sorry, but its hard to listen to you. Please work on your pronunciation.