May 17, 2015

Alien (1979) (Dir. Ridley Scott)



Synopsis
The commercial spacecraft Nostromo is on a return trip to Earth with a seven-member crew in stasis. Detecting a mysterious transmission, possibly a distress signal, from a nearby planetoid, the ship's computer, MOTHER, awakens the crew. Under prior orders from their employers, the Nostromo lands on the planetoid to investigate.

Spoiler

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May 24, 2015

I actually wrote about this for a film class last semester, I kinda rushed through the paper but here:

Alien (Ridley Scott)

Ridley Scott’s iconic sci-fi thriller, Alien, has withstood the test of time and continues to intrigue and frighten audiences new and old. The film has birthed a long-standing franchise that has seen several sequels and spin-offs come to fruition since its 1979 release; however, the original remains a unique and groundbreaking piece within the series, as it seems that its successors failed to recognize what made it so special and chose to pursue a more action oriented route rather than attempting to recreate the chillingly eerie atmosphere that defined the first. For the B*** of its run-time, Alien bypasses the gore and jump scares that dominate typical horror thrillers in favor of building its suspense through long silences and effective use of sound design and a haunting score. This approach pays off tenfold as it makes those brief moments of action all the more terrifying and memorable. The film not only challenges the conventions of the horror film but of the sci-fi genre as well, as it focuses its story on a group of blue collar workers rather than the highly intellectual types that usually lead such films.

The film immediately sets its unsettling atmosphere with the opening shots as the camera slowly makes its way into the Nostromo ship and through its empty corridors toward the crew. The Nostromo is a mining ship carrying several tons of mineral ore as the crew was sent out on a mission to acquire energy sources from other planets to be brought back to Earth. The crew is in a state of cryostasis as they are on course to return to Earth until they are awoken by a distress signal coming from a nearby planet and so they are commanded by Mother, the ship’s motherboard, to explore the disturbance. Before they disembark on the planet, we are properly introduced to the crew over a dinner table setting where we see them interact with one another and get a taste of their personalities. The most apparent thing is how diverse and relatable the crew is with crew members of different gender, race and age that give the audience different perspectives and opportunities to find a connection to the characters. The crew consists of Captain Dallas (Tom Skerrit), executive officer Kane (John Hurt), science officer Ash (Ian Holm), two female warrant officers Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), and goofball engineers Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) and Parker (Yaphet Kotto).

The ship lands on the planet and suffers some minor damages which forces the crew to split up; Dallas, Kane and Lambert go out and explore the planet while the rest stay back and work on repairing the damages to ensure that the ship can properly lift off when the time comes. While on the planet, the crew finds that the signal came from a giant U-shaped ship so they make their way inside to explore further. Once inside, they come across a deceased alien body; as they make their way forward, Kane decides to venture into the lower levels on his own where he comes across a room full of eggs that seem to be carrying alien creatures. As he approaches one and touches it, an alien jumps out and attaches to his face. Dallas and Lambert rush to his rescue and carry him back to the ship where Ripley is hesitant of granting them access as she is skeptical about bringing the creature onto the vessel. Ash goes against Ripley’s wishes and allows them in and lays Kane out on a table to examine the specimen. The crew struggles with different methods of detaching the alien from Kane’s face but to no luck as they soon figure out that the alien’s blood is made of acid that can quickly through several decks of the ship. The alien eventually detaches on its own, allowing Kane to regain consciousness. Relieved, the crew sits around the dinner table once again, except this time, their meal is interrupted by the film’s most gruesome and infamous scene consisting of an alien viciously bursting out of Kane’s stomach. Now free to roam the shuttle, the creature slowly terrorizes the crew, picking them off one by one and psychologically affecting them to the point where they question each other.

Scott’s handling of suspense is masterful as he refuses to display the alien in its full form, only bits and pieces, leaving the rest to the audience’s imagination. Furthermore, instead of focusing on the act of the k--- during the murder scenes, we are mostly shown the before and after, rather than the usual indulgence of gore that typically comes with such scenes. Even when the film picks up the pace in its final act, it doesn’t cross over into mindless action and remains an intelligent and calculated thriller that does not rely on cheap scares. Perhaps the most daring aspect of the film is the fact that in the end, it is led by a female. Out of all the crew members, Ripley shows the most will and determination to k--- the alien by all means necessary. A character of this sort during that age in Hollywood would normally go to a male but Scott made the inspired decision to go with Sigourney Weaver and his decision turned out to be the most admirable thing the film has to offer. Ripley’s character paved the way for more female-led thrillers where the main character is a strong-willed woman rather than a scared and hopeless caricature that actresses were typically confined to within the Hollywood studio system.

Scott took a risk by crafting a film that didn’t play by the rules of the genres he was working in and it paid off greatly as the film would not have had nearly as much lasting power had it succumbed to clichés of the day. Ultimately, Alien is not a film that attempts to answer big philosophical questions of life but it successfully does what it sets out to do, and that is to induce terror in its viewer. The fact that it can scare the audiences of today, even with its outdated technology, speaks levels for its craftsmanship and one can only imagine how terrifying of an experience it must have been for those attending an opening night screening of this proclaimed haunted horror house in space.

 

May 21, 2015

Just a reminder that discussion will conclude Sunday, so hopefully everybody gets to watch it by then. At that time, I'll use a randomizer to choose another member (who has contributed this week) to choose next week's film. Posted this yesterday, but I'm not sure the tags worked so I'm trying again. Like this if you were alerted pls.

Spoiler

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May 17, 2015

Skippy trying to watch this s--- from his phone, d---.

 

May 24, 2015

alright, I caved and watched it. I'm actually probably not going to be able to see it Wednesday in the cinema anyways.

To be honest, this was my first viewing of Alien. I've known things about it but never actually sat down to take it in. I wouldn't say I was impressed, but I found a lot to like in the film.

Visually, for 1979, the film is quite rich. While some of the shots of the spacecraft and alien are downright laughable by today's standards, the one major quality that they hold is a material nature. With CGI, no matter how brilliantly an image is constructed, it's artificiality shows. With Alien, its film quality plus the material/tangible use of everything gives it a greater sense of reality, primarily with one's sense of touch. The alien and the spacecraft have a flesh which one can imaging touching: a stubbly, matte aircraft, the scales, the oozing flesh. There's something very David Cronenberg happening here and its the body-horror images.

The film's sound-design is superb, with many of the effects and the careful adjusting of levels between right and left channels quite haunting and affective.

The lack of story background is both an advantage and disadvantage. The film stands on its own in a world untethered, but at the same time it does not rise from mere caricature to literature; the story is simply and effective, but a little lacking in depth. Helpful as a genre pieces, this limits the film's approach and forces it to remain within horror even more than in science-fiction, as there is no real science to speak of.

I enjoyed it, but I don't think it's a masterpiece. 80/100 - Great

 

May 21, 2015

Watching this tonight. (For the first time)