Alien
…just like “Alien” has ruled them before. Okay, not really. The one most pivotal science-fiction movie in history is actually “2001”, but if Kubrick had died of measles as a small child, the spot would probably go to “Alien”. I mean, “Star Wars” is a mainstream space soap opera, I have never seen “The Terminator” but assume it’s the same, “A Clockwork Orange” (which, incidentally, also would not have existed in the hypothetical Kubrick child death case) does not really look like a space film, I don’t like “Solaris” that much and “Stalker” also doesn’t look like science-fiction at all. That leaves us with “Alien”, a film which takes place in a spaceship and where humans and aliens actually come into contact.
Two people I know count “Alien” among their favorite films of all times, so my expectations for the film were already very high. Just like with “Blade Runner”, a film I didn’t like as much partially because of high expectations, I went into “Alien” with the hope of a scientific revelation, something along the lines of “Brave New World” and “1984”, the two books that revolutionized my youth more than Horváth, Ibsen or Shakespeare ever did. “Alien” is less than that, and I am beginning to suspect that – when it comes to science-fiction – movies are generally less grand than books are.
“Alien” comes quite close to what I’d say is an epic film, and in many ways it reminded me of the first time I saw “Moon”. Not very much variety is given in “Alien”: It’s really all about the discovery of a malicious alien lifeform which then proceeds to trying to kill everybody. Nothing more than that. Unlike “Moon”, it doesn’t even have a lot of existential theory behind it, it doesn’t really ask any questions about life and beyond. But that would be a too easy way to dismiss “Alien” whose qualities lie elsewhere: Direction, style and especially the characters. Somebody mentioned how “Alien” differs from your typical science-fiction of horror film in how old the characters are. Indeed, the characters are not action types, they are smart and logical thinkers who don’t overreact to what is happening to them, but who deal with the situation in a level-headed way. (Except for Lambert, whose great fear of dying represents the audience’s fear and heightens the suspense.) For that reason, the characterizations are quite brilliant and the entire cast displays awesome acting skills.
All in all, “Alien” is a breathtakingly beautiful movie, revolutionary in its own way and totally recommended to everybody who doesn’t have an aversion against science-fiction films or menacing aliens. It’s almost the best horror movie besides “Shining” and is definitely up there in the realms of superior science-fiction films. I also think it’s better than “Blade Runner”, even though the latter might be more influential to contemporary science-fiction.
Agreed.