Sunday, May 26, 2019

Movie review - "Alien" (1979) ***1/2 (re-watching)

Got to admit - I wasn't that wild about this watching it years apart. It's slow - takes 30 minutes to collect the alien. Lots of lingering shots of the (admittedly impressive) art design and special effects.

It's not actually that scary/suspenseful. Ridley Scott's never been great at that. It was a tremendous authenticity - working class atmosphere for lack of a better word. It feels like a real ship and real people. Space is scary. But it felt long at two hours.

Some other random observations:
- very good acting
- having two female characters shows the benefits of having two of a minority because Veronica Cartwright can lose it and cry and be terrified and there is another woman who doesn't as a counterpoint
- Sigourney Weaver stripping down to her underwear does feel slsher film exploitative
- Weaver is a star with her role - so is the alien

You do wonder why Scott didn't bring back Walter Hill and David Giler on the new films.

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