Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979)

Image of Alien Czech movie poster courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

“In space no one can hear you scream.” So promised the promotional material for Alien, Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi box-office hit starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver and Harry Dean Stanton.

Ridley Scott Directs Alien

Dan O’Bannon and  Ronald Shusett wrote Alien for Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox. Originally tapped to direct the film was Arthur Hill, who was replaced by Ridley Scott. Three years later, Scott would also direct another science fiction classic, Blade Runner (1982).

Alien Cast

The lean cast is comprised of Tom Skerritt (Captain Dallas), Sigourney Weaver (Ellen Ripley), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett), John Hurt (Kane), Ian Holm (Ash), Yaphet Kotto (Parker), Bolaji Badejo (Alien) and Helen Horton (Voice of Mother).  

Veronica Cartwright – light years away from her days as little Violet Rutherford on TV’s Leave It To Beaver (1957-63) – was originally slated to play Ripley. Jon Finch was first cast as Kane, but was replaced by John Hurt after Finch’s diabetes raged out of control.

Alien Filmed in England

Budgeted at $11 million, Alien was filmed from July to December 1978 at Shepperton and Bray Studios in England. Employed as atmospheric interior scenery for the spaceship Nostromo were shots from airplane graveyards.

As befitting a sci-fi movie of Alien’s stature, an array of props and special effects were used with deadly efficiency. Aside from the big seven-ton Nostromo, which was constructed as one piece, the next largest props were the adult alien and the accompanying alien architecture, designed by artist/sculptor H.R. Giger.

Other props employed included various models, movie-made extraterrestrial slime, two alien costumes (one worn by a stunt man and the other by a seven-foot tall Masia tribesman), colored water simulating blood, and 130 Hollywood-generated alien eggs.

In Space No One Can Hear You Scream

Alien opens in serene quiet, with the seven-man crew of the Nostromo making their way from Thedus to Earth in the year 2037. In suspended animation, the crew is awakened by MU-TH-R 182 – or “Mother – the ship’s computer, which has detected an unidentified SOS transmission.

As part of their contract, the Nostromo crew must investigate any intelligent communication in space. Disengaging from the spacecraft via the shuttle, Captain Dallas, Lambert and Kane head down to the source of the transmission, a foreboding planet called LV-426, which is characterized by extreme cold and howling winds.

Donning spacesuits, the three explorers encounter a petrified alien life form which they believe to be long extinct. Suddenly, Kane, the ship’s executive officer, is attacked by a creature, who attaches itself to his helmet visor.

Making their way back to the Nostromo, Dallas and company are initially denied entry by Ripley, who cites the 24-hour quarantine procedure. Ash, the science officer, overrides that order, and later attempts to remove the thing attached to Kane’s face with a laser scalpel. His effort produces an acid-like substance that spills onto the floor and begins eating its way through the ship.

The alien creature eventually detaches itself from Kane’s face, but it has left a little calling card inside. Mother, the ship’s all-knowing computer, had earlier determined that the transmission was not an SOS call as originally believed, but a dire warning to all space travelers.

Alien Release, Reviews

Alien was released on May 25, 1979.

“Plainly put, Alien is an old-fashioned scary movie set in a highly realistic sci-fi future…” reported Variety (5/23/79).

“Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie is a great original,” observed Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (10/26/03).

Alien Box Office, Awards, Sequels, TV Guide Honors, DVD

• Alien grossed $40.3 million at the box office, good for the #5 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1979.
• Alien was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Effects/Visual Effects (won).
• Alien spawned three sequels: Aliens (1986), Alien3 (1992) and Alien: Resurrection (1997)
• Alien placed #3 on TV Guide’s list of the “20 Scariest Movies” of all time (10/17/98).
• Alien’s famous “Gut Buster” scene, in which a face-hugging space critter rips its way out of John Hurt’s belly at the dinner table, placed #41 on TV Guide’s list of “The Greatest Movie Moments of All Time” (3/24/01).
• On DVD: Alien Quadrilogy (20th Century Fox, 2003).

“Final report, the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting,” Ripley intones at the end of the film.

Don’t forget to include Special Order 937 in that log…