Alien (1979, Ridley Scott) I have seen Alien maybe as many as ten times in my life.. on television, dvd, blu-ray but tonight I saw it on the big screen and it was a revelation. I have always liked it a lot and considered it the best of the series but seeing it projected on a large screen in a darkened theater with booming sound and the kind of singular concentration that this environment produces I caught much more detail, nuance and even dialogue. The film may be dismissed as a sci-fi riff on the haunted house motif but the attention to detail, naturalism of the acting and the artistic vision behind many of the shots makes it a special film. A film so powerfully not a blockbuster that has spawned a successful franchise. This sci-fi horror is so much grittier and more than the fun action sequel Aliens (1986) and doesn't suffer from the interference and poor looking cgi alien of the otherwise excellently tones Alien3 (1992), less said about Alien Resurrection (1997) the better. In the end this is not only the film that launched the careers of Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver but it is an important film in the history of cinema that has changed and influenced the genre without question. Before today I had seen all of the other films at the cinema and thankfully now I can finally add the original to that list and it is a true masterpiece. 8.5/10
I hope I get the chance to see it on the big screen, in the near future. THIS is my favorite movie of all times, and I can't even count how many times I've seen it during the last 30 years Personally, I think the movie has aged better than Aliens, even though I still love that one too.
I would be if the film in question were Mac and Me, or Dr. Alien. Or Tremors. Or Species. But this is the legendary masterwork known as Alien. Ridley Scott's Alien. The one that has not dulled since its debut. The one that could hold up a crumbling bridge as well as Superman.
When I first watched Aliens, I was leaning toward 9/10. I hope it actually holds up on rewatch but part of me isn't holding my breath. (That part of me is the one that wasn't wowed by either Terminator.)
For me, it's always the original theatrical. If you're really locked in, it's not a laborious buildup in any way (I've heard the Director's Cut is more cut than paste) and you certainly don't need potentially sexist moments like Lambert slapping Ripley which undermines the film's historical role of empowering Ripley by shading women overemotional and catty; even a small bit of it isn't necessary. Also- it doesn't really add anything to have Ripley find Dallas's body later on.
OK, cool. The only scenes I don't mind from the DC are the extended Alien shots and the egg scene at the end. I plan on watching both again soon now that the new film is basically upon us.
The director's cut kinda fixes a "plot hole" though. When the Xenomorph attacks Brett, and drags him up the chains, Parker and Ripley shows up too see it all. In the theatrical cut, Brett is killed, and they never show up, yet Perker tells everyone that "whatever it was, it was big". How the fuck did he know that, since they weren't there? The director cut flows better in that part. I can understand why Scott cut out the extra shot of the alien, to save the bigger reveal until later on. But he could at least have kept the shot of Parker and Ripley rushing in. Though the scene does feel more shocking in the theatrical cut, since you see less of the Xenomorph, and you got more of a "What the fuck was that?!?" reaction from it, when watching it for the first time. I like both cuts, but of course, the theatrical is closer to my heart.
I'm mixed as well on the two versions. There are things I like and don't like in both of them. It's not like the Aliens Director's Cut where I'll watch that one all the time.
Fuck YEAH!! The new 4K version opens in the theaters today, and I just got the tickets! Finally after all these years (missed the 2003 Director's Cut release), I´ll be able to experience my favorite movie on the big screen
