This weekend I saw the movie Alien for the first time. I know, I know, the movie is almost as old as I am. It’s been around for a while. I, however, have never been one to watch scary movies of any ilk. In part, it’s because of my mom. Growing up, not only did she never watch scary movies, she didn’t even allow them in the house. She said they “gave off bad vibes.”
I remember the first horror film I ever saw was A Nightmare On Elmstreet on a rainy day at sleepaway camp. I actually left the room, it was way too freaky for me. But I was probably 8 or so at the time, so hopefully my tolerance for such things has increased just a little.
Alien is not actually a horror movie, at least by today’s standards. It’s more of a thriller, I’d say. It’s such an iconic movie, something that has become a part of our cultural consciousness that I felt like I was really failing as a movie buff in not having seen it yet.
The first thing I noticed was how dated their vision of the future was. Here’s a shot of the cockpit (with Tom Skerritt looking young and fine).
Apparently, in the 1979 version of the future, we can acquire information just from tons and tons of lights. It made me wonder about our current generation of films. Will we look back 25 years from now and joke about all the ridiculous talking computers in today’s movies?
That aside, the other thing that was very clear was how impatient we have become as modern viewers. The power of Alien is all in the suspense. Nothing happens rapidly. It’s all about anticipation of what is coming next. The tension builds and builds until we catch the smallest glimpses of the alien. It’s revealed in only a few shots in the second half of the movie. The actual gore is minimal, and is mainly conveyed through blood spatter and sound effects.
If this movie were made today, the alien would be bouncing all over the place in full computerized glory. It would do Kung Fu, and the good guys would attack it with massive guns that shot beams of fantastic colors. We’d see decapitations and limbs all over the place. I really wouldn’t like that so much. Even worse, I wouldn’t respect it.
That said, I’m not sure that I actually liked the movie. This isn’t my kind of thing. I don’t like thrillers. I sat there for the full two hours with a weight of anxiety on my chest. I don’t like that feeling. I get enough of it with my day job. 
So I’d say I respect this movie. It was well done, it was something new for its time, it brought us the alien design of H. R. Giger, and it brought Sigourney Weaver to prominence, an actress who I quite like.
Next I have to find a way to get through Aliens without bursting a blood vessel. I am a big James Cameron fan - well, I should really say a big Terminator 2 fan. I love that movie. And looking at his filmography, I really do like his movies - The Abyss, True Lies, the first Terminator, oh, and that Titanic movie. Right. Anyway, I’ll have to give it a try. I here there’s some levity in it, maybe I’ll like it more.
Oh, one more thing. Not to compare a Vin Diesel movie to this classic, but I’m gonna. Pitch Black really reminded me of this movie. It has a similar theme of a fight against hopeless odds for a slim shot at survival. The enemy is equally deadly with just as little room for negotiation. I actually enjoyed that movie (though see the sequel only for its unintended comedic value), and liked Diesel in it despite myself.
3 Responses to “An Alien Viewing”
“If this movie were made today, the alien would be bouncing all over the place in full computerized glory. It would do Kung Fu, and the good guys would attack it with massive guns that shot beams of fantastic colors. We’d see decapitations and limbs all over the place. I really wouldn’t like that so much. Even worse, I wouldn’t respect it.”
Funnily enough, that’s a pretty accurate description of Aliens. I’m always surprised when people say they thought the sequel was better than the original, since essentially all it did was take the intellectual property of the first movie and turn it into an action flick, instead of a suspense thriller. It’s a damn good action flick, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a cinematically inferior movie, in my opinion.
If you like James Cameron films, I think you will like Aliens. It’s a very enjoyable film.
I like the Alien films (except the third one… and Alien vs. Predator). Even if Alien wasn’t your thing, it’s good to have seen it because it’s a classic.
Heh. I do like damn good action flicks, so maybe I will like Aliens. But I think Alien was a film, it sounds like Aliens is a movie.
And I’m definitely glad to have seen it, I love movies and felt there was a gap in my knowledge, for sure.