Alien

[CelticPredator]

Yessir. The Celtic Predator is badass. I love that design.

 

[Batty]

ALIEN is in my top 5 favorite movie list. This is from the old ALIEN thread we had from years ago:

I was going through some magazines I bought as a kid and found these. Magazines are another reminder of the days before the internet.

https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20995&highlight=alien+1979

 

[BadMoon]

I dig the slow burn, and feel its almost a dying art. I mean, aside from the egg scene, no real terrifying action until the chestburster at about an hour in. And then all hell breaks loose! Also, I actually cared about most of the characters. They had depth.

There's a start, but I'm on my phone, and have company right now.

I really have to ask. What gave the characters depth in this movie? Honestly these characters had less depth than Deep Star Six's. When I think Alien the furthest thing that comes to mind is character depth. Atmosphere is at the heart of this movie. That and as you said "slow burn".

 

[CelticPredator]

The characters aren't deep. But they are well rounded. You get a sense of who they are, why they're here, and what they care about by the end. They feel like real people. They act like real people. Compared to today where most films and shows have cardboard with a name tag that says "HELLO MY NAME IS CHARACTER. AND YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT ME".

Alien doesn't make you care about them. You're just there with them. You root for them, because the situation is pretty terrifying. Unless you're Jerry Goldsmith, and hate everyone.

 

[crows]

The design for the Alien creature is much better in this one than the aliens in ALIENS, specially the heads are better.

But Aliens is more watchable.

 

[Viking Spawn]

Alien = greatest horror/sci-fi film ever created.

Alien is at the very top of the Sci-Fi horror heap. It blew everything out of the water in it's time and to this day is still miles ahead of the game. Even Scott can't top it. Lightning in a bottle. Personally, it's my absolute favorite horror film!

Thanks for starting this so I don't have to ruin all the other Alien-themed threads out there for not comparing as well.

AvP ****ing sucks.....

AVP was never intended to be basis for my post.

I just happened to like the pic of the Queen with a Warrior.

 

[transhi100]

Alien is one of the best movies of all time, no doubt. It blended sci-fi, suspense, and horror masterfully. Aliens was super entertaining, one of the best action movies ever.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

The characters aren't deep. But they are well rounded. You get a sense of who they are, why they're here, and what they care about by the end. They feel like real people. They act like real people. Compared to today where most films and shows have cardboard with a name tag that says "HELLO MY NAME IS CHARACTER. AND YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT ME".

Alien doesn't make you care about them. You're just there with them. You root for them, because the situation is pretty terrifying. Unless you're Jerry Goldsmith, and hate everyone.

I think the acting and dialogue in Alien is some of the best I've ever seen. The most realistic and believable. Just everything about those characters is perfect. Every little mannerism, the way every line is delivered, etc. Can't think of another movie with acting that rivals it.

 

[CelticPredator]

AVP was never intended to be basis for my post.

I just happened to like the pic of the Queen with a Warrior.

But you used the AvP queen.

I'm going to be a stickler to these kinds of details.

 

[Rorywan]

I think the characters have an incredible sense of depth in Alien. Why? Because they feel completely real, they never feel written or scripted or styled. They are fully rounded real world space truckers.
That's what Ridley did when he was top of his game, he treated the realism in Alien as if he was making a gritty social drama, the characters were that good IMO. This was a very British thing to do at the time.
UK TV was exploding with award winning intimate acting pieces, shot almost docudrama style, he took this level of realism to space. Excellent character actors who gave honest textural performances.
No mean feat, especially in a sci-fi movie. Can't really think of another sci-fi film which did the same, even Bladerunner had a more film noir unreal aspect to the characters, playing with old film
stereotypes. You could take any character out of Alien the movie and transplant them into a non genre serious piece of film and understand who they would be. Thats real depth, for the most part devoid
of any character background clutter or any silly exposition.

 

[Biojex]

I think the characters have an incredible sense of depth in Alien. Why? Because they feel completely real, they never feel written or scripted or styled. They are fully rounded real world space truckers.
That's what Ridley did when he was top of his game, he treated the realism in Alien as if he was making a gritty social drama, the characters were that good IMO. This was a very British thing to do at the time.
UK TV was exploding with award winning intimate acting pieces, shot almost docudrama style, he took this level of realism to space. Excellent character actors who gave honest textural performances.
No mean feat, especially in a sci-fi movie. Can't really think of another sci-fi film which did the same, even Bladerunner had a more film noir unreal aspect to the characters, playing with old film
stereotypes. You could take any character out of Alien the movie and transplant them into a non genre serious piece of film and understand who they would be. Thats real depth, for the most part devoid
of any character background clutter or any silly exposition.

The part in bold is a perfect description of why the acting appears so well done.

 

[Khev]

There's an early scene in Alien where I found the script and acting to be a bit cringe-worthy. Its where Brett and Parker are teasing Ripley when she's trying to talk with those steam vents that keep going off. The only point in the movie that actually did seem scripted and awkwardly acted. The rest was solid through and through.

 

[furystorm]

I think the characters have an incredible sense of depth in Alien. Why? Because they feel completely real, they never feel written or scripted or styled. They are fully rounded real world space truckers.
That's what Ridley did when he was top of his game, he treated the realism in Alien as if he was making a gritty social drama, the characters were that good IMO. This was a very British thing to do at the time.
UK TV was exploding with award winning intimate acting pieces, shot almost docudrama style, he took this level of realism to space. Excellent character actors who gave honest textural performances.
No mean feat, especially in a sci-fi movie. Can't really think of another sci-fi film which did the same, even Bladerunner had a more film noir unreal aspect to the characters, playing with old film
stereotypes. You could take any character out of Alien the movie and transplant them into a non genre serious piece of film and understand who they would be. Thats real depth, for the most part devoid
of any character background clutter or any silly exposition.

This, exactly!

I've been on my phone only tha past few days, so I'll let this stand as my response.

 

[Rorywan]

There's an early scene in Alien where I found the script and acting to be a bit cringe-worthy. Its where Brett and Parker are teasing Ripley when she's trying to talk with those steam vents that keep going off. The only point in the movie that actually did seem scripted and awkwardly acted. The rest was solid through and through.

Really? I thought that scene seemed really natural and off kilter, improv almost.

 

[Khev]

Really?

Yep, but either way it was a minor scene and hardly crippled the movie.

 

[Batty]

Really? I thought that scene seemed really natural and off kilter, improv almost.

I agree. I like how well they act together in the deleted scene too. "I'm sorry, my friend, you don't have anything." It also emphasizes how much they really didn't like Ripley.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HETCHl1npc[/ame]

 

[Khev]

That scene had some of the best acting from the whole movie!

But yes its interesting that Ripley was the "Vickers," not Shaw, of ALIEN.

 

[Frank]

That scene had some of the best acting from the whole movie!

But yes its interesting that Ripley was the "Vickers," not Shaw, of ALIEN.

Or were Shaw and Vickers playing out separate aspects of Ripley's character?

 

[RIDDICK]

Please no Procrapeus talk at least in this thread

 

[Frank]

Okay, turning to the right to avoid a falling topic.