Ridley Scott Alien

Ridley Scott, a highly renowned film director who is known for such works as Blade Runner and the recent Prometheus, reached fame through his atmospheric, and highly concentrated visual style. Scott achieved commercial breakthrough with his 1979 horror classic Alien, which presented the audience with its revolutionary style and award winning visual effects. Lead actress Sigourney Weaver plays the role of Ellen Ripley, warrant officer of the films main setting, the space towing vehicle Nostromo. Weaver accepted the unusual role as a lead female actor in an otherwise male-dominated genre of science fiction, which sparked the interest of critics everywhere, helping the film reach its critically acclaimed title. On its return back to Earth

The countdown begins, she hurries to the escape pod, is ejected and left alone careening through space. Though Ridley Scott is highly credited for his brilliance in the creation of the film, the real horrific design of the environment and the creature goes to surrealist painter H.R. Giger. Giger’s work in the creation of Alien is second to none; his nightmarish dreamscapes litter the set of Alien. The biggest representations of his work in the film are inside the derelict space craft, the walls and floor having a pseudo organic, almost bone littered texture, yet amazingly remaining entirely symmetrical and mechanical. The design of the alien is strange to say the least, which is not far off from the rest of Giger’s work; its design deliberately evokes many sexual images, both male and female to illustrate their blurring of human sexual dichotomy. Both Giger’s and Scott’s work combined created a beautifully sculpted, yet hellish atmosphere. Very rarely are there any more true breakthroughs in movie genres, horror having the most common use of clichés and generic jump-scares. Alien was revolutionary, especially for its time, particularly for its realism and unique

Alien is a remarkable horror film that was way ahead of its generation with little to nothing to complain about. The scenery was remarkable, especially inside the space craft and egg chamber; it never failed to add to the mood of the environment. The violence, from the chestburster scene, to the crew being killed was natural and paced, not overdone and in your face. Though there were small parts that could use touch ups, like all films, there was one scene that seemed unnecessary, that being on the escape pod where Ripley was stripping down in preparation for cryonic sleep. Being the half-naked vulnerable woman with a monster trying to eat you seemed to horror cliché and that it was merely trying to broaden their appeal to the male audience, but no film is perfect and it still sits very high on my favorite movie list as well as other film critics. Ridley Scott’s Alien was a revolutionary film for the horror industry, bringing a real nightmare to life with surreal environments created by H.R. Giger and Scott’s truly terrifying special effects. I highly recommend this film any horror or science fiction enthusiast, let alone anyone else. It is a natural born horror movie that will leave your imagination clawing at the inside of