Alien (Film)

Guide Note

Alien is the first film in the popular Alien series. In the film a crew of space-miners crash land on an undiscovered planet, where they encounter a hostile alien race. Alien was released on May 25, 1979 and earned a total of $60,150,933 at the box office.

Fast Facts

1. Director: Ridley Scott
2. Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt
3. Producers: Gordon Carrol, David Giler
4. Writers: Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett
5. Music: Jerry Goldsmith, Howard Hanson
6. Distributor: 20th Century Fox
7. Released Date: May 25, 1979
8. Rated R
9. Run time: 116 minutes
10. Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi and Thriller
11. Won an Oscar award in 1980 for best visual effects
12. Nominated for the Golden Globe Awards in 1980
13. Tagline: In space no one can hear you scream.
14. Sequels: Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection

1. Originally to be directed by Walter Hill
2. Ripley was a male in the early script
3. Much of the dialog was developed through improvising
4. The front of the aliens costume head was made from a real human skull
5. Early in the movie the it was attempted to make the alien transparent
6. The original name was to be Star Beast
7. There is no dialog for the first 6 minutes

Plainly put, Alien is an old-fashioned scary movie set in a highly realistic sci-fi future, made all the more believable by expert technical craftmanship. Picture isn't quite good enough to be a combination of The Exorcist and Star Wars, but both titles are likely to come to mind. — Variety