It seems one of the most highly praised blockbusters of yesteryear was Ridley Scott's Alien, and having seen James Cameron's equally acclaimed sequel beforehand, my expectations for Alien was deservedly high. It would then be of surprise with what unfolded on-screen for the 120 minute running time as it in no way matched it's successor, nor the standard of what one would expect from a blockbuster today. Yes, it is not an apple-to-apple comparison, but visual effects had nothing to do with why the movie dragged, plodded and slouched all the way through- and I was watching the Director's Cut which apparently is just shorter but was edited to help along the pace.

The problems begin first and foremost with the script. As with Aliens, it seems events just happen for the sake of happening, there is no flow. With the sequel, I forgave it, probably because I was watching the Director's Cut as when I originally decided to watch the theatrical cut up to a point, this flaw was present. The crash, discovery of the alien, Brett's attack an disappearance etc. seemed farcical in nature and the whole movie just screamed B-grade and amateur. Plotting also seems to be half-baked with twists being there for the sake of rather than for actual story. Ash's reveal as a robot is probably the most problematic scene that shows this- there is zero character development of why there is suspicion on Ash or that he is going out of his way to save the alien. There is hesitation and very subtle hints but those amount to little when set against other developments. In fact, whilst on the topic of characterization, yes, it is a 'blockbuster' or survival movie which inherently follows disaster cliches like whittling down the numbers and choice lines of set-up as to whose who, but even doing or rather following these generic plot points Alien falters. Cameron's Aliens handles it much better, but in Alien, there is an incredible amount of silence and little thrown in to define each character. For surviving so long, Lambert has no character, Ash's evil edge is hardly believable and Dallas' leader profile is underwhelmingly achieved. Ripley, being the main character, does get decent development but just.

That aside, the masterful editing that is lavished on this movie by a multitude of people, or at least posters on this site, is non-existent. Scenes drag way too long and there is hardly any suspense between events. A great example would be the ending, the music is non-committal to whether the danger is over or not, yes, maybe seeing Aliens first, I was wondering where Ripley would be sending the alien out of the airlock, but, that notwithstanding, the idea that she cannot smell, see or hear it for such a long time or that it would randomly hibernate in a space is ridiculous. She undresses, plays with the cat etc. all taking up way too much time that you can only assume that something will happen otherwise why waste so much screentime? This happens during other periods in the movie, but it is hard to differentiate since, honestly, the movie ends up very bland. Some may like the cinnematography of shots like when they first check on Kane, but that seemed amateur and ineffective. The three of them just wandered around for far too long without anything happening, any change in angle etc when evidently nothing was there. As mentioned already, the pace drags way too much with non-events taking up valuable screentime. The score was also very bland and to be brutally direct, non-existent. Maybe it was to give an effect of realism but more often than not it served to bore with inactivity.

This might be wrong to fault it for, since it might have been cut from the original but specifically two scenes, the cutting is incoherent. The first is when Ash attacks Ripley and the second when Lambert is confronted by the alien. Both have a quick-cut that leaves senselessness unfolding with how anything at all happened or why it would.

To sum it up, Alien was an exercise in mediocrity. The special effects for its time do seem spectacular, but an uninspired script, scattershot direction and horribly mismanaged pacing weigh it down from being a memorable experience. An overrated film if there was ever one.

B-

Blu-Ray picture quality is also uneven with some shots going out of focus for no reason whilst others look great.