Alien (1979)
Average Rating: 8.8/10
Reviews Counted: 91
Fresh: 88 | Rotten: 3
A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 19
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 3
A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 447,428
Movie Info
"In space, no one can hear you scream." A close encounter of the third kind becomes a Jaws-style nightmare when an alien invades a spacecraft in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic. On the way home from a mission for the Company, the Nostromo's crew is woken up from hibernation by the ship's Mother computer to answer a distress signal from a nearby planet. Capt. Dallas's (Tom Skerritt) rescue team discovers a bizarre pod field, but things get even stranger when a face-hugging creature bursts
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Tom Skerritt
Dallas -
Sigourney Weaver
Ellen Ripley -
Veronica Cartwright
Lambert -
Yaphet Kotto
Parker -
Harry Dean Stanton
Brett -
John Hurt
Kane -
Ian Holm
Ash -
Bolaji Badejo
Alien -
Helen Horton
Mother
ADVERTISEMENT
Alien Trailer & Photos
All Critics (91) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (88) | Rotten (3) | DVD (44)
The most startling thing watching Alien again is its pacing. For the first 45 minutes, little happens. It's all slow, exquisite build-up, which makes the second half seem all the more horrific.
It is depressing to watch an expensive, crafty movie that never soars beyond its cold desire to score the big bucks.
The limited strengths of its staple sci-fi horrors always derived from either the offhand organic/ Freudian resonances of its design or the purely (brilliantly) manipulative editing and pacing of its above-average shock quota.
An old-fashioned scary movie set in a highly realistic sci-fi future, made all the more believable by expert technical craftmanship.
An empty-headed horror movie with nothing to recommend it beyond the disco-inspired art direction and some handsome, if gimmicky, cinematography.
The limited strengths of its staple sci-fi horrors always derived from either the offhand organic/ Freudian resonances of its design or the purely (brilliantly) manipulative editing and pacing of its above-average shock quota.
This revolutionary "haunted house in space" thrill-ride is the classic business, stunning you with shock after shock, even when the fascinating monster is exposed in all its hideous glory.
If you want cinematic kicks, Ridley Scott's massively successful Alien will give you them in profusion.
Look as hard as you like, you won't spot a single flaw, even though the film's had 24 years to date.
A perfect roller coaster blend of horror and science fiction. Sigourney Weaver was an amazing discovery.
In a century of sci-fi/horror hybrids, few if any movies do such a good job at reaching the absolute highest peaks of both halves of that equation as this one.
...a seminal feminist action flick.
Alien has power, elicits terror, and the acid blood scars your consciousness.
It remains a benchmark of extra-terrestrial horror, and gave us a bona fide A-list star in the shape of Sigourney Weaver.
My favorite film of all time is one of the finest blu-rays in my collection.
The monster itself is still one of the flat-out scariest ever designed for the movies.
Ridley Scott's Alien is nothing short of a masterpiece. Technically brilliant, tense, horrifying and visually breathtaking, there's not a moment in this B-monster movie that doesn't excel well beyond the usual genre trappings.
Dated but still extremely scary. Not for younger kids.
Science fiction horror doesn't get any better than this.
It's a chilling, slow-paced, space horror movie using the same formula as the B-films of the 1950s.
Alien proved that material derided as B-movie fodder could be handled with finesse and glossy production values, without diminishing the thrills or polishing over the hard-edged horror.
Better than most of today's big budget sci-fi/horror films.
It certainly doesn't look like a 24-year-old movie.
Audience Reviews for Alien
Super Reviewer
Movies Like Alien
-
- Ellen Ripley: Final report, the commercial star-ship Nostromo. Third officer reporting. The other members of the crew?Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash, and Captain Dallas?are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier within six weeks. With a little luck the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.
-
- Ash: I can't lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.
-
- Ellen Ripley: We will and then we will blow it the fuck out into space!
-
- Parker: Get out of the room!
-
- Ellen Ripley: This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.
-
- Ellen Ripley: You...are...my...lucky...star...
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Alien | 5 months ago | 3 |
| Gay looking guy who looks like a woman | 5 months ago | 2 |
| dave kher = banishment | 4 months ago | 2 |
| Time Magazine sucks | 4 months ago | 1 |
| Old coot | 10 months ago | 0 |
What's Hot On RT
New Desolation of Smaug trailer!
Naomi Watts is Princess Di
Gravity sets new record
Trailer for a squirrely heist flick
See what's on TV tonight
Latest News on Alien
May 21, 2013:
Which Film Franchise Has Been the Best for Female Characters?A good question with too few answers.
May 31, 2012:
Tomatometer Watch: PrometheusDon't call it a prequel. Or do. Wait, now it isn't. At this stage everyone's probably a little weary...
January 18, 2011:
The Alien Prequel Is Dead, Long Live PrometheusRidley Scott's "Alien" prequel is no more, and in its place we have "Prometheus," a "more original"...
Featured on RT
- NYFF: Joaquin Phoenix and James Gray talk The Immigrant 1
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Gravity Stuns with Record $55M Launch 36
- Primetime Preview: Witches of East End, Once Upon a Time and More 2
- Weekly Ketchup: Disney Plans Live Action Cruella de Vil Movie 36
- Primetime Preview: Last Man Standing, The Neighbors and More 5
- Critics Consensus: Gravity is Certified Fresh 68
- Parental Guidance: Gravity and Parkland 3
Top Headlines
Foreign Titles
- Alien - Das unheimliche Wesen aus einer fremden Welt (DE)
- Alien (UK)



Top Critic