Alien

Play trailer

0:33

Alien

R

1979

1h 56m

Sci-Fi

Horror

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

209 Reviews

94%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress call from an alien vessel. The terror begins when the crew encounters a nest of eggs inside the alien ship. An organism from inside an egg leaps out and attaches itself to one of the crew, causing him to fall into a coma.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.

Read Critics Reviews

Jack Kroll

Newsweek

11/16/2023

Alien will scare the peanuts right out of your M&M's. It was about time someone made a science-fiction thriller that thrills... and just boils everything down to the pure, ravishingly vulgar essence of fright.

Go to Full Review

Elston Brooks

Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com

11/16/2023

You can have Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 2001. I'll take Alien.

Go to Full Review

Desmond Ryan

Philadelphia Inquirer

11/16/2023

Miss Weaver, a New York actress making her film debut, makes the most of the opportunity without overdoing it. She suggests toughness and fear in equal measure.

Go to Full Review

Mike Pearson

Denver Rocky Mountain News

Apr 8

At its best, "Alien" remains an exercise in claustrophobic terror.

Go to Full Review

Richard Freedman

Newark Star-Ledger

Jan 6

Alien is no ordinary movie. While its gruesome effects require a strong stomach, its overall impact requires an even strong mind and imagination.

Go to Full Review

David Day

Horror Movie Talk

Sep 18

10/10

Alien is one of the most impressive pieces of cinema in history. It set the bar so high for horror and sci-fi that I think it’s still the apex of both. Every single aspect of this movie is carefully thought-out and crafted to the highest of standards.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

VictorHFerr

04/08/2025

AWESOME SCIFI/HORROR FILM BY DIRECTOR RIDLEY SCOTT!!!

See more

Jeremiah

09/28/2024

My all time favorite film. it needs no justification. watch and see the genius of true horror.

See more

Aaron Bacchus

05/24/2024

A Horror Classic. The beat in the series. A must watch for all !!!

See more

Jeff B

@RT99430060 1d

ALIEN remains one of the greatest movies ever made. shot for shot, this movie is unsettlingly atmospheric and breeds the sort of cosmic dread that will terrorise you for life. The crew of the Nostromo discover a derelict spaceship and bring an alien parasite on board attached to Kane (John Hurt)s face. He later gives horrid and gory birth to a creature that kills the rest of the crew one by one until a final showdown on an escape shuttle between the beast and the last crew member. Amazing and terrifying creature effects from H.R. Giger, an all-star cast and a timeless movie that gave birth to one of the longest-running franchises in cinema history. The creature is utterly terrifying, and its mystique has endured nearly 50 years of cinema. This is Ridley Scott at his most artistic and challenging. you MUST watch this at least once in your life.

See more

Lily C.

@RT33857119 1d

Favorite Horror movie ever. Such creative design and execution. Amazing watch.

See more

Ben W

@Username618 3d

Think this falls under the 'everyone dies and you're s'posed to laugh' category but am not sure. Adaptation- not supposed to laugh. If it makes sense, watching this film, I could see some sort of quality. But like the actual thing it did with the characters, I did not like. And the other thing, which soundeth unfair, but you are making something which you can use only once. A jack in the box. Or. Does it carry with it, lessons of office politics? mixed in with misremembered bits of wasp biology. Time will tell. They did a stage version, Mark Kermode tells me, at Christmas 2024?5? in London.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Ridley Scott

Director

Tom Skerritt

Captain A.J. Dallas

Sigourney Weaver

Warrant Officer Lt. Ellen L. Ripley

John Hurt

Engineer G.W. Kane

Veronica Cartwright

Navigator J.M. Lambert

Harry Dean Stanton

Engineering Technician S.E. Brett

Alien 3

44%

46%

Alien 3

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Alien 3

Alien Resurrection

55%

39%

Alien Resurrection

Watchlist

Aliens

93%

94%

Aliens

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Aliens

Lifeforce

58%

46%

Lifeforce

Watchlist

Shivers

85%

58%

Shivers

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Know Your Critic: Dani Bethea, Pop Culture Writer and Horror Connoisseur

Alexandre Aja’s Five Favorite Films

87 Fearless Women Movie Heroes Who Inspire Us

Film Critics Break Down the Horror Films that Haunt Them

25:56

Alien: 45th Anniversary Re-Release Trailer 1

0:33

Alien: Trailer 1

1:10

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress call from an alien vessel. The terror begins when the crew encounters a nest of eggs inside the alien ship. An organism from inside an egg leaps out and attaches itself to one of the crew, causing him to fall into a coma.

Director: Ridley Scott
Producer: David Giler, Gordon Carroll, Walter Hill
Screenwriter: Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox, Brandywine Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 25, 1979, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Apr 26, 2024
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 2, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $82.6M
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Surround, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1), 70mm