Memory: The Origins of Alien

Critics Consensus

Memory - The Origins of Alien offers an entertaining inside look at the making of a classic -- and compellingly analyzes its creation in the context of its era.

81%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 80

92%

Audience Score

Verified Ratings: 12

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Movie Info

An in depth voyage into the sci-fi film "Alien" with the visionary filmmakers who created it. See how one of the most terrifying movies of all time comes to life 40 years ago, inspired by ancient mythology and our universal fears.
  • Genre:
    documentary
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    Alexandre O. Philippe
  • Producer:
    Kerry Deignan Roy
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     limited
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $26.2K
  • Runtime:
  • Production Co:
    Exhibit A Pictures, Screen Division, Milkhaus

Cast & Crew

Veronica Cartwright
Herself
Roger Christian
Himself
Roger Corman
Himself
Diane O'Bannon
Herself
Ivor Powell
Himself
Terry Rawlings
Himself
Ronald Shusett
Himself
Alexandre O. Philippe
Director
Alexandre O. Philippe
Writer
Kerry Deignan Roy
Producer
Leslie Barany
Executive Producer
Diane O'Bannon
Executive Producer
Carmen Scheifele-Giger
Executive Producer
Robert Muratore
Cinematographer
Chad Herschberger
Film Editor
Jon Hegel
Original Music
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Critic Reviews for Memory: The Origins of Alien

All Critics (80) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (15)

  • While it is generally engaging to learn about the influences of the screenwriter Dan O'Bannon or the artistic process of H.R. Giger (who designed the alien), the documentary is at its least fawning when it focuses on technique.

    October 4, 2019 | Full Review…

    Ben Kenigsberg

    New York Times

  • This much I can promise: after seeing this documentary you'll never look at Alien the same way again.

    October 4, 2019 | Full Review…

    Leonard Maltin

    leonardmaltin.com

  • It has a complex and rigorously argued set of theses that all come together at the end.

    October 4, 2019 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

    Matt Zoller Seitz

    RogerEbert.com

  • "Memory: The Origins of 'Alien,'" a well-mounted peek behind the scenes of Ridley Scott's 1979 science-fiction masterpiece, is more interested in what you can see, as well as what you cannot unsee.

    October 3, 2019 | Full Review…

    Justin Chang

    Los Angeles Times

  • The result often feels superficial; it is neither a definitive account of the creation of Scott's touchstone of horror and sci-fi, nor a cogent analysis of its aestheticized subtexts, those gritty and unnerving surfaces and the things lurking underneath.

    October 2, 2019 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…

    Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

    AV Club

  • Too superficial a treatment of the chestburster sequence, and also too lengthy an exploration of it to give the other elements of the movie their due.

    October 1, 2019 | Rating: 5/10 | Full Review…

    Matt Singer

    ScreenCrush
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