They didn't just build it, it was a fully enclosed set. When you entered the set, you entered the ship. There weren't walls missing here and there for the camera setups, every interior shot is a _true_ interior shot, as in the camera can only move within the confines of the interior. This contributed to the feeling of claustrophobia, and presumably allowed the actors to immerse themselves more fully in the story. Additionally, the hallways were apparently built in a modular fashion which allowed them to reposition parts of them. This was utilized by moving the hallway walls closer together as filming went on, so if it seems like the hallways are getting smaller and smaller as the film goes on, that's because they literally are.
It’s so cool how Giger was originally only supposed to do the design of the alien itself, but when the original set designer couldn’t meet the producers expectations, Giger was responsible for all of the alien-related sets. Which is awesome because of the stark difference between the human sets and alien sets being designed by different artists.
The tension started in the theatre lobby. A picture of the egg and the tag line “In space no one can hear you scream”. I’m jealous. I wish I could watch this for the first time again.
Either that or "evil cat tricks almost entire crew into being eaten, as it is in league with an Alien". Jonsey is the only one it didn't try to eat, when it had the chance. I like to think the Alien recognised another "predator" and respected it.
@@DamonCzanik I mean, not really. In Alien Ash was the only one who straight up didn't listen to her. And that is because he was setting the whole crew up to be a buffet. In Aliens, most of the marines did listen to her once things got real... and in Alien 3, Clemens, 85, Dillon and Morse all helped and worked with her. This notion that "No one ever listens to the woman" is kinda silly.
Even the tag lines for these films were great. For Alien it was "In space, no one can hear you scream." For The Thing it was "Man is the warmest place to hide."
@@maplenutsreact there's also a # of Alien Video Game Sequels 4 a # of this Franchises Films: Alien Isolation who's events take place in between this Film as well as Aliens AKA Alien 2 plus Aliens Colonial Marines who's events take place in between Aliens & Alien 3 but a little heads up in Coop Multiplayer Story Mode of Aliens Colonial Marines y'all love birds will have 2 work as a team 2 completely survive against each & every single last Xenomorph!
@@maplenutsreact best thing about Aliens Colonial Marines is that y'all can enhance/improve/upgrade a # of array of/different guns/weapons with a different/wide array of unlockable Attachments making a # your of your guns/weapons in Aliens Colonial Marines even better/more deadly/lethal than be4!
For 3, it was "Look, you could have somebody piss against the wall for two hours and call it Alien 3 and it would still do $30m worth of business." (Fox executive to David Fincher, as quoted by Fincher).
I’m 60 years old now. I was 16 when I saw ALIEN opening weekend and can’t describe how terrifying it was in 1979. You felt just as “trapped” in the audience watching the movie as the characters on the screen. Great reaction video! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Same age here - most scared I've ever been watching a movie - seeing this in a huge packed old-school theater without any idea of what to expect was the experience. That chest-burst scene was so unexpected and left me on edge for the rest of movie.
I was 11. Dad took me to a packed theater. Spent most of the movie crouched down so I could just see the top half of the screen over the seat in front of me.
@@maplenutsreact HR Giger was first attached to Jodorowsky's planned DUNE film adaption. That project fell apart, but filmmakers became aware of Giger's work and Ridley Scott found the design he was looking for, when he found one of Giger's illustrations.
Saw this in 1979 in an old school movie theater on a screen 60' x 40'. Sold out show with 1000+ brave souls! Theater exploded into screams at the chest-burster scene then silence as we all had to process what we just witnessed. Still great after 45 years!
To this day, still WAAAAY ahead of its time. I remember I was 9 years old when this came out. My parents went to see it in the theater. When they came home I asked if I could see it. At the same time they both said “NO WAY!” 😂
I was 12 years old with my dad , at home , My FIRST Hooror film , so cool. one of the actors fainted with the burst alien seen, and , the actors at table did not know what was going to happen . ....classic...
I was 29 in 1979 when this opened. One theater in Denver. A little over a thousand seats. Every seat filled. Gigantic screen with a matching sound system. Scariest night I think I've ever spent at the movies and I loved every minute!!
I saw this film in Denver also. The theater was on Colfax Ave, if my memory serves correctly. I was attending Tech School at Lowry AFB. It is still one of the greatest horror/scifi movies ever.
@@tommc3622 It was the Century 21 theater on Colorado Boulevard. Just south of the old Cinerama theater, the Cooper. The Continental was farther south and also a HUGE theater. I miss those old theaters.
@MapManLK Me too. I worked in movie theaters in Denver in the 90s. Everything from doorman to manager. Projection was my passion. I loved playing with film. I worked the booth of the "Connie" for a few months. Sadly, I never got to play with the 70mm projector.
@@maplenutsreactI'll be honest, I'm surprised they won it vs Star Trek The Motion Picture - I think the Trek film was more "tight" with regard to visuals, but Alien was far more original. And done on a budget of $8million vs $54 million for Trek.
@@ZXSPEXto be fair to Superman, supermans 1 and 2 were filmed at the same time under the same budget - the two should really be put together and then divided by half for the actual budgets for them. Though the original 3.5 hour cut and marlno brando reshoots probably did cost a lot of money. And then Superman II swapping directors about 80% the way through... urgh, hollywood, eh?
@@ZXSPEXSuperman 1 and 2 were filmed simultaneously - like lord of the rings. It was the first movie to "do that". They split the budget between the two, but kept cast members and sets for both (Zod, Ursa, Non etc).
Absolutely!@@ZXSPEX Superman I and Superman II led the way for Batman 89 - which led the way to... X-Men 2000, which led to... today. (we're in agreement, friend :D - I'm not trying to argue or anything - I think we're on the same wavelength. No superhero film today would exist without Superman I (and Superman II). Without them, we'd have ... "The Fantastic Four". Yay.
That shot of Ripley sliding back across the wall with the strobe lights on her after she sees the alien around the corner is one of my favourites in all of cinema. Dont know why but goosebumps every time.
I saw this in the theater the night it premiered in our town. The local critic did a write up on it and called it "Psycho meets 2001". I went by myself, because Im a sci-fi nerd, and sat in the darkened theater waiting for it to begin. I noticed right away something was different. The sound was AMAZING!. I could see these large speaker boxes mounted in the four corners of the theater were a new addition and were pumping out this amazing sound. I later learned this was the new Dolby stereo system the theater had just installed and this was the first movie they showed to have Dolby stereo. The theater was packed. The tension was so thick you could hear a pin drop. No one had ever seen horror like this before. By the time Ash is getting his head ripped off his shoulders, people were getting up and walking out. I turned back at one point to look at the audience and I noticed a small cluster of people who had gotten up were standing in the back near the exit. Too frightened to come back too their seats but too caught up in the story to leave altogether. The scene when Ripley is making her way to the shuttle in the final act, you could almost hear the pounding heartbeat of every person in the theater. It was, and still is, the single most intense movie going experience I have ever had.
Ridley Scott said he was trying to make Texas chainsaw massacre in space like a haunted house film in the middle of space is a pretty creepy concept if you asked me
James Cameron makes dumb movies for tweens. He's not a bad director; his movies always look good and, more importantly in Hollywood, make lots of money. It's just that he's such a bad writer that they're only funny unintentionally. He's basically Michael Bay with better PR.
@@michaelw8262 I don't know how to respond that. If you think Terminator or ALIENS is for "Tweens" I don't know what to say other than you must not know what ... words mean.
"Alien" is de rigueur for a reaction channel. Sooner than later is best! If you live near a one-screen old-style movie house, they will often have a classic cinema series and screen "Alien" and "Aliens" as a double-feature. Both are fantastic in the dark on a big screen.
Even at home, watching in the dark is an experience. You'll find yourself constantly looking over your shoulder. Things that are familiar to you will feel menacing. Great reaction.
It's fascinating how pop culture gets so suffused by the ideas from something inflential (a movie, book etc) that you're kind of familiar with it even though you haven't experienced it. This is a fantastic movie and I hope you both enjoy it even with your prior knowledge. The second and third film are well worth checking out too, as all three have a different directing style and and tone (the first a survival horror, the second an action movie with horror elements, the third an existential dread etc). After that the quality falls off rapidly.
Also Aliens was directed by James Cameron and Alien 3 by David Fincher. I need not say any more, but please make sure you react to the Aliens Special Edition and Alien 3: The Assembly Cut.
Alien did win two Oscars in 1980, for Special Effects and Production Design. Love this film. I remember seeing it with my mom at the local mall multiplex. Unfortunately, she didn't see much, having her eyes covered most of the time. I had a few prized bits of merchandise, the Nostromo cap that Brett wears, a puzzle, and an 18'' tall action figure of the Alien. The best thing was a T-shirt that has a latex life-sized facehugger poking out of it. If you haven't yet Aliens is a must see. The other two sequels are a bit more divisive. So many things you see in this with a rewatch. One of the most fun for me is the Alien's 'jazz hands' when he runs into Dallas.
how it didn't win for sound editing and cinematography I don't know. It deserved both of them, and in all honesty, best actress for Signourney and best film.
Sigourney Weaver shot to stardom with this film and would go on to do 3 sequels. Sir John Hurt, Sir Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton (RIP) were great character actors from movies and theatre. Some of Douglas Trumbull's people worked on the space ship effects and set designs of the Nostromo's interior (Trumbull did the groundbreaking work on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968.) Ridley Scott said that 2001 was the main influence on the "realistic" look of the tech in Alien as well as the overall lonely atmosphere of space. 'Lucky Star' from Singin' In The Rain is what Ripley's singing to herself when she's preparing to blow the alien out of the airlock. When I had the VHS, for years I thought she was singing "monkey monkey monkey, monkey star"😄
Singing "Lucky Star" was Siourney Weaver's idea. Ridley Scott didn't want to let her initially because they'd have to pay for the licencing rights and the budget was already tight. However Weaver stuck to her guns about it and eventually Scott relented.
A guy named Brian Johnson (not the singer for AC/DC) was the lead special FX artist on this film. He started off working for Gerry & Sylvia Anderson on shows like Thunderbirds and Space: 1999. According to some sources, George Lucas was so impressed with the model work on Space: 1999 that he offered the lead FX job to Johnson for the first Star Wars but Johnson was already contracted to do the second season on Space: 1999 so Lucas had to go with John Dykstra instead. Johnson was then hired to do the model and FX work for The Empire Strikes Back. I think he won back to back Oscars for this film and then Empire.
It's a Xenomorph. They molt and grow rapidly. I saw this in the theater when I was 15 in 1979. I had to step out the last 15 minutes when Ripley is running up and down the corridors. It was the strobe light the alarm when she peeks around the corner. I hit my point of no return. 10 seconds after I exited a woman came out on a beeline for the ladies bathroom. Fun fact- no one said anything to Veronica Cartwright about the chest buster scene. So when it happened that was her genuine reaction. Also the scene where Ripley arrives at infirmary/medical Veronica slaps her, that was full tilt unscripted. Great reaction.
A lot of the dialogue was semi-improvised. Ridley Scott also told the cast to cold-shoulder Sigourney Weaver when they wern't shooting in order to make her feel more isolated, and specifically told Yaphet Kotto (Parker) to pick on her. He did a really good job, to the point where he went and offered her an apology after they'd wrapped.
My mom went and saw this with her friend back in 79, and the scene at the table, with the chest bursting, freaked her friend out so much she walked out of the theater, Lol.
Not a bad movie for 45 years old. I saw this in the theater in the summer of 1979. It was the summer before I started high school. It was like no other movie before. Scared the crap out of us.
Someone I chatted up at the 1991 San Diego Comicon gave me one of those patches for free. You can get them all over now, but it was pretty cool at the time.
The making-of is absolutely fascinating. They actually built the entire ship interior, as a whole, on a huge soundstage. It's not separate sets. Different people were involved between the alien designs and effects and the human ones, so the asthetics feel disparate. The attention to detail in both the sets and script are stellar. It's a tour de force in filmmaking.
Between this and then BLADE RUNNER, Ridley Scott and his production design team deserve royalties and a huge thank you from 95% of all the video game futurism action and horror games and movies since 1982. And Sigourney's "Ripley" is a legendary watershed character. Huge respect.
Because everyone raves about Giger's designs, I'm going to jump in with a shout out to the late Ron Cobb who was responsible for a great deal of the film's visual design.
@@maplenutsreact If you want to make it three-for-three, look up the late French artist Moebius (Jean Giraud). He was only on the production for a short time, but it was his designs for the costumes and in particular the space suits, that set the pattenr that costume designer John Mollo followed. Moebius's work is utterly, utterly beautiful, and if you want posters of his stuff, there are enough out there to paper your house...
Great reaction! I saw ALIEN on Saturday May 26, 1979 the second day of its release. It was a packed audience, and for 2 hours people were screaming, jumping out of their seats, and the whole expierence was mind-blowing!! I was afraid to sleep for weeks!!
If you decide to watch the sequel, ALIENS (and I hope you do!), I'd urge you to see the extended director's cut, which adds character details and plot elements that had been removed when the when film premiered in theatres.
@@liarliarpumpkineater4808 This was quite new and shocking in 1979. There had never been anything quite like it. All the right pieces came together. The writing, the actors, the set design, sound design, music, etc. That's why it's impossible to replicate.
I love how people who have NEVER seen this film before immediately recognize all the things that made it so good... the lighting, the camera work, the sound effects, the acting, the writing, the practical special effects, etc. etc. We used to have genuinely GOOD movies... that is the problem with films today; they focus on everything BUT making a good movie. I remember growing up on Alien and playing Super Metroid and we didn't even really think about or care that some of our favorite characters were female. Creators today should take notes.
I saw this on the second day of its opening at the giant-screen Uptown Theater in Washington, DC (sadly gone now). Six or eight of us from the Disclave science-fiction convention down the street walked there to catch the day’s first showing. Perhaps because it was Sunday, we avoided the big line. It is particularly awesome on a big screen. When my friends and I came out, the line of hundreds, waiting for the second showing, stretched down the block and around the corner. As we walked down the line, we told people “The cat did it,” and they were yelling “Don’t tell us.” It's still on my list of the top 15 SF movies. The revelation that Ash was a robot absolutely stunned everyone. Greatest shock in SF movie history up to that time. The big three, transformative films of modern SF are “Star Wars,” “Alien,” and “Blade Runner.” Presumably you have seen “Star Wars” before, so I would urge you to see “Blade Runner” next. I also recommend that you watch the "Alien" trailer---scariest trailer in the history of film.
I was only two years old when this came out in 1979 so I never saw it in a theater until a few years ago when my local independent theater showed it. It was one of my favorite movies by then so I wasn't expecting any surprises but the entire time I was watching it I was blown away by the sound design, the sets, the props, and of course the creature effects. The detail in every frame of the movie is stunning. It looks good on a TV but seeing it on a movie screen is simply awe inspiring. CGI can never compare to a great director and cinematographer shooting on real sets and using in-camera effects especially when done at such a masterful level. 45 years old and it's still one of the best looking movies ever made.
I was 14 when I saw this movie at the theater. No spoilers back then, so you didn't know what to expect. Alien gave me nightmares for weeks. The score is great, right from the start the music is somehow disquieting and you know that someting bad is about to happen. The Nostromo crew are not heroes, just regular people facing a very scary situation, and doing what they can in order to survive. The real antagonist is of course "the Company", using the crew like lambs for slaughter. They knew that something of interest might be on LV-426 all along. This is without any doubt my favorite sci-fi/horror movie, and one of Ridley Scott true masterpieces.
Hi guys! Thanks for your reaction. I was 16 in 1979 and saw this movie in the theater a number of times. Someone in the audience screamed, "The cat ate the alien!" LOL
Yep. Ashe is Sr. Ian Holm (RIP) who played Bilbo on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. Also, Dallas is Tom Skerritt who played Viper on the original Top Gun. Kane is John Hurt (RIP) who played both Olivander in the Harry Potter movies and was a Dr. Who. Parker is Yaphet Kotto (RIP) who played Mr. Big in the James Bond Movie "Live and Let Die." Brett is Harry Dean Stanton (RIP) who played Toot-Toot in The Green Mile. Lambert is Veronica Cartright who played Felicia Alden in The Witches of Eastwick. And, of course, Sigourney Weaver went on to have a stellar career. So, overall, not a bad cast 🙂
I hope with all these comments someone mentioned that the sequel "Aliens" is one of the best sequels to a movie ever. This franchise is one of my favorites...best critter EVER!! Great reaction.
What's really impressive about most of the spaceship sets is that they are fully enclosed, and most if not all of the lighting was "diagetic", i.e. provided by actual lights in the set, like ceiling lights and the lights from panels and switches etc. So unlike most movies, they didn't just pull the ceiling or the back wall off the set and point the cameras and lights in from the outside where the crew were. Instead, the crew and equipment had to be in the same spaces as the cast. This created a really naturalistic and claustrophobic feeling for the entire duration of the film. It also meant that the actors would not be distracted by the outside world. If they had to go from the sleeping quarters to the control centre, they had to actually walk through a "real" spaceship to get there, i.e. down the hallway, past the med bay, left at the mess etc. It also meant that filming had to be quite innovative and use the environment well. They couldn't just have lights and a giant camera on a big rig, because it wouldn't fit inside. They had to use the camera in innovative ways and be clever with diegetic lighting.
Think I'm right in saying that this was one of the first, maybe THE first, movie to do set design like this. Joss Wheedon paid close attetion to this when he did Firefly and built the Serenity sets in the same way.
I saw this in the theater and it was amazing. We hadn’t seen anything like that. It was so full of suspense. You have to know that Sigourney Weaver was one of the first heroines in the movies. She was such a badass. Usually the Captain dying near the beginning was new too. Aliens is great too…full of action although I loved this one. Good reactions!
Great reaction! If you're interested, there's a film called "Leviathan"(1989), which is essentially "Alien" underwater, but it really has more in common with The Thing.
Outstanding movies. One of the first movies where the captain (main lead) gets wacked in the middle of the movie and a woman ends up killing the alien and getting away. Also when they first entered the Alien ship Ridley Scott used his children in spacesuits to give the illusion that the ship was much larger.
Imagine being 6-7 years old, still in USSR, never having seen anything even close to this in quality, and this is your first real sci-fi watch experience. My dad had no idea it was a "horror sci-fi" when he took me to an evening showing at a resort. My mom was still pissed with him days later, cause I kept having nightmares (even though I actually really like it). The only scene that really gave me those nightmares was that vent scene when the captain was trying to locate the Alien, and those irises were closing behind him.
I was 10 years old when I saw this in the theater- 1979. 😳 Ripley became a crush, science fiction the genre and Alien Design the subject of my art. Amazing Reaction 👏 Channel- I’ll be back for more. 😊
HISTORIC! It also changed the Sci Fi genre from flash unrealistic fantasy of Starts Wars type movies n gave Sci Fi genre a new gritty everyday reality! Director Ridley Scott went to Art College, and picked up an old movie camera of the resource room shelf as it was the only thing left that other students hadn't booked out! So he made a short film with it as a art project of his brother waiting at a bus stop!....The rest is history.😮
In my top three favorite movies I've ever seen. I've lost count of how many times I've watched it. And I love watching reaction videos to Alien - it's so great to experience it with fresh eyes through other people.
Saw this as kid 2nd day out with a friend and his stepdad. I remember it was a hot day and the line went around the theater. Most people were expecting a Star Wars type film and were extremely surprised.
if you guys play video games... you gotta check out Alien:Isolation . you play as ripley's daughter as she goes to find her mother between the first two movies (game takes place about 15-20 years after Alien , and about 40-50 years before Aliens)
This movie is a classic. It was directed by the GREAT RIDLEY SCOTT! His artistic background permeates every movie he does. The Alien was designed by the amazing H.R. GIGER! I became aware of his work on his album covers for Emerson, Lake and Palmer a prog-rock group from the seventies. You should definitely check out his work. He is a genius. The two of them combined their artistic talents to create something that has lived on in various movies over the last 40 years. This was based on a 1950's low-budget sci-fi movie called "IT, THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE." A favorite of mine as a kid, they upgraded the story and the creature but the basic story is still the same. Trapped on a spaceship with a horrible alien killing them off one by one. You should definitely check out the sequel ALIENS, written and directed by JAMES CAMERON. A fantastic sequel! Great Reaction, keep up the good work!
It was terrifying to see this movie in a theater - a darkened room, suspenseful music, ohmigosh! My friend asked me why I had my knees pulled up on the back of the seat in front of me I explained that if the alien came at me I could kick it back and maybe have a chance to turn and run to get away. Holy smokes! Great reaction guys!!
This movie was the birth of the modern female badass with Ripley. Not to mention this took sci-fi movies to a whole new level. Everything about this was brilliant from the set designs, the alien design, cinematography and special effects. Would love you guys to check out the original Blade Runner. Great reaction too.
The original TV commercial for this movie was just a black screen with an egg with the word alien slowly beginning to spell out like in the beginning of the movie while a very creepy shrill noise was being played then the egg cracked slightly and bright light shot out and then a voice whispered alien. That was it and man did that peak everyone's curiosity. Once the movie was released a second commercial came out with the blinking strobe light, showing clips and the building stress and intensity. It got my attention. I was 14 at the time and was lucky enough to see this in the theater and it was every bit as cool as you could imagine.
I saw this in theatres on release and it was awesome - scary. The move is still great today. Amazing cast that were all perfect in their roles. Tom Skerritt who plays Dallas was Viper in Top Gun. All interiors were fantastic.
Saw it on a whim in the theater in 1979. Still remember being ill at ease during the opening title sequence. Scared the bejeezus outta me. Can’t believe that was 45 years ago. Seems like yesterday!
The chest buster scene was so tall because none of the actors knew it was going to happen(except for John Hurt). One of the best recreations was in Spaceballs. If you haven't seen it, watch it. I laugh when kids today say that older movies had poor special effects, then i tell them to watch this with its practical effects.
In the theatre, there were two people behind me. At the point where Ripley goes back to stop the destruct sequence and leaves the cat box, person 1 says ‘what about the cat?’, person 2, ‘f*ck the cat’. I was right along with person 2
That's similar to what the cinematographer, Derek Van Lint, heard when he was watching the film in a theater. Someone yelled out, "LEAVE THE F#@KING CAT!!".
@@MarcMcKenzie-qb6or LOL yeah poor thing. Maybe it got a good home on Earth with people who loved it and could afford to feed it and didn't have a dog or an alien.
The first time I saw Yaphet Kotto (Parker) was in a guest starring role on the original "Hawaii Five-O" TV series playing a combat veteran who suffered a head injury in an accident and as a result was hallucinating that he was reliving a battle he fought in Vietnam. His performance was so powerful - so frightening yet so heart rending - that I was a huge fan of his ever since, so I was incredibly peeved that Parker died because lambert froze in fear and wouldn't get out of the way to let Parker use the flamethrower.
"I want paintings of all these shots" Some shots in this movie are from the paintings of H.R. Giger. The alien ship, the big explorer alien, the eggs and the alien itself are all his design and where the ideas came from after the story was written. Giger worked on the movie himself designing these things.
You haven't seen this film until you have seen it in a cinema. I used to work in a factory that had places that looked like the interior of the Nostromo and I worked there on night shift. Creepy.
No CG whatsoever, all handcrafted SPECIAL AFFECTS. Seen this movie the week of its release pre-high school, I'll never forget it. Had me jump so many freaking times😬
True, but then again, CGI was in its infancy back then. But yep, it still holds up. And I highly recommend the book ALIEN: THE BLUEPRINTS, which covers all of the ships in the ALIEN films.
Really good to see you guys immediately cotton on the the fact the ship isn't the whole refinery. So many first time reactors don't seem to get that (despite it being in the opening exposition).
Be told this story elsewhere, but I think it’s cool. My dad worked on this movie as a driver, he worked on lots of productions, but rarely spoke about them, in part because when a film is being made it doesn’t have much to tell whether it will be a success or not. I do remember him talking about Alien though, because unlike most productions where crew are kept well away from sets, on Alien all crew were required to spend time on the set. They drank their coffees and teas and ate their take out curries and fish and chips on 'the ship'. - I think it was the first time in a space movie, where instead of a glistening pristine ship, the director/set designer wanted a space ship to look like a used and abused ship designed for and inhabited by a bunch of roughneck miners.
I saw Alien in the theatre during a weekday matinee. Other than another couple (who left after the chest burster scene), my date and I were all alone in a 900 seat venue. We never said a word during the rest of the film! Terrifying? Holy shit! I went back several times to experience the brilliant set designs, and special effects. This made "Star Wars" look like the comic book "bum-fluff" that it was. Thank you Ridley Scott for the direction, and H.R Geiger for his mind bending alien and "space jockey" creations! "Aliens" rates high as well, thanks to Sigourney Weaver.
Guys, imagine me and friends seeing this film when first released on a massive 70mm screen in a cinema in London that boasted the best sound system. When that beginning credit sequence started we knew we were in for a hell of a ride.
I was just 30 and was in L.A. when it opened. Saw it at the Egyptian in75 mm, curved screen in DOLBY Stereo. There was even part of Mother in the lobby that you walked through. No one knew anything about the creature. What an amazing experience !!
Have you guys seen the original Predator? That’s a must watch movie if you are dipping your feet into the Alien universe. Both Alien and Predator will eventually have some movies that contain some crossover elements. They both exist in the same universe. Predator is an absolute classic!
Check out the Director's Cut. It features the deleted scene of Ripley entering the Alien's nest, and what she finds there. Also, FYI, if your wondering why Ripley suddenly had a nose bleed right before Ash attacks her. There is an incomplete deleted scene where after Dallas's death. The Alien is spotted in the air lock, and the crew attempt to flush it out. Only for it to fail. with the crew exposed to decompression, that causes a few blood cells to burst. Resulting in both Ripley and Ash bleeding.
Due credit to you both for acknowledging/appreciating the beautiful production design of the film as a whole. Ron Cobb, Mœbius, Chris Foss, John Mollo, and the great surrealist HR Giger who all contributed to the look of the film. HR Giger was solely responsible for all the alien design concepts. the planet, crashed juggernaut spacecraft, fossilized space jockey, eggs, facehugger, infant alien, and adult creature. Thee absolute BEST. For going on 45+ years now, the film really holds up and has aged beautifully. Since 1984, I've watched and re-watched the ALIEN well over 200+ times. Unfortunately i completely missed watching it when it came out in 1979. I discovered it via a heavily edited network television film premiere. I've collected every art and film book on it. It's in my top 10 best movies ever made. So glad you enjoyed it.
You guys are one of the best reaction channels there are. You don't talk too much, your reactions are authentic, and it's fun to watch you watch these movies.
It's the 45th Anniversary of 'Alien' (1979). Many theatres are showing this original movie right now! Also..."Alien:Romulus" is a prequel coming out this August 2024.😊👍🏾
the wellknown movie "the thing" came 3 years later, but it was a remake of an old movie, and "alien" got some inspiration from that claustrophobic atmosphere of being locked in with an alien monster ...
thank you for watching this for us! it's a movie that has held up over time perfectly! And i like that you noted that the crew are just that - the crew of a cargo hauler, a bunch of folks that are a mix of boat crew and space truckers - and they have to face something absolutely terrifying! keep up the great work!
Don't forget to get the "special edition/extented cut" for its sequel called "ALIENS" (1986) which is even better and is as scary and stressful than the first one ;)
The space pods for the astronauts was first shown in the movie 2001 A Space Odyssy from 1968 of which I saw on vacation in Miami with my late parents and my little brother.
I saw this when it first came out in 1979 (I was 22). We were all blown away. The practical effects are amazing. This is my very favorite movie. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it.
There is no blue screen for any of the interiors. Everything was built and physically existed. Just amazing.
Its a pity thats become "amazing". Doing anything else is just shoddy and lazy, considering the money these people are given to make movies.
@@shakes.dontknowwhatyergettin Exactly.
No CGI!
They didn't just build it, it was a fully enclosed set. When you entered the set, you entered the ship. There weren't walls missing here and there for the camera setups, every interior shot is a _true_ interior shot, as in the camera can only move within the confines of the interior. This contributed to the feeling of claustrophobia, and presumably allowed the actors to immerse themselves more fully in the story. Additionally, the hallways were apparently built in a modular fashion which allowed them to reposition parts of them. This was utilized by moving the hallway walls closer together as filming went on, so if it seems like the hallways are getting smaller and smaller as the film goes on, that's because they literally are.
H.R. Giger is a phenomenal artist.
Yes! I didn't know about him until after this movie, and I'm so blown away by his art!
It’s so cool how Giger was originally only supposed to do the design of the alien itself, but when the original set designer couldn’t meet the producers expectations, Giger was responsible for all of the alien-related sets. Which is awesome because of the stark difference between the human sets and alien sets being designed by different artists.
@@spencershaw4419It is even more "crazy". He dreamt all of this horror stuff. :)
RIP
He sure was. When I went to Switzerland years ago I got the chance to see a table and chair set that he had designed and yep, it was amazing!
The tension started in the theatre lobby. A picture of the egg and the tag line “In space no one can hear you scream”. I’m jealous. I wish I could watch this for the first time again.
In a way, "Alien" is a simple movie about saving a cat. LOL
This movie and its sequel has a theme, "Woman is right but nobody ever listens to her" 😆
Either that or "evil cat tricks almost entire crew into being eaten, as it is in league with an Alien". Jonsey is the only one it didn't try to eat, when it had the chance. I like to think the Alien recognised another "predator" and respected it.
@@sarcasticstartrek7719 On AVPGalaxy we called this "CatInCahootz."
@@DamonCzanik I mean, not really. In Alien Ash was the only one who straight up didn't listen to her. And that is because he was setting the whole crew up to be a buffet. In Aliens, most of the marines did listen to her once things got real... and in Alien 3, Clemens, 85, Dillon and Morse all helped and worked with her. This notion that "No one ever listens to the woman" is kinda silly.
This movie is a reboot of It the Terror from Beyond Space.👾
They even kill the Alien the same way💀
Even the tag lines for these films were great. For Alien it was "In space, no one can hear you scream." For The Thing it was "Man is the warmest place to hide."
Both of those are so horrifying... really lets the imagination run wild.
@@maplenutsreact there's also a # of Alien Video Game Sequels 4 a # of this Franchises Films: Alien Isolation who's events take place in between this Film as well as Aliens AKA Alien 2 plus Aliens Colonial Marines who's events take place in between Aliens & Alien 3 but a little heads up in Coop Multiplayer Story Mode of Aliens Colonial Marines y'all love birds will have 2 work as a team 2 completely survive against each & every single last Xenomorph!
@@maplenutsreact best thing about Aliens Colonial Marines is that y'all can enhance/improve/upgrade a # of array of/different guns/weapons with a different/wide array of unlockable Attachments making a # your of your guns/weapons in Aliens Colonial Marines even better/more deadly/lethal than be4!
For 3, it was "Look, you could have somebody piss against the wall for two hours and call it Alien 3 and it would still do $30m worth of business." (Fox executive to David Fincher, as quoted by Fincher).
Dog = The Thing?
I’m 60 years old now. I was 16 when I saw ALIEN opening weekend and can’t describe how terrifying it was in 1979. You felt just as “trapped” in the audience watching the movie as the characters on the screen. Great reaction video! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Ditto to all that. (July '63)
I am 63 so I saw it when I was 18 in a packed theater. Everyone loved it.
Same age here - most scared I've ever been watching a movie - seeing this in a huge packed old-school theater without any idea of what to expect was the experience. That chest-burst scene was so unexpected and left me on edge for the rest of movie.
I was 11. Dad took me to a packed theater. Spent most of the movie crouched down so I could just see the top half of the screen over the seat in front of me.
Lol. I was 12
The motif of the alien ship comes from the genius of H.R. Giger, whose beautiful yet disturbing works of art are legendary.
This. Giger is a genius.
@@Jeflar70 .... Back when "Alien" came out, I was a subscriber to Omni Magazine, which totally loved Giger's work. Lots of great pictorials!
I just looked him up because of your comment, and holy! His work is incredible!
@@maplenutsreact ….. His images are the stuff of nightmares, yet you can’t look away…..😆
@@maplenutsreact HR Giger was first attached to Jodorowsky's planned DUNE film adaption. That project fell apart, but filmmakers became aware of Giger's work and Ridley Scott found the design he was looking for, when he found one of Giger's illustrations.
"I want paintings of all these shots" That is Ridley Scott for you, he is an artist first.
@@moon-moth1 Indeed as a kid I and an artist I was so impressed and also weirded out by H.R Giger's work
Saw this in 1979 in an old school movie theater on a screen 60' x 40'. Sold out show with 1000+ brave souls!
Theater exploded into screams at the chest-burster scene then silence as we all had to process what we just witnessed. Still great after 45 years!
To this day, still WAAAAY ahead of its time. I remember I was 9 years old when this came out. My parents went to see it in the theater. When they came home I asked if I could see it. At the same time they both said “NO WAY!” 😂
Not only that, it STILL holds up today. It's hardly dated; yes, the tech is the 70's "chunky SF" tech but honestly it still holds up.
1979 and it is still some of the best set design and cinematography you will ever see, stunning film.
“Whoever did the special effects needs an Oscar”
Good thing the academy agreed and they got one!
Saw this as a 14 year old back in 1979, the theatre was packed. I left the cinema traumatised what an awesome experience.
I was 12 years old with my dad , at home , My FIRST Hooror film , so cool. one of the actors fainted with the burst alien seen, and , the actors at table did not know what was going to happen . ....classic...
Did you too do the bent arm as the stomach monster? Lol
One of the scariest Sci Fi Horror Thriller Films ever made!
I was 29 in 1979 when this opened. One theater in Denver. A little over a thousand seats. Every seat filled. Gigantic screen with a matching sound system. Scariest night I think I've ever spent at the movies and I loved every minute!!
I saw this film in Denver also. The theater was on Colfax Ave, if my memory serves correctly. I was attending Tech School at Lowry AFB. It is still one of the greatest horror/scifi movies ever.
Sounds like the old Continental.
@@tommc3622 it makes me wish I retained the ticket stub. After 45 years, noway I couldn't recall the name of the theater.
@@tommc3622 It was the Century 21 theater on Colorado Boulevard. Just south of the old Cinerama theater, the Cooper. The Continental was farther south and also a HUGE theater. I miss those old theaters.
@MapManLK Me too. I worked in movie theaters in Denver in the 90s. Everything from doorman to manager. Projection was my passion. I loved playing with film.
I worked the booth of the "Connie" for a few months. Sadly, I never got to play with the 70mm projector.
"Whoever did this, needs an Oscar for best Special Effects"
They got one, for Best Visual Effects.
Hahaha good!
@@maplenutsreactI'll be honest, I'm surprised they won it vs Star Trek The Motion Picture - I think the Trek film was more "tight" with regard to visuals, but Alien was far more original. And done on a budget of $8million vs $54 million for Trek.
@@ZXSPEXto be fair to Superman, supermans 1 and 2 were filmed at the same time under the same budget - the two should really be put together and then divided by half for the actual budgets for them. Though the original 3.5 hour cut and marlno brando reshoots probably did cost a lot of money. And then Superman II swapping directors about 80% the way through... urgh, hollywood, eh?
@@ZXSPEXSuperman 1 and 2 were filmed simultaneously - like lord of the rings. It was the first movie to "do that". They split the budget between the two, but kept cast members and sets for both (Zod, Ursa, Non etc).
Absolutely!@@ZXSPEX Superman I and Superman II led the way for Batman 89 - which led the way to... X-Men 2000, which led to... today.
(we're in agreement, friend :D - I'm not trying to argue or anything - I think we're on the same wavelength.
No superhero film today would exist without Superman I (and Superman II). Without them, we'd have ... "The Fantastic Four". Yay.
That shot of Ripley sliding back across the wall with the strobe lights on her after she sees the alien around the corner is one of my favourites in all of cinema. Dont know why but goosebumps every time.
I saw this in the theater the night it premiered in our town. The local critic did a write up on it and called it "Psycho meets 2001". I went by myself, because Im a sci-fi nerd, and sat in the darkened theater waiting for it to begin. I noticed right away something was different. The sound was AMAZING!. I could see these large speaker boxes mounted in the four corners of the theater were a new addition and were pumping out this amazing sound. I later learned this was the new Dolby stereo system the theater had just installed and this was the first movie they showed to have Dolby stereo.
The theater was packed. The tension was so thick you could hear a pin drop. No one had ever seen horror like this before. By the time Ash is getting his head ripped off his shoulders, people were getting up and walking out. I turned back at one point to look at the audience and I noticed a small cluster of people who had gotten up were standing in the back near the exit. Too frightened to come back too their seats but too caught up in the story to leave altogether. The scene when Ripley is making her way to the shuttle in the final act, you could almost hear the pounding heartbeat of every person in the theater.
It was, and still is, the single most intense movie going experience I have ever had.
Ridley Scott said he was trying to make Texas chainsaw massacre in space like a haunted house film in the middle of space is a pretty creepy concept if you asked me
The sequel is one the best action movies ever made. Looking forward to you both experiencing ALIENS. ❤
Watch the extended version, gives you more information, it will help to understand what’s happening.
James Cameron - the master of Sequels.
ALIENS
Terminator 2
Piranha II.
@@angelavalentino5146I have to agree. Though I kind of wish the extended version didn't have ALL that footage (avoiding spoilers here).
James Cameron makes dumb movies for tweens. He's not a bad director; his movies always look good and, more importantly in Hollywood, make lots of money. It's just that he's such a bad writer that they're only funny unintentionally. He's basically Michael Bay with better PR.
@@michaelw8262 I don't know how to respond that. If you think Terminator or ALIENS is for "Tweens" I don't know what to say other than you must not know what ... words mean.
31:35 "that looks like the alien head.." may be one of the greatest reaction of that scene
Hahaha it got me good
This is the first time in watching people react to this that I've ever seen someone notice that before it moves. You deserve an award.
One of the most exasperating things about the environments in some of the games.
@@whoarocketPlease.....
They've seen all of these movies before.
They litter these "1st time reactions" with completely on the nose comments.
A perfect movie.
You two are great together. Love watching your reactions.
Aww thank you!! ❤❤❤
"Alien" is de rigueur for a reaction channel. Sooner than later is best! If you live near a one-screen old-style movie house, they will often have a classic cinema series and screen "Alien" and "Aliens" as a double-feature. Both are fantastic in the dark on a big screen.
Ooooo that sounds like a really fun, but also terrifying experience haha
Even at home, watching in the dark is an experience. You'll find yourself constantly looking over your shoulder. Things that are familiar to you will feel menacing. Great reaction.
It's fascinating how pop culture gets so suffused by the ideas from something inflential (a movie, book etc) that you're kind of familiar with it even though you haven't experienced it. This is a fantastic movie and I hope you both enjoy it even with your prior knowledge. The second and third film are well worth checking out too, as all three have a different directing style and and tone (the first a survival horror, the second an action movie with horror elements, the third an existential dread etc). After that the quality falls off rapidly.
You’ll enjoy the sequel.ALIENS:THE SPECIAL EDITION from 1986.Look forward to your reaction on that movie.😉 🍿
Also Aliens was directed by James Cameron and Alien 3 by David Fincher. I need not say any more, but please make sure you react to the Aliens Special Edition and Alien 3: The Assembly Cut.
Oh yes, we absolutely enjoyed it! We were terrified, but can also appreciate the incredible talent that went into making it!
You may be getting what you wish for sooner than you think! @@DerekHarrison-ue9vv
@@maplenutsreact😸👍
I really enjoy y’all’s enjoyment and enthusiasm reacting to all these films, huge fan! 🎥👽😲
Thank you so much!! ❤❤❤
Alien did win two Oscars in 1980, for Special Effects and Production Design. Love this film. I remember seeing it with my mom at the local mall multiplex. Unfortunately, she didn't see much, having her eyes covered most of the time. I had a few prized bits of merchandise, the Nostromo cap that Brett wears, a puzzle, and an 18'' tall action figure of the Alien. The best thing was a T-shirt that has a latex life-sized facehugger poking out of it. If you haven't yet Aliens is a must see. The other two sequels are a bit more divisive. So many things you see in this with a rewatch. One of the most fun for me is the Alien's 'jazz hands' when he runs into Dallas.
Yes! Finally, someone else who had that t-shirt - everyone I describe mine to thinks I'm stuck in some fever dream of imagination! 😂
It actually only won one Oscar - for Visual Effects. It was nominated for Art Direction but didn’t win.
how it didn't win for sound editing and cinematography I don't know. It deserved both of them, and in all honesty, best actress for Signourney and best film.
so glad it's a first watch for you _both!_
Sigourney Weaver shot to stardom with this film and would go on to do 3 sequels. Sir John Hurt, Sir Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton (RIP) were great character actors from movies and theatre.
Some of Douglas Trumbull's people worked on the space ship effects and set designs of the Nostromo's interior (Trumbull did the groundbreaking work on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968.) Ridley Scott said that 2001 was the main influence on the "realistic" look of the tech in Alien as well as the overall lonely atmosphere of space.
'Lucky Star' from Singin' In The Rain is what Ripley's singing to herself when she's preparing to blow the alien out of the airlock. When I had the VHS, for years I thought she was singing "monkey monkey monkey, monkey star"😄
Singing "Lucky Star" was Siourney Weaver's idea. Ridley Scott didn't want to let her initially because they'd have to pay for the licencing rights and the budget was already tight. However Weaver stuck to her guns about it and eventually Scott relented.
A guy named Brian Johnson (not the singer for AC/DC) was the lead special FX artist on this film. He started off working for Gerry & Sylvia Anderson on shows like Thunderbirds and Space: 1999. According to some sources, George Lucas was so impressed with the model work on Space: 1999 that he offered the lead FX job to Johnson for the first Star Wars but Johnson was already contracted to do the second season on Space: 1999 so Lucas had to go with John Dykstra instead. Johnson was then hired to do the model and FX work for The Empire Strikes Back. I think he won back to back Oscars for this film and then Empire.
Lambert was also in Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds
It's a Xenomorph. They molt and grow rapidly. I saw this in the theater when I was 15 in 1979. I had to step out the last 15 minutes when Ripley is running up and down the corridors. It was the strobe light the alarm when she peeks around the corner. I hit my point of no return. 10 seconds after I exited a woman came out on a beeline for the ladies bathroom. Fun fact- no one said anything to Veronica Cartwright about the chest buster scene. So when it happened that was her genuine reaction. Also the scene where Ripley arrives at infirmary/medical Veronica slaps her, that was full tilt unscripted. Great reaction.
A lot of the dialogue was semi-improvised. Ridley Scott also told the cast to cold-shoulder Sigourney Weaver when they wern't shooting in order to make her feel more isolated, and specifically told Yaphet Kotto (Parker) to pick on her. He did a really good job, to the point where he went and offered her an apology after they'd wrapped.
-She: "It´s tiny".
-Alien: "Hold my beer".
Alien Queen: "You ain't seen nothing yet."
Hey, that’s not a beer, it’s a facehugger. Nice try, but I’m onto you.
@@0okaminoLoL
My mom went and saw this with her friend back in 79, and the scene at the table, with the chest bursting, freaked her friend out so much she walked out of the theater, Lol.
Alien is such a great film, glad you enjoyed it. The Blob 1988 and From Beyond 1986 ae so much fun and grosse.
Not a bad movie for 45 years old. I saw this in the theater in the summer of 1979. It was the summer before I started high school. It was like no other movie before. Scared the crap out of us.
Hate the "...for an older movie" caveat everyone seems to use; name any new film better...not literally.
@@tomseville2345 Yeah, this stands up to anything made ever since.
Someone I chatted up at the 1991 San Diego Comicon gave me one of those patches for free. You can get them all over now, but it was pretty cool at the time.
The making-of is absolutely fascinating.
They actually built the entire ship interior, as a whole, on a huge soundstage. It's not separate sets.
Different people were involved between the alien designs and effects and the human ones, so the asthetics feel disparate.
The attention to detail in both the sets and script are stellar.
It's a tour de force in filmmaking.
Between this and then BLADE RUNNER, Ridley Scott and his production design team deserve royalties and a huge thank you from 95% of all the video game futurism action and horror games and movies since 1982.
And Sigourney's "Ripley" is a legendary watershed character. Huge respect.
Because everyone raves about Giger's designs, I'm going to jump in with a shout out to the late Ron Cobb who was responsible for a great deal of the film's visual design.
Oh wow, just looked him up and his art is amazing!!
@@maplenutsreact If you want to make it three-for-three, look up the late French artist Moebius (Jean Giraud). He was only on the production for a short time, but it was his designs for the costumes and in particular the space suits, that set the pattenr that costume designer John Mollo followed. Moebius's work is utterly, utterly beautiful, and if you want posters of his stuff, there are enough out there to paper your house...
Great reaction! I saw ALIEN on Saturday May 26, 1979 the second day of its release. It was a packed audience, and for 2 hours people were screaming, jumping out of their seats, and the whole expierence was mind-blowing!! I was afraid to sleep for weeks!!
If you decide to watch the sequel, ALIENS (and I hope you do!), I'd urge you to see the extended director's cut, which adds character details and plot elements that had been removed when the when film premiered in theatres.
So it RESTORES missing pieces, rather than "add" them.
@@miller-joel-- You can understand English! I admire those who master it. May I send you a shiny gold star for your sticker book?
@@dq405 Looks like you could use a class or two.
Nice. I love finding newer reactors that havent seen all the classics yet. Good job.
But they've been spoiled to some degree because all these things are part of the culture now, and they have been copied and parodied to death.
@ifly-fsx There's nothing new under the sun.
@@liarliarpumpkineater4808 This was quite new and shocking in 1979. There had never been anything quite like it. All the right pieces came together. The writing, the actors, the set design, sound design, music, etc. That's why it's impossible to replicate.
I love how people who have NEVER seen this film before immediately recognize all the things that made it so good... the lighting, the camera work, the sound effects, the acting, the writing, the practical special effects, etc. etc. We used to have genuinely GOOD movies... that is the problem with films today; they focus on everything BUT making a good movie. I remember growing up on Alien and playing Super Metroid and we didn't even really think about or care that some of our favorite characters were female. Creators today should take notes.
I saw this on the second day of its opening at the giant-screen Uptown Theater in Washington, DC (sadly gone now). Six or eight of us from the Disclave science-fiction convention down the street walked there to catch the day’s first showing. Perhaps because it was Sunday, we avoided the big line. It is particularly awesome on a big screen. When my friends and I came out, the line of hundreds, waiting for the second showing, stretched down the block and around the corner. As we walked down the line, we told people “The cat did it,” and they were yelling “Don’t tell us.”
It's still on my list of the top 15 SF movies. The revelation that Ash was a robot absolutely stunned everyone. Greatest shock in SF movie history up to that time.
The big three, transformative films of modern SF are “Star Wars,” “Alien,” and “Blade Runner.” Presumably you have seen “Star Wars” before, so I would urge you to see “Blade Runner” next. I also recommend that you watch the "Alien" trailer---scariest trailer in the history of film.
I was only two years old when this came out in 1979 so I never saw it in a theater until a few years ago when my local independent theater showed it. It was one of my favorite movies by then so I wasn't expecting any surprises but the entire time I was watching it I was blown away by the sound design, the sets, the props, and of course the creature effects. The detail in every frame of the movie is stunning. It looks good on a TV but seeing it on a movie screen is simply awe inspiring. CGI can never compare to a great director and cinematographer shooting on real sets and using in-camera effects especially when done at such a masterful level. 45 years old and it's still one of the best looking movies ever made.
I was 14 when I saw this movie at the theater. No spoilers back then, so you didn't know what to expect. Alien gave me nightmares for weeks. The score is great, right from the start the music is somehow disquieting and you know that someting bad is about to happen. The Nostromo crew are not heroes, just regular people facing a very scary situation, and doing what they can in order to survive. The real antagonist is of course "the Company", using the crew like lambs for slaughter. They knew that something of interest might be on LV-426 all along.
This is without any doubt my favorite sci-fi/horror movie, and one of Ridley Scott true masterpieces.
Hi guys! Thanks for your reaction. I was 16 in 1979 and saw this movie in the theater a number of times. Someone in the audience screamed, "The cat ate the alien!" LOL
Yep. Ashe is Sr. Ian Holm (RIP) who played Bilbo on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.
Also, Dallas is Tom Skerritt who played Viper on the original Top Gun.
Kane is John Hurt (RIP) who played both Olivander in the Harry Potter movies and was a Dr. Who.
Parker is Yaphet Kotto (RIP) who played Mr. Big in the James Bond Movie "Live and Let Die."
Brett is Harry Dean Stanton (RIP) who played Toot-Toot in The Green Mile.
Lambert is Veronica Cartright who played Felicia Alden in The Witches of Eastwick.
And, of course, Sigourney Weaver went on to have a stellar career.
So, overall, not a bad cast 🙂
I hope with all these comments someone mentioned that the sequel "Aliens" is one of the best sequels to a movie ever. This franchise is one of my favorites...best critter EVER!! Great reaction.
ALIEN and ALIENS....the perfect 1-2 combo when it comes to films.
What's really impressive about most of the spaceship sets is that they are fully enclosed, and most if not all of the lighting was "diagetic", i.e. provided by actual lights in the set, like ceiling lights and the lights from panels and switches etc.
So unlike most movies, they didn't just pull the ceiling or the back wall off the set and point the cameras and lights in from the outside where the crew were. Instead, the crew and equipment had to be in the same spaces as the cast.
This created a really naturalistic and claustrophobic feeling for the entire duration of the film. It also meant that the actors would not be distracted by the outside world. If they had to go from the sleeping quarters to the control centre, they had to actually walk through a "real" spaceship to get there, i.e. down the hallway, past the med bay, left at the mess etc.
It also meant that filming had to be quite innovative and use the environment well. They couldn't just have lights and a giant camera on a big rig, because it wouldn't fit inside. They had to use the camera in innovative ways and be clever with diegetic lighting.
Think I'm right in saying that this was one of the first, maybe THE first, movie to do set design like this. Joss Wheedon paid close attetion to this when he did Firefly and built the Serenity sets in the same way.
I saw this in the theater and it was amazing. We hadn’t seen anything like that. It was so full of suspense. You have to know that Sigourney Weaver was one of the first heroines in the movies. She was such a badass. Usually the Captain dying near the beginning was new too. Aliens is great too…full of action although I loved this one. Good reactions!
Great reaction! If you're interested, there's a film called "Leviathan"(1989), which is essentially "Alien" underwater, but it really has more in common with The Thing.
Outstanding movies. One of the first movies where the captain (main lead) gets wacked in the middle of the movie and a woman ends up killing the alien and getting away. Also when they first entered the Alien ship Ridley Scott used his children in spacesuits to give the illusion that the ship was much larger.
"There's a horror movie called 'Alien'?? That's horribly offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you" - Doctor Who
Imagine being 6-7 years old, still in USSR, never having seen anything even close to this in quality, and this is your first real sci-fi watch experience. My dad had no idea it was a "horror sci-fi" when he took me to an evening showing at a resort. My mom was still pissed with him days later, cause I kept having nightmares (even though I actually really like it). The only scene that really gave me those nightmares was that vent scene when the captain was trying to locate the Alien, and those irises were closing behind him.
I was 10 years old when I saw this in the theater- 1979. 😳 Ripley became a crush, science fiction the genre and Alien Design the subject of my art.
Amazing Reaction 👏 Channel- I’ll be back for more. 😊
Another great sci-fi movie is Sunshine (2007). Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans and Michelle Yeoh.
HISTORIC! It also changed the Sci Fi genre from flash unrealistic fantasy of Starts Wars type movies n gave Sci Fi genre a new gritty everyday reality! Director Ridley Scott went to Art College, and picked up an old movie camera of the resource room shelf as it was the only thing left that other students hadn't booked out! So he made a short film with it as a art project of his brother waiting at a bus stop!....The rest is history.😮
In my top three favorite movies I've ever seen. I've lost count of how many times I've watched it. And I love watching reaction videos to Alien - it's so great to experience it with fresh eyes through other people.
One of the masterpieces of SF. So is Aliens.
Saw this as kid 2nd day out with a friend and his stepdad. I remember it was a hot day and the line went around the theater. Most people were expecting a Star Wars type film and were extremely surprised.
My top two sci-fi movies of all time...
1979-Alien
1982-Blade Runner
April 26th 2024
Alien will me in Theaters again 😃
And both of those films were directed by Ridley Scott...and also, the late, great Alan Ladd Jr. greenlit and produced both of those films.
Appreciate that you saw the brilliance in the way it was made. Gotta see the sequel.
Only watch the 2 though.
It's on the way!
I just discovered the two of you today! I very much appreciate that neither of you had seen this film.
"it sounds like an elephant"
That was the sound effect - yes. :)
if you guys play video games... you gotta check out Alien:Isolation . you play as ripley's daughter as she goes to find her mother between the first two movies (game takes place about 15-20 years after Alien , and about 40-50 years before Aliens)
"They built all of this" a couple of years ago a high school did a play of this. They apparently used recycled material to build their sets.
The bottom side of the face hugger were just parts they bought at a butcher shop near the studio in England
This movie is a classic. It was directed by the GREAT RIDLEY SCOTT! His artistic background permeates every movie he does. The Alien was designed by the amazing H.R. GIGER!
I became aware of his work on his album covers for Emerson, Lake and Palmer a prog-rock group from the seventies. You should definitely check out his work. He is a genius. The two of them combined their artistic talents to create something that has lived on in various movies over the last 40 years. This was based on a 1950's low-budget sci-fi movie called "IT, THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE." A favorite of mine as a kid, they upgraded the story and the creature but the basic story is still the same. Trapped on a spaceship with a horrible alien killing them off one by one.
You should definitely check out the sequel ALIENS, written and directed by JAMES CAMERON. A fantastic sequel! Great Reaction, keep up the good work!
It was terrifying to see this movie in a theater - a darkened room, suspenseful music, ohmigosh! My friend asked me why I had my knees pulled up on the back of the seat in front of me I explained that if the alien came at me I could kick it back and maybe have a chance to turn and run to get away. Holy smokes! Great reaction guys!!
This movie was the birth of the modern female badass with Ripley. Not to mention this took sci-fi movies to a whole new level. Everything about this was brilliant from the set designs, the alien design, cinematography and special effects. Would love you guys to check out the original Blade Runner. Great reaction too.
The original TV commercial for this movie was just a black screen with an egg with the word alien slowly beginning to spell out like in the beginning of the movie while a very creepy shrill noise was being played then the egg cracked slightly and bright light shot out and then a voice whispered alien. That was it and man did that peak everyone's curiosity. Once the movie was released a second commercial came out with the blinking strobe light, showing clips and the building stress and intensity. It got my attention. I was 14 at the time and was lucky enough to see this in the theater and it was every bit as cool as you could imagine.
I saw this in theatres on release and it was awesome - scary. The move is still great today. Amazing cast that were all perfect in their roles. Tom Skerritt who plays Dallas was Viper in Top Gun. All interiors were fantastic.
Saw it on a whim in the theater in 1979. Still remember being ill at ease during the opening title sequence. Scared the bejeezus outta me. Can’t believe that was 45 years ago. Seems like yesterday!
The chest buster scene was so tall because none of the actors knew it was going to happen(except for John Hurt). One of the best recreations was in Spaceballs. If you haven't seen it, watch it.
I laugh when kids today say that older movies had poor special effects, then i tell them to watch this with its practical effects.
Chandra picked up the through line of the series almost immediately: Always Listen to Ripley.
In the theatre, there were two people behind me. At the point where Ripley goes back to stop the destruct sequence and leaves the cat box, person 1 says ‘what about the cat?’, person 2, ‘f*ck the cat’. I was right along with person 2
That's similar to what the cinematographer, Derek Van Lint, heard when he was watching the film in a theater. Someone yelled out, "LEAVE THE F#@KING CAT!!".
@@MarcMcKenzie-qb6or Seriously the cat was the only one with a functioning brain cell
@@heather6668 🤣🤣
I do wonder what happened to Jonesy after Ripley left in ALIENS...did someone adopt the poor little guy when his owner didn't return?
@@MarcMcKenzie-qb6or LOL yeah poor thing. Maybe it got a good home on Earth with people who loved it and could afford to feed it and didn't have a dog or an alien.
The first time I saw Yaphet Kotto (Parker) was in a guest starring role on the original "Hawaii Five-O" TV series playing a combat veteran who suffered a head injury in an accident and as a result was hallucinating that he was reliving a battle he fought in Vietnam. His performance was so powerful - so frightening yet so heart rending - that I was a huge fan of his ever since, so I was incredibly peeved that Parker died because lambert froze in fear and wouldn't get out of the way to let Parker use the flamethrower.
"I want paintings of all these shots" Some shots in this movie are from the paintings of H.R. Giger. The alien ship, the big explorer alien, the eggs and the alien itself are all his design and where the ideas came from after the story was written. Giger worked on the movie himself designing these things.
You haven't seen this film until you have seen it in a cinema.
I used to work in a factory that had places that looked like the interior of the Nostromo and I worked there on night shift. Creepy.
No CG whatsoever, all handcrafted SPECIAL AFFECTS.
Seen this movie the week of its release pre-high school, I'll never forget it.
Had me jump so many freaking times😬
True, but then again, CGI was in its infancy back then. But yep, it still holds up. And I highly recommend the book ALIEN: THE BLUEPRINTS, which covers all of the ships in the ALIEN films.
Really good to see you guys immediately cotton on the the fact the ship isn't the whole refinery. So many first time reactors don't seem to get that (despite it being in the opening exposition).
Be told this story elsewhere, but I think it’s cool. My dad worked on this movie as a driver, he worked on lots of productions, but rarely spoke about them, in part because when a film is being made it doesn’t have much to tell whether it will be a success or not.
I do remember him talking about Alien though, because unlike most productions where crew are kept well away from sets, on Alien all crew were required to spend time on the set. They drank their coffees and teas and ate their take out curries and fish and chips on 'the ship'. - I think it was the first time in a space movie, where instead of a glistening pristine ship, the director/set designer wanted a space ship to look like a used and abused ship designed for and inhabited by a bunch of roughneck miners.
I saw Alien in the theatre during a weekday matinee. Other than another couple (who left after the chest burster scene), my date and I were all alone in a 900 seat venue. We never said a word during the rest of the film! Terrifying? Holy shit! I went back several times to experience the brilliant set designs, and special effects. This made "Star Wars" look like the comic book "bum-fluff" that it was. Thank you Ridley Scott for the direction, and H.R Geiger for his mind bending alien and "space jockey" creations! "Aliens" rates high as well, thanks to Sigourney Weaver.
I saw this in the theater, I was 11. Scared the crap out of me, then I read the novel and it was scarier. Great reactions!
Guys, imagine me and friends seeing this film when first released on a massive 70mm screen in a cinema in London that boasted the best sound system. When that beginning credit sequence started we knew we were in for a hell of a ride.
Scott, Cobb, Rambaldi, Giger, its was a clash of artist we don't see any more
Don't forget Chriss Foss, Moebius, and John Mollo (he designed the uniforms and spacesuits and also worked on STAR WARS)...😁
I was just 30 and was in L.A. when it opened. Saw it at the Egyptian in75 mm, curved screen in DOLBY Stereo. There was even part of Mother in the lobby that you walked through. No one knew anything about the creature. What an amazing experience !!
Have you guys seen the original Predator? That’s a must watch movie if you are dipping your feet into the Alien universe. Both Alien and Predator will eventually have some movies that contain some crossover elements. They both exist in the same universe. Predator is an absolute classic!
Check out the Director's Cut. It features the deleted scene of Ripley entering the Alien's nest, and what she finds there. Also, FYI, if your wondering why Ripley suddenly had a nose bleed right before Ash attacks her.
There is an incomplete deleted scene where after Dallas's death. The Alien is spotted in the air lock, and the crew attempt to flush it out. Only for it to fail. with the crew exposed to decompression, that causes a few blood cells to burst.
Resulting in both Ripley and Ash bleeding.
Due credit to you both for acknowledging/appreciating the beautiful production design of the film as a whole.
Ron Cobb, Mœbius, Chris Foss, John Mollo, and the great surrealist HR Giger who all contributed to the look of the film.
HR Giger was solely responsible for
all the alien design concepts. the planet, crashed juggernaut spacecraft, fossilized space jockey, eggs, facehugger, infant alien, and adult creature.
Thee absolute BEST.
For going on 45+ years now, the film really holds up and has aged beautifully.
Since 1984, I've watched and re-watched the ALIEN well over 200+ times. Unfortunately i completely missed watching it when it came out in 1979. I discovered it via a heavily edited network television film premiere.
I've collected every art and film book on it.
It's in my top 10 best movies ever made.
So glad you enjoyed it.
Imagine seeing this in 1979!! Zero CGI. We were SCREAMING our lungs out. Lol
The laser was borrowed from the Who, they were filming in the same studios - their last concert before the death of Keith Moon.
You guys are one of the best reaction channels there are. You don't talk too much, your reactions are authentic, and it's fun to watch you watch these movies.
It's the 45th Anniversary of 'Alien' (1979). Many theatres are showing this original movie right now! Also..."Alien:Romulus" is a prequel coming out this August 2024.😊👍🏾
the wellknown movie "the thing" came 3 years later, but it was a remake of an old movie, and "alien" got some inspiration from that claustrophobic atmosphere of being locked in with an alien monster ...
thank you for watching this for us! it's a movie that has held up over time perfectly!
And i like that you noted that the crew are just that - the crew of a cargo hauler, a bunch of folks that are a mix of boat crew and space truckers - and they have to face something absolutely terrifying!
keep up the great work!
When they shot the "chestbuster" scene, they didn't tell the actors what was going to happen.
Don't forget to get the "special edition/extented cut" for its sequel called "ALIENS" (1986) which is even better and is as scary and stressful than the first one ;)
Yeah, a reaction to _Aliens_ must be to the Director's Cut. From before James Cameron got hooked on overblown fantasy epics.
The space pods for the astronauts was first shown in the movie 2001 A Space Odyssy from 1968 of which I saw on vacation in Miami with my late parents and my little brother.
I saw this when it first came out in 1979 (I was 22). We were all blown away. The practical effects are amazing. This is my very favorite movie. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it.
Predator with Arnold Swarzenegger, which also became a series. Then based on a computer game by the same name, Aliens Vs Predators.