Alien

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Alien

R

Released May 25, 1979

1h 57m

Sci-Fi

Horror

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Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

204 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.

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Critics Consensus

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

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Jack Kroll

Newsweek

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.

Nov 16, 2023

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Elston Brooks

Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com

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

Nov 16, 2023

Full Review

Desmond Ryan

Philadelphia Inquirer

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.

Nov 16, 2023

Full Review

Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

Half the joy of Ridley Scott’s miraculous sophomore film is watching Weaver ascend from the film’s pack of charismatic character actors to become a movie icon in under two hours.

Mar 5, 2025

Full Review

Alan French

Sunshine State Cineplex

Combined with the brilliant visual aesthetic, impeccable production design, and great performances from top-to-bottom, Alien has few equals in cinematic history.

Rated: 10/10

Aug 17, 2024

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Germain Lussier

io9.com

Like so many great sci-fi films of the era, it leaves those to the imagination in favor of character and story.

Jul 5, 2024

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VictorHFerr

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/08/25

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Jeremiah

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/28/24

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Aaron Bacchus

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/24/24

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Cee A

This movie defined a genre. The acting is great, the writing is awesome, and the visual style is still amazing to this day. If youve never seen it, you should see it and be prepared for some real tension.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/09/25

Full Review

Patrick C

I saw 'Alien' aged 10 when it came out and quite enjoyed it. The John Hurt stomach ache scene left an impression, I recall. But I remember thinking it dragged in places and that setting it mostly on a spaceship made it visually repetitive. Perhaps my critical faculties weren't bad for a kid, because my feelings haven't really changed that much. An enjoyable film to be sure, but not quite deserving of its exalted reputation in my opinion.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/06/25

Full Review

David V.

The greatest horror movie of all time. Ridley Scott took what Steven Spielberg did in “Jaws” and took it to another level. Born from necessity due to the times, technology and limits of costuming, the Xenomorph, like Bruce, hid from the screen. This kept the obvious hidden, that it was fake and relatively unreal looking. The suspense and tension created from what lurked beyond made this movie what it is, an all time classic. This Hitchcock-inspired technique placed in space aboard and dark, dark and cramped spaceship is the ultimate rendition. Ripley is the single greatest female action protagonist of all time. Sigorney crushes her role, and made the hopes of many little girls possible.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/04/25

Full Review

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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

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Alien: 45th Anniversary Re-Release Trailer 1

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Alien: Trailer 1

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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 57m
Sound Mix: Surround, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1), 70mm

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