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Alien

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Alien

R

Released May 25, 1979

1h 57m

Sci-Fi

Horror

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Tomatometer

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

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VictorHFerr

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/08/25

Full Review

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

Full Review

Aaron Bacchus

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/24/24

Full Review

Nick O

The greatest sci-fi monster flick ever made. Every detail adds up to pure horror perfection!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/29/25

Full Review

Audience Member

I really like this movie. The movie is actually a great classic movie made by someone with a not so big budget to go off of. It’s personally my favorite in this franchise and I’d love to see more movies with this style.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

05/29/25

Full Review

Darcy J

The slow start is totally worth it, the jumpscare is so incredibly well built and ripley is the perfect example of a good, strong female protagonist.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/25/25

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

0:33

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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