Alien

Play trailer

0:33

Alien

R

Released May 25, 1979

1h 57m

Sci-Fi

Horror

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

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

Read all reviews

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

Ege S

I am 18 years old and watched this movie in 2025. Unfortunately it does not hit me as much as it hits other because I already witnessed the whole revolution.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/12/25

Full Review

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

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

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

94%

94%

Aliens

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Aliens

Lifeforce

58%

46%

Lifeforce

Watchlist

Shivers

85%

58%

Shivers

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

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

Most Popular at Home Now