Alien

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Alien

R

Released May 25, 1979

1h 57m

Sci-Fi

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

203 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

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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

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

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Sarah Vincent

AwardsWatch

Human beings mostly die in the order of how much they acquiesced to the company without complaint, and even the robot and alien are not immune. Only the rebel, Ripley, and Jonesy, a cat who is the embodiment of a being who is never subservient, survive.

Jun 14, 2024

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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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Leo S

This movie is a classic, and it inspired new innovations to create top notch movies blending Sci-fi and Horror together. The characters were iconic, the story was amazing, and let’s not forget how terrifying the Xenomorph was in this film. Not only is this the best Alien movie, but this is also one of the greatest movies ever made (In my opinion). It is an inch away from perfection and I think it’s 100% worth your time! :D

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/25

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Audience Member

A classic of both genres, still the best of the franchise, this is essentially a perfect movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/25

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Audience Member

flawless, wouldnt change a single thing.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/09/25

Full Review

Ben N

Quintessential sci-fi horror. The Nostromo is a monstrosity of a ship. Returning from a mining operation, I enjoy the world that the ship is set in is hardly explained... yet it is palpably there. The arguments about contracts and shares, the standing order to investigate an sign of life. And obviously the science officer and Mother. Anyway, the world she is diverted to is of much more pertinence to this story. From the landing on the planet to when they take off again is one of the creepiest sections of film I can recall. Without discussing the plot in detail, suffice it to say I think Alien is a film that kicked off a genre, along with a long line of films in it's own series, and it is deserving of recognition as one of the best sci-fi films of all time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/10/25

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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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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