Post by Stu on Aug 8, 2005 15:12:17 GMT
Dir: Ridley Scott
One good reason why Ridley Scott succeeds in originality where others might fail is by taking a very popular genre and portraying it in a completely new and uninhabited environment.
Alien is one of the last great horror movies to appear on celluloid. This film is a perfect example of vision and excellence in a genre that has long since been forgotten. Forgotten not in the fact that horror movies aren’t made anymore, because they are, but forgotten because horror movies today do not provide the impact needed to compare with such classics as this.
The spaceship Nostromo emerges from hyperspace on its way home to Earth. Mother, Nostromo’s main computer, brings the ship back to life awakening its crew from hypersleep. Shortly after getting back on track with the day-to-day running of the ship the crew receive an unusual transmission from a remote planet. Crewmembers are sent to investigate bringing back with them an unexpected and unwelcome guest.
What follows is horror at it’s finest, with some exquisite Art Direction for its time, as the creature which, has stowed away on the ship begins to take the crew out one by one. Sigourney Weaver plays ‘Ripley’ a brave intelligent woman who finds herself alone in space with a creature intending on wiping out everyone and everything.
To be honest nothing much at all happens for a large part of the beginning. Could this be Scott’s art-house side coming through, probably? More important is that even though there’s not much going on you still find yourself glued to your seat helped along by a good cast including John Hurt, Ian Holm and Tom Skerritt.
Whether heavily influenced or not by Kubrick’s ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ Scott’s ability to scare the living daylights out of you using the medium of Science Fiction is unsurpassed.
Drawing his own storyboards to emphasis the small quarters, living areas and cockpits within ‘Nostromo’ Scott manages to inflict the feeling of claustrophobia on his audience. He even went as far as creating shots where not even the crew were aware of what was going to happen, in order to create the response he would need for a particular scene i.e. the now infamous John Hurt scene. All these points just prove for me Scott’s undeniable dedication to filmmaking.
"In space, no one can hear you scream"
One good reason why Ridley Scott succeeds in originality where others might fail is by taking a very popular genre and portraying it in a completely new and uninhabited environment.
Alien is one of the last great horror movies to appear on celluloid. This film is a perfect example of vision and excellence in a genre that has long since been forgotten. Forgotten not in the fact that horror movies aren’t made anymore, because they are, but forgotten because horror movies today do not provide the impact needed to compare with such classics as this.
The spaceship Nostromo emerges from hyperspace on its way home to Earth. Mother, Nostromo’s main computer, brings the ship back to life awakening its crew from hypersleep. Shortly after getting back on track with the day-to-day running of the ship the crew receive an unusual transmission from a remote planet. Crewmembers are sent to investigate bringing back with them an unexpected and unwelcome guest.
What follows is horror at it’s finest, with some exquisite Art Direction for its time, as the creature which, has stowed away on the ship begins to take the crew out one by one. Sigourney Weaver plays ‘Ripley’ a brave intelligent woman who finds herself alone in space with a creature intending on wiping out everyone and everything.
To be honest nothing much at all happens for a large part of the beginning. Could this be Scott’s art-house side coming through, probably? More important is that even though there’s not much going on you still find yourself glued to your seat helped along by a good cast including John Hurt, Ian Holm and Tom Skerritt.
Whether heavily influenced or not by Kubrick’s ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ Scott’s ability to scare the living daylights out of you using the medium of Science Fiction is unsurpassed.
Drawing his own storyboards to emphasis the small quarters, living areas and cockpits within ‘Nostromo’ Scott manages to inflict the feeling of claustrophobia on his audience. He even went as far as creating shots where not even the crew were aware of what was going to happen, in order to create the response he would need for a particular scene i.e. the now infamous John Hurt scene. All these points just prove for me Scott’s undeniable dedication to filmmaking.
"In space, no one can hear you scream"