Alien (1979)

 

Alien: Summary and initial thoughts

So let's just get this settled right up front: The cat lives, okay? I repeat: The cat makes it out alright. Take a deep breath—no cats are harmed in this story. We cool? Okay, let's move on.

For a fairly visually disgusting movie (see, e.g., the chestburster scene, which we'll get to in a bit), I really enjoyed Alien. There's a lot to love in this sci-fi/horror classic, even if blood and guts aren't your thing (they're certainly not mine).

Alien follows the seven crewmembers of the Nostromo, in addition to Jones the cat, who have been hired for a space mining company's operations (the cat is not expected to do any mining, he is there for moral support). The crew is in stasis (just go with it) when the Nostromo's computer, Mother, receives what it thinks is a distress call from a nearby planet.

The crew get out to explore, finding an abandoned ship and a desiccated alien corpse. One of the crew, Kane, traipses into an area storing hundreds of alien eggs, and he decides, clever fellow that he is, to touch one.

Womp womp, that was a mistake. An alien shoots out of the egg, clinging to his face like ugly on a warthog (no disrespect to warthogs).

Once back on the ship, the creature eventually releases Kane and dies. RIP unknown creature.

Kane seems hunky-dory and the whole crew sits down to a nice supper before re-entering stasis for the trip home. The dining atmosphere is disrupted, however, when a baby alien bursts from Kane's chest (this is the chestburster I promised) and scampers away to explore the ship.

Now they're really in a pickle. After one of their engineers, Brett, is killed by the alien, Dallas, the captain, determines that the creature is using the air duct system to move around the ship, and he tries to attack it in the ducts with a flamethrower, because when I think of battling an unknown enemy in a tight, confined space, I think of a flamethrower.

In any event, the alien kills Dallas, despite his flamethrower, and moves on to wreak more mayhem. Well, three down, four to go.

With Dallas and Kane dead, Lt. Ellen Ripley, the warrant officer, finds that the Nostromo is now her circus and the alien is her monkey. As the new commander of the ship, she attempts Dallas's air duct plan again (because it worked so well the first time).

The situation gets complicated, however, when she learns from accessing Mother that Ash, their science officer, has been given secret instructions to bring the alien back to Earth to be examined. Plot twist.

When Ripley confronts Ash, he tries to kill her. Parker, another engineer, comes to her aid and attacks Ash...only to discover that he is an android. Double plot twist.

They do away with Ash and find themselves now down to a trio in space.

Ripley makes a bold decision: the remaining crew (she, Parker, Lambert the navigator, and Jones the cat—we can't forget him) will destroy the ship and blast away in the escape pod.

Alas, these three musketeers (four if you count Jones) are whittled down to one (two): Parker and Lambert are both offed by the alien while preparing to flee, and Ripley now finds herself and Jones alone on the ship.

She sets the countdown for the Nostromo to self-destruct, grabs Jones, and makes it onto the escape pod.

Whew!

Unfortunately, she's not alone (triple plot twist).

The alien has secreted itself in the shuttle. Ripley, in an unbelievably badass move of which Captain Ahab would be proud, sucker punches the alien with a grappling hook gun (did you know such a thing existed?), torques it into space, and settles down with Jones for a nice, long stasis.

That's a lot to happen in under two hours, and it's all incredible. But is it worthy of the National Film Registry?

Why is Alien on the National Film Registry?

Alien was added to the National Film Registry in 2002, around the time the film was starting to undergo some critical reappraisal.

When Alien was first released, the reviews were not stellar. Oh, audiences loved it, don't get that wrong. Fans of sci-fi and horror alike were drawn to this movie, and with good reason.

Helmed by Ridley Scott (whom you may know for...well, lots of things, but probably most vividly for Blade Runner, which is also a Registry pick), Alien showcases Scott's dedication to visual design and detail. 

The full-size sets for the Nostromo were set up on three stages connected by narrow halls, effectively recreating the cramped ambience of a spaceship. And that doesn't even take into consideration the models.

My goodness, the models. The Nostromo alone required three models of varying sizes for filming the way Scott wanted to, and the detail of the design is amazing (if you've seen Blade Runner, this will come as no surprise to you).

The effects are mainly practical, and in keeping with the set designers' vision, they never overwhelm the characters. This is important when you're looking to tell a good story, not just razzle-dazzle 'em with often creatively stunted but visually overpowering sets.

Alien does the opposite. Its attention to detail is marked and admirable precisely because it doesn't come at the expense of a good story. Visual design and story should meld seamlessly (for an excellent example of this, see Who Framed Roger Rabbit). When audiences and critics can remember both in a favorable light, you're on the right track.

Beyond the aesthetic, Alien has an indelible cultural legacy as well. Quite apart from spawning a handful of sequels, crossovers, and spinoff products, it has had a noticeable influence on the storytelling and aesthetics of subsequent sci-fi films. 

Like I said, the film was not beloved by critics the first time around. But Alien has been re-evaluated as a key entry in the American sci-fi and horror canons. It has been the subject of decades of audience appreciation and study by philosophers of all strands.

On a personal note, seeing a woman as the hero, especially in this genre, is something I think we all need, right here and now in 2026. A leading female character who is not only not a hapless damsel but who also is a hero who shows up to kick ass and take names? More of that, please. A lot more of that.

Final thoughts on Alien

The story? Awesome. A quest for survival against an unknown alien with an actual female hero and that manages to get a cat in there and doesn't kill it? And it does it all in a neat little two-hour package? Yes please!

The design? Awesome. In an age when AI slop seems to be taking over everything, it's hard not to appreciate the quality of these effects and the attention to detail.

So I've said a lot of nice things about Alien at this point. I'll bet you're wondering why I haven't ranked it higher. 

This was a tough one for me. Technically I highly recommend it, but on a personal level, the amount of gore brings it down a notch. It's just never something I've handled well. But I appreciate its use to good effect in Alien: it's storytelling, not just window dressing.

I guess just consider it a high recommendation that I myself would watch again only with caution. The chestburster is a great effect, but it did put me off my dinner for a while. So, take that as you will.

As an all-around evaluation, however, Alien gets an A from me.