1 of 6

Write now Article Tools

A classic movie and a must see for any serious movie connoisseur, it is number one on my list of the ten greatest movies of all time (although I am not suggesting it is the best of the ten, only that it makes it into my ten, and is the first of the ten that I shall consider).

The Plot
The Nostromo is a commercial vehicle en route back to Earth towing mineral ore. On board are 7 crew persons and a cat (Jones). At the start of the film the crew are in deep sleep for their long journey home, however a deep space distress signal causes the ship's computer "Mother" to wake them from their slumber.

The distress signal is coming from an inhospitable planet on which they find a crashed space ship of unknown origin, along with a clutch of large alien eggs, one of which has a nasty surprise for one crewman.

A creature is ejected from the egg and fixes itself firmly on the face of the unlucky crewman, burning a hole through his helmet. The creature later releases its victim, and at first he seems ok. Only later does it become clear that the creature has laid an embryo within his abdomen, which later emerges by bursting through his chest onto the dinner table during the crew's meal time. The baby alien emerges for a second and takes off amid the panic of the crew. But a baby it remains for only a short time. The alien grows quickly into a natural born killer, equipped with acid for blood, lightning speed, and a set of claws and teeth that would put a tyrannosaurus to shame.

The crew quickly turn from hunters to prey, as it becomes apparent that the crew are dealing with a higher ranking predator than themselves, aided by the treachery of crewman "Ash" later discovered to be an android with orders to bring the alien home at all costs (i.e. the crew) and "Mother". The alien is worth a small fortune to their soulless employer corporation in the biotech industry.

The crew are killed off one by one until only Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her cat Jones are left to slug it out with the alien. Ripley decides to destroy the Nostromo plus alien and escape in the shuttle.

In a pre climatic ending Ripley tries to rescue some of her cocooned crew persons trapped in the bowels of the Nostromo, only discovering that she is way too late, and is chased by the alien and time as the auto destruct system she activated comes to its completion. In a stress packed ending Ripley races to the shuttle with only seconds to spare.

However, a nasty surprise awaits Ripley in the film's climax, as the alien

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Movie analysis: Alien?
We want to hear your view. Write now!