Alien (1979) - Engineering Terror
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- In this video essay I look at Alien (1979), and how the director Ridley Scott builds towards the terror of the notorious chestburster scene.
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My only complaint about this excellent analysis is that it didn't last longer. But these 8 minutes pack one hell of a punch. Great stuff
No dude, the audience didnt know anything about what to expect back then, all these cliches are copied by so many films now a days that we as an audience dont really get surprised anymore but back then the audience were shocked.
I went to see this movie when I was like 10 years old... my mother threw her popcorn to the people near us... she actually regretted going... me too... :P
Yup my mom went to see Alien in 1979 people screamed puked cried and moved backwards from the screen.
I saw this when it first came out. Had no idea what to expect because they didn’t stuff every action scene into the trailer like nowadays. So when the chest burster scene happened, everyone lost their shit.
This was a white knuckle experience for me, beginning to end, in 1979. I had to sit in my car for a time before I could drive home.
Facts. Soon true 👍
It's such a legendary sci-fi classic.
The first time we ever see or hear about the originally terrifying and fascinating...Xenomorph.
It's has to be the best movie creature/monster ever made.
This is also thanks to the twisted genius artist, H.R. Giger.
As a Sci-Fi horror...it nearly stands alone as the ultimate standard of that genre. Masterpiece!
My god, so much effort and hard work, so underrated.
I wouldn't say underrated.. I think most people say this is one of the greatest scify film of all time.
Yea this movie is praised as one of the best scifi horrors of all time
It's by far the best sci fi / horror movie of all time.
A true masterpiece
@@cluggyahoo Carpenter's The Thing exists...
The greatest thought that makes this film feel existential is the question "Where has this been?" when in the ship.
I think the most traumatising thing throughout the entire film was when I watched the extras dvd, and discovered that Ian Holm had to constantly drink and submerge his head and shoulders in warm milk, and with all those lights, he mentions how the smell of curdling milk put him off for life, and they went through pints of it during summery hot days. My tongue swells if I drink milk, so whenever we get to that scene, it is such a powerful, visceral experience. Even forty years later, my heart still beats that little bit faster and my mouth waters the nearer to the scene we get. I always have strong mints available now. I’m much more comfortable to the tripe, oysters and kidneys for the face hugger! 😄
Really underrated channel!
I actually only saw this movie back in February of this year (for a Horror Film course) and it really lived up to the hype. Really helped that I was already a huge fan of two major works it inspired: Metroid and StarCraft. I'm gonna try to watch the entire series now before Alien: Covenant.
Hulavuta Same, I'm currently on 3
I actually had the opposite reaction. When that chestbuster zipped across the table I laughed, it was genuinely so silly looking. I've learned that Ridley Scott movies are not my thing. I get really bored by them. I guess when it comes to simplicity I'm more of a John Carpenter fan than a Ridley Scott fan since The Thing and Halloween seemed to be the movies that held up for me opposed to Alien and Blade Runner.
Interesting perspective! I also saw Halloween this year and though I did like it, I have mixed feelings about it, I thought the score and camera tricks were actually wonderful but found the characters somewhat lacking.
As for the chestburster, I actually agree with you! I thought it was very fake-seeming and I was honestly surprised because I had always heard "it was so good and unforgettable because the actors didn't know what was going to happen, so their reactions are genuine!" Didn't impress me all that much, you don't actually see the chestburster directly puncture or see much of the crew's reactions. Not anything that special that you couldn't get with "real" acting.
I still liked the rest of the movie of course. I admit I'm a Ridley Scott fan in general though, I even really liked Robin Hood. Though I haven't seen Blade Runner either.
@@Hulavuta Dude, you consider yourself to be a fan of Ridley Scott, but you haven't seen Bladerunner? WTF?!?!
@@NKA23 Haha. Well, between when I posted that comment and now, I have seen Blade Runner! As great as I was told :)
Couple of things: The audience in 1979 didn't know something would happen to Kane when they were sitting around the table eating. What would happen? After all, they found the alien and it was dead! Yes, there was still tension but we didn't have any idea where this was going. One other thing: when you mention that Ash was "nonplussed", I think you mean "indifferent" or "calm" or something like that. Nonplussed means confused or at a loss as to what to say.
You didn't know but you always sensed something wasn't right about Kane. It was still a shock when it happens of course, but the biggest surprise of the movie for me was Ash, his part in the plot I never saw coming on that first viewing.
@@RoaryUK Yes, true. That was a shocker. Am I imagining it, or was he always seen drinking milk? Not sure if I made that up (due to his spewing some milkish-looking liquid) - guess I'll go back and look at the movie.
It should be worth noting that in the infamous chest-bursting scene, NONE of the actors were in on the chestburster's gruesome appearance, so their reaction to the grotesque thing is very realistic.
No entirely true sir. They knew the scene was happening. They had read the script, but they had not seen the actual set up the effects team was about to use. They didn't know how damn good the effects team were going to make the shot and how much blood they would use during the shot. That's what surprised them.
@@takedshineov3366 Yeah, they knew something was going to pop through Kane's chest, they just didn't knew what it was going to look like and that they would be showered with blood and real animal innards.
@@NKA23 I do laugh when I hear the late John Hurt talk about 'Eric', the effects guy under the table, with the alien on a stick in one hand and a cuppa tea in the other! 'Is it coming thru yet Eric?!'
Take D'Shineov “Not yet Alf!” RIP John Hurt. We’ve also lost Harry Dean Stanton and now the incomparable Ian Holm. I’m glad that Alien:Isolation brought the crew back to do voice work.
one of my favorite films
Severely under rated channel , could you do an essay on nocturnal animals, I'm sure theres some sort of subtext or techniques that could be analysed
Veronica Cartwright had no idea she was going to be sprayed with blood. Which made her reaction to it more dramatic
Awww gawwd she was really scared glad she laughs about it now.
excellent video analysis of one of my all time faves! keep the videos coming
masterpiece
Excellent video. Just discovered your channel and I love what I see.
My favorite movie
Great stuff.
Clear definition
great stuff thankyou
Dude, you should do more videos!!! Shinning and eyes wide shut should be cool.
Terrific channel! Can't wait for Alien: Covenant!!!
this channel should blow up soon
yay it's back
Appalled by the scale
thx
I was so upset when RUclips took this down
I was so disappointed. I have a 23 year old coworker who has seen maybe 2 movies in his life, but loves art and photography. He's finally taking my suggestions. He watched Alien and just reported being bored. He overlooked everything about the film. He now refuses to watch the sequel Aliens.
It's because kids this age have been fed modern Hollywood tripe over the last 2 decades were the art of great movie making has been replaced with cgi filled, soulless nonsense with loads of bells and whistles but little else. Alien is film noir perfection and the 23 year old is an idiot.
Unfriend him immediately
😆 idk what’s their problem, I saw the first Alien when I was 8 years old, 20 years later and I still love the film. I was very interested but I guess slower paced films aren’t popular with the younger generations.
H.R.Giger's name is pronounced "geeger" not "gighger".
He was (German) Swiss, so I imagine he pronounced it the same as other German speakers - Gih-ger.
You like Spaceballs?
Sure, I own it - but High Anxiety I'd say is my favourite Brooks.
I got that too :)
If a fan of "Alien" somehow has no idea about the "Spaceballs" diner scene, they need to watch that movie stat (not just that clip on RUclips ... the _whole movie_ because it's much better in context). What a delight.
An American with an English accent. :)
Unfortunately, in my opinion Alien drops the ball after Ash's 'death'. There is a resumption of brilliance when the Alien reveals itself to have curled up like Jonesy the cat near a relaxing Ripley. However, because the movie hadn't decided whether the alien had outright killed some or all of the victims or not, it left a needless dilemma. The alien appeared to kill, to want to kill. Yet scenes were filmed with characters in cocoons. What's the point of cocoons if facehuggers can impregnate you? Fortunately, the cocoons were cut out of Alien but the movie wasn't quite as scary as it could have been with Lambert's death. Suggested alien rape is not as scary as actually shown alien rape and/or fatal impaling. Lambert's death scene was, I'm sorry, not as well done as it could have been. Certain shots are clearly a man in a suit. That's why Bladerunner is Ridley Scott's masterpiece
Paul Wilde - This was a frightening, white knuckle experience in 1979. Had to calm before I could drive home. So at this late date, in my opinion, critics need to quit rubbing themselves.