One of the best films made. Top-notch atmosphere/environment development/building throughout the first 30-60 minutes, which really allows the rest of the movie to do its thing. Great actors portraying real people - they live and breathe, they're responding to the things around them as opposed to following a screenplay. Just as in Batman movies, Batman is only as cool or as heroic as the villain is evil or distasteful: in this 'creature feature' style movie, the main attraction (i.e. the creature - the alien) is only as cool or as repulsive as the people are believable or authentic. The reproach we have in response to the alien is so strong because we relate to the people who are trapped in very close quarters with it. We fear the alien because we feel for and fear for the people around it, even though the creature occupies a few scant moments of screen time. Outstanding movie-making.

Still stands the test of time. So much tension and fear of the unknown. Wonderful to see Sigourney Weaver as a level headed, dependable, composed and astute female leader struggling with her male coworkers and the chain of command. Can’t wait to get the 2nd Alien-another classic!

In his early career Ridley Scott didn't get the recognition he deserved for this movie. Scott's bad luck was compounded by the release of ET the Extraterrestrial in the same week Blade Runner was released, thereby cheating him of a well deserved Oscar. The major plausibility problem in the Alien script is the sudden unexplained increase in size of the alien monster. When it emerges from John Hurt's thorax it is about the size of a ferret. When Harry Dean Stanton later has his unpleasant encounter with the beast it is at least eight feet tall. How did that happen? Aliens may well have hyperactive pituitary glands but growth on that scale requires a whole lot of protein! Following the "birth" scene there should have been a series of break-ins to the Nostromo's food storage lockers; the crew should have discovered the animal's droppings on the spacecraft floor - ominously increasing in cloacal diameter with the passage of time . . .

A fantastic blend of sci-fi and horror, incredibly suspenseful and carefully elaborated with a perfect pacing. Scott knows very well how to slowly build a disquieting tension and elevate it to the point of nerve-wracking, and this film is a genuinely scary modern classic.

Classic !!!!!!

this is the 1979 movie, correct?

One of the coolest sci-fi series ever!

Nerve tingling, electrifying, claustrophobic is a visually stunning, genuinely scary horror thriller that stands as a king in the sci fi genre and one of the most well done films ever made.

Alien is the first film in a long series of films and has helped shaped the movie industry forever. And for being so old, it was still quite a scary movie with the horrifying concept of being trapped on a spaceship in the middle of space with no help and something trying to kill you. This is a movie which makes you understand why, old doesn’t always mean bad and why many still say the classics will always be the best. Alien is a perfect example of that, the plot is intense and fast pace after a small lull at the beginning, the concept and horror is great and overall this is a movie which everyone should try out sometime in their life. - @Kuhaica of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library

Of all the Alien films, this one is the most suspenseful and scary. It is my second favorite under Aliens which is a great kick butt action film with a fair amount of suspense and scary moments.
All the ground work for the rest of the series is set in place with this film. It is as much a horror film as it is a sci-fi film and the actors are convincing in their portrayal of space miners who've been cooped up together for a very long time.

Great film all around and you should purchase both this film, Alien, and the second one, Aliens. The rest in the series are rentals or, as I'm writing for HCLIB dot ORG, borrow from your local library.