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Alien
In Space No One Can Hear You Scream.
( Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller )


Alien Poster

MPAA Rating:
R
[sci-fi violence/gore and language]

US Runtime: 117 min

Premiere Date:
May 25, 1979   [USA]
 
Director: Ridley Scott
 
Writers: Dan OBannon   [story]
Ronald Shusett   [story]
Dan OBannon
David Giler   [uncredited]
 
Producers: Ronald Shusett   [Executive Producer]
Gordon Carroll   [Producer]
David Giler   [Producer]
Walter Hill   [Producer]
Ivor Powell   [Associate Producer]
 
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
 
Cinematography: Derek Vanlint
 
Edited by: Terry Rawlings
 
Production Companys: 20th Century Fox
Brandywine Productions Ltd.
 


Cast:

Tom Skerritt
Dallas
Sigourney Weaver
Ripley
Veronica Cartwright
Lambert
Harry Dean Stanton
Brett
John Hurt
Kane
 
Ian Holm
Ash
Yaphet Kotto
Parker
Bolaji Badejo
Alien
Helen Horton
Mother voice
Eddie Powell
Alien (uncredited)
 
 

Crew:

Peter Baldock
asst. film editor
Saul Bass
title designer
Adrian Biddle
camera focus
Stanley Bielecki
advertising and publicity consultant
Percy Edwards
alien vocalizator
Ray Evans
gaffer
Mark Haggard
production executive
Les Healey
first asst. editor
 
Charles Lippincott
advertising and publicity consultant
Sandy Molloy
asst. to director
Arthur Morton
orchestrator
Lionel Newman
conductor
Tiny Nicholls
wardrobe supervisor
Bob Penn
still photographer
Mary Selway
casting: UK
Micky Wilson
electrician
 
 

Special Effects:

Filmfex Animation Services Ltd.
special optical effects
 
 

Miscellaneous Companies:

Animals Unlimited
Jones trained by
Anvil Recording Studios
music recorded at
Lee Lighting Ltd.
lighting
R/Greenberg Associates Inc.
title design
 
Sony U.K. Ltd.
video equipment
Steve Frankfurt Communications
title design
Thorn EMI Elstree Studios
post-production
Tony Silver Films
title design
 
 

Filming Locations: (Now With Clickable Links To Location On Google Maps)

 

Tech Info:

Budget:
$11,000,000 (USA)
Camera:
Panavision Cameras and Lenses
Color Info:
Color (DeLuxe)
Laboratory:
DeLuxe, USA / Rank Film Laboratories, Denham, UK
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Cinematographic Process:
Panavision
Film Negative Format:
35 mm - Kodak 5247
Printed Film Format:
35 mm / 70 mm
Production Dates:
05 Jul 1978 - Dec 1978

Quotes:

  • Parker: Before we dock, I think we ought to discuss the bonus situation. Brett and I, we think we ought to, we deserve full shares. Right?
    Brett: You see, Mr. Parker and I feel that the bonus situation has never been on a, an equitable level.
    Dallas: Well, you get what you contracted for like everybody else.
    Brett: Yes, but everybody else gets more than us.
     
  • [Last line]
    Ripley: Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about 6 weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of The Nostromo, signing off.
     
  • Lambert: I can't see a goddamn thing.
    Kane: Quit griping!
    Lambert: I like griping.
     
  • Ripley: Ash?! Any suggestions from you or Mother?
    Ash: No, we're still collating.
    Ripley: [laughing in disbelief] You what? You're still collating? I find that hard to believe.
    Ash: What would you like me to do?
    Ripley: Just what you've been doing, Ash, nothing!
     
  • Ripley: When we throw the switches, how long before the ship blows?
    Parker: Ten minutes.
    Ripley: No bullshit?
    Parker: If we ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space.
     

Trivia:

  • An early draft of the script had a male Ripley.
     
  • A lawsuit by A.E. van Vogt, claiming plagiarism of his 1939 story "Discord in Scarlet" (which he had also incorporated in the 1950 novel "Voyage of the Space Beagle"), was settled out of court.
     
  • Much of the dialogue was developed through improvisation.
     
  • The alien's habit of laying eggs in the stomach (which then burst out) was inspired by the spider wasp (ichneumonid) that lays its eggs in the abdomen of spiders. This image gave Dan O'Bannon nightmares, which he used in creating the story.
     
  • Veronica Cartwright was originally to play Ripley, but producers opted for Sigourney Weaver.
     


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