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Alien
In space no one can hear you scream.
( Horror / Sci-Fi )


Alien Poster

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

US Runtime: 117 min

Country of Origin: United States of America

Premiere Date:
May 25, 1979   [USA]
 
Director: Ridley Scott
 
Writers: Dan O'Bannon   [Screenplay]
Dan O'Bannon   [Story]
Ronald Shusett   [Story]
 
Producers: Gordon Carroll   [Producer]
David Giler   [Producer]
Walter Hill   [Producer]
Ivor Powell   [Associate Producer]
Ronald Shusett   [Executive Producer]
 
Cinematography: Derek Vanlint
 
Edited by: Terry Rawlings
Peter Weatherley
 
Music Composed by Jerry Goldsmith
 
Production Design: Michael Seymour
 
Costume Design: John Mollo
 
Casting by Mary Goldberg
Mary Selway
 
Production Companys: 20th Century Fox   (US)
Brandywine Productions   (US)
Brandywine Productions Ltd.
 


Plot Summary:

    After investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin, the crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform.

Cast: (First 20, for the rest click 'Show All Cast & Crew' below.)

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)
 

Show All Cast & Crew

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
 
 

Special Effects Department:

Filmfex Animation Services Ltd.
special optical effects
 
 

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

 

Tech Info:

Budget:
$11,000,000
Revenue:
$104,931,801
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:

  • [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.
     
  • Kane: Oh, I feel dead.
    Parker: Anybody ever tell you you look dead?
     
  • [After discovering the alien bleeds acid.]
    Parker: It's got a wonderful defense mechanism: you don't dare kill it.
     
  • Ripley: Whenever he says *anything* you say "right," Brett, you know that?
    Brett: Right!
    Ripley: Parker, what do you think? Your staff just follows you around and says "right"? Looks like a regular parrot.
    Parker: [laughs] Yes... What, are you some kind of parrot?
    Brett: Right!
     
  • Lambert: I can't see a goddamn thing.
    Kane: Quit griping!
    Lambert: I like griping.
     

Trivia:

  • 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.
     
  • The Nostromo was built to the, then, current NASA specifications for spacecraft. Some of the displays from the Nostromo are reused in Blade Runner.
     
  • Much of the dialogue was developed through improvisation.
     
  • In The Blue Planet, David Attenborough said the 'Alien' monster was modeled after the Phronima, a creature spotted by submersibles at great depths. It's only an inch long, mostly transparent, and it looks like a shrimp with head, eyes, jaws and teeth just like the H.R. Giger monster.
     
  • A sex scene between Dallas and Ripley was in the script, but was not filmed.
     


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