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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:

  • [Ripley has tried to disengage the self-destruct.]
    Ripley: Mother! Turn the cooling unit back on! Mother! ...You bitch!
     
  • Ripley: Ash, that transmission -- Mother's deciphered part of it. It doesn't look like an S.O.S.
    Ash: Well, what is it, then?
    Ripley: Well, I, it looks like a warning. I'm going to go out after them.
    Ash: What's the point? I mean... by the time it takes to get there, you'll, they'll know if it's a warning or not, yes?
     
  • [After discovering the alien bleeds acid.]
    Parker: It's got a wonderful defense mechanism: you don't dare kill it.
     
  • Lambert: I can't see a goddamn thing.
    Kane: Quit griping!
    Lambert: I like griping.
     
  • 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!
     

Trivia:

  • The models had to be repainted every evening of the shoot because the slime used on-set removed the acrylic paint from their surfaces.
     
  • According to a quote from Veronica Cartwright in a film magazine, in the scene where the alien's tail wraps around her legs, they are actually Harry Dean Stanton's legs, in a shot originally filmed for another scene entirely.
     
  • The embryonic movements of the "face hugger" (prior to bursting out of its egg) were created by Ridley Scott using both his rubber-gloved hands
     
  • The vector graphics that appear on Ripley's screen showing the undocking sequence for the Nostromo were also used for the aircar launch sequence in Blade Runner.
     
  • The computer screen displaying Nostromo's orbit around the planet contains a hidden credit to Dr. Brian Wyvill, one of the programmers for the animation. Within the top frame entitled Deorbital Descent, it is possible to isolate the letters "BLOB", Dr. Wyvill's common nickname.
     


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