In space, no one knows they’ll scream. The most famous film about a chest-ripping monster is also one of the most beautiful science fiction movies ever made. While some might argue Ridley Scott perfected his cocktail of equal parts depressing and lovely in , his first true masterpiece, 1979’s , begins as a sublime, quiet portrait of people getting a bad deal.
Today, 45 years after its release, remains a study of artistic precision in both sci-fi and horror, in large part because the movie hides its eventual premise so well. Because broke ground and spawned , we tend to focus on the first film’s most famous moments: the first chest-bursting scene, Ripley's final battle in the airlock. That leaves the subtlety and beauty of under-discussed.
The movie isn’t great because of those scenes; instead, remains brilliant because most of the movie conceals those famous thrills and the now ubiquitous antagonist featured in them. begins in 2122, though the audience barely needs to know that. Scott sets the stage by showing us the space hauler A breeze rustles a book, computers whirr and click, and eventually, a crew of seven people wakes from suspended animation.
The moment when these sleeper pods all pop their lids in unison feels aligned with the balletic aesthetic of but as Kane (John Hurt) wakes up, takes tired breaths, and later chain-smokes cigarettes, the film gives us a nice visual shorthand for its direction. These are ordinary people involved in a doomed space adventure..