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A couple days late for Alien day but it finally came! I need to post my whole collection sometime soon!

I've adored Alien through out my whole life!

As an Alien fan though it can get a little boring waiting for the next film instalment - or gambling on whether or not the latest game will be any good.

I've never been much of a reader... but my latest partner is a massive literature buff and so I've started reading with her - and my god there are countless hundreds of hours worth of fantastic books to read in the Alien universe!!

I've read through the Alien 3 unused script and found that super engaging, and I'm half way through Alex Whites books. And even the short anthologies in the AvP collection have been a really cool change of pace and some gut wrenching stories!

Some of these stories would make incredible animated films, or full feature films in general! I wish I'd have known sooner that all these existed cause I'd have read so many more of them by now haha.

I’m taking my 16 year old niece to see the movie today. She hasn’t seen the movie and has no idea what it’s about or anything about the plot. I’m so excited for the chestburster scene. Is the commentary before the movie going to ruin the surprise for her? How do I avoid that.

Alien 3 introduced us to a unique xenomorph variant: the runner, a fast quadruped alien spawned from an animal.

My question is: how big is the chestburster? When i saw it onscreen, it looked almost the same size as the dog it was spawned from.

So I watched Alien at home a few years ago, and while I didn't absolutely love that first viewing, it was something I really respected. I feel like I did myself a disservice with my at-home viewing conditions and hope to rectify it with the 45th Anniversary re-release.

At the same time, I know it's a movie from 1979. Even with modern remastering capabilities, I don't want to set myself up for disappointment. Obviously this is a biased place to ask such a question, so maybe newer fans can chime in as well. For reference, I also watched The Thing at home and thought it looked and sounded amazing, while Alien didn't feel as sharp.

Thanks.

I only saw it for the first time in the early 2000's and thought the puppet effects looked terrible because of lighting. After watching the making of doc I can see how much work went into it and how cutting edge it was at the time and I'm wondering if it was well received in 1992?

Any known rumors or possibilities?

It's the sole reason I finished the film. As much as I hated the idea of two incredible characters snuffed out, the writing gave me hope.

Just thought that was neat. Wanted to share

https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2024/04/28/1979-blockbuster-alien-hits-box-office-top-10-in-2024-re-release/?sh=19da82fa4105

• I was a pre-schooler in 1979, so probably not much of a target audience
• First 10-15 watches were from VHS, so that's the only valid excuse I have
• Next 10+ came from DVD, and I finally saw it (or I thought at least) the way it was meant to be seen
• Then. I got the BD few yrs ago, and was like - "So this is the way it's meant to be seen!!!"
• And then I saw it yesterday in theater (first time).

I feel guilty for having paid $5 for what is, essentially, a $500 experience ! The Sound effects, the face expressions (I totally missed Ash's disdain for humans!). The lighting ! The atmosphere ! WOW

I experienced genuine VERTIGO and grabbed my seat during the rope descent to the lower levels of the ship !

Every single jump-scare worked. In a way I never thought possible! I felt alive!

The final scene - I was there with the Alien, he was literally right in front of me!

My GF's teenage boy was genuinely shocked how scary that movie was despite having it seen twice on TV already :)

Was a bit occupied when the play went viral half a decade ago (whew). As an archivist/hoarder of grey market works, this is something myself and a dear friend want to look for. Not going to try and get anyone into trouble, but one could always message me privately about any furtherance on this particular quest-line.

I've not read the novelizations but have wanted to so I'm eager to start!

Is it possible to stream the 4K restorations of either of these movies, even with reduced bitrate encoding? I have the original blu-ray box set of all four movies, and I’d really like to see the new restorations but don’t fancy shelling out another £40 - £50 for them. Are the versions on Disney+ the newly restored versions?

This is for the UK in case that makes any difference.

This is my copy that I must have gotten for Christmas '94 or '95. I would have been about 12, and I still remember seeing it in waterstones (uk) and asking my folks for it. £14.95! I was obsessed with the films & toys, and would spend hours poring over the artwork. The concept art is wild. It's only recently when I rediscovered it that I actually read it, and it's a fascinating (and candid) look into Giger's experience of working with the studio. Recommended.

In 1992/93 I was 8/9 years old. My friends and I became big fans of the Kenner “Aliens” action figures that were released at that time, which led us to repeatedly watch the “Alien” and “Aliens” movies.

At that time I was way too young to watch those movies. They terrified me and gave me nightmares for several years - but I still got more of the toys and forced myself to keep watching them. As I got older I eventually became enured to the movies, and to horror movies in general. Today I can watch any horror movie without being bothered, and I quite enjoy them. “Alien” and “Aliens” are two of my all-time favourite movies, and I’m very excited to be going to see “Alien” in theatres this week! I’m grateful to have become a fan of the franchise at an early age, notwithstanding my suffering at the time.

But I’ve often wondered what the hell caused Kenner to release action figures, aimed at kids, in 1992 for a very adult horror/action movie that was then 10 years old. One explanation online is that they were developed in conjugation with a planned Saturday morning cartoon called “Operation: Aliens” that ultimately wasn’t greenlit. But apparently this is a myth and no such show was ever planned.

Did anyone else have a similar childhood experience with the action figures, or does anyone have any insight into why they were developed and sold in the 90s?

First reading, so far I like the way it reads. Been dying for a scifi book lately.

What really stood out to me seeing it for the first time on the big screen was all the scenes that don't actually have the Alien in them. Iv seen the movies so many time there is not a big personal reaction when the creature is on screen. But what was amazing to me was how much the rest of the movie holds up.

I love Alien but at the end of the day it is just a guy in a suit. What's amazing is how well the other scenes still hold up, including the space jocky, eggs and face hugger. Dallas crawling through the vents, Brett walking into the chain room, the face hugger attached to Kane's face. Ashes detached head telling the crew they are doomed.

The film does look old to me but it makes the film so much more morbid and grotesque. Compare it to other films released in the same period and it really is disturbing and so dark.

Also compare it to Ridleys other films; Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, The Last Duel, Napoleon. The fact that he has such passion for so many diverse topics really cements him as my favorite all time director. The fact the same mind created all these films is just astonishing to me and so cool.

I highly suggest seeing it in theaters! I am a die hard for life and love every single Alien Film.

I've seen Alien probably 50 times. But seeing it in 4k yesterday on the big screen, I kept noticing things I hadn't before:

• Ridley Scott using his kids in the space suits to make the sets look larger had an interesting side benefit: they walked and climbed somewhat awkwardly, like children do. Their movements were a little unsure, a littile timid, which (for me) subconsciously highlighted the crew's apprehension and vulnerability.
• The sets are absolutely INSANE. So well done. I have no clue how they did it on such a limited budget. Has there been any documentary discussion about how they did that? Crazy how sets from 1979 put modern films to shame.
• One reason the characters feel so real is because their decisions and behavior always make sense. Except for maybe Kane sticking his face in that egg. Contrast that with Prometheus where almost every scene has somebody doing something that is distractingly weird/unrealistic.
• The way the Alien moves is unique to this film. Every film after has the Aliens running/jumping/swimming at their prey. But this Alien moves so slow (probably a limitation of the suit) but it adds to the creepiness. Notice how it descends behind Brett before it attacks...it glides down with its face pointed at the floor before slowly raising its head. It moves so gracefully. I miss that.
• Goldsmith's score is so damn good. He really nailed the sound of something alien. The weird instrumentation, the weird noises, the oddly disonant music. Perfect.
• I wish other films had leaned as hard into H.R. Giger's vision. It's really the secret sauce of the whole film. I don't understand why the sequels abandoned that style. Everything became more generic space movie in style.

Just a perfectly made film in every way. I hope Romulus can get back to some of that vibe.

I was born in ‘73 so I’m thinking I saw it when it released to cable maybe in late ‘79 or 80. Not quite sure of the timing there. It’s really been a foundational film for me. I remember my mom bought the Kenner action figure for my friends birthday. What a collectors item. We were both turning 6 in the summer of ‘79. So the alien definitely freaked us out.

I know this is a little off topic, apologies! But man, quite the time for horror and sci-fi. My young mind absorbing all the films of that era. Blade Runner, The Shinning, Scanners, Alien, The Black Hole, Logan’s Run to name just a few.

S3E17 if anyone is curious.

What are those flashlight-looking things that Ash and Dallas use to search for the facehugger? Are they really flashlights, or are they supposed to electrically shock?

I don’t understand when and how Weyland-Yutani had the Nostromo re-routed? Ash was replaced before they left Thedus, they all went to sleep, then Mother re-routed them towards LV-426 when it picked up the SOS. I don’t understand this chain of events. It seems like Mother re-routed them on her own, but clearly the company made her do it, as they planted Ash so he could retrieve the specimen.

EDIT: Also, is the Narcissus under the Nostromo?