Alien
Dir: Ridley Scott
1979
*****
Ridley Scott's 1979 Alien is the best Alien film ever made and I don't just mean this particular franchise either. It was the first time Space travel was made to look dirty and uncomfortable, the ship being like the inside of an old freighter rather than the shiny White futuristic looking Spaceships shown in most sci-fi movies. This adds an element of realism to the story, the idea that this could happen in our future. The direction is perfect, from the moody lighting and the busy horror scenes to the grand pictures of Space and the breathtaking interiors of the Alien Spacecraft. It is horror and it is science fiction but it is also noir film making at its finest. It was a pleasant and original idea to have a female hero for a change too. The Alien series is something that has been analysed many times before but I agree with the idea that each film in the franchise is about sociological issues and their comparisons in nature. Alien is actually about confinement, conformity and rape.