What is the story behind the movie Alien?
Alien (film) Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon. Based on a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, it follows the crew of the commercial space tug Nostromo who encounter the eponymous Alien, a deadly and aggressive extraterrestrial set loose on the ship.
Why is alien the best Alien film?
Simply put, Alien is not only the best Alien film, it's one of the best films of all time. Impeccable, precise, and pulsing with biological and cosmic dread, Ridley Scott's seminal 1979 sci-fi horror is an example of what can be achieved when a talented filmmaker treats genre with the same artistry and integrity as a character drama.
When did alien come out in theaters?
Alien opened in a limited release in American theaters on May 25, 1979. The film had no formal premiere, yet moviegoers lined up for blocks to see it at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood where a number of models, sets, and props were displayed outside to promote it during its first run.
Is alien a horror movie?
Alien is a science-fiction horror media franchise centered on the film series depicting Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) and her battles with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien".
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What is the correct order of the Alien movies?
Produced and distributed by 20th Century Studios, the series began with Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott, and was followed by three sequels: Aliens (1986), directed by James Cameron; Alien 3 (1992), directed by David Fincher, and Alien Resurrection (1997), directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Is Prometheus the first Alien movie?
Prometheus is the first film in the Alien franchise (not counting the aforementioned Alien vs. Predator movies) to not feature Sigourney Weaver or Ripley...and that's because it's set way back in the timeline.
Did Alien or aliens come first?
The franchise's first film, Ridley Scott's moody horror movie Alien, hit theaters in 1979, to widespread acclaim. James Cameron followed it up almost a decade later with 1986's Aliens, which brought back Alien's surviving protagonist, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), and took the series in a more action-packed direction.
What is the 2nd Alien movie called?
AliensAliens is a 1986 science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction horror film Alien, and the second film in the Alien franchise. Set in the far future, the film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship.
How many Alien movies did they make?
The original series consists of four films, Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997), and revolves around Ellen Ripley's fight against the aliens.
How is Prometheus connected to Alien?
In June 2011, Scott and Lindelof confirmed that Prometheus takes place in the same universe as the events of the Alien series. In July 2011, Scott stated that "by the end of the third act you start to realize there's a DNA of the very first Alien, but none of the subsequent [films]."
Is Prometheus a hero or villain?
(Prometheus is both a trickster and also a hero to humanity). In his role as an advocate for humanity, he was revered by the educated people of Athens. He also serves as a symbol of Greek culture's transition from reliance on the gods to a more independent (and perhaps troubling) existence.
Who wore the first Alien suit?
Bolaji BadejoIn the first film, the xenomorph was played by Bolaji Badejo, a 6'10'' Nigerian graphic design student who'd been picked up in a pub in London's Soho.
Who created the xenomorph?
Dan O'BannonAlien / CreatorDaniel Thomas O'Bannon was an American film screenwriter, director and visual effects supervisor, usually in the science fiction and horror genres. O'Bannon wrote the screenplay for Alien, adapted from a story he wrote with Ronald Shusett. Wikipedia
Who wore the original Alien suit?
Bolaji Badejo (23 August 1953 – 22 December 1992) was a Nigerian visual artist and actor. He was known for playing the Alien in Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien. He was 6-foot-10-inch (208 cm) tall, a height which convinced Scott to cast him in the role.
How scary is Alien?
It is very scary and follows many classic horror movie tropes. While some might list “sci-fi” as the first genre they associate with Alien, rather than “horror,” it's important to remember: None of this really matters. But you didn't think Film Twitter was going to leave it at that, did you? Absolutely not.
How did David create the Xenomorph?
During the events of Alien: Covenant, the audience learns that David created the xenomorphs by experimenting with the Engineers' deadly "black goo" pathogens, as well as the reproductive organs of Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace).
Why does the Alien have 2 mouths?
He mandated that the creature have no eyes because he felt that it made them much more frightening if you could not tell they were looking at you. Giger also gave the Alien's mouth a second inner set of pharyngeal jaws located at the tip of a long, tongue-like proboscis which could extend rapidly for use as a weapon.
Which Alien movie made the most money?
PrometheusKey:EstimatedRankReleaseLifetime Gross1Prometheus$126,477,0842Aliens$85,160,2483Alien vs. Predator$80,282,2314Alien$78,944,8917 more rows
Is Alien owned by Marvel?
Cover to Alien #1 by In-Hyuk Lee. The Alien comic book line is a series of comic books published by Marvel Comics, based on the Alien franchise. The line has primarily consisted of a continuous series, but also one-shot comics, starting with the comic Alien in March 2021.
Why is Alien rated R?
Why is Alien rated R? Alien is rated R by the MPAA sci-fi violence/gore and language. Violence: A large alien corpse is shown. An individual is attacked by a smaller alien, and later has an alien burst through their chest.
Is Prometheus before or after aliens?
Prometheus – circa 4 billion BC to 2089 AD Although released in 2012, Prometheus takes place decades before the events of Alien.
What movie comes before Prometheus?
Alien Resurrection (1997) AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004) Aliens vs Predator - Requiem (2007) Prometheus (2012)
Is Prometheus the origin story of Alien?
So Prometheus is an origin story for humanity – a fairytale or 'just so' story about where we came from (somewhat unexpectedly, so is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). It's also an origin story for the Alien franchise, explaining where the xenomorph species came from.
Who made the first Alien movie?
Ridley ScottAlien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon.
When was the movie Aliens set?
For Aliens, he traded in the claustrophobic horror style of the first and made a full-blown action film. Set in 2179 , Ripley is rescued after decades of being in cryogenic sleep. She is asked to return to the planet where they encountered the alien, which has now been turned into a colony.
When did Alien start?
The Alien franchise has been one of the most interesting horror franchises of all time. Starting way back in 1979 with Ridley Scott first introducing us to the deadly and nearly unstoppable Xenomorphs, the series has reshaped and evolved in many different directions over the years -- some good, some bad, and some very confusing.
What is the name of the movie that finds Ripley cloned?
1 Alien Resurrection. Alien Resurrection is another new direction for the franchise. With a script by Joss Whedon, it has a much more comedic tone than any of the other films. It finds Ripley cloned and being used to help create new Xenomorphs for military purposes.
What was Alien 3 about?
After the events of Aliens, the ship that Ripley and the other survivors escaped on is damaged and crash lands on a space outpost which serves as a prison.
When does the movie "The Engineers" take place?
The movie takes place in 2093 when a group of scientists investigate the origins of the human species by seeking out the ones who created them - known as The Engineers. This film establishes Peter Weyland as the founder of Weyland Corporation and explains such things as the "space jockey" from the first film, as well as the origins of the Xenomorphs with actually showing one.
When did Alien vs Predator start?
But there are clearly some big connections between these film and the original series which began in 1979.
Who played Ellen Ripley in Alien?
1979's Alien kicks off the original series of films which occur chronologically from this point on. The classic original is also our introduction to the series' hero, Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. Ripley is a crew member aboard the shuttle Nostromo, in the year 2122. After getting a distress signal from a nearby planet, the crew unwittingly let a deadly passenger aboard.
How many Alien movies are there?
What we’ve gone over so far is what constitutes the current run of Alien timeline history, as all six films are laid out in chronological order above. However, the Alien movie timeline runs a bit differently in our reality, which means it’s time to clarify how the series should run according to human history.
What is the Alien timeline?
The genesis for what we’ve come to know the Alien timeline to represent comes mostly from writer/director James Cameron’s efforts in the series’ first produced sequel, Aliens . The story of Ellen Ripley waking up 57 years after the harrowing terror of Alien had concluded, it’s up to her and a team of space marines to land on LV-426 and investigate a Weyland-Yutani Corporation colony that’s just gone dark.
Who is the archeologist in Alien?
As far as characters go, we do get two new figures that are integral to the earlier years of the Alien series: Michael Fassbender’s David, an android sent by the Weyland Corporation to aid in the journey, and Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw, an archeologist who not only helps find the location of The Engineers, but gets to experience the first steps in the creation of the Xenomorphs up close.
Who played Bishop in Alien?
In a strange reversal, the mission’s android Bishop, played by Lance Hendrickson, actually turns out to be one of the more heroic synthetics in the history of the Alien movie timeline.
Is Ellen Ripley a clone?
Jumping 200 years into the future, into the latest point in the Alien timeline, Alien: Resurrection sees Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley returning in the most un conventional way possible: as a clone. With her DNA on file, and the queen embryo mixed in as part of the state that Ripley was found in Alien 3, a new queen Xenomorph is also born, as part of the same military experiment.
When was the Alien movie made?
After Cameron's The Terminator became a box office hit, Cameron and partner Gale Anne Hurd were given approval to direct and produce the sequel to Alien, scheduled for a 1986 release. Cameron wrote the screenplay for Aliens from a story he developed with Giler and Walter Hill.
Who is the alien in the movie?
Alien is a science-fiction horror / action media franchise centered on the film series which depicts warrant officer Ellen Ripley ( Sigourney Weaver) and her battles with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien " or Xenomorph.
How many Academy Awards did Alien win?
Alien was nominated for two Academy Awards, winning for Best Visual Effects. Aliens received seven nominations, including a Best Actress nomination for Sigourney Weaver, and won for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects. Alien 3 was nominated for Best Visual Effects. Prometheus was also nominated for Best Visual Effects. Alien was also inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for historical preservation as a film which is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
How many Alien movies are there?
Produced and distributed by 20th Century Studios, the series began with Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott, and was followed by three sequels: Aliens (1986), directed by James Cameron; Alien 3 (1992), directed by David Fincher, and Alien Resurrection (1997), directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
What is the alien premise?
Premise. The fictional slogan and logo of Weyland-Yutani from Aliens. The Alien franchise depicts a series of deadly encounters, predominantly spanning the 21st and 24th centuries, between humanity and the Aliens; a hostile, endoparasitoid, extraterrestrial species. Humanity is depicted as a space-faring species with an interstellar dominion;
What is the name of the series that Scott directed?
Scott also directed a prequel series, composed of Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), which follows the exploits of the David 8 android and the creators of the eponymous creatures referred to as the "Engineers". The series has led to numerous novels, comics, video games and television series.
When was the Alien vs Predator prequel made?
In 2002, the development of Alien vs. Predator had taken precedence and the prequel project remained dormant until 2009. Jon Spaihts wrote the first screenplay for the project, but Scott then opted for a different direction and hired Damon Lindelof in 2010, to rewrite the script into a story that focused on the creators of the Aliens, rather than the Aliens themselves. The film, titled Prometheus, was released in 2012 to box office success and mostly positive reviews.
How many Alien movies are there?
The six mainline Alien movies in addition to the two Alien vs Predator entries have raked in a whopping $1.6 billion at the box office—not bad for a science fiction horror franchise. It’s thrived for more than 40 years and still has a new TV series and new co-op videogame on the way. An announced and axed Alien 5 sequel by District-9 auteur Neil Blomkamp would’ve seen the franchise return to Ripley’s story, but the success of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant excited Scott enough to wrestle back control of the series. With sequels, prequels, sequels to prequels, and announced sequels to sequels to prequels, the Alien films can get slightly complicated. Here’s a look at the films in production and in chronological order.
Who directed Alien 3?
After years of experience directing music videos, young director David Fincher was gifted an opportunity to direct the third installment of the Oscar-winning Alien franchise. The movie kills off everyone but Ripley from Aliens, and strands her in a prison. Fincher’s entry continued the tradition of winning the Academy Award for best special effects but failed to capture the praise of audiences like Alien or Aliens before it. Tumultuous production saw Fincher exit the project near its completion, resulting in an obviously mixed final product. The growing chorus of support for Fincher’s film has swelled slowly over the decades since its release, in part thanks to the release of the Alien 3: The Assembly Cut —a version of the film more in line with David Fincher ’s vision for the story.
What is the movie Prometheus about?
Nearly 90 years after the events of both AVP films, Prometheus follows a team of scientists on their journey across space to find an alien race they believe to be responsible for the creation of the human race. This film is the visual representation of being too busy asking if you could that you never stopped to ask if you should.
Is there a sequel to Prometheus?
A customary five years later, Ridley Scott returned with a sequel to Prometheus that was a strong merging of the events from Prometheus with the world of Alien. Focused around Micahel Fassbender ’s David, an automaton akin to Ash or Bishop from the previous Alien installments, Alien: Covenant furthers the questions surrounding humanity and identity introduced in previous entries while delivering plenty of heart-pounding xenomorph action. It’s CGI-heavy, but the sights and story create a worthy follow-up that strengthens and dwarfs its immediate predecessor. It opts for more philosophical and metaphorical thematic exploration than corporate criticism, and—like Prometheus—it's at its best when it escapes the boundaries the franchise was established inside of.
Is there a sequel to Alien?
Seven years after Alien was released, a sequel was brought to life by young gun James Cameron. Fresh off his success with The Terminator, Cameron rebooted Alien as an action film centered around the same protagonist. Similar story beats unfold under different circumstances following Ripley’s awakening decades after the events aboard the Nostromo. The adaptable xenomorphs find themselves up against colonial marines armed to the teeth including Bill Paxton ( Apollo 13 ), Michael Biehn ( The Terminator ), and Al Matthews. Production design and special effects are again at the forefront of the film’s strengths, and it won Academy Awards for best visual effects and best sound editing. It was nominated for seven awards in total including best performance by an actress in a leading role thanks to Signourney’s versatile and cunning performance as Ripley. It’s a classic Empire Strikes Back vs Return of the Jedi —or Infinity War vs Endgame, to update that reference—debate as to whether or not Aliens surpasses its progenitor, but Aliens is at the very least a worthy sequel to its predecessor.
Is Alien a good movie?
A cabin fever-style horror film aboard a spaceship, Alien supersedes good genre films as a standard-setting technical masterpiece. Stellar production design and Oscar-winning special effects flesh out the corporate-dominated world and create a functional setting for the cast to play in. Creepy creatures and eclectic orchestration heighten tension in the cramped halls of the Nostromo mining vessel as the crew is picked off one by one. It’s the series introduction of Ripley, face-huggers, and the xenomorph as well as the first look at the ship and species featured in the prequel installments released over 30 years later.
What was the name of the 1979 movie that introduced aliens?
0. Comment. Directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O’Bannon, the 1979 film Alien transformed horror and sci-fi with its introduction of a parasitic alien creature that was unlike anything the genres had seen before. It spawned an entire franchise that focused on the dangerous variants of the creature as well as crossover films ...
What are the aliens called?
In the context of the Alien franchise, it is not the name of the aliens, but refers to the way they look. Therefore it's actually more specific to call the aliens simply "the alien," and indeed that is what they are most commonly called in the movies. "Xenomorph," a term that wasn't used until the 1976 sequel Aliens, ...
What is the wrong name for the alien creature in Alien?
Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien features an alien creature that later came to be referred to as the 'xenomorph' - but that's the wrong name for it. By Mara Bachman Published Apr 26, 2020.
Why should alien names be mysterious?
Rather than ascribe a name to the creatures that solely refers to their appearance, their name should be mysterious and undefined in order to enhance their horror.
Who created the alien creature?
The Alien creature was born from the mind of the late Swiss artist H.R. Giger ( Poltergeist II: The Other Side) and brought to life by a production team led by special effects designer Ron Cobb ( Leviathan ).
Who is the Xenomorph in Aliens?
While the creators behind the creature never gave it a name, fans found one in a throwaway comment made by Lieutenant Gorman (William Hope) in James Cameron’s 1986 sequel film Aliens. In Aliens, Gorman refers to the creature as a “ xenomorph .”.
What was the first Alien movie?
Ridley Scott 's 1979 Alien, the Dan O'Bannon scripted classic that launched it all, is an impeccable, refined masterwork of tension that redefined what a sci-fi horror could be. Likewise, James Cameron broke and reforged the mold of sci-fi action with Aliens, creating a template that filmmakers are still riffing on to this day. Since then, from David Fincher 's unfairly maligned Alien 3 and Jean-Pierre Jeunet 's wild ride Alien: Resurrection, through the less inspired Alien vs. Predator days, and Scott's unconventional return to the franchise thirty years later, the Alien films have always evolved with unpredictable and adventurous ambition, even in the face of infamous studio interference. Rarely has a franchise ever been so utterly strange, throwing one curve ball after the next.
Who is the storyteller in Alien 3?
They recruited a long, long list of writers and filmmakers to crack the project, before ultimately settling on Whedon and Jeunet as their storytellers.
What is the name of the ship in Prometheus?
The film follows a team of explorers, scientists and company men aboard the Prometheus, a spaceship that sets out to explore the galaxy in search of Engineers, an alien race that may have created our own. With the resources of the Weyland Co., and apparently a darkly prophetic and on-the-nose literacy when it comes to naming their ship, the team is shepherded on their journey by the android David, an early model with a flourish of humanity that sends him spiraling down a path of sociopathic experimentation in the name of perfection and creation. He's an instant classic sci-fi character, acted with verve, precision, and perverse pleasure by Fassbender, and his arc is the throughline of Prometheus that makes the film worth loving even in spite of its dimwitted human characters.
Is Alien vs Predator a pure product?
Alien vs. Predator is pure product, but at least it's made by a filmmaker who knows what he's selling. As directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (and one would imagine, conceived by the studio), AvP was designed to deliver on the promise of watching cinemas biggest, most badass extraterrestrials go to battle, and that it does.
Is Alien the best alien movie?
Simply put, Alien is not only the best Alien film, it's one of the best films of all time. Impeccable, precise, and pulsing with biological and cosmic dread, Ridley Scott 's seminal 1979 sci-fi horror is an example of what can be achieved when a talented filmmaker treats genre with the same artistry and integrity as a character drama.
Was Alien 3 a nightmare?
The film was famously a nightmare from the get-go. Like Resurrection after it, Alien 3 saw a revolving door of creative talent that tried to crack the project before Fincher rode in off a stellar resume of commercials and music videos to make his feature debut.
Is Alien 3 a bad movie?
Boo his, I know I know, but I'm one of those people who's come around to the belief that David Fincher 's Alien entry gets an unfairly bad rap. Alien 3 is one of the most fearlessly conceived blockbuster sequels of all time, and while its themes were ultimately slaughtered in a theatrical cut that prompted Fincher to disown the film, it's still a fascinating and innovative spin on the Alien mythology.
Overview
Films
On its way back to Earth, the commercial towing vehicle Nostromo is diverted to a desolate planetoid by a cryptic signal from a derelict alien spacecraft. Inside the alien ship, the crew discovers thousands of egg-like objects. A creature, released from one of the eggs, attaches itself to a crewman's face, rendering him unconscious. The others break quarantine to return him to the Nostromo. The parasite dies and the crewman wakes up, seemingly unaffected. Soon afterward…
Premise
The Alien franchise depicts a series of deadly encounters, predominantly spanning the 21st and 24th centuries, between humanity and the Aliens; a hostile, endoparasitoid, extraterrestrial species. Humanity is depicted as a space-faring species with an interstellar dominion; space journeys typically last months, even years, and require the use of cryosleep. Throughout the series, ch…
Background
Writer Dan O'Bannon, wanting to write a science-fiction action film, collaborated with screenwriter Ronald Shusett on a script, initially titled Star Beast, but eventually changed to Alien. Brandywine Productions, a company which had a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, bought the script. The writers expected it to be a low-budget film, but the success of Star Wars inclined Fox to invest millions.
Short films
In 2012 and 2017 respectively, Ridley Scott directed eight short films to tie in with the releases of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. In July 2018, it was reported that 20th Century Fox had joined forces with Tongal to produce short films, intended to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Alien franchise. By March 2019, the details of the short films were released. Tongal co-founder and CEO James DeJulio stated that the joint-production is "reflective of Tongal's mission to brin…
Television
In 1979, 20th Century Fox considered producing a television series based upon the 1979 film Alien and hoped that ABC would pick it up but its only media coverage was found in the June 1980 Fangoria issue #6 and it ended up abandoned as the 1986 sequel Aliens arrived on the scene. In 1992, a now cancelled animated series inspired by the 1986 film Aliens titled Operation: Aliens was being produced along with an LCD game, board game, a Sega Genesis video game, and actio…
Web series
In 2014, Sega published the video game Alien: Isolation. In 2019, a seven-episode animated adaptation of Alien: Isolation was released on February 28. The series, developed by 20th Century Fox, in conjunction with Reverse Engineering Studios and DVgroup, was created using a combination of brand-new scenes animated from scratch, cinematics taken directly from the original game, and digital recreations of first-person scenes from the game. Alien: Isolation is se…
Reception
List indicator indicates figures based on available information.
Figures in this table are not inflation adjusted. Where two different figures are quoted for box office grosses, information is taken from two different sources.
Alien was nominated for two Academy Awards, winning for Best Visual Effects. Aliens received seven nominations, including a Best Actress nomination for Sigourney Weaver, and won for Bes…