Alien (film) and Science Channel: Difference between pages

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{{distinguish2|Science Channel, produced by the Japan Science and Technology Agency}}
{{otheruses4|the 1979 film|other uses of the term|Alien|other films in the franchise, as well as related media|Alien (franchise)}}


{{Infobox_TV_channel|
{{Infobox Film
name= Science Channel|
| name = Alien
logofile=Science Channel.svg|
| image = Alien movie poster.jpg
logosize=100px|
| image_size =
launch=[[1999]]|
| caption = 1979 theatrical poster
owner= [[Discovery Communications|Discovery Communications, Inc.]] |
| director = [[Ridley Scott]]
headquarters= [[Silver Spring, MD]], [[United States|U.S.]]|
| producer = Gordon Carroll<br/>[[David Giler]]<br/>[[Walter Hill (director)|Walter Hill]]
sister names= [[Discovery Communications#Discovery Networks U.S.|Discovery Networks]]|
| writer = '''Story:'''<br/>[[Dan O'Bannon]]<br/>[[Ronald Shusset]]<br/>'''Screenplay:'''<br/>Dan O'Bannon<br/>David Giler <small>(uncredited)</small><br/>Walter Hill <small>(uncredited)</small>
web=[http://science.discovery.com Official Site]|
| starring = <!-- Actors are listed alphabetically in the interest of maintaining a neutral tone. Please discuss on the talk page before making any changes. -->[[Veronica Cartwright]]<br/>[[Ian Holm]]<br/>[[John Hurt]]<br/>[[Yaphet Kotto]]<br/>[[Tom Skerritt]]<br/>[[Harry Dean Stanton]]<br/>[[Sigourney Weaver]]
terr avail=Not Available|
| music = [[Jerry Goldsmith]]
sat serv 1=[[DirecTV]]|
| cinematography = Derek Vanlint
sat chan 1=Channel 284<br> Channel 1284 (VOD)|
| editing = [[Terry Rawlings]]
sat serv 2=[[Dish Network]]|
| distributor = [[20th Century Fox]]
sat chan 2=Channel 193|
| released = May 25, 1979
sat serv 3=[[C-Band]]|
| runtime = 119 min.<ref>The cinematic release of the film ran 119 minutes, while later video and [[DVD]] versions ran 116 minutes due to the different [[frame rate]]s between film and video. McIntee, 14.</ref>
sat chan 3=AMC 11-Channel 612 (4DTV Digital)|
| country = United Kingdom<br/>United States
cable serv 1 = Available on many cable systems|
| language = English
cable chan 1 = Check local listings for channels|
| budget = $11 million<ref>Official documentation for the film states that the budget was $11 million, but other sources give different numbers. [[Sigourney Weaver]] has stated that it was $14 million, while [[Ridley Scott]], [[Ivor Powell]], and [[Tom Skerritt]] have each recalled it being closer to $8.4 million. McIntee, 14-15.</ref><ref name="box office mojo">{{cite web| title = Alien| publisher = [[Box Office Mojo]]| url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=alien.htm| accessdate = 2008-09-08}}</ref>
|}}
| gross = $104,931,801
| followed_by = ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]''
| amg_id = 1:1503
| imdb_id = 0078748
}}


'''Science Channel''' is a cable and satellite [[television channel|television network]] produced by [[Discovery Communications]]. Science Channel features [[science]]-related television programs covering all aspects of science, e.g. [[space]], [[technology]], [[prehistory]] and [[animals]].
'''''Alien''''' is a 1979 [[science fiction film|science fiction]]/[[horror film]] directed by [[Ridley Scott]] and starring [[Sigourney Weaver]]. The film's title refers to its primary [[antagonist]]: a highly aggressive [[fictional extraterrestrials|extraterrestrial]] creature which stalks and kills the crew of a [[spacecraft|spaceship]].


==History==
''Alien'' garnered both critical acclaim and [[box office]] success, receiving an [[Academy Award for Visual Effects]],<ref name="academy awards database">{{citeweb|title = Awards database|publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]|url = http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp|accessdate = 2008-09-06}}</ref> [[Saturn Award]]s for [[Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film|Best Science Fiction Film]], [[Saturn Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]] for Ridley Scott, and [[Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for [[Veronica Cartwright]],<ref name="past saturn awards">{{citeweb|title = Past Saturn Awards|publisher=The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror Films|url = http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html|accessdate = 2008-09-06}}</ref> and a [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation]], along with numerous other award nominations.<ref name="imdb awards">{{cite web|title = Alien (1979) - Awards|publisher = [[Internet Movie Database]]|url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/awards|accessdate = 2008-09-06}}</ref> It has remained highly praised in subsequent decades, being inducted into the [[National Film Registry]] of the [[Library of Congress]] for historical preservation as a film which is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"<ref name="national film registry"/><ref name="imdb awards"/><ref name="nfpb about"/> and being ranked by the [[American Film Institute]] as the seventh-best film in the science fiction genre.<ref name="AFI poll"/> It launched a [[media franchise]] of [[novel]]s, [[comic book]]s, [[video game]]s, and [[toy]]s, as well as three [[sequel]] and two [[prequel]] films. It also launched Weaver's acting career by providing her with her first lead role, and the story of her character [[Ellen Ripley|Ripley]]'s encounters with the [[Alien (Alien franchise)|titular Alien creatures]] became the thematic thread that ran through the sequels [[Aliens (film)|''Aliens'']] (1986), ''[[Alien 3]]'' (1992), and ''[[Alien Resurrection]]'' (1997).<ref name="ebert 2003 review">{{cite web|last = Ebert|first = Roger|authorlink = Roger Ebert|title = Great Movies: Alien (1979)|publisher = ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''|date = 2003-10-26|url = http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031026/REVIEWS08/310260301/1023|accessdate = 2008-07-14}}</ref> The subsequent [[prequel]]s [[Alien vs. Predator (film)|''Alien vs. Predator'']] (2004) and ''[[Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem]]'' (2007) diverged from this theme in favor of a [[fictional crossover|crossover]] with the [[Predator (franchise)|''Predator'' franchise]].
[[Image:Science Channel.gif|98px|left|thumb|The Science Channel Logo used from [[2002]] to [[December 2007]]]]
[[Image:Discovery_scienceccc.jpg|98px|left|thumb|Logo used in [[Europe]], [[Arab World]], [[Asia]] and [[Australia]].]]


Launched in 1999 and originally named '''Discovery Science''', its name changed to '''The Science Channel''' in [[2002]]. A complete "[[makeover]]" took place in April 2003, airing newer and more up-to-date television programming.
==Plot==
The film opens with a few shots of space before moving to the interior of the ship the 'Nostromo' which is returning to earth with 20 000 000 tonnes of mineral ore. The ship itself is a smaller shuttle like ship which is attached to the cargo containers. The ships computer 'Mother' receives a message and wakes the seven members of the crew from hypersleep. After a meal we see the captain Dallas ([[Tom Skerritt]]) checking 'Mother' for information while the rest of the crew gets to the bridge. Both discover that they are not near Earth yet, only about half way there. Upon inquiry we find out that the ship received a distress signal from a nearby planet and that all potentially intelligent life must be investigated. In eagerness to get home they decide to go and check it out. They launch off the ship and descend onto the planet. Upon landing the ship suffers a few damages including an engine malfunction but they still manage to land safely.


In December 2007, Science Channel changed its logo to an orange element box similar to those in the [[Periodic Table]] and using Sc (scandium).
Three members of the crew, captain Dallas, Kane ([[John Hurt]]) and Lambert ([[Veronica Cartwright]]) put on space suits and go onto the planet's surface to try and find the signal. Ash ([[Ian Holm]]) watches their progress through camera's on their helmets. Parker ([[Yaphet Kotto]]) and Brett ([[Harry Dean Stanton]]) feel they are overworked and deserve something for the trouble of having to land on the planet so they tell Ripley ([[Sigourney Weaver]]) who informs them that they are in fact guaranteed by law to get a share of whatever they find. Dallas, Kane and Lambert find a crashed space ship and go inside to investigate the beacon and find the remains of a space jockey with his ribcage bent outwards like something burst out of him. Upon further searching they find holes in the ground leading to lower chambers, Kane is attached to a rope and lowered into the chamber. In this chamber he sees hundreds of leathery eggs lining the ground under a layer of mist. When he tries to examine one it opens and a facehugger jumps out and attaches to his face.
International versions of Science Channel are transmitted in [[South East Asia]], [[Europe]], and [[Australia]] as '''Discovery Science'''. Science On Demand has a play symbol (right-pointing triangle) in the upper-right corner.


==Science Channel HD==
A bit later Ash spots the three of them approaching the ship carrying Kane. Upon arrival into the ships airlock they report to Ripley that Kane has a foreign organism and she wants to keep them in quarantine for 24 hours as is regulation but Ash lets them in. They take Kane to the medical lab where they see the facehugger is putting something down Kane's throat. While examining Kane Lambert attacks Ripley for leaving them out of the ship but the fight is quickly settled. Ash attempts to remove the alien but when he cuts it opens it spurts out highly acidic blood which burns through several floors of the ship. Dallas, Ripley and Brett chase the acid until it stops.
[[Image:Science channel hd.jpg|right|thumb|Science Channel HD logo]]


Science Channel also has a [[High-definition television|high definition]] simulcast, '''Science Channel HD''', that launched September 1, 2007. The HD version of the channel has the letters HD in the upper-right corner.
The crew go about fixing the ship and make some repairs before a shaky but successful take off. Soon after reattaching to the cargo they set off back towards Earth. A while later the facehugger falls off of Kane and quickly dies, Kane seems stable. While Ash examines the facehugger Ripley talks to him about whether letting Kane in was wise or not but she asserts her authority. Soon afterwards Kane wakes up and seems fine, before they go back to hypersleep he wants to get something to eat first. While they are eating Kane begins to convulse and the chestburster breaks out of him killing him. The crew wrap him up and eject him out of the airlock.


==Programming==
They decide to search for the alien in groups of three after going through the equipment they have. Since they are a cargo ship they only have basic tools, a powerful tazer and a flamethrower. To track movement they have an air disturbance sensor which also picks up movement. Ripley, Parker and Brett are tracked as they search through a section of the ship. At one point they pick up movement but it turns out to be the ships cat Jones which Brett lets go. Angry since they now have to track her again they send Brett to go and find her. In a prolonged sequence of shots Brett moves through several rooms finding the discarded skin of the chestburster which slightly creeps him out. He finds Jones and follows her to room where the now fully grown alien attacks him and drags him away.
Science Channel broadcasts a number of science-related television [[Television program|series]] and [[films]] originally produced by or aired on The [[Discovery Channel]], e.g. ''Beyond Tomorrow'', among some others. There have also been a few television programs produced for The Science Channel, such as ''[[MegaScience]]'' and ''[[What The Ancients Knew]]''. Programs from other [[Discovery Networks]], [[PBS]] and the [[BBC]] are either regularly or occasionally aired. Television series produced in the 1990's, e.g. [[Discover Magazine]], and Understanding, can be viewed on weekdays.


===Series===
The crew form a plan to try and kill the Alien by sending Dallas into the airducts with a flamthrower that the crew no the alien is using for movement. In a slow sequence Dallas checks through the airducts while Lambert sits with sensor to check for movement. A short while into the search Dallas finds the ground covered in saliva like goo, around this time Lambert looses the Alien's signal on the sensor causing her to panic. Dallas decides to try and leave as quickly as possible but after descending one floor he is ambushed by the Alien which knocks out his camera and microphone.
A selected list of some series aired on Science Channel:
*''[[Beyond Tomorrow (TV series)|Beyond Tomorrow]]''
*''[[Building the Ultimate]]''
*''[[Cosmos: A Personal Voyage|Cosmos]]''
*''[[Discover Magazine (TV series)]]''
*''[[How It's Made]]''
*''[[How Do They Do It?|How'd Dey Do Dat???]]''
*''[[Invention Nation]]''
*''[[It's All Geek to Me]]''
*''[[Junkyard Wars]]''
*''Patent Bending''
*''[[Understand|Understanding]]''
*''[[Universe]]'' (with John Hurt Narrating)
*''[[Ecotech]]''
*''[[Extreme Engineering]]''
*''[[Extreme Machines]]''
*''[[Raging Planet]]''
*''[[Survivorman]]''


===Films and Miniseries===
Parker goes into the vents and retrieves the flamethrower reporting that there was 'no blood and no Dallas.' Ripley suggests setting off the self destruct system and taking the escape pod but notes that it will not take four. Ripley, now in command, goes to mother and finds out that the orders are to collect the alien and take it back to earth even if it means killing the entire crew in the process. Ash reveals he knew this the whole time and he attacks Ripley but is saved by Parker who knocks his head off revealing him to be an android. He remains alive though and is finally stopped by Lambert who skewers him in the back with a tazer.
* ''[[Base Camp Moon|Base Camp: Moon]]'': Returning to the [[moon]], harvesting moon dust for oxygen/water, robotics ([[Robonaut]]).
* ''Hawking'': About the early work of [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]] [[Stephen Hawking]].
*''Tank On The Moon'': Concentrates on Russian attempts to launch an unmanned rover to the [[Moon]] before the successful American [[Apollo program]].
*''Prophets Of Science Fiction'': About the greatest[[ sci-fi]] authors of all times.
*''Science Of Star Wars'':Explains that the cutting edge technology of [[Star Wars]] might useful and possible to invent in real life.
*''[[Futurecar]]'': See the latest technology of today that's about to be used to create cars
and sometimes [[Funny car|funny cars]] in the future.
*''[[Perfect Disaster]]'': Predicting violent [[natural disasters]] that could happen in the near future.
*''[[What The Ancients Knew]]'':Truly innovative inventions of the ancient world.


==See also==
Ripley re-activates Ash's head and it is shown that he admires the alien. Parker then incinerates his remains with the flamethrower. Ripley tells Parker and Lambert to go down to the kitchen and collect all the food they can carry and load the ships coolants with the necessary fluids to explode. Ripley readies the shuttle for departure and finds Jones sneaking around, Ripley tries to catch her but before she can the alien attacks Parker and Lambert just as they finish loading the coolant. Ripley rushes to help them but arrives too late. She sets off the self destruct system and tries to get to the shuttle after recovering Jones and putting her in a little container but the alien is blocking her way so she runs back and tries to shut it off but is a few seconds too late.
* [[List of documentary channels]]

* [[Discovery Science (UK)]]
Ripley smashes one of Mother's screens with the flamethrower in anger before trying to get back to the shuttle. On the way she hears a few moans and climbs down a ladder to find Dallas and Brett cocooned in hardened salvia from the alien. Brett seems to be unconscious and Dallas is alive but begging for death, Ripley kills them with the flamethrower. Ripley makes her way back to the shuttle and finds the alien has left and Jones is still in her container. With less then a minute to go Ripley takes Jones and enters the shuttle sealing the door from the bursts of fire behind her. She launches the shuttle and watches as the ship explodes.

Ripley puts Jones into the hypersleep pod and undresses getting ready to go in herself but as she is adjusting a few of the controls of the shuttle she finds the alien has stowed away and is sleeping on one side of the ship. Ripley gets into a space suit and straps herself in to a chair. She sets off steam valves which burn the alien but cause no real damage. Ripley grabs a grapple gun and when the alien gets close she opens the air lock forcing it out in to space. It grabs onto the edges of the door so Ripley shoots it with the grappling gun and it is yanked out of her hand by the force and gets stuck in the door. The alien grabs onto one of the engines which Ripley ignites severely burning it. The fire also cuts through the rope attaching it to the grappling gun so the alien is hanging on by sheer will, however it is soon burnt off and flies off into space.

Ripley records a final message on a tape player and then puts herself into hypersleep with Jones and the ending credits roll.

==Origins==
{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | ''I knew I wanted to do a scary movie on a spaceship with a small number of astronauts...''Dark Star'' as a horror movie instead of a comedy.''
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | — [[Dan O'Bannon]] describing his impetus for writing ''Alien''.<ref name="star beast"/>
|}While studying cinema at the [[University of Southern California]], [[Dan O'Bannon]] had made a [[science fiction]]/[[comedy]] film with director [[John Carpenter]] and [[conceptual art]]ist [[Ron Cobb]] entitled ''[[Dark Star (film)|Dark Star]]'' (1974).<ref name="star beast">"Star Beast: Developing the Story", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref> The film included an [[Fictional extraterrestrials|alien]] which had been created using a [[spray painting|spray-painted]] [[beach ball]], and the experience left O'Bannon "really wanting to do an alien that looked ''real''."<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="McIntee, 20"/> A few years later he began working on a similar story that would focus more on [[horror (film)|horror]]. [[Ronald Shusett]], meanwhile, was working on an early version of what would eventually become ''[[Total Recall]]''.<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="McIntee, 20"/> Impressed by ''Dark Star'', he contacted O'Bannon and the two agreed to collaborate on their projects, choosing to work on O'Bannon's film first as they believed it would be less costly to produce.<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="McIntee, 20"/> O'Bannon had written twenty-nine pages of a script entitled ''Memory'' comprising what would become the film's opening scenes: a crew of astronauts awaken to find that their voyage has been interrupted because they are receiving a signal from a mysterious [[asteroid|planetoid]]. They investigate and their ship breaks down on the surface.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 20"/> He did not yet, however, have a clear idea as to what the alien antagonist of the story would be.<ref name="star beast"/>

O'Bannon soon accepted an offer to work on a film adaptation of ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'', a project which took him to [[Paris, France]] for six months.<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="McIntee, 21">McIntee, 21.</ref> Though the project ultimately fell through, it introduced him to several artists whose works gave him ideas for his science fiction story including [[Chris Foss]], [[H.R. Giger]], and [[Jean Giraud|Jean "Moebius" Giraud]].<ref name="book of alien"/> O'Bannon was impressed by Foss' covers for science fiction books, while he found Giger's work "disturbing":<ref name="star beast"/> "His paintings had a profound effect on me. I had never seen anything that was quite as horrible and at the same time as beautiful as his work. And so I ended up writing a script about a Giger monster."<ref name="book of alien"/> After the ''Dune'' project collapsed O'Bannon returned to [[Los Angeles]] to live with Shusett and the two revived his ''Memory'' script. Shusett suggested that O'Bannon use one of his other film ideas, about [[gremlin]]s infiltrating a [[B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 bomber]] during [[World War II]], and set it on the spaceship as the second half of the story.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 21"/> The [[working title]] of the project was now ''Star Beast'', but O'Bannon disliked this and changed it to ''Alien'' after noting the number of times that the word appeared in the story. He and Shusett liked the new title's simplicity and its double meaning as a [[noun]] and [[adjective]].<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 21-22">McIntee, 21-22.</ref> Shusett came up with the idea that one of the crew members could be implanted with an alien embryo that would later burst out of him, feeling that this was an interesting [[plot device]] by which the alien creature could get onboard the ship.<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="McIntee, 21"/>

In writing the script O'Bannon drew inspiration from many previous works of science fiction and horror. He has stated that "I didn't steal ''Alien'' from anybody. I stole it from ''everybody''!"<ref name="McIntee, 19">McIntee, 19.</ref> ''[[The Thing from Another World]]'' (1951) inspired the idea of professional men being pursued by a deadly alien creature through a claustrophobic environment.<ref name="McIntee, 19"/> ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' (1956) gave O'Bannon the idea of a ship being warned not to land, and then the crew being killed one by one by a mysterious creature when they defy the warning.<ref name="McIntee, 19"/> ''[[Planet of the Vampires]]'' (1965) contains a scene in which the heroes discover a giant alien [[skeleton]]; this influenced the ''Nostromo'' crew's discovery of the alien creature in the derelict spacecraft.<ref name="McIntee, 19"/> O'Bannon has also noted the influence of "Junkyard", a short story by [[Clifford D. Simak]] in which a crew lands on an asteroid and discovers a chamber full of eggs.<ref name="McIntee, 20">McIntee, 20.</ref> He has also cited as influences ''Strange Relations'' by [[Philip José Farmer]] (1960), which covers alien reproduction, and [[EC Comics]] horror titles such as ''[[Weird Tales]]'' which carried stories in which monsters eat their way out of people.<ref name="McIntee, 20"/>

With roughly eighty-five percent of the plot completed, Shusett and O'Bannon presented their initial script to several studios,<ref name="star beast"/> pitching it as "''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' in space."<ref name="hays">{{cite web|last=Hays|first =Matthew|title =A space odyssey|work =[[Montreal Mirror]]|date=[[2003-10-23]]|url=http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2003/102303/film1.html|accessdate =2008-09-06}}</ref> They were on the verge of signing a deal with [[Roger Corman]]'s studio when a friend offered to find them a better deal and passed the script on to [[Walter Hill (director)|Walter Hill]], [[David Giler]], and Gordon Carroll, who had formed a production company called Brandywine with ties to [[20th Century Fox]].<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="McIntee, 24"/> O'Bannon and Shusett signed a deal with Brandywine, but Hill and Giler were not satisfied with the script and made numerous rewrites and revisions to it.<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="McIntee, 25">McIntee, 25.</ref> This caused tension with O'Bannon and Shusett, since Hill and Giler had very little experience with science fiction and according to Shusett: "They weren't good at making it better, or in fact at not making it even worse."<ref name="star beast"/> O'Bannon believed that they were attempting to justify taking his name off of the script and claiming it as their own.<ref name="star beast"/> Hill and Giler did add some substantial elements to the story, however, including the [[android]] character Ash which O'Bannon felt was an unnecessary subplot,<ref name="commentary">{{cite video|people = [[Dan O'Bannon]] (Writer), [[Ridley Scott]] (Director), [[Sigourney Weaver]] (Actor)| title = Alien| medium = DVD (audio commentary track)| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]] Home Entertainment, Inc.| year2 = 2003}}</ref> but which Shusett describes as "one of the best things in the movie...That whole idea and scenario was theirs."<ref name="star beast"/> In total Hill and Giler went through eight different drafts of the script, mostly concentrating on the Ash subplot but also making the dialogue more naturalistic and trimming some sequences set on the alien planetoid.<ref name="McIntee, 26"/>

Despite the multiple rewrites, 20th Century Fox did not express confidence in financing a science fiction film. However, after the success of ''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|Star Wars]]'' in 1977 the studio's interest in the genre rose substantially. According to Carroll: "When ''Star Wars'' came out and was the extraordinary hit that it was, suddenly science fiction became the hot genre." O'Bannon recalls that "They wanted to follow through on ''Star Wars'', and they wanted to follow through fast, and the only spaceship script they had sitting on their desk was ''Alien''".<ref name="star beast"/> ''Alien'' was [[greenlight|greenlit]] by 20th Century Fox at an initial budget of $4.2 million.<ref name="star beast"/><ref name="McIntee, 26"/>

==Direction and design==
[[Image:H.R. Giger - Necronom IV.jpg|200px|thumb|right|[[H.R. Giger]]'s 1976 painting ''Necronom IV'' inspired the design of the Alien.]]O'Bannon had originally assumed that he would direct ''Alien'', but 20th Century Fox instead asked Hill to direct.<ref name="visualists">"The Visualists: Direction and Design", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref><ref name="McIntee, 26">McIntee, 26.</ref> Hill declined due to other film commitments as well as not being comfortable with the level of visual effects that would be required.<ref name="McIntee, 26-27">McIntee, 26-27.</ref> [[Peter Yates]], [[Jack Clayton]], and [[Robert Aldrich]] were considered for the role, but O'Bannon, Shusett, and the Brandywine team felt that these directors would not take the film seriously and would instead treat it as a [[B movie|B monster movie]].<ref name="visualists"/><ref name="McIntee, 27">McIntee, 27.</ref> Giler, Hill, and Carroll had been impressed by [[Ridley Scott]]'s debut feature film ''[[The Duellists]]'' (1977) and made an offer to him to direct ''Alien'', which Scott quickly accepted.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 27"/> Scott created detailed [[storyboard]]s for the film in [[London, England|London]], which impressed 20th Century Fox enough to double the film's budget from $4.2 million to $8.4 million.<ref name="visualists"/><ref name="McIntee, 29"/> His storyboards included designs for the spaceship and [[space suit]]s, drawing influences from films such as ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' and ''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|Star Wars]]''.<ref name="McIntee, 29"/> However, he was keen on emphasizing horror in ''Alien'' rather than fantasy, describing the film as "''[[The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]]'' of science fiction".<ref name="visualists"/><ref name="McIntee, 27"/>

[[Image:Ron Cobb Alien concept art.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Some of [[Ron Cobb]]'s [[conceptual art]] for the ship and escape shuttle. In these drawings the ship was called ''Leviathan'' (top) and ''Snark'' (bottom left). The name ''Nostromo'' came later.]]O'Bannon introduced Scott to the artwork of [[H.R. Giger]]; both of them felt that his painting ''Necronom IV'' was the type of representation they wanted for the film's antagonist and began asking the studio to hire Giger as a designer.<ref name="visualists"/><ref name="McIntee, 27"/> 20th Century Fox initially believed Giger's work was too ghastly for audiences, but the Brandywine team were persistent and eventually won out.<ref name="McIntee, 27"/> According to Gordon Carroll: "The first second that Ridley saw Giger's work, he knew that the biggest single design problem, maybe the biggest problem in the film, had been solved."<ref name="visualists"/> Scott flew to [[Zürich]] to meet Giger and recruited him to work on all aspects of the Alien and its environment including the surface of the planetoid, the derelict spacecraft, and all four forms of the Alien from the egg to the adult.<ref name="visualists"/><ref name="McIntee, 27"/>

{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | ''I resent films that are so shallow they rely entirely on their visual effects, and of course science fiction films are notorious for this. I've always felt that there's another way to do it: a lot of effort should be expended toward rendering the environment of the spaceship, or space travel, whatever the fantastic setting of your story should be&ndash;as convincingly as possible, but always in the background. That way the story and the characters emerge and ''they'' become more real.''
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | — [[Ron Cobb]]<ref name="book of alien"/>
|}O'Bannon brought in artists [[Ron Cobb]] and [[Chris Foss]] (who he had worked with on ''[[Dark Star (film)|Dark Star]]'' and ''Dune'', respectively) to work on designs for the human aspects of the film such as the spaceship and space suits.<ref name="visualists"/><ref name="McIntee, 28">McIntee, 28.</ref> Cobb created hundreds of preliminary sketches of the interiors and exteriors of the ship, which went through many design concepts and preliminary names such as ''Leviathan'' and ''Snark'' as the script continued to develop. The final name of the ship was derived from the title of [[Joseph Conrad]]'s 1904 novel ''[[Nostromo]]'', while the escape shuttle ''Narcissus'' was named after Conrad's 1897 [[novella]] ''[[The Nigger of the 'Narcissus']]''.<ref name="McIntee, 15"/> The production team particularly praised Cobb's ability to depict the interior settings of the ship in a realistic and believable manner. Under Ridley Scott's direction the design of the ''Nostromo'' shifted towards and 800-foot-long tug towing a refining platform two miles long and one and a half miles wide.<ref name="book of alien"/> Cobb also created some conceptual drawings of the Alien, but these were not used.<ref name="visualists"/><ref name="McIntee, 28"/> [[Jean Giraud|Moebius]] was attached to the project for a few days as well, and his costume renderings served as the basis for the final space suits created by costume designer John Mollo.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 28"/>

==Casting==
{{Details|List of characters in the Alien series|individual characters}}
[[Casting (performing arts)|Casting call]]s and [[audition]]s for ''Alien'' were held in both [[New York City|New York]] and [[London]].<ref name="McIntee, 29"/> With only seven human characters in the story, Scott sought to hire strong actors so that he could focus most of his energy on the film's visual style.<ref name="McIntee, 29"/> He employed casting director Mary Selway, who had worked with him on ''[[The Duellists]]'', to head the casting in the United Kingdom, while Mary Goldberg handled casting in the United States.<ref name="truckers">"Truckers in Space: Casting", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref><ref name="McIntee, 14">McIntee, 14.</ref> In developing the story O'Bannon had focused on writing the Alien first, putting off developing the characters for a later draft.<ref name="visualists"/> He and Shusett had therefore written all of the roles as generic males with a note in the script explicitly stating that "The crew is unisex and all parts are interchangeable for men or women."<ref name="truckers"/><ref name="McIntee, 22">McIntee, 22.</ref> This left Scott, Selway, and Goldberg free to interpret the characters as they liked and to cast accordingly. They wanted the ''Nostromo'''s crew to resemble working astronauts in a realistic environment, a concept summed up as "truckers in space".<ref name="truckers"/><ref name="McIntee, 29"/> Scott has stated that this concept was inspired partly by ''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|Star Wars]]'', which deviated from the pristine future often depicted in science fiction films of the time.<ref>{{cite video| people = [[Ridley Scott|Scott, Ridley]]| date2 = 2004| title = The Force Is With Them: The Legacy of Star Wars| format = ''[[Star Wars]]'' Trilogy| medium = DVD box set, audio commentary track| publisher = [[Lucasfilm Ltd.]] and [[20th Century Fox]] Home Entertainment, Inc| location = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]| accessdate = 2008-08-02| quote = Within the context of that fantasy <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[George Lucas]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> said people still have to wash behind their ears at night. That was another wonderful touch. It influenced me when I did ''Alien''. I thought I better push it a bit further and make them truck drivers.}}</ref>

[[Image:Alien (1979) - main cast.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The principal cast members of ''Alien''. Left to right: [[Ian Holm]], [[Harry Dean Stanton]], [[Sigourney Weaver]], [[Yaphet Kotto]], [[Tom Skerritt]], [[Veronica Cartwright]], and [[John Hurt]].]]The principal cast members of ''Alien'' were:
<!-- Actors are listed alphabetically in the interest of maintaining a neutral tone. Please discuss on the talk page before making any changes. For more information, see the "Cast and crew information" section of MOS:FILM. -->
*'''Bolaji Badejo''' as '''[[Alien (Alien franchise)|The Alien]]''', the titular [[antagonist]] of the film. A [[Nigeria]]n design student, Badejo was discovered in a bar by a member of the casting team, who put him in touch with Ridley Scott.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 30"/> At 7'2" and with a slender frame, Scott believed that Badejo could portray the Alien and look as if his arms and legs were too long to be real, creating the illusion that there could not possibly be a human being inside the costume.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 30"/> [[Stuntman|Stuntmen]] Eddie Powell and Roy Scammell also portrayed the Alien in some scenes.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 30-31">McIntee, 30-31.</ref>
*'''[[Veronica Cartwright]]''' as '''Lambert''', the ''Nostromo''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s navigator. Cartwright had previous experience in horror and science fiction films, having acted in ''[[The Birds (film)|The Birds]]'' (1962) and ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)|Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1978).<ref name="McIntee, 17">Mcintee, 17.</ref> She originally read for the role of Ripley, and was not informed that she had instead been cast as Lambert until she arrived in London for wardrobe.<ref name="truckers"/><ref name="McIntee, 29-30">McIntee, 29-30.</ref> She disliked that the character seemed to be the weakest emotionally,<ref name="McIntee, 30">McIntee, 30.</ref> but nevertheless accepted the role: "They convinced me that I was the audience's fears; I was a reflection of what the audience is feeling."<ref name="truckers"/> Cartwright won a [[Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for her performance.<ref name="past saturn awards"/><ref name="imdb awards"/>
*'''[[Ian Holm]]''' as '''Ash''', the ship's Science Officer who is revealed to be an [[android]] and betrays the crew. Holm was the most experienced actor cast in the film.<ref name="commentary"/>
*'''[[John Hurt]]''' as '''Kane''', the [[Executive Officer]] who becomes the host for the Alien. Hurt was Scott's first choice for the role but was contracted on a film in South Africa during ''Alien''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s filming dates, and so [[Jon Finch]] was cast as Kane instead.<ref name="McIntee, 30"/> However, Finch became ill during the first day of shooting and was diagnosed with severe [[diabetes]], which had also exacerbated a case of [[acute bronchitis|bronchitis]].<ref name="McIntee, 32"/> Hurt was now in London, his South African project having fallen through, and quickly replaced Finch.<ref name="truckers"/><ref name="McIntee, 32"/> His performance earned him a nomination for a [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role]].<ref name="imdb awards"/>
*'''[[Yaphet Kotto]]''' as '''Parker''', the Chief Engineer. Kotto was chosen partly to add diversity to the cast and give the ''Nostromo'' crew an international flavor.<ref name="truckers"/>
*'''[[Tom Skerritt]]''' as '''Dallas''', the Captain of the ''Nostromo''. Skerritt had been approached early in the film's development but declined as it did not yet have a director and had a very low budget. Later, when Scott was attached as director and the budget had been doubled, Skerritt accepted the role of Dallas.<ref name="truckers"/><ref name="McIntee, 29"/>
*'''[[Harry Dean Stanton]]''' as '''Brett''', the Engineering Technician. Stanton's first words to Scott during his audition were "I don't like sci fi or monster movies."<ref name="McIntee, 29"/> Scott was amused and convinced Stanton to take the role after reassuring him that ''Alien'' would actually be a [[thriller (genre)|thriller]] more akin to ''[[And Then There Were None (1974 film)|Ten Little Indians]]''.<ref name="McIntee, 29"/>
*'''[[Sigourney Weaver]]''' as '''[[Ellen Ripley|Ripley]]''', the [[Warrant Officer]] onboard the ''Nostromo'' and chief [[protagonist]] of the film. The decision to make the lead character a woman was made by Giler and Hill, who felt that this would help ''Alien'' stand out in the otherwise male-dominated genre of science fiction.<ref name="truckers"/> Weaver, who had Broadway experience but was relatively unknown in film, impressed Scott, Giler, and Hill with her audition. She was the last actor to be cast for the film, and performed most of her [[screen test]]s in-studio as the sets were being built.<ref name="truckers"/><ref name="McIntee, 30"/> The role of Ripley was Weaver's first leading role in a motion picture, and earned her nominations for a [[Saturn Award for Best Actress]] and a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Role.<ref name="imdb awards"/>

To assist the actors in preparing for their roles, Ridley Scott wrote several pages of backstory for each character explaining their histories.<ref name="fear of the unknown">"Fear of the Unknown: Shepperton Studios, 1978", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref><ref name="McIntee, 26"/> He filmed many of their rehearsals in order to capture spontaneity and improvisation, and tensions between some of the cast members, particularly towards the less-experienced Weaver, translated convincingly on film as tension between their respective characters.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/>

[[Film criticism|Film critic]] [[Roger Ebert]] has noted that the actors in ''Alien'' were older than was typical in thriller films at the time, and that this helped make the characters more convincing:
<blockquote>
[N]one of them were particularly young. Tom Skerritt, the captain, was 46, Hurt was 39 but looked older, Holm was 48, Harry Dean Stanton was 53, Yaphet Kotto was 42, and only Veronica Cartwright at 29 and Weaver at 30 were in the age range of the usual thriller cast. Many recent action pictures have improbably young actors cast as key roles or sidekicks, but by skewing older, ''Alien'' achieves a certain texture without even making a point of it: These are not adventurers but workers, hired by a company to return 20 million tons of ore to Earth.<ref name="ebert 2003 review"/>
</blockquote>

[[David A. McIntee|David McIntee]], author of ''Beautiful Monsters: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Alien and Predator Films'', has praised the acting and characterizations in ''Alien''. He notes that part of the film's effectiveness in frightening viewers "comes from the fact that the audience can all identify with the characters...Everyone aboard the ''Nostromo'' is a normal, everyday, working Joe just like the rest of us. They just happen to live and work in the future."<ref name="McIntee, 41">McIntee, 41.</ref>

==Set design and filming==
''Alien'' was filmed over fourteen weeks from July 5 to October 21, 1978. Principal photography took place at [[Shepperton Studios]] in [[London, England|London]], while model and miniature filming was done at [[Bray Studios (UK)|Bray Studios]] in [[Water Oakley]].<ref name="McIntee, 14"/> Production time was short due to the film's low budget and pressure from 20th Century Fox to finish on schedule.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/> A crew of over 200 workmen and technicians constructed the three principal sets: The surface of the alien planetoid and the interiors of the ''Nostromo'' and derelict spacecraft.<ref name="book of alien">{{cite book|last = Scanlon|first = Paul|coauthors = Michael Cross|title = The Book of Alien|publisher = [[Titan Books]]|date = 1979|location = [[London]]|isbn = 1-85286-483-4}}</ref> Art Director Les Dilley created 1/24th scale miniatures of the planetoid's surface and derelict spacecraft based on Giger's designs, then made [[molding (process)|moulds]] and [[casting|casts]] and scaled them up as diagrams for the [[wood]] and [[fiberglass]] forms of the sets.<ref name="McIntee, 29">McIntee, 29.</ref> Tons of sand, plaster, fiberglass, rock, and gravel were shipped into the studio to sculpt a desert landscape for the planetoid's surface, which the actors would walk across wearing space suit costumes.<ref name="book of alien"/> The suits themselves were thick, bulky, and lined with [[nylon]], had no cooling systems and, initially, no venting for their exhaled [[carbon dioxide]] to escape.<ref name="McIntee, 33"/> Combined with a [[heat wave]], these conditions nearly caused the actors to pass out and nurses had to be kept on-hand with oxygen tanks to help keep them going.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/><ref name="McIntee, 33">McIntee, 33.</ref> For scenes showing the exterior of the ''Nostromo'' a 58-foot landing leg was constructed to give a sense of the ship's size. Ridley Scott still did not think that it looked large enough, so he had his two sons and the son of one of the cameramen stand in for the regular actors, wearing smaller space suits in order to make the set pieces seem larger.<ref name="darkest reaches">"The Darkest Reaches: Nostromo and Alien Planet", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref><ref name="McIntee, 33"/> The same technique was used for the scene in which the crew members encounter the dead alien creature in the derelict spacecraft. The children nearly collapsed due to the heat of the suits, and eventually oxygen systems were added to assist the actors in breathing.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/><ref name="McIntee, 33"/>

The sets of the ''Nostromo''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s three decks were each created almost entirely in one piece, with each deck occupying a separate stage and the various rooms connected via corridors. To move around the sets the actors had to navigate through the hallways of the ship, adding to the film's sense of [[claustrophobia]] and realism.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/><ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 31"/> The sets used large transistors and low-resolution computer screens to give the ship a "used", industrial look and make it appear as though it was constructed of "retrofitted old technology".<ref name="darkest reaches"/> Ron Cobb created industrial-style symbols and color-coded signs for various areas and aspects of the ship.<ref name="darkest reaches"/> The company that owns the ''Nostromo'' is not named in the film, and is referred to by the characters as "the company". However, the name and logo of "Weylan-Yutani" appears on several set pieces and props such as computer monitors and beer cans.<ref name="McIntee, 15">McIntee, 15.</ref> Cobb created the name to imply a business alliance between [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and Japan, deriving "Weylan" from the [[British Leyland Motor Corporation]] and "Yutani" from the name of his Japanese neighbor.<ref>{{cite book| last = Mollo| first = John| coauthors = [[Ron Cobb]]| title = The Authorized Portfolio of Crew Insignias from the United States Commercial Spaceship Nostromo, Designs and Realizations| quote = I wanted to imply that poor old England is back on its feet and has united with the Japanese, who have taken over the building of spaceships the same way they have now with cars and supertankers. In coming up with a strange company name I thought of [[British Leyland Motor Corporation|British Leyland]] and [[Toyota]], but we couldn't use "Leyland-Toyota" in the film. Changing one letter gave me "Weylan," and "Yutani" was a Japanese neighbor of mine.}}</ref><ref name="McIntee, 28"/> The 1986 sequel ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'' named the company as "Weyland-Yutani",<ref name="aliens">{{cite video| people = [[James Cameron|Cameron, James]] (Director)| title = [[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]| medium = [[DVD]]| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]]| location = [[Beverly Hills, California]]| year2 = 2003}}</ref><ref name="McIntee, 28"/> and it has remained a central aspect of the film franchise.

Art Director [[Roger Christian (filmmaker)|Roger Christian]] used scrap metal and parts to create set pieces and props in order to save money, a technique he had used while working on ''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|Star Wars]]''.<ref name="darkest reaches"/><ref name="McIntee, 31-32">McIntee, 31-32.</ref> Some of the ''Nostromo'''s corridors were created from portions of scrapped bomber aircraft, and a mirror was used to create the illusion of longer corridors in the below-deck area.<ref name="darkest reaches"/> Special effects supervisors Brian Johnson and Nick Allder made many of the set pieces and props actually function, including moving chairs, computer monitors, motion trackers, and [[flamethrower]]s.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 32">McIntee, 32.</ref> Four matching cats were used to portray Jones, the ''Nostromo'' crew's pet.<ref name="McIntee, 14"/> During filming Sigourney Weaver discovered that she was [[allergy|allergic]] to the combination of cat hair and the [[glycerol|glycerin]] placed on the actors' skin to make them appear sweaty. By removing the glycerin she was able to continue working with the cats.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/><ref name="McIntee, 32"/>

[[Image:Alien (1979) - space jockey.jpg|250px|left|thumb|[[H.R. Giger]] [[airbrush]]ed the "space jockey" set by hand. [[Ridley Scott]]'s sons and the son of one of the cameramen stood in for the regular actors to make the set seem larger on screen.<ref name="darkest reaches"/><ref name="McIntee, 34"/>]][[H.R. Giger]] designed and worked on all of the alien aspects of the film, which he designed to appear organic and [[biomechanics|biomechanical]] in contrast to the industrial look of the ''Nostromo'' and its human elements.<ref name="darkest reaches"/><ref name="book of alien"/> For the interior of the derelict spacecraft and egg chamber he used dried bones together with [[plaster]] to sculpt much of the scenery and elements.<ref name="darkest reaches"/><ref name="book of alien"/> Actor [[Veronica Cartwright]] described Giger's sets as "so erotic...it's big [[vagina]]s and [[penis]]es...the whole thing is like you're going inside of some sort of [[womb]] or whatever...it's sort of visceral".<ref name="darkest reaches"/> The set with the deceased alien creature, which the production team nicknamed the "space jockey", proved problematic as 20th Century Fox did not want to spend the money for such an expensive set that would only be used for one scene. Ridley Scott described the set as the [[cockpit]] or driving deck of the mysterious ship, and the production team was able to convince the studio that the scene was important to impress the audience and make them aware that this was not a [[B movie]].<ref name="darkest reaches"/><ref name="McIntee, 34"/> To save money only one wall of the set was created, and the "space jockey" sat atop a disc that could be rotated to facilitate shots from different angles in relation to the actors.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 34"/> Giger [[airbrush]]ed the entire set and the "space jockey" by hand.<ref name="darkest reaches"/><ref name="McIntee, 34"/>

The origin of the jockey creature was not explored in the film, but Scott later theorized that it might have been the ship's pilot, and that the ship might have been a weapons carrier capable of dropping Alien eggs onto a planet so that the Aliens could use the local lifeforms as hosts.<ref name="commentary"/> In early versions of the script the eggs were to be located in a separate [[pyramid]] structure which would be found later by the ''Nostromo'' crew and would contain [[statue]]s and [[heiroglyph]]s depicting the Alien reproductive cycle, offering a contrast of the human, Alien, and space jockey cultures.<ref name="McIntee, 21"/> Cobb, Foss, and Giger each created concept artwork for these sequences, but they were eventually discarded due to budgetary concerns and the need to trim the length of the film.<ref name="book of alien"/> Instead the egg chamber was set inside the derelict ship and was filmed on the same set as the space jockey scene; the entire disc piece supporting the jockey and its chair were removed and the set was redressed to create the egg chamber.<ref name="book of alien"/>

''Alien'' originally was to conclude with the destruction of the ''Nostromo'' while Ripley escapes in the shuttle ''Narcissus''. However, Ridley Scott conceived of a "fourth act" to the film in which the Alien appears on the shuttle and Ripley is forced to confront it. He pitched the idea to 20th Century Fox and negotiated an increase in the budget in order to film the scene over several extra days.<ref name="commentary"/><ref name="McIntee, 35"/> Scott had wanted the Alien to bite off Ripley's head and then make the final log entry in her voice, but the producers vetoed this idea as they believed that the Alien had to die at the end of the film.<ref name="McIntee, 35"/>

==Special effects and creature design==
===Spaceships and planets===
[[Image:Alien model filming.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Director [[Ridley Scott]] filming model shots of the ''Nostromo'' and its attached ore refinery. He made slow passes filming at 2½ frames per second to give the models the appearance of motion.<ref name="book of alien"/>]]The spaceships and planets for the film were shot using models and miniatures. These included models of the ''Nostromo'', its attached mineral refinery, the escape shuttle ''Narcissus'', the alien [[asteroid|planetoid]], and the exterior and interior of the derelict spacecraft. Visual Effects Supervisor Brian Johnson, supervising modelmaker Martin Bower, and their team worked at [[Bray Studios (UK)|Bray Studios]], roughly thirty miles from [[Shepperton Studios]] where principal filming was taking place.<ref name="outward bound">"Outward Bound: Visual Effects", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref><ref name="McIntee, 36">McIntee, 36</ref> The designs of the ''Nostromo'' and its attachments were based on combinations of Ridley Scott's storyboards and [[Ron Cobb]]'s conceptual drawings.<ref name="outward bound"/> The basic outlines of the models were made of wood and plastic, and most of the fine details were added from [[scale model|model kits]] of [[battleship]]s, [[tank]]s, and [[World War II]] [[bomber]]s. Three models of the ''Nostromo'' were made: a twelve-inch version for medium and long shots, a four-foot version for rear shots, and a twelve-foot, seven-ton rig for the undocking and planetoid surface sequences.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 36"/> Scott insisted on numerous changes to the models even as filming was taking place, leading to conflicts with the modeling and filming teams. The ''Nostromo'' was originally yellow, and the team filmed shots of the models for six weeks before Johnson left to work on ''[[Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back|The Empire Strikes Back]]''. Scott then ordered it changed to gray, and the team had to begin shooting again from scratch.<ref name="outward bound"/><ref name="McIntee, 36"/> He ordered more and more pieces added to the model until the final large version with the refinery required a metal framework so that it could be lifted by a [[forklift]]. He also took a hammer and chisel to sections of the refinery, knocking off many of its spires which Bower had spent weeks creating. Scott also had disagreements with lighting technician Denny Ayling over how to light the models.<ref name="outward bound"/>

A separate model, approximately forty feet long, was created for the ''Nostromo'''s underside from which the ''Narcissus'' would detach and from which Kane's body would be launched during the funeral scene. Bower carved Kane's burial [[shroud]] out of wood and it was launched through the hatch using a small [[catapult]] and filmed at high speed, then slowed down in editing.<ref name="outward bound"/><ref name="McIntee, 37">McIntee, 37.</ref> Only one shot was filmed using [[chroma key|blue screen]] compositing: that of the shuttle racing past the ''Nostromo''. The other shots were simply filmed against black backdrops, with stars added via [[multiple exposure|double exposure]].<ref name="McIntee, 36"/> Though [[motion capture]] technology was available at the time, the film's budget would not allow for it. The team therefore used a camera with wide-angles lenses mounted on a drive mechanism to make slow passes over and around the models filming at two and a half frames per second,<ref name="book of alien"/> giving them the appearance of motion. Scott added smoke and wind effects to enhance the illusion.<ref name="outward bound"/> For the scene in which the ''Nostromo'' detaches from the refinery, a thirty-foot docking arm was created using pieces from model railway kits. The ''Nostromo'' was pushed away from the refinery by the forklift, which was covered in black velvet, causing the arm to extend out from the refinery. This created the illusion that the arm was pushing the ship forward.<ref name="outward bound"/><ref name="McIntee, 36"/> Shots from outside the ship in which the characters are seen through windows moving around inside were filmed using larger models which contained projection screens showing pre-recorded footage.<ref name="outward bound"/>

A separate model was created for the exterior of the derelict alien spacecraft. [[Matte (filmmaking)|Matte paintings]] were used to fill in areas of the ship's interior as well as exterior shots of the planetoid's surface.<ref name="outward bound"/> The surface as seen from space during the landing sequence was created by painting a [[globe]] white, then mixing chemicals and dyes onto [[transparency (projection)|transparencies]] and projecting them onto it.<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 36"/> The planetoid was not named in the film, but some drafts of the script gave it the name [[Acheron]]<ref name="McIntee, 30"/> after the river in [[Greece]] which appears in [[Greek mythology]] as the "stream of woe", a branch of the river [[Styx (mythology)|Styx]], and which forms the border of [[Hell]] in [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[The Divine Comedy|Inferno]]''. The 1986 sequel ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'' named the planetoid as "LV-426",<ref name="aliens"/> and both names have been used for it in subsequent [[expanded universe]] media such as [[comic book]]s and [[video game]]s. In ''Alien'' the planetoid is located somewhere in the [[Zeta Reticuli|Zeta<sup>2</sup> Reticuli]] system.<ref name="McIntee, 39"/>

===Egg and facehugger===
The scene of Kane inspecting the egg was shot during post-production. A [[fiberglass]] egg was used so that actor [[John Hurt]] could shine his light on it and see movement inside, which was provided by Ridley Scott fluttering his hands inside the egg while wearing rubber gloves.<ref name="McIntee, 34"/> The top of the egg opened via hydraulics, and the innards were made of a cow's stomach and [[tripe]].<ref name="8th passenger">"The Eighth Passenger: Creature Design", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref><ref name="McIntee, 34"/> Initial test shots of the eggs were filmed using [[chicken|hen]]'s eggs, and this footage was used in early teaser trailers. For this reason a hen's egg was used as the primary image for the film's advertising poster, and became a lasting image for the series as a whole rather than the Alien egg that actually appears in the film.<ref name="McIntee, 34">McIntee, 34.</ref>

[[Image:Alien-The Facehugger.png|thumb|200px|left|The "facehugger" was the first creature Giger designed for the film, giving it humanlike fingers and a long tail.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 31"/>]]The "facehugger" and its [[proboscis]], which was made of a sheep's [[intestine]], were shot out of the egg using high-pressure air hoses. The shot was acted out and filmed in reverse, then reversed and slowed down in editing to prolong the effect and show more detail.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 34"/> The facehugger itself was the first creature that Giger designed for the film, going through several versions in different sizes before deciding on a small creature with humanlike fingers and a long tail.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 31"/> Dan O'Bannon drew his own version based on Giger's design, with help from Ron Cobb, which became the final version.<ref name="commentary"/><ref name="McIntee, 31"/> Cobb came up with the idea that the creature could have a powerful [[acid]] for blood, a characteristic that would carry over to the adult Alien and would make it impossible for the crew to kill it by conventional means such as guns or explosives, since the acid would burn through the ship's hull.<ref name="commentary"/><ref name="McIntee, 21"/> For the scene in which the dead facehugger is examined, Scott used pieces of [[fish]] and [[shellfish]] to create its [[viscus|viscera]].<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 34"/>

===Chestburster===
[[Image:Alien-The Chestburster.png|thumb|right|200px|The "chestburster" was shoved up through the table and false torso by a puppeteer.<ref name="8th passenger"/> The scene has been recognized as one of the film's most memorable.]]The design of the "chestburster" was inspired by [[Francis Bacon (painter)|Francis Bacon]]'s 1944 painting ''[[Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion]]''.<ref name="8th passenger"/> Giger's original design resembled a plucked [[chicken]], which was redesigned and refined into the final version seen onscreen.<ref name="8th passenger"/> For the filming of the chestburster scene the cast members knew that the creature would be bursting out of [[John Hurt]], and had seen the chestburster puppet, but they had not been told that fake blood would also be bursting out in every direction from high-pressure pumps and [[squib (explosive)|squibs]].<ref name="McIntee, 32"/> The scene was shot in one take using an artificial torso filled with blood and viscera, with Hurt's head and arms coming up from underneath the table. The chestburster was shoved up through the torso by a puppeteer who held it on a stick. When the creature burst through the chest a stream of blood shot directly at [[Veronica Cartwright]], shocking her enough that she fell over and went into hysterics.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 32"/> According to [[Tom Skerritt]]: "What you saw on camera was the real response. She had no idea what the hell happened. All of a sudden this thing just came up."<ref name="8th passenger"/> The creature then runs off-camera, an effect accomplished by cutting a slit in the table for the puppeteer's stick to go through and passing an air hose through the puppet's tail to make it whip about.<ref name="8th passenger"/> The real-life surprise of the actors gave the scene an intense sense of realism and made it one of the film's most memorable moments. During preview screenings the crew noticed that some viewers would move towards the back of the theater so as not to be too close to the screen during the scene.<ref name="McIntee, 40"/> In 2007, the British film magazine ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' named the chestburster scene as the greatest [[History of British film certificates#2002– Present|18-rated]] moment in film as part of its "18th birthday" issue, ranking it above the [[decapitation]] scene in ''[[The Omen]]'' (1976) and the transformation sequence in ''[[An American Werewolf in London]]'' (1981).<ref name="empire">{{cite web| title = Alien named as top 18-rated scene| publisher = [[BBC News]]| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6597295.stm| accessdate = 2008-09-07}}</ref>

===The Alien===
{{Details|Alien (Alien franchise)|the creature}}
[[Image:Alien (1979) - The Alien.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Bolaji Badejo in costume as the Alien. The suit was made of [[latex]], with the head as a separate piece housing the moving parts which controlled the second mouth.]]Giger made several conceptual paintings of the adult Alien before crafting the final version. He sculpted the creature's body using [[plasticene]], incorporating pieces such as [[vertebra]]e from [[snake]]s and cooling tubes from a [[Rolls-Royce (car)|Rolls-Royce]].<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 30"/> The creature's head was manufactured separately by [[Carlo Rambaldi]], who had worked on the aliens in ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]''.<ref name="McIntee, 37"/> Rambaldi followed Giger's designs closely, making some modifications in order to incorporate the moving parts which would animate the jaw and inner mouth.<ref name="8th passenger"/> A system of hinges and cables was used to operate the creature's tongue with its second mouth, which protruded from the main mouth and had its own set of teeth.<ref name="8th passenger"/> The final head had about nine hundred moving parts and points of articulation.<ref name="8th passenger"/> It had part of a [[human skull]] as the "face", which was hidden under the smooth cover of the head.<ref name="McIntee, 30"/> Rambaldi's original Alien jaw is now on display in the [[Smithsonian Institution]],<ref name="McIntee, 35">McIntee, 35.</ref> while in April 2007 the original Alien suit was sold at [[auction]]<ref name="auction">{{cite web|title = Original 1979 Alien Creature Suit for Sale at Auction|publisher = Gigeralien.com|date = 2007-04-02|url = http://www.gigeralien.com/|accessdate = 2008-10-08}}</ref> for [[United States Dollar|$]]126,500.<ref name="gadgetmadness">{{cite web|title = Buy the 1979 Original Alien Suit By H.R. Giger|publisher = Gadgetmadness.com|date = 2007-04-02|url = http://www.gadgetmadness.com/archives/20070402-buy_the_1979_original_alien_suit_by_hr_giger.php|accessdate = 2008-09-08}}</ref> Copious amounts of [[K-Y Jelly]] were used as [[saliva]] and to give the Alien an overall slimy appearance.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 31">McIntee, 31.</ref> The creature's vocalizations were provided by [[Percy Edwards]], a [[voice artist]] famous for providing bird sounds for British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s as well as the whale sounds for ''[[Orca (film)|Orca: Killer Whale]]'' (1977).<ref name="McIntee, 18">McIntee, 18.</ref><ref name="McIntee, 38">McIntee, 38.</ref>

For most of the film's scenes the Alien was portrayed by Bolaji Badejo, a [[Nigeria]]n design student. A [[latex]] costume was specifically made to fit Badejo's 7'2" slender frame, made by taking a full-body plaster cast of him.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="book of alien"/> Director [[Ridley Scott]] has commented that "It's a man in a suit, but then it would be, wouldn't it? It takes on elements of the host – in this case, a man."<ref name="McIntee, 27"/> Badejo attended [[tai chi chuan|tai chi]] and [[mime artist|mime]] classes in order to create convincing movements for the Alien.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 30"/> For some scenes, such as when the Alien lowers itself from the ceiling to kill Brett, the creature was portrayed by [[stuntman|stuntmen]] Eddie Powell and Roy Scammell;<ref name="book of alien"/><ref name="McIntee, 30-31"/> in that scene a costumed Powell was suspended on wires and then lowered in an unfurling motion.<ref name="8th passenger"/><ref name="McIntee, 34"/>

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| style="text-align: left;" | ''I've never liked horror films before, because in the end it's always been a man in a rubber suit. Well, there's one way to deal with that. The most important thing in a film of this type is not what you see, but the effect of what you ''think'' you saw. It's like a sort of afterburn&ndash;what you think you saw.''
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | — [[Ridley Scott]]<ref name="book of alien"/>
|}
Scott chose not to show the Alien in full through most of the film, showing only pieces of it while keeping most of its body in shadow in order to heighten the sense of suspence and terror. The audience could thus project their own fears into imagining what the rest of the creature might look like:<ref name="8th passenger"/> "Every movement is going to be very slow, very graceful, and the Alien will alter shape so you never really know exactly what he looks like."<ref name="book of alien"/> The Alien has been referred to as "one of the most iconic movie monsters in film history" in the decades since the film's release, being noted for its [[biomechanics|biomechanical]] appearance and sexual overtones.<ref name="mackinder review">{{cite web|last = Mackinder| first = Adrian|title = Alien (1979) Movie Review|publisher = Future Movies|date = 2002-01-01|url = http://www.futuremovies.co.uk/review.asp?ID=111|accessdate = 2008-07-02}}</ref> [[Film criticism|Film critic]] [[Roger Ebert]] notes that "''Alien'' uses a tricky device to keep the alien fresh throughout the movie: It evolves the nature and appearance of the creature, so we never know quite what it looks like or what it can do...The first time we get a good look at the alien, as it bursts from the chest of poor Kane (John Hurt). It is unmistakably phallic in shape, and the critic Tim Dirks mentions its 'open, dripping vaginal mouth.'"<ref name="ebert 2003 review"/>

===Ash===
For the scene in which Ash is revealed to be an [[android]] and has his head knocked off, a puppet was created of the character's torso and upper body which was operated from underneath by a small puppeteer.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/> During a preview screening of the film this scene caused a female usher to faint.<ref name="nightmare fulfilled">"A Nightmare Fulfilled: Reaction to the Film", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref><ref name="McIntee, 40"/> In the following scene Ash's head is placed on a table and re-activated; for portions of this scene an [[animatronic]] head was made using a face cast of actor Ian Holm.<ref name="McIntee, 35"/> However the [[latex]] of the head shrank while drying and the result was not entirely convincing.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/> For the bulk of the scene Holm knelt under the table with his head coming up through a hole and [[milk]], [[caviar]], [[pasta]], and glass [[marbles]] were used to show the android's inner workings and fluids.<ref name="fear of the unknown"/><ref name="McIntee, 35"/>

==Music==
{{main|Alien (score)}}
The musical score for ''Alien'' was composed by [[Jerry Goldsmith]], conducted by [[Lionel Newman]], and performed by the [[National Philharmonic Orchestra]]. Ridley Scott had originally wanted the film to be scored by [[Isao Tomita]], but 20th Century Fox wanted a more familiar composer and Goldsmith was recommended by then-President of Fox [[Alan Ladd, Jr.]]<ref name="McIntee, 38"/> Goldsmith wanted to create a sense of romanticism and lyrical mystery in the film's opening scenes, which would build throughout the film to suspense and fear.<ref name="future tense">"Future Tense: Music and Editing", ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''</ref> Scott did not like Goldsmith's original main title piece, however, so Goldsmith rewrote it as "the obvious thing: weird and strange, and which everybody loved."<ref name="future tense"/><ref name="McIntee, 38"/> Another source of tension was editor [[Terry Rawlings]]' choice to use pieces of Goldsmith's music from previous films, including a piece from ''[[Freud the Secret Passion]]'', and to use a piece by [[Howard Hansen]] for the end credits.<ref name="future tense"/><ref name="McIntee, 38"/> Scott and Rawlings had also become attached to several of the musical cues they had used for the temporary score while editing the film, and re-edited some of Goldsmith's cues and re-scored several sequences to match these cues and even left the temporary score in place in some parts of the finished film.<ref name="future tense"/> Goldsmith later remarked that "you can see that I was sort of like going at opposite ends of the pole with the filmmakers of the picture."<ref name="future tense"/> Nevertheless, Scott praised Goldsmith's score as "full of dark beauty"<ref name="McIntee, 38"/> and "seriously threating, but beautiful."<ref name="future tense"/> It was nominated for a [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score]], a [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media|Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album]], and a [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music]]<ref name="imdb awards"/> The score has been released as a [[soundtrack album]] in several versions with different tracks and sequences.<ref name="McIntee, 38-39"/>

==Editing==
Editing and post-production work on ''Alien'' took roughly twenty weeks to complete.<ref name="future tense"/> [[Terry Rawlings]] served as Editor, having previously worked with Scott on editing sound for ''[[The Duellists]]''.<ref name="future tense"/> Scott and Rawlings edited much of the film to have a slow pace in order to build suspense for the more tense and frightening moments. According to Rawlings: "I think the way we did get it right was by keeping it slow, funny enough, which is completely different from what they do today. And I think the slowness of it made the moments that you wanted people to be sort of scared...then we could go as fast as we liked because you've sucked people into a corner and then attacked them, so to speak. And I think that's how it worked."<ref name="future tense"/> The first cut of the film was over three hours long; further editing trimmed the final version to just under two hours.<ref name="future tense"/><ref name="McIntee, 40"/>

One scene that was cut from the film occurred during Ripley's final escape from the ''Nostromo'': she encounters Dallas and Brett who have been partially [[pupa#cocoon|cocoon]]ed by the Alien. O'Bannon had intended the scene to indicate that Brett was becoming an Alien egg while Dallas was held nearby to be implanted by the resulting facehugger.<ref name="McIntee, 24">McIntee, 24.</ref> Production Designer Michael Seymour later suggested that Dallas had "become sort of food for the alien creature",<ref name="darkest reaches"/> while Ivor Powell suggested that "Dallas is found in the ship as an egg, still alive."<ref name="future tense"/> Scott remarked that "they're morphing, [[metamorphosis|metamorphosing]], they are changing into...being consumed, I guess, by whatever the Alien's organism is...into an egg."<ref name="commentary"/> The scene was cut partly because it did not look realistic enough and partly because it slowed the pace of the escape sequence.<ref name="McIntee, 24"/><ref name="McIntee, 35"/> [[Tom Skerritt]] remarked that "The picture had to have that pace. Her trying to get the hell out of there, we're all rooting for her to get out of there, and for her to slow up and have a conversation with Dallas was not appropriate."<ref name="future tense"/> The footage was included amongst other deleted scenes as a special feature on the [[Laserdisc]] release of ''Alien'', and a shortened version of it was re-inserted into the 2003 "Director's Cut" which was re-released in theaters and on [[DVD]].<ref name="director's cut">{{cite video| date2 = 2003-12-02| title = Alien (Director's Cut)| format = ''[[Alien Quadrilogy]]'', disc 1| medium = DVD| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]] Home Entertainment, Inc| location = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]}}</ref><ref name="McIntee, 24"/>

==Release and reception==
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| style="text-align: left;" | ''It was the most incredible preview I've ever been in. I mean, people were screaming and running out of the theater.''
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | — [[Terry Rawlings]] (Editor)<ref name="nightmare fulfilled"/>
|}An initial screening of ''Alien'' for 20th Century Fox representatives in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] suffered from poor sound in the theater. A subsequent screening in a newer theater in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]] went significantly better, eliciting genuine fright from the audience.<ref name="nightmare fulfilled"/> Two theatrical [[film trailer|trailers]] were shown to the public. The first consisted of rapidly-changing still images set to some of [[Jerry Goldsmith]]'s electronic music from ''[[Logan's Run (1976 film)|Logan's Run]]''. The second used test footage of a hen's egg set to part of Goldsmith's ''Alien'' score.<ref name="McIntee, 40"/> The film was previewed in various U.S. cities in the spring of 1979<ref name="McIntee, 40"/> and was promoted by the [[tagline]] "In space no one can hear you scream."<ref name="nightmare fulfilled"/><ref name="imdb overview">{{cite web|title = Alien|publisher = [[Internet Movie Database]]|url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/|accessdate = 2008-06-25}}</ref>

''Alien'' opened in theaters on May 25, 1979.<ref name="imdb overview"/> It was [[motion picture rating system|rated]] "[[Motion Picture Association of America film rating system|R]]" in the United States, "[[History of British film certificates#1970–1982|X]]" in the United Kingdom, and "[[Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia)#Film and video game ratings|M]]" in Australia.<ref name="McIntee, 14"/> The film had no official premier in the United States, yet moviegoers lined up for blocks to see it at [[Grauman's Egyptian Theatre]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]] where a number of models, sets, and props were displayed outside to promote it during its first run.<ref name="nightmare fulfilled"/><ref name="McIntee, 40"/> Religious zealots set fire to the model of the space jockey, believing it to be the work of the [[devil]].<ref name="McIntee, 40"/> ''Alien'' did have a formal premier in the United Kingdom at the [[Odeon Leicester Square]] on September 6, 1979, but it did not open widely in Britain until January 13, 1980.<ref name="McIntee, 40"/>

Reaction to the film was positive, even by critics who were not usually favorable towards science fiction such as Barry Norman of the [[BBC]]'s ''Film'' series.<ref name="McIntee, 40"/> It was a commercial success as well, making [[United States dollar|$]]78,900,000 in the United States and [[Pound sterling|£]]7,886,000 in the United Kingdom during its first run.<ref name="McIntee, 40"/> It ultimately grossed $80,931,801 in the United States and $24,000,000 internationally, bringing its total worldwide gross to $104,931,801.<ref name="box office mojo"/>

===Awards and accolades===
''Alien'' won the 1979 [[Academy Award for Visual Effects]] and was also nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Art Direction|Best Art Direction]].<ref name="imdb awards"/><ref name="academy awards database"/> It won [[Saturn Award]]s for [[Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film|Best Science Fiction Film]], [[Saturn Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]] for [[Ridley Scott]], and [[Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for [[Veronica Cartwright]],<ref name="past saturn awards"/> and was also nominated in the categories of [[Saturn Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] for [[Sigourney Weaver]], [[Saturn Award for Best Make-up|Best Make-up]] for Pat Hay, [[Saturn Award for Best Special Effects|Best Special Effects]] for [[Brian Johnson (special effects)|Brian Johnson]] and Nick Allder, and [[Saturn Award for Best Writing|Best Writing]] for [[Dan O'Bannon]].<ref name="imdb awards"/> It was also nominated for [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] (BAFTA) awards for [[BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] for John Mollo, [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]] for [[Terry Rawlings]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role|Best Supporting Actor]] for [[John Hurt]], and Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Role for Sigourney Weaver.<ref name="imdb awards"/> It also won a [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation]] and was nominated for a [[British Society of Cinematographers]] award for Best Cinematography for Derek Vanlint, as well as a Silver Seashell award for Best Cinematography and Special Effects at the [[San Sebastián International Film Festival]].<ref name="imdb awards"/> Jerry Goldsmith's score received nominations for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score]], the [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media|Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album]], and a [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music]].<ref name="imdb awards"/>

==Merchandising==
{{details3|[[Alien (score)]] and [[List of Alien and Predator games]]}}
Around and shortly after ''Alien''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s release in theaters, a number of merchandise items and media were released and sold to coincide with the film. These included a [[novelization]] by [[Alan Dean Foster]], in both adult and "junior" versions, which was adapted from the film's shooting script.<ref name="McIntee, 38"/> ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'' magazine published a [[comic strip]] adaptation of the film entitled ''Alien: The Illustrated Story'', as well as a 1980 ''Alien'' [[calendar]].<ref name="McIntee, 38"/> Two behind-the-scenes books were released in 1979 to accompany the film: ''The Book of Alien'' contained many production photographs and details on the making of the film, while ''Giger's Alien'' contained many of [[H.R. Giger]]s concept artwork for the movie.<ref name="McIntee, 38"/> A [[soundtrack album]] was released as an [[LP album|LP]] featuring selections of Goldsmith's score, and a [[single (music)|single]] of the main theme was released in 1980.<ref name="McIntee, 38-39">McIntee, 38-39.</ref> A twelve-inch tall [[scale model|model kit]] of the Alien was released by the Model Products Corporation in the United States and by [[Airfix]] in the United Kingdom.<ref name="McIntee, 39">McIntee, 39.</ref> [[Kenner]] also produced a larger-scale Alien action figure.<ref name="McIntee, 39"/> Official [[Halloween costume]]s of the Alien were released for October 1979.<ref name="McIntee, 39"/> Several [[computer game]]s based on the film were released, but not until several years after its theatrical run.<ref name="McIntee, 39"/>

==Sequels==
{{details|Alien (franchise)}}
The success of ''Alien'' led [[20th Century Fox]] to finance three direct [[sequel]]s over the next eighteen years, each by different writers and directors. [[Sigourney Weaver]] remained the only recurring actor through all four films, and the story of her character [[Ellen Ripley|Ripley]]'s encounters with the [[Alien (Alien franchise)|Aliens]] became the thematic thread running through the series.<ref name="ebert 2003 review"/> [[James Cameron]]'s ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'' (1986) focused more on action and involved Ripley returning to the planetoid accompanied by [[marine (military)|marines]] to confront hordes of Aliens.<ref name="aliens"/> [[David Fincher]]'s ''[[Alien 3]]'' (1992) had [[nihilism|nihilistic]] tones<ref name="McIntee, 41"/> and found her on a prison planet battling another Alien, ultimately sacrificing herself to prevent her employers from acquiring the creatures.<ref name="alien 3">{{cite video| people = [[David Fincher|Fincher, David]] (Director)| title = [[Alien 3]]| medium = [[DVD]]| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]]| location = [[Beverly Hills, California]]| year2 = 2003}}</ref> [[Jean-Pierre Jeunet]]'s ''[[Alien Resurrection]]'' (1997) saw Ripley resurrected through [[cloning]] to battle more Aliens even further in the future.<ref name="alien resurrection">{{cite video| people = [[Jean-Pierre Jeunet|Jeunet, Jean-Pierre]] (Director)| title = [[Alien Resurrection]]| medium = [[DVD]]| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]]| location = [[Beverly Hills, California]]| year2 = 2003}}</ref>

The success of the film series resulted in the creation of a [[media franchise]] with numerous [[novel]]s, [[comic book]]s, [[video game]]s, [[toy]]s, and other media and merchandise appearing over the years. A number of these began appearing under the ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'' [[fictional crossover|crossover]] imprint, which brought the Alien creatures together with the [[Predator (alien)|Predators]] of the [[Predator (franchise)|''Predator'' franchise]]. The film series soon followed suit, with [[Paul W. S. Anderson]]'s [[Alien vs. Predator (film)|''Alien vs. Predator'']] (2004) and [[Brothers Strause|Colin and Greg Strause]]'s ''[[Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem]]'' (2007) abandoning the Ripley character in favor of [[prequel]] stories set in the [[present day]].<ref name="avp">{{cite video| people = [[Paul W. S. Anderson|Anderson, Paul W. S.]] (Director)| title = [[Alien vs. Predator (film)|Alien vs. Predator]]| medium = [[DVD]]| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]]| location = [[Beverly Hills, California]]| year2 = 2005}}</ref><ref name="avp:r">{{cite video| people = [[Brothers Strause|Strause, Colin and Greg]] (Directors)| title = [[Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem]]| medium = [[DVD]]| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]]| location = [[Beverly Hills, California]]| year2 = 2008}}</ref><ref>The date in which the events of ''Alien'' are set is not revealed in the film itself, but the first draft of the script gave the year as 2087. McIntee, 23.</ref>

Despite not appearing in either prequel, Sigourney Weaver has expressed interest in reuniting with [[Ridley Scott]] to revive her character for another ''Alien'' sequel. In the 2003 commentary track for the ''Alien'' DVD included in the ''Alien Quadrilogy'' set, she and Scott both speculated on the possibility, with Weaver stating: "There is an appetite for a fifth one, which is something I never expected...it's really hard to come up with a fifth story that's new and fresh...but I have wanted to go back into space...I think outer space adventure is a good thing for us right now, 'cause Earth is so grim...so we've been talking about it, but very generally."<ref name="commentary"/> Scott remarked that, if the series were to continue, the most logical course would be to explore the origins of the space jockey and the Aliens.<ref>{{cite video|people = [[Ridley Scott]] (Director)| title = Alien| medium = DVD (audio commentary track)| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]] Home Entertainment, Inc.| year2 = 2003| quote = It's a tough one, particularly with the success of four. I think if you close the lid it should be the end of the first chapter, and I think very simply what no one's done is simply gone back to re-visit 'what was it?' No one's ever said 'who's the space jockey?' He wasn't an Alien. What was that battleship? Is it a battleship? Is it an aircraft carrier? Is it a bio-mechanoid weapon carrier?...Why did it land? Did it crash-land, or did it settle there because it had engine trouble?...And how long ago? 'Cause those eggs would sit there.}}</ref> Weaver supported this idea, stating that "I think it would be great to go back, because I'm asked that question so many times: 'Where did the Alien come from?' People really want to know in a very visceral way."<ref name="commentary"/> [[David Giler]] has said that he, [[Walter Hill (director)|Walter Hill]], and Gordon Carroll, the producers of the first five films in the series, would not be willing to produce another sequel unless it was about the Aliens' homeworld and Weaver was on board. Weaver, in turn, has said that she would only return to the franchise if either Ridley Scott or [[James Cameron]] were directing.<ref name="McIntee, 264">McIntee, 264.</ref> Cameron had been working on a story for a fifth ''Alien'' film which would explore the origins of the creatures, but ceased work on it when he learned that Fox was pursuing ''Alien vs. Predator'', which he felt would "kill the validity of the franchise".<ref name="vespe">{{cite web|last=Vespe|first =Eric "Quint"|title =Holy Crap! Quint Interviews James Cameron!!!|work =[[Ain't It Cool News]]|date=[[2006-02-07]]|url=http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22405|accessdate =2007-12-20}}</ref><ref name="davidson">{{cite web|last=Davidson|first =Paul|title =AVP Killed Alien 5|work =[[IGN]]|date=[[2006-02-08]]|url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/686/686746p1.html|accessdate =2008-09-06}}</ref> Weaver has continued to express interest in another sequel, stating in 2008 that "I would definitely do another if I had a director like Ridley Scott and we had a good idea. Ridley is enthusiastic about it."<ref name="ok!">{{cite web|last=|first =|title =Sigourney Plans Shock Comeback|work =[[OK! Magazine]]|date=[[2008-06-28]]|url=http://ok.co.uk/celebnews/view/1554/Sigourney-plans-shock-comeback-/|accessdate =2008-09-05}}</ref>

==Home video releases==
''Alien'' has been released in many [[home video]] formats and packages over the years. The first of these was a seventeen-minute [[Super 8 mm film|Super-8]] version for home projectionists.<ref name="McIntee, 39"/> It was also released on both [[VHS]] and [[Betamax]] for [[video rental|rental]], which grossed it an additional [[United States dollar|$]]40,300,000 in the United States alone.<ref name="McIntee, 40"/> Several VHS releases were subsequently sold both singly and as [[box set|boxed sets]]. [[Laserdisc]] and [[Videodisc]] versions followed, including deleted scenes and director commentary as bonus features.<ref name="McIntee, 39"/><ref name="McIntee, 259">McIntee, 259.</ref> A VHS box set containing ''Alien'' and the sequels ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'' and ''[[Alien 3]]'' was released in facehugger-shaped boxes, including some of the deleted scenes from the Laserdisc editions.<ref name="McIntee, 259"/> When ''[[Alien Resurrection]]'' premiered in theaters, another set of the first three films was released including a ''Making of Alien Resurrection'' tape. A few months later the set was re-released with the full version of ''Alien Resurrection'' taking the place of the making-of video.<ref name="McIntee, 259"/> ''Alien'' was released on [[DVD]] in 1999, both singly and packaged with ''Aliens'' and ''Alien 3'' as ''The Alien Legacy''.<ref name="McIntee, 39"/><ref name="McIntee, 259"/> This set was also released in a VHS version and included a commentary track by [[Ridley Scott]].<ref name="McIntee, 39"/><ref name="McIntee, 259"/> The first three films of the series have also been packaged as the ''Alien Triple Pack''.

===2003 Director's Cut===
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| style="text-align: left;" | ''The traditional definition of the term "Director's Cut" suggests the restoration of a director's original vision, free of any creative limitations. It suggests that the filmmaker has finally overcome the interference of heavy-handed studio executives, and that the film has been restored to its original, untampered form. Such is not the case with ''Alien'': The Director's Cut. It's a completely different beast.''
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | — [[Ridley Scott]]<ref name="quadrilogy"/>
|}In 2003, [[20th Century Fox]] was preparing the ''Alien Quadrilogy'' [[DVD]] box set, which would include ''Alien'' and its three sequels. In addition, the set would also include alternate versions of all four films in the form of "special editions" and "[[director's cut]]s". Fox approached Ridley Scott to digitally restore and [[remaster]] the original ''Alien'', and to restore several scenes which had been cut during the editing process for inclusion in an expanded version of the film.<ref name="quadrilogy">{{cite video| people = [[Ridley Scott]] ([[Film director|Director]])| date2 = 2003-12-02| title = [[Alien Quadrilogy]]|medium = DVD booklet| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]] Home Entertainment, Inc| location = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]}}</ref> Upon viewing the expanded version, Scott felt that it was too long and chose to recut it into a more streamlined alternate version:
<blockquote>
Upon viewing the proposed expanded version of the film, I felt that the cut was simply too long and the pacing completely thrown off. After all, I cut those scenes out for a reason back in 1979. However, in the interest of giving the fans a new experience with ''Alien'', I figured there had to be an appropriate middle ground. I chose to go in and recut that proposed long version into a more streamlined and polished alternate version of the film. For marketing purposes, this version is being called "The Director's Cut."<ref name="quadrilogy"/>
</blockquote>
The "Director's Cut" restored roughly four minutes of deleted footage while cutting about five minutes of other material, leaving it actually about a minute shorter than the theatrical cut.<ref name="McIntee, 40">McIntee, 40.</ref> Many of the changes were minor, such as altered sound effects, while the restored footage included the scene in which Ripley discovers the cocooned Dallas and Brett during her escape of the ''Nostromo''. Fox decided to release the Director's Cut in theaters, and it premiered on October 31, 2003.<ref name="McIntee, 40"/> The ''Alien Quadrilogy'' box set was released on December 2, 2003 with both versions of the film included along with a new commentary track featuring many of the film's actors, writers, and production staff, as well as other special features and a documentary entitled ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien''. Each film was also released singly as a DVD with both versions of the film included. Scott noted that he was very pleased with the original theatrical cut of ''Alien'', saying that "For all intents and purposes, I felt that the original cut of ''Alien'' was perfect. I still feel that way", and that the original 1979 theatrical version "remains my version of choice".<ref name="quadrilogy"/> He has since stated that he considers both versions "director's cuts", as he feels that the 1979 version was the best he could possibly have made it at the time.<ref name="quadrilogy"/>

The ''Alien Quadrilogy'' set earned ''Alien'' a number of new awards and nominations. It won DVDX Exclusive Awards for Best Audio Commentary and Best Overall DVD, Classic Movie, and was also nominated for Best Behind-the-Scenes Program and Best Menu Design.<ref name="imdb awards"/> It also won a Sierra Award for Best DVD, and was nominated for a [[Saturn Award]] for Best DVD Collection and Golden [[Satellite Award]]s for Best DVD Extras and Best Overall DVD.<ref name="imdb awards"/>

==Impact and analysis==
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| style="text-align: left;" | ''[T]he 1979 ''Alien'' is a much more cerebral movie than its sequels, with the characters (and the audience) genuinely engaged in curiosity about this weirdest of lifeforms...Unfortunately, the films it influenced studied its thrills but not its thinking.''
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | — [[Roger Ebert]]<ref name="ebert 2003 review"/>
|}
===Imitations===
''Alien'' had both an immediate and long-term impact on the science fiction and horror genres. Shortly after its debut [[Dan O'Bannon]] was sued by another writer named Jack Hammer for allegedly plagiarising a script entitled ''Black Space''. However, O'Bannon was able to prove that he had written his ''Alien'' script first.<ref name="McIntee, 40-41">McIntee, 40-41.</ref> In the wake of ''Alien''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s success a number of other filmmakers imitated or adapted some of its elements, sometimes by copying its title. One of the first was ''The Alien Dead'' (1979), which was titled at the last minute to cash in on ''Alien''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s popularity.<ref name="McIntee, 262">McIntee, 262.</ref> ''[[Contamination (film)|Contamination]]'' (1980) was initially going to be titled ''Alien 2'' until 20th Century Fox's lawyers contacted writer/director [[Luigi Cozzi]] and made him change it, and it built on press coverage of ''Alien''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s chestburster scene by having many similar creatures, which originated from large, slimy eggs, bursting from characters' chests.<ref name="McIntee, 262"/> An unauthorized Italian sequel to ''Alien'', titled ''[[Alien 2]]'', was released in 1980 and included alien creatures which incubate inside human hosts. Other science fiction films of the time that exploited elements of ''Alien'' included ''[[Inseminoid]]'' (1981) and ''[[Xtro]]'' (1982).<ref name="McIntee, 262"/>

===Antecedents===
In the decades since its original release critics have analyzed and acknowledged ''Alien''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s roots in earlier works of fiction. It has been noted as sharing thematic similarities with earlier science fiction films such as ''[[The Thing from Another World]]'' (1951)<ref name="ebert 2003 review"/><ref name="french">{{cite web|last = French|first = Philip|title = Alien (review)|publisher = ''[[The Guardian]]''|date = 2003-11-02|url = http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_review/0,,1075900,00.html|accessdate = 2008-07-15}}</ref> and ''[[It! The Terror from Beyond Space]]'' (1958),<ref name="mackinder review"/><ref name="McIntee, 19"/> as well as a kinship with other 1970s horror films such as ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' (1975) and ''[[Halloween (1978 film)|Halloween]]'' (1978).<ref name="ebert 2003 review"/> Literary connections have also been suggested, including thematic comparisons to ''[[And Then There Were None]]'' (1939).<ref name="french"/> Many critics have also suggested that the film derives in part from [[A. E. van Vogt]]'s ''[[The Voyage of the Space Beagle]]'' (1950), particularly the stories ''The Black Destroyer'', in which a cat-like alien infiltrates the ship and hunts the crew, and ''Discord in Scarlet'', in which an alien implants parasitic eggs inside crew members which then hatch and eat their way out (both stories had originally been published in issues of [[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|''Astounding Science Fiction'']] magazine in 1939).<ref>McIntee, 19-20.</ref> O'Bannon, however, denies that this was a source of his inspiration for ''Alien''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s story.<ref name="McIntee, 20"/> Van Vogt actually initiated a lawsuit against [[20th Century Fox]] over the similarities, but Fox settled out of court.<ref>{{cite web|title = The Voyage of the Space Beagle|work = My Science Fiction Life|publisher = [[BBC]]|url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mysciencefictionlife/A20258336|accessdate = 2008-08-02}}</ref> Writer [[David A. McIntee|David McIntee]] also notes similarities to the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "[[The Ark in Space]]" (1975), in which an insectoid queen alien lays [[larva]]e inside humans which later eat their way out, a life cycle inspired by that of the [[Ichneumonoidea|ichneumons wasp]].<ref name="McIntee, 20"/> He has also noted similarities between the first half of the film, particularly in early versions of the script, to [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s ''[[At the Mountains of Madness]]'', "not in storyline, but in dread-building mystery",<ref name="McIntee, 20">McIntee, 23.</ref> and calls the finished film "the best Lovecraftian movie ever made, without being a Lovecraft adaptation", due to its similarities in tone and atmosphere to Lovecraft's works.<ref name="McIntee, 41"/>

===Lasting critical praise===
''Alien'' has continued to receive critical praise over the years, particularly for its realism and unique environment.<ref name="mackinder review"/> It has a 97% approval rating at the online [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 71 reviews,<ref name="rotten tomatoes">{{cite web| title = Alien (1979)| publisher = [[Rotten Tomatoes]]| url = http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/alien/| accessdate = 2008-09-08}}</ref> while [[Metacritic]] gives the Director's Cut an 83% approval rating based on 22 reviews.<ref name="metacritic">{{cite web| title = Alien: The Director's Cut| publisher = [[Metacritic]]| url = http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/alien?q=alien| accessdate = 2008-09-08}}</ref> Critical interest in the film was re-ignited in part by the theatrical release the "Director's Cut" in 2003. In his "Great Movies" column that year, critic [[Roger Ebert]] ranked it among "the most influential of modern action pictures", praising its pacing, atmosphere, and settings:
<blockquote>
One of the great strengths of ''Alien'' is its pacing. It takes its time. It waits. It allows silences (the majestic opening shots are underscored by [[Jerry Goldsmith]] with scarcely audible, far-off metallic chatterings). It suggests the enormity of the crew's discovery by building up to it with small steps: The interception of a signal (is it a warning or an [[SOS]]?). The descent to the extraterrestrial surface. The bitching by Brett and Parker, who are concerned only about collecting their shares. The masterstroke of the surface murk through which the crew members move, their helmet lights hardly penetrating the soup. The shadowy outline of the alien ship. The sight of the alien pilot, frozen in his command chair. The enormity of the discovery inside the ship ("It's full of ... leathery eggs ...").<ref name="ebert 2003 review"/>
</blockquote>
McIntee praises ''Alien'' as "possibly the definitive combination of horror thriller with [science fiction] trappings."<ref name="McIntee, 41"/> He notes, however, that it is a horror film first and a science fiction film second, since science fiction normally explores issues of how humanity will develop under other circumstances. ''Alien'', on the other hand, focuses on the plight of people being attacked by a monster: "It's set on a spaceship in the future, but it's about people trying not to get eaten by a drooling monstrous animal. Worse, it's about them trying not to get raped by said drooling monstrous animal."<ref name="McIntee, 41"/> Along with ''Halloween'' and ''[[Friday the 13th (1980 film)|Friday the 13th]]'' (1980), he describes it as a prototype for the [[slasher film]] genre: "The reason it's such a good movie, and wowed both the critics, who normally frown on the genre, and the casual cinema-goer, is that it is a distillation of everything that scares us in the movies."<ref name="McIntee, 41"/> He also describes how the film appeals to a variety of audiences: "Fans of [[Alfred Hitchcock|Hitchcockian]] thrillers like it because it's moody and dark. Gorehounds like it for the chest-burster. [Science fiction] fans love the hard [science fiction] trappings and hardware. Men love the battle-for-survival element, and women love not being cast as the helpless victim."<ref name="McIntee, 42">McIntee, 42.</ref>

{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | ''Almost every horror film since ''Alien'' has ripped it off in some way, but most of the imitations have focused on details — a slimy killing-machine monster that is both vaginal and penile; the dripping, cavernous interiors of the ''Nostromo''; those immensely influential [[H.R. Giger]] "[[biomechanics|biomechanical]]" designs — and missed what you might call the overall [[Zeitgeist]] of the film.''
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | — Andrew O'Hehir<ref name="o'hehir"/>
|}[[Salon.com]] critic Andrew O'Hehir notes that ''Alien'' "has a profoundly [[existentialism|existentialist]] undertow that makes it feel like a [[film noir]]"<ref name="o'hehir">{{cite web| last = O'Hehir| first = Andrew| title = The horror, the horror| publisher = [[Salon.com]]| date = 2003-11-01| url = http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/movies/review/2003/11/01/alien/index.html?CP=IMD&DN=110| accessdate = 2008-09-06}}</ref> and praises it over its "increasingly [[baroque]]" sequels as "a film about human loneliness amid the emptiness and [[amorality]] of creation. It's a cynical '70s-[[Left-wing politics|leftist]] vision of the future in which none of the problems plaguing 20th century Earth—class divisions, [[capitalism|capitalist]] exploitation, the subjugation of humanity to technology—have been improved in the slightest by mankind's forays into outer space."<ref name="o'hehir"/>

In 2002, ''Alien'' was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the [[National Film Preservation Board]] of the United States,<ref name="nfpb about">{{cite web| title = National Film Preservation Board| publisher = [[National Film Preservation Board]]| url = http://www.loc.gov/film/filmabou.html| accessdate = 2008-09-06}}</ref> and was inducted into the [[National Film Registry]] of the [[Library of Congress]] for historical preservation alongside other films of 1979 including ''[[All That Jazz]]'', ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'', ''[[The Black Stallion (film)|The Black Stallion]]'', and ''[[Manhattan (film)|Manhattan]]''.<ref name="national film registry">{{cite web| title = Films Selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, 1989-2007| publisher = [[National Film Registry]]| url = http://www.loc.gov/film/titles.html| accessdate = 2008-09-06}}</ref> In 2008 the [[American Film Institute]] ranked ''Alien'' as the seventh-best film in the science fiction genre as part of ''AFI's 10 TOP 10'', a [[CBS]] television special ranking the ten greatest movies in ten classic American film genres. The ranks were based on a [[opinion poll|poll]] of over 1,500 film artists, critics, and historians, with ''Alien'' ranking just above ''[[Terminator 2: Judgement Day]]'' (1991) and just below Ridley Scott's other science fiction film ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982).<ref name="AFI poll">{{cite web| title = AFI's 10 Top 10: Top 10 Sci-Fi| publisher = [[American Film Institute]]| url = http://www.afi.com/10top10/scifi.html| accessdate = 2008-10-08}}</ref>

===Sexual imagery===
''Alien''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s sexual overtones have also been analyzed, with the facehugger's attack on Kane being compared to a male [[rape]] and the chestburster scene to a form of violent [[birth]], while the Alien's [[phallus|phallic]] head and method of killing the crew members add to the sexual imagery.<ref name="mackinder review"/> McIntee claims that "''Alien'' is a rape movie as much as ''[[Straw Dogs]]'' (1974) or ''[[I Spit on Your Grave]]'' (1978), or ''[[The Accused (1988 film)|The Accused]]'' (1988). On one level it's about an intriguing alien threat. On one level it's about [[parasitism]] and disease. And on the level that was most important to the writers and director, it's about sex, and reproduction by non-consensual means. And it's about this happening to a man."<ref name="McIntee, 43">McIntee, 43.</ref> He notes how the film plays on men's fear and misunderstanding of pregnancy and childbirth, while also giving women a glimpse into these fears.<ref name="McIntee, 43-44">McIntee, 43-44.</ref> Film analyst Lina Badley has written that the Alien's design, with strong [[Sigmund Freud|Freudian]] sexual undertones, multiple phallic symbols, and overall feminine figure, provides an [[androgyny|androgynous]] image conforming to [[archetype|archetypal]] mappings and imageries in horror films that often redraw gender lines.<ref name="badley">{{cite book|last = Badley|first = Lina|title = Film, Horror, and the Body Fantastic: Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture|publisher = [[Greenwood Press]]|date = 1995|location = [[Westport, Connecticut]]|pages=120|isbn = 978-0313275234}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
*{{cite video| people = [[Dan O'Bannon|O'Bannon, Dan]] (Writer), [[Ronald Shusett]] ([[Executive producer]]/story), [[Ron Cobb]] ([[Concept art|Conceptual artist]]), Ivor Powell ([[Film producer|Associate producer]]), Gordon Caroll (Producer), [[David Giler]] (Producer), [[Alan Ladd, Jr.]] (former President of 20th Century Fox), [[Ridley Scott]] ([[Film director|Director]]), [[H.R. Giger]] (Alien designer), Mary Selway (Casting: UK), [[Sigourney Weaver]] (Actor: [[Ellen Ripley|Ripley]]), [[Veronica Cartwright]] (Actor: Lambert), [[Tom Skerritt]] (Actor: Dallas), [[Harry Dean Stanton]] (Actor: Brett), [[John Hurt]] (Actor: Kane), [[Roger Christian (filmmaker)|Roger Christian]] (Art Director), Michael Seymour (Production Designer), Derek Vanlint ([[Cinematographer]]), [[Carlo Rambaldi]] (Alien head effects), [[Terry Rawlings]] (Editor), [[Jerry Goldsmith]] ([[Composer]]), Brian Johnson (Visual Effects Supervisor), Martin Bower (Supervising modelmaker)| date2 = 2003-12-02| title = The Beast Within: The Making of Alien| format = ''[[Alien Quadrilogy]]'', disc 2| medium = DVD| publisher = [[20th Century Fox]] Home Entertainment, Inc| location = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]}}
*{{cite book|last = McIntee|first = David|authorlink = David A. McIntee|title = Beautiful Monsters: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to the Alien and Predator Films|publisher = [[Telos Publishing Ltd.]]|date = 2005|location = [[Surrey]], England|pages = 10-44, 208, 251, 258-260|isbn = 1-903889-94-4}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://science.discovery.com/ Science Channel]
{{wikiquote}}
*[http://www.discoveryscience.co.uk/ Discovery Science Europe]
*{{amg movie|id=1:1503|title=Alien}}
*[http://www.discoverychannelasia.com/_listingschannels/science/_listings/index.shtml?channel_code=DSAS&language_code=ENG Discovery Science Asia]
*{{mojo title|id=alien|title=Alien}}
{{Discovery Communications}}
*{{filmsite|id=alie|title=Alien}}
{{Subscription television channels in Australia}}
*{{imdb title|id=0078748|title=Alien}}
*{{metacritic film|id=alien?q=alien|title=Alien: The Director's Cut}}
*{{rotten-tomatoes|id=alien|title=Alien}}

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| before = ''[[Superman (film)|Superman: The Movie]]''
| after = ''[[Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back]]''
| title = [[Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film]]
| years = 1979
|}}
{{end box}}
{{alien}}
{{Ridley Scott Films}}
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[[Category:Alien (franchise) films]]
[[Category:Discovery Channel]]
[[Category:1979 films]]
[[Category:Cable HD channels]]
[[Category:1970s horror films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ridley Scott]]
[[Category:Films shot anamorphically]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award]]
[[Category:Hugo Award Winner for Best Dramatic Presentation]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Robot films]]
[[Category:Psychological science fiction films]]


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Revision as of 16:41, 10 October 2008

Template:Distinguish2

Science Channel
HeadquartersSilver Spring, MD, U.S.
Ownership
OwnerDiscovery Communications, Inc.

Science Channel is a cable and satellite television network produced by Discovery Communications. Science Channel features science-related television programs covering all aspects of science, e.g. space, technology, prehistory and animals.

History

File:Science Channel.gif
The Science Channel Logo used from 2002 to December 2007
File:Discovery scienceccc.jpg
Logo used in Europe, Arab World, Asia and Australia.

Launched in 1999 and originally named Discovery Science, its name changed to The Science Channel in 2002. A complete "makeover" took place in April 2003, airing newer and more up-to-date television programming.

In December 2007, Science Channel changed its logo to an orange element box similar to those in the Periodic Table and using Sc (scandium). International versions of Science Channel are transmitted in South East Asia, Europe, and Australia as Discovery Science. Science On Demand has a play symbol (right-pointing triangle) in the upper-right corner.

Science Channel HD

File:Science channel hd.jpg
Science Channel HD logo

Science Channel also has a high definition simulcast, Science Channel HD, that launched September 1, 2007. The HD version of the channel has the letters HD in the upper-right corner.

Programming

Science Channel broadcasts a number of science-related television series and films originally produced by or aired on The Discovery Channel, e.g. Beyond Tomorrow, among some others. There have also been a few television programs produced for The Science Channel, such as MegaScience and What The Ancients Knew. Programs from other Discovery Networks, PBS and the BBC are either regularly or occasionally aired. Television series produced in the 1990's, e.g. Discover Magazine, and Understanding, can be viewed on weekdays.

Series

A selected list of some series aired on Science Channel:

Films and Miniseries

  • Base Camp: Moon: Returning to the moon, harvesting moon dust for oxygen/water, robotics (Robonaut).
  • Hawking: About the early work of British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.
  • Tank On The Moon: Concentrates on Russian attempts to launch an unmanned rover to the Moon before the successful American Apollo program.
  • Prophets Of Science Fiction: About the greatestsci-fi authors of all times.
  • Science Of Star Wars:Explains that the cutting edge technology of Star Wars might useful and possible to invent in real life.
  • Futurecar: See the latest technology of today that's about to be used to create cars

and sometimes funny cars in the future.

See also

External links

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