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Alien: The Director's Cut

2003, Movie, R, 117 mins

Alien: The Director's Cut: Review

ALIEN: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT
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Nearly 25 years ago, Ridley Scott's seminal deep-space shocker burst onto the screen, scaring the bejeezus out of unsuspecting audiences who'd come to expect little more from their science fiction than cuddly E.T.s and light saber-wielding heroes. And while there've been a few good frights in the interim (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, RINGU), this handsome special edition, complete with digitally enhanced picture and sound, is a reminder that it can still rightfully lay claim to being one of the scariest movies ever made. The seven-member crew of the Nostromo is returning home from a deep-space mining expedition when they're awakened from hypersleep by "Mother," the ship's computer system, who's detected a beacon — an S.O.S. signal? a warning? — emanating from a small planetoid. Bound by their contracts with "The Company" to investigate any intelligent signal, Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt), second-in-command Kane (John Hurt) and ship's navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) venture out onto the planet's inhospitable surface, and trace the signal to a fallopian-shaped spacecraft containing the ossified remains of a gigantic ancient astronaut and hundreds of ovoid pods. Curious Kane's incautious proximity to one of these "eggs" causes it to unfold its top like an evil flower and eject a nasty crab-legged creature that attaches itself to Kane's helmet with a vice-like grip. Dallas and Lambert rush him back to the shuttle craft, where by-the-book Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) refuses to violate quarantine law and allow them back on board ship while that... thing is still attached to Kane's face. Slithery science officer Ash (Ian Holm), however, springs open the hatch and they pile in, alien parasite and all. They should've listened to Ripley. Essentially a rewrite of Jerome Bixby's script for the 1958 low-budget thriller IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, Scott's film trucks more in the conventions of horror movies than science fiction and fiendishly exploits deep-seated fears many people didn't realize they had until they saw them explode onscreen. It's been called a haunted-house movie in space, and thanks to the newly restored soundtrack, that description has never felt more apt: The Nostromo now echoes with the sounds of dripping water, clanging chains and distant groans designed to make viewers' skin crawl. And while this director's cut doesn't really differ all that much from the original 1979 release, it contains a few minutes of never-before seen footage, including one serious bitch slap and an entire scene in which Ripley stumbles upon a few not-quite-dead crew members whose terrible fates foreshadow James Cameron's 1986 sequel, ALIENS. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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