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Alien
In Space No One Can Hear You Scream.
( Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller )


Alien Poster

MPAA Rating:
R
[sci-fi violence/gore and language]

US Runtime: 117 min

Premiere Date:
May 25, 1979   [USA]
 
Director: Ridley Scott
 
Writers: Dan O'Bannon   [story]
Ronald Shusett   [story]
Dan O'Bannon
David Giler   [uncredited]
 
Producers: Ronald Shusett   [Executive Producer]
Gordon Carroll   [Producer]
David Giler   [Producer]
Walter Hill   [Producer]
Ivor Powell   [Associate Producer]
 
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
 
Cinematography: Derek Vanlint
 
Edited by: Terry Rawlings
 
Production Companys: 20th Century Fox
Brandywine Productions Ltd.
 


Cast:

Tom Skerritt
Dallas
Sigourney Weaver
Ripley
Veronica Cartwright
Lambert
Harry Dean Stanton
Brett
John Hurt
Kane
 
Ian Holm
Ash
Yaphet Kotto
Parker
Bolaji Badejo
Alien
Helen Horton
Mother voice
Eddie Powell
Alien (uncredited)
 
 

Crew:

Peter Baldock
asst. film editor
Saul Bass
title designer
Adrian Biddle
camera focus
Stanley Bielecki
advertising and publicity consultant
Percy Edwards
alien vocalizator
Ray Evans
gaffer
Mark Haggard
production executive
Les Healey
first asst. editor
 
Charles Lippincott
advertising and publicity consultant
Sandy Molloy
asst. to director
Arthur Morton
orchestrator
Lionel Newman
conductor
Tiny Nicholls
wardrobe supervisor
Bob Penn
still photographer
Mary Selway
casting: UK
Micky Wilson
electrician
 
 

Special Effects:

Filmfex Animation Services Ltd.
special optical effects
 
 

Miscellaneous Companies:

Animals Unlimited
Jones trained by
Anvil Recording Studios
music recorded at
Lee Lighting Ltd.
lighting
R/Greenberg Associates Inc.
title design
 
Sony U.K. Ltd.
video equipment
Steve Frankfurt Communications
title design
Thorn EMI Elstree Studios
post-production
Tony Silver Films
title design
 
 

Filming Locations: (Now With Clickable Links To Location On Google Maps)

 

Tech Info:

Budget:
$11,000,000 (USA)
Camera:
Panavision Cameras and Lenses
Color Info:
Color (DeLuxe)
Laboratory:
DeLuxe, USA / Rank Film Laboratories, Denham, UK
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Cinematographic Process:
Panavision
Film Negative Format:
35 mm - Kodak 5247
Printed Film Format:
35 mm / 70 mm
Production Dates:
05 Jul 1978 - Dec 1978

Quotes:

  • Ripley: Ash, that transmission -- Mother's deciphered part of it. It doesn't look like an S.O.S.
    Ash: Well, what is it, then?
    Ripley: Well, I, it looks like a warning. I'm going to go out after them.
    Ash: What's the point? I mean... by the time it takes to get there, you'll, they'll know if it's a warning or not, yes?
     
  • Ripley: Come on, Ash, I mean, the Science Department should be able to help us. What can we do to drive it?
    Ash: Yes, well, it has adapted remarkably well to our atmosphere considering its nutritional requirements. The only thing we don't know about is temperature.
    Ripley: OK, what about temperature? What happens if we change it?
    Ash: Let's try it. Most animals retreat from fire, yes?
    Dallas: Fire, yeah.
     
  • Lambert: I can't see a goddamn thing.
    Kane: Quit griping!
    Lambert: I like griping.
     
  • Parker: Before we dock, I think we ought to discuss the bonus situation. Brett and I, we think we ought to, we deserve full shares. Right?
    Brett: You see, Mr. Parker and I feel that the bonus situation has never been on a, an equitable level.
    Dallas: Well, you get what you contracted for like everybody else.
    Brett: Yes, but everybody else gets more than us.
     
  • [After discovering the alien bleeds acid.]
    Parker: It's got a wonderful defense mechanism: you don't dare kill it.
     

Trivia:

  • Many of the non-English versions of the film's title translate as something similar to "Alien: The 8th Passenger".
     
  • The letters that slowly reveal the title of the movie at the beginning start out as hash marks, one for each crewmember that is killed.
     
  • Scott is reportedly quoted as saying that originally he wanted a much darker ending. He planned on having the alien bite off Ripley's head in the escape shuttle, sit in her chair, and then start speaking with her voice in a message to Earth. Apparently, 20th Century Fox wasn't too pleased with such a dark ending.
     
  • The Nostromo was built to the, then, current NASA specifications for spacecraft. Some of the displays from the Nostromo are reused in Blade Runner.
     
  • According to a quote from Veronica Cartwright in a film magazine, in the scene where the alien's tail wraps around her legs, they are actually Harry Dean Stanton's legs, in a shot originally filmed for another scene entirely.
     


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