Alien
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: June 22, 1979 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
89
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
1
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
Editors Terry Rawlings and Peter Weatherley cut the film so cleverly so that we never have a clear notion of what the alien actually looks like until the very last shots. Read full review
100
The PlaylistStaff (Not Credited)
Still Scott’s greatest film and better than James Cameron’s sequel, the director’s sci-fi horror is an exercise in minimalistic terror, manifesting it in the most unknowable, terrifying extraterrestrial creature ever seen on screen. Read full review
100
Screen DailyWendy Ide
Just as Ripley is the female action hero against whom all others are judged, so the alien itself, brilliantly conceived by HR Giger and, equally brilliantly, concealed by Scott and kept in shadow for much of the film, is one of the most terrifying monsters in cinema history. Read full review
100
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
This is the breakout role for Sigourney (née Susan) Weaver, whose iconic presence still propels this ride beyond the scores of substandard imitations that followed. Why see it on the big screen? Because it's bloody brilliant. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Feels like a streamlined improvement on the original. Read full review
100
EmpireChris Hewitt (1)
With the visuals and soundtrack given a wax and polish job for the big screen, Scott's masterful use of shadows, framing and sound has never been more terrifying. No matter how many times you've seen this, you'll still be hiding behind your fingers at every conceivable juncture. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Pay attention to the enhanced detail audible in a new six-track sound mix, which may be the most important cleaning job of all; silence and Jerry Goldsmith's score have never twined so hauntingly. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
This edition -- clean and tight as Scott would have it -- presents a strong case for Alien as both the greatest horror film and the greatest science-fiction film ever made. Read full review
100
SlateMichael Agger
The scariest movie in history is actually a bit shy. The subtle, romantic score by Jerry Goldsmith is what keeps the tension at a simmer. Read full review
100
Film ThreatKevin Carr
This is a five star film because it is one of the most perfect science fiction thrillers of all time. Read full review
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
The best thriller of 2003 was made in 1979. Read full review
100
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I recognize how few horror movies I've seen before or since that ever manage to capture such a tangible feeling of menace. Read full review
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Watching it again reminded me how remarkably the sound engineers did their jobs. Listen to the subtly amplified heartbeat - Ripley's? the ship's? - that pulses under the soundtrack through the last 15 minutes. Read full review
100
EmpireKim Newman
A movie masterpiece. Read full review
100
Film Journal InternationalLewis Beale
Ridley Scott's direction seems even better than remembered, starting off languidly and picking up speed as the horrors mount. [2003 re-release] Read full review
100
The Observer (UK)Philip French
The film is superbly paced, imaginatively designed, consistently suspenseful and never attracts an unintentional laugh. [2003 re-release] Read full review
100
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
This is a creature flick, yes, but Alien is also on par with a genre masterpiece such as Jaws. The craftsmanship is that sound, the inventiveness that clever, the characterization that strong. And then there is the not-small matter of Alien being a seminal feminist action flick. Read full review
100
The TelegraphMartin Chilton
For sheer theatricality, the very thing Weaver thought she was abandoning, Alien is difficult to beat. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
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). Read full review
100
The Seattle TimesEik Lundegaard
The most startling thing watching Alien again is its pacing. For the first 45 minutes, little happens. It's all slow, exquisite build-up, which makes the second half seem all the more horrific. [2003 re-release] Read full review
100
Time OutKeith Uhlich
It’s the creature’s instinctual murder spree that makes the immediate impression, but that would be nothing without the simmering tensions among the human counterparts. [30th anniversary release] Read full review
100
Total FilmStaff (Not Credited)
If you've never seen Alien on the big screen, this is a must-have cinematic experience that will leave you shivering and adrenalised. And even if you have seen it, the same holds true. It really is that damn good. [2003 re-release] Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A landmark film, the unnecessary tinkering has not perceptibly harmed its overall effectiveness and it's a special Halloween treat to see it digitally spruced up and on the big screen for the first time in 25 years. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Despite years of imitators, sequels (some great, some not so), and edited-for-television broadcasts, Alien has lost none of its power, and the big screen only intensifies its impact. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Twenty-four years later -- digitally spruced up, with some scenes shaved and others padded with previously cut material -- Scott's film still shreds nerves. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The most important features of this "new" version are the digital cleaning of the print and the re-mastering of the sound. There are a few added scenes, but they are mostly insignificant and have been previously seen (at least by fans of the movie) on the laserdisc or DVD releases. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Alien, even with some scene tinkering that has left this "director's cut" one minute shorter than its original release, is still one of the creepiest, scariest, most shocking films ever. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
What's most unusual about the original 24 years later, though, is its elegant minimalism. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
An old nightmare, made shiny new. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
Mostly it's worth seeing Alien, which established Scott as an A-list director, in a theater because his brilliant and often expansive visuals have always worked better on a big screen than on video. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
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. Read full review
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