Memories of Alien

Other than the chest birthing part and the space jockey scene...I would say the scene with Ripley in her underwear trying to get into a space suit...No the parts where Brett is smoking a joint. "I just forgot something, we would like to discuss the bonus situation". Which they just smoked.

I found these at a web site entitled, "Arrow In The Head" ! Walter Hill was initially supposed to direct this film but he pulled out and Scott took over. Much of the dialogue in the film was improvised. An early draft of the script had Ripley as a man. A sex scene between Dallas and Ripley was in the script but never filmed. Scott originally wanted a darker ending. He wanted the alien to bite Ripley's head off in the escape shuttle then sit in her chair and start speaking with her voice in a message to Earth. Apparently, 20th Century Fox wasn’t down with that. Veronica Cartwright was originally set to play Ripley but the producers went for Weaver in the long run. A.E. van Vogt sued the film claiming plagiarism of his 1939 story 'Discord in Scarlet. Everything was settled out of court, of course. I would have loved to have seen that alternate ending! & It could have changed a lot today with Prometheus had they ever done that!

I never saw Alien in the movie theatre ... I was too young at the time and my parents wouldn't let me go see it. But I read the book first, without seeing any of the visuals, and it simply freaked me out. There's a scene in the book (not in the movie) where Dallas walks across a catwalk while hunting the alien in the airshaft, and it almost grabs him from below, that literally made me jump. It's the only book to actually scare me. When I finally saw the visuals (in the form of the Alien movie novel and in "The Book Of Alien" at the book store) I was mesmerized. It was just a perfect combination of story, concept, and art direction that created something amazing. It was several years later that I finally saw the movie, and was not disappointed at all.

Thanks for the contributions guys, keep them coming. My earliest memory of Alien was seeing the creature in 1979 / 1980 in a magazine that must have been something like Starlog or such like that probably featured a Star Wars feature, as I was, and still am, a massive Star Wars fan. I remember as a 6 year old seeing this amazingly scary, interesting, beautiful yet graceful thing and being totally mesmerised by it. The image was a profile of the creature standing in the Nostromo airlock, with lights flashing around the creature giving it a dark, evil shadowy presence. At that point, my best friend was a real sci-fi freak and we both started to buy magazines and find out more about this scary adult film. Now, my Dad saw Alien on VHS pirate and it scared the pants of him, but he told me most of what happened, which I told my mate..and that was it, we had to see it! later the same year Alien had it's TV debut, me and my Dad watched it, minus my Mom who didn't watch those kind of films (Yet..she is now like the biggest Aliens fan EVER) and we settled down with the lights off. One of the conditions of me watching this movie from my Mom was that I didn't watch the chest burster scene onwards because it would be too scary for me. My Dad, just wanting a quiet life, stood fast to this rule, as much as I begged him not too and I watched up until Cane awoke on the table. But what I saw just blew me away! Nothing I had ever seen was like this, Star Wars was amazing but it wasn't realistic, dangerous, gloomy and just plain damn scary as this was! The facehugger made me squeal, just what was that thing in the chair? What was that craft? Naturally, I didn't sleep a wink that night, got to school the next day and ended up talking about it all day with my mate. My first full viewing must have been a few years later, must have been 10 years old at the time and the rest of the movie seriously scared the pants off me, but, I ended up buying it on VHS, then Widescreen, the DVD and then Blu-ray. Oh, and I did get to see it on the cinema in 2003 when the special edition was released, and the experience was complete, the film I knew scene by scene suddenly took on a whole new meaning, the sense of size and awe in the jockey ship was breath taking. The lighting took on new meaning as did the sound, the cinema added a new air of menace to the whole experience too. Lengthy, but all good memories of a damn good film, would really like it if Ridley would read this, just to know how much he scared me!

It's my first post so hello!!! For me, being terrified of air ducts as a child because of this movie! Jokes aside, the moment where Ripley is completely alone on the Nostromo and she peers around the corner and the alien appears. The heart beating and the absolute terror on Sigourney Weaver's face stick with me to this day. Amazing stuff

My Mom in her brillance thought it was a good idea to take me to see this movie a month after my 5th birthday in August 79 at the Hickam AFB theater in Ohau, Hi. I was totally freaked out for years, I didn't want to be alone in the the dark or go upstairs by myself. When I watch the movie today it still has the spook factor. It was such a drastic change from Star Wars.

I cant remember how little i was when i first saw that movie. There are nothing more scaryer than a xenomorph to me. Kinda why i love them, cus they scare the hell out of me XD

I was 5 when the movie hit theaters, not sure how old I was when it premiered on television, but my parents would not let me watch it. I was so mad that I got my brother ( 2 years younger) out of bed to sneak into our dining room and hide under the table to watch it. Scared the hell out of both of us and up to about 6 or 7 years ago anytime I would get stressed out I would have nightmares of those damn aliens.

On youtube, there's a deleted scene that has Dallas and the first guy killed by the alien, turning into an egg of some kind. Then ripley fries them both with a flamethrower.

Hi Berserker, yes that was one of the original deleted scenes restored into the special edition released in 2003.

I am still convinced that Lambert is in that room somewhere. In a Cacoon. I truly think after watching it again yesterday that what we all saw was the top half of Parker hanging one way and the bottom half of Parker hanging the other way. L_V_4_2_6 I loved what you wrote because I had a similar experience when The Exorcist came out in 1973. I was 11 and my Brother and I shared a Bunk Bed. I snuck in with two girls from school to watch it....all of us with stuff like Hockey Pucks in our boots to make us look bigger at the ticket counter. We got in and saw it. We Ran all the way home we were so freaked...and back at home...I shared a bunk bed with my brother at the time, and it was my turn all week to sleep on top. I woke up at 3:25 a.m and had been sleeping with my head on my arm which was hanging over the left edge of the bunk bed. The first think I coherently noticed as I came awake was the floor 6 feet below me and that instant an image from the Film flashed into my head of the door to Regan's room slamming shut by itself on orders from Satan Himself and I screamed out so loud that the neighbors on the 17th and 18th floors woke up and complained. IMO, When a film is done right, it touches my sense memory! I am embarrassed to admit it but I cried watching Steven Spielberg's A.I. in my living room once. {I preface this by telling everyone I loved my mother very much, LOL} It's not really crying but rather my sense memory gets so effected by what I hear and see that my brain or my soul rather is over come with emotion that leaks right out through the eyes. In watching Alien in the theater some 6 years later at 17, I remember my sense memory was so effected by that film that at one point I stopped Looking at Eggs in the refrigerator in the same way I had before. Alien also will also forever be special to me because of my father taking to me to New York to the Toy Show that year and giving me the Alien prototype doll. There are some things you tell yourself you will never forget and you just know you never will...Alien...for me...is one of those things. That film is so engrained within my subconscious mind that I think it will remain there forever.

Alien just changed everything to be honest, there had literally never been anything like it before, it pioneered believibility in setting, the dirty future idea, the space truckers idea, it just made scifi way more believable. and the creature itself? finally clued hollywood into the fact that your bog standard guy in a rubber suit doesn't cut it

i had just turned 10 in May of '79 and was on my way to a Little League game when my father was talking to my mother about some Sci Fi movie a friend at work had seen and said it was scary as hell and a alien came out of a guys chest .My mother promptly told him it was disgusting and cut him off wanting to hear no more.Needless to say i was hooked and in that day no VCR most movies took 4 to 5 years to be shown on TV and no on in my area had HBO.I did get the Kenner doll and wish I till had it they are worth several hundred dollars now.Finally saw it around '84 I think on VHS .Still my favorite movie of all time.

The derelict is my fondest memory of the first film. That and the sense of inconceivable remoteness and menacing isolation created in the title sequence (I was disappointed that the barely-there title score wasn't on the OST LP)

I must say IMO Alien is the best of the lot. I was 13 when it came out and only just made the age cut to see it at the movies in Australia. It did scare the living sh*t out of me. I agree with the Derelict ship comment from others. Kane: "We most go on.....*blip* We must go...on". All the way through to the Space Jockey chamber....What a story he must have, and we are soon to find out more in Prometheus. The egg room with the blue laser is an incredible piece of cinema (borrowed at the time from the rock band "The Who" as they were touring the UK). If Prometheus is 70% as good as the first Alien I will still be pleased.

How much do I love the original 1979 ALIEN film? Ahhhhh…let me count the ways… I can’t say that I have a favorite film, because there are so many genres…and I have too many emotional and psychological appetites for any one picture too satisfy. As far as science fiction horror, ALIEN is number 1, with ALIENS and THE THING coming in at 2 & 3. I saw ALIEN for the first time when I was 12 years old. My very “strict” mother was under the impression that my very “laid back” father was taking my 9-1/2 year old brother and I to see ROCKY II. Of course, my brother and I…had other plans… 1. Choose a theater that was playing ROCKY II and ALIEN. 2. Select a showing of ROCKY II that would undoubtedly be sold out. 3. Once we arrived at the theatre…play down ALIENS “R” rating to Dad. 4. Play up other family member reviews. 5. Insist that Mom won’t care (an outright lie). Success! We saw the movie. The fallout… Dad got chewed out by Mom for takin’ us to a…and I quote: “R rated movie…with a naked space-girl, and a monster that looks like the Devil.” My younger brother and I got our asses handed to us by Mom for conning our old man. Final Analysis: It was all worth it! Even the nightmares…and night terrors that ensued for years after…were all worth it. Two weeks later…after giving the next door neighbor kid a 4 hour blow by blow reenactment of ALIEN, the three of us went “back to the well”…and took a shot at askin’ my old man if would be willing to take us to see it again. We held our breaths… “Sure!” he said, and I quote: “I loved it when that little devil came outta the guy’ s stomach.” So he took us back for another dose of vitamin A. Of course, this time we got to see ALIEN and ROCKY II, so we didn’t have to completely BS Mom. On the film itself… I remember actually feeling cold for the whole two hours. I remember watching the build up to Brett and Dallas’ fate with my hands over my eyes…peering through my spread fingers. I also remember drawing crude pictures of the beast from memory, collecting ALIEN bubblegum cards…and building ALIEN jigsaw puzzles all summer long in ’79. Goodtimes… Still my favorite Sci-Fi Horror film of all. And…still in my dreams from time to time. ~Neurion

@ Neurion On wet dreams...It makes me wonder a little about the devices in Alien upon our psychological and emotional responses. I have never had one, like androids with implants! Doctor androids would be the best to give enemas. I know I'm a little squeamish about child births and enemas? Being raised in a Non-religious home has led me to ponder a lot on the nature of things and immorality. Watching Alien at such a young age with such a vivid imagination has initiated me on the path of the space cadets. Or perhaps I have just been playing with alien demons and white wizards? I remember those horror bubble gum cards in the late 80's I used them as target practice with my pulse rifle. I never got to see Alien or Aliens in the theater so I hope Prometheus will make up for that; especially after this long joyously torturous journey. Wonder what it will inspire for the future? sorry about the embellishing 8@

I made My MOM watch Aliens !!! I'm Guilty !!!

@ sparky....it's a good thing paradise is under your mothers feet where the tree of life grows. My mother would have appreciated that! ya about 4 broken wooden spoons, 2 bent plastic spoons and a threat of calling my dad to bring the belt. Which was scarier than the black and white versions of Alien on TV.

Been Playiong "AVP" on The PS3 all night, as the Marine ! It's fun ! The first sequence which I am still going through has some wicked Human Vs Xenomorph battles !!! Shot a FaceHugger ! "Represent" Hoooo-Yaaa !!! LOL.

I love that game too! nothing like blasting endless swarms of aliens on C-Block. That's a good way to let alien into your dreams. just don't have a waking dream. if you do you should Attack the Block when your all out of bubble gum! Juice fruit when it's "time to Get IT ON!". Like watching South Park on Acid then playing AVP all night long! Watch out for them portals and missing time too cause that's what happens when you Scoobey doobey. Not shitting you, I just went to open the window for my cat snake shitter disappeared before my eyes! It's a signs I must now play AVP, too bad I don't have live. I do have a big bottle of T3's combo Codeine : } X 8@ Well, the best I could do in half an hour is 37 aliens in 4:20 minutes Well I'm Done! Night ya all.

I got through pretty far and liked it so much I went back and set the difficulty to hard...OMG !!! And that's still not the hardest ? Holy Crap !!! There's like a couple of Infinite waves of Xenos so you have to "Keep Moving Forward" and "Stay Frosty" !!! Off to work, Later !!!

My all time favourite movie is ALIEN. got all the ALIEN dvds, so lookin forward to this film

Neurion, Did you finally see Parker doing what I said he does after he sips his coffee in Alien?

Well you learn something new everyday i never new about the nasty alternative alien ending that ridley considered sounds intriguing . But since that thread has apparently been discussed how would alien of turned out had veronica cartwright got the role of ripley. Assuming she did i'm guessing sigourney could of ended up having veronicas role awwww god .