Breaking the Barrier

The 1979 movie Alien is very deserving of its Academy Award for Visual Effects. Within the first few seconds of watching this film, I was amazed at the special effects. There's no doubt that it was far ahead of its time; even by today's standards it fares well. The cinematography was astonishing as well, with nice, smooth pans and beautiful tracking shots. I thought back to Rocky, remembering that Mr. Monahan taught us about the use of the Steadicam in order to film smooth footage in a variety of bumpy terrains. As an Animation student, I appreciate the way that the title of this film was animated in the introduction: it started out with only part of the name revealed, and then the rest of it slowly filled in.

Aside from these aspects of Alien, I also like the storyline. The scene that stood out to me most was when one of the scientists aboard the spaceship fell into the pit that housed the alien eggs. Having watched similar films, I already knew what was going to happen, and it definitely would be pretty. I got anxious when the scientist moved closer and closer to one of the eggs, wondering in my head, "what is he doing?" If that were me, I would've ran away as quickly as possible without any hesitation. But he just keep moving closer, daring to touch one of the eggs. As you can imagine, that wasn't a good idea, and it wasn't long before the extraterrestrial was wrapped around his face. The doctors attempted to get it off, but they were no match for it. It became very clear that it didn't like to be messed with. It had the potential to destroy anything that tried to attack it. But what was even more interesting, albeit frightening, is that the doctors found out that the alien was controlling the man's breathing, which kept him alive. That's even more worrisome, because it could potentially mean that even if the doctors find a way to kill the alien, the scientist that it attacked could end up dead as well.

In this intense moment of the film, the bell rang, and the period was over, leaving me eager to see what will happen next. Will the doctors find a way to kill the alien without crippling their comrade? Or will the alien win this game? Will more alien eggs start hatching? If one thing is certain, it's that trouble lies ahead for everyone on the spaceship.