If
you’re like me, and you’re a nut for all things Alien, you should enjoy this documentary
that chronicles the inspirations behind director Ridley Scott’s legendary 1979
film. Despite the wealth of material
already out there, this flick still manages to find some new nuggets of
information revolving around the creation of Scott’s modern classic. That said, it also feels curiously
unfinished, and will undoubtedly leave you wanting more.
The
most involving stuff details the inspirations behind Dan O’Bannon’s screenplay.
The motion comics versions of the old EC
Comics science fiction tales are particularly enlightening. It’s also fun seeing clips from ‘50s sci-fi
movies like It! The Terror from Beyond
Space, which Alien cribs from quite a bit. We also get to see how O’Bannon’s work on John
Carpenter’s Dark Star and his collaboration with Alejandro Jodorowsky on the
aborted film adaptation of Dune informed the conceptualization of Alien.
While
some of this is quite fascinating, the concentration is a bit off. Although they do discuss the character of Ripley
and her importance as a strong female in cinema, the film strangely glosses
over Sigourney Weaver’s personal contribution. (She’s also conspicuously absent from the
interviewees.) Also, we get a long scene
detailing the creation of the chestburster (there’s a deep dive into the work
of Francis Bacon, whose paintings inspired the chestburster, although it seems
a bit superfluous) but no mention of Carlo Rambaldi’s work on the Alien suit itself.
H.R. Giger is rightly lauded for his
creature design and being largely the inspiration behind the film’s look. However, no credit is given to Rambaldi for
bringing the monster to life, which is odd. The filmmakers also have to resort to borrowing interview
footage of Scott and O’Bannon from other, better docs.
Still,
those are mostly just quibbles in an otherwise informative and entertaining
documentary. There’s enough cool shit
here to warrant a watch, especially for Alien fans. Sure, I wish it was a bit more exhaustive, but
at its best, it’s a fine tribute to the legendary Dan O’Bannon.
AKA: Memory.
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