Director Ridley Scott serves up the ultimate in extraterrestrial terror in 20th Century-Fox's Alien, starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver and Harry Dean Stanton.

The crew of the Nostromo, a 21st century deep space commercial towing vessel, are awakened by the ship's computer, compelling them to investigate a desolate, windswept planet and its unidentified radio transmission. So begins Ridley Scott's 1979 box-office hit, Alien, with Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yahphet Kotto.

Screenplay and Director

Alien was written for the screen by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, with David Giler also contributing. Originally tapped to direct was Arthur Hill, who was replaced by Ridley Scott. Three years later, Scott would direct another sci-fi classic, Blade Runner (1982).

The Cast

The lean cast was comprised of Tom Skerritt (Captain Dallas), Sigourney Weaver (Ripley), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett), John Hurt (Kane), Ian Holm (Ash) and Yaphet Kotto (Parker).

Veronica Cartwright -- a long way from her days as Violet Rutherford on TV's Leave It To Beaver -- was originally slated to play Ripley. Jon Finch was first cast as Kane, but was replaced by John Hurt when it was discovered that his diabetes was out of control.

Filmed in England

Budgeted at $11 million, Alien was filmed from July to December 1978 at Shepperton and Bray Studios in England. Used as atmospheric interior scenes for the Nostromo were shots from airplane graveyards.

Special Effects and Props

As befitting a sci-fi movie, Alien employed an array of special effects and props. Aside from the big seven-ton spaceship Nostromo, which was built as one piece, the next largest props were the adult alien and the alien architecture, designed by artist/sculptor H.R. Giger.

Other props employed included various models, movie-made slime, two alien suits (one worn by a stunt man and the other by a seven-foot tall Masai tribesman), colored water simulating blood, and 130 Hollywood-produced alien eggs.

In Space No One Can Hear You Scream

Alien opens in serene quiet, with the seven-person crew of the Nostromo making their way from Thedus to Earth in the year 2037. In suspended animation, the crew is suddenly roused from their slumber by MU-TH-R 182 -- or "Mother" -- the ship's computer, which has detected an unidentified SOS transmission.

As part of their contract, the Nostromo crew must investigate any intelligent communication in space. Disengaging from the spacecraft via the shuttle, Dallas, Lambert and Kane head down to the source of the transmission, a foreboding planet called LV-426 characterized by extreme cold and howling winds.

Donning spacesuits, the three explorers encounter a petrified alien life form which they believe to be long dead. Suddenly, Kane, the executive officer, is attacked by a creature, who attaches itself to his helmet visor.

Making their way back to the mother ship, Dallas and company are at first denied entry, with Ripley citing the 24-hour quarantine procedure. Ash, the science officer, overrides that order, and later attempts to remove the thing attached to Kane's face with a laser scalpel, producing an acid-like substance that spills onto the floor and begins eating its way through the ship.

The alien creature eventually detaches itself from Kane's face, but it has left a little calling card inside. Mother, the ship's computer, had earlier determined that the transmission was not an SOS as originally believed, but a dire warning to all space travelers.

Release, Reviews, Box Office

Alien hit American movie theaters on May 25, 1979.

"Plainly put, Alien is an old-fashioned scary movie set in a highly realistic sci-fi future..." said Variety (5/23/79).

Alien scored big at the box office, grossing $40.300 million, good for the #5 position on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1979.

Awards, Sequels, TV Guide Honors

Alien won a single Academy Award for Best Effects, Visual Effects. It was also nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration.

Success spawned sequels, with Alien hatching three of them: Aliens (1986), Alien3 (1992) and Alien: Resurrection (1997) -- all starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley.

Alien, #3 on TV Guide's "20 Scariest Movies" of all time (10/17/98), has been out on DVD in various incarnations since 1999.

Alien's famous "Gut Buster" scene, in which a face-hugging critter rips its way out of John Hurt's belly at the dinner table no less, placed #41 on TV Guide's list of "The Greatest Movie Moments of All Time" (3/24/01).

"Final report, the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting," Ripley intones at the end of the film.

Don't forget to include Special Order 937 in that log...