Ridley Scott's horror classic Alien was released into theatres June 22, 1979. Its legacy is one of the most successful science fiction/horror franchises in history. It starred Tom Skerritt (favorite), Sigourney Weaver (big favorite), and Veronica Cartwright (favorite).
It won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It was nominated for Best Art Direction - Set Direction. Its soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith was nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe.
Alien won Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction for Ridley Scott and Best Supporting Actress for Veronica Cartwright. Sigourney Weaver was nominated for Best Actress.
In 2002, it was selected by the Library of Cngress for preservation in the National Film Registry. The American Film Institute named it as the 7th best science fiction film.
My favorite movies from 1979, another year with some great films, too many to choose just one so I picked several favorites and one guilty pleasure.
Alien starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright. It was the first horror movie that I sat through and enjoyed. It created a monster (no pun intended) as now I enjoy horror films.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture starring everybody from the original series. We had waited so long for a movie version of our favorite television show and finally got this. Not bad but it wasn't good. I often suspect they got someone who didn't like Star Trek to write the script.
1941 starring everybody. I love this movie even though it's generally considered to be not funny. And it's the only non-science fiction movie on this list! Wow!
Walt Disney's The Black Hole starring Maximillian Schell, Yvette Mimieux, Tony Perkins and Ernest Borgnine. I think Disney tried to capitalize on the whole Star Wars trend, and this was the result. However, I like the non-Roddenberry, non-Lucas approach to space travel/exploration.
Guilty pleasure: Meteor starring Sean Connery and Natalie Wood. I know it was a huge star-studded flop but I'm a sucker for disaster movies. Now it's campy fun!
2017 seems to be off in a sprint to catch up or outdo 2016 with celebrity deaths. Just two days after we lose Mary Tyler Moore, outstanding actor John Hurt passed away yesterday from pancreatic cancer. I was first introduced to John Hurt in the movie Alien, in which he starred with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerrit, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and Ian Holm, a stellar cast.
He played a gay policeman in Partners with Ryan O'Neal. It's interesting to watch this trailer after 35 years, seeing the gay stereotypes all in one 2 1/2 minute clip. Hurt played his role with a touching vulnerability that was probably alien to most audiences at that time.
Whiteout, released Sept 11, 2009, is one my guilty pleasures. I don't see it on television much and I can't find it on-line but I enjoy watching it whenever I can. Very good whodunit!
It's based on a graphic novel and stars Tom Skerritt and Alex O'Loughlin. Yummy two times!
