Director Ridley Scott's breakthough film, an immensely successful blend of horror and science fiction, is a classic in both genres and spawned a host of sequels and imitators. Starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley, ALIEN focuses on the crew of the space cargo ship Nostromo, which lands on a moribund planet in response to a faint SOS. Inside a crashed ship, the crew members come upon strange pods, one of which spews forth a repellently fleshy insectile creature that locks on to the face of the unlucky Kane (John Hurt). Despite Ripley's advice, science officer Ash (Ian Holm) allows Kane to return to the ship, where the creature finally releases its grip. Soon, however, in one of the film's most infamous scenes, one of its offspring explodes horribly from Kane's stomach and scurries away. Dallas (Tom Skerritt), the vessel's captain, leads the others in a search for the rapidly growing, acid-dripping alien before it can cut them down--one by one.

A triumph of art direction, set design, and special effects, ALIEN gains much of its impact from the contrast between the bleak, antiseptic beauty of the space vessel's interior and the primordial horror of the alien, a brilliantly original fusion of insect, man, and machine designed by Swiss surrealist painter H.R. Giger. The top-notch cast also includes Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto, and Harry Dean Stanton.

Theatrical Release: May 25, 1979.

Theatrical Rerelease: October 29, 2003.

For ALIEN: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, the original negative was restored and digitally remastered. In addition, director Ridley Scott reviewed archival footage not included in the original and chose specific never-before-seen footage to include in this special version of the film.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case

Disc 1:
Audio Commentary - 1. Ridley Scott - Director, and Technical Crew
1979 Theatrical Version
2003 Director's Cut
Introduction by Ridley Scott

Disc 2:
Pre-Production
STAR BEAST: Developing the Story
FIRST DRAFT OF SCREENPLAY by Dan O'Bannon
THE VISUALISTS: Direction and Design
RIDLEYGRAMS: Original Thumbnails & Notes
STORYBOARD ARCHIVE
ART OF ALIEN (Cobb, Foss, Giger, Moebius)
TRUCKERS IN SPACE: Casting
Sigourney Weaver's Screentest with optional Commentary by Ridley Scott
CAST PORTRAIT GALLERY
Production
FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN: Shepperton Studios, 1978
PRODUCTION GALLERY
THE DARKEST REACHES: Nostromo and Alien Planet
THE SETS OF ALIEN
THE EIGHTH PASSENGER: Creature Design
THE CHESTBURSTER: Creature Design
Post-Production
FUTURE TENSE: Music and Editing
8 DELETED SCENES
VISUAL EFFECTS GALLERY: Photo Archive
A NIGHTMARE FULFILLED: Reaction to the Film
POSTER EXPLORATIONS
SPECIAL SHOOT

Sigourney Weaver: American actress, ALIEN (1979), GORILLAS IN THE MIST
Tom Skerritt: American actor
John Hurt: British Actor
Ian Holm: British actor, THE LORD OF THE RINGS (2001)
Harry Dean Stanton: American Character Actor
Veronica Cartwright: Film & television actress, THE BIRDS, ALIEN
Yaphet Kotto: American Actor

Ridley Scott: British Director/Producer, ALIEN (1979), BLADE RUNNER (1982)

Gordon Carroll: 
David Giler: Producer/Writer/Director
Walter Hill: Screenwriter/Director/Prod.

Dan O'Bannon: Screenwriter, Director, mostly sci-fi and horror films

Jerry Goldsmith: Film composer

Ian Whittaker: Art Director/Sets

Terry Rawlings: "Blade Runner" Film Editor
Peter Weatherly: 

"...ALIEN outshines all competition in the luminous splendour of its photography..."
"...An old-fashioned scary movie set in a highly realistic sci-fi future, made all the more believable by the expert technical craftsmanship....[Weaver] carries it off well..."
"...Ridley Scott was a force to be reckoned with..."
"...With its cliché-confounding cast and plotting, roughneck sensibility and star-making turn from Weaver, ALIEN rewards repeat viewing..."
"...Scott's film still shreds nerves....At once graphically elegant and viscerally effective, the future conjured up by Scott was dystopian to the core..."
"...In ALIEN, you can hear lessons for the sci-fi future in a great milestone from the recent past..."
"Ridley Scott's 1979 movie is a great original."
"Weaver's Ripley revolutionized women's roles by introducing the female action hero..."