Summary

• Alien's expanded universe has made the story too convoluted, taking away from the simplicity of the original film.
• The prequels have ruined the mystery of the Xenomorph, explaining too much about its origins and behavior.
• Some aspects of the original film, such as the Xenomorph costume and fictional technology, look dated compared to modern standards.

1979's Alien is a sci-fi classic, and here are 10 harsh realities of rewatching the film 45 years later. Alien is the film that cemented the genre of sci-fi horror, with it spawning a massive franchise that is still going to this day. Alien is often considered to be the best film of Ridley Scott's entire filmography, with the beloved film holding up immensely well to this day. New fans are still being made with each new Alien viewing, with its horrific scares, slow pace, and fantastic performances making it one of the pinnacles of the genre. Despite all this, however, there are now a few problems with Alien.

Ridley Scott's Alien is an absolute masterpiece, with a first watch of the film still being one of the best experiences that any horror fan can have. Due to the immense popularity of the original film, Alien has expanded into a vast franchise, with the film having three sequels and two prequel movies as of the writing of this article. Alien is still going strong, however, with multiple Alien projects being in the works, including an Aliens prequel titled Alien: Romulus as well as an Alien TV show. While 1979's Alien is still the best entry in the franchise, some flaws have been revealed over the past 45 years.

10 The Alien Sequels Have Made Things Way Too Convoluted

1979's Alien is beautiful because of its simplicity, with it being a fairly straightforward film about a team of humans trying to fight off an alien while stuck in a spacecraft. However, the world of Alien has been expanded immensely since the original film, with the story of the original film being altered by its predecessors in some big ways. The different types of Xenomorphs, the story of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and the odd Ripley clone storyline have made things way too convoluted, taking away from the simplicity of the original film.

9 The Alien Prequels Have Ruined The Mystery Of The Original Film

One of the big appeals of the original Alien was how mysterious everything is, something that has been ruined by the prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. The mystery surrounding the Xenomorph is one of the scariest aspects of the franchise, with Ripley and the gang not knowing how it operates or what it wants. However, the Alien prequels have fully explained basically everything that there is to know about Xenomorphs, killing one of the scariest aspects of the titular monster.

8 Alien's Hidden Xenomorphs Obviously Don't Look Great

Like many great horror movies of the past, Alien pulls off its low budget and not-so-great special effects by hiding the Xenomorph in shadow throughout most of the film. However, there are some moments where the alien can be seen in full, making it clear that the Xenomorph costume looks pretty dated. Compared to some of the other effects throughout the Alien franchise, the original Xenomorph looks great. However, there is definitely some room for improvement when it comes to the original film's rubber suit.

7 Alien's Fictional Tech Is Pretty Dated

Like many sci-fi films of the past, Alien had to decide what future technology may look like based on where technology was at the time. 1979's Alien takes place in 2122, and despite this being nearly a century past 2024, a lot of Alien's tech already looks dated. This is mostly because Alien couldn't literally invent new technology, with it being bound by what they had 45 years ago. However, to some this adds to the charm of the film, making Alien's future stand out among the crowd.

6 Alien Is Kind Of Slow On A Rewatch

When watching Alien for the first time, the film's slow pace is one of the big appeals, with it really building up the horror. On a rewatch, however, this pace can be a little much, with it taking a while before the exciting Xenomorph action that audiences are watching for is seen. This is especially true when compared to the action movie sequel Aliens. However, Alien is still a fantastic time throughout, even if it takes a bit to get to its most exciting moments.

5 Some Of Alien's Characters Are Clearly Xenomorph Fodder

1979's Alien has some incredibly iconic characters, with Ripley, Ash, and some of the other crew being well-ed long after the original film was released. However, some of Alien's side characters are clearly only there to die, with them not being nearly as important as Ripley. It is pretty clear which characters are going to die by the end of Alien, but having them is important, as it is impossible to have fun Xenomorph kills while also having each character stay alive throughout the film.

4 Alien Isn't As Exciting Compared To Aliens

Alien is a slow, isolated horror movie, which is great if that's what a viewer wants to see. However, when compared with Aliens, it's hard to say that Alien isn't less exciting. James Cameron put an action spin on the franchise when making Aliens, turning Ripley into a gun-toting action hero. The film is full of Xenomorphs getting blasted, wild action setpieces, and an epic final battle with Aliens' Queen Xenomorph, with it being on a much bigger scale than the 1979 original.

3 1979's Alien Has Some Pretty Big Plot Holes

Despite 1979's Alien being a pretty simple story, the film has some fairly big plot holes. For example, the way that the Xenomorph acts in the film doesn't exactly fit in with what is known about Xenomorph biology. Xenomorph eggs can't be laid without a Queen, and since the Queen isn't seen in the film, many viewers are wondering where the eggs came from. While the Alien deleted scene fixes this plot hole, fans of the franchise will probably think about this when revisiting the original film.

2 Alien's Iconic Status Has Hurt The Movie's Impact

Alien is one of the most iconic movies of all time, and while this is good for the film's reputation, it has kind of hurt the impact of some of the movie's biggest scenes. For example, the Xenomorph Chestburster scene is one of the biggest scares in the original film. However, the Chestburster has been parodied countless times, meaning that it is hard to take the scene as seriously. These iconic moments will also bring about memories of all the boring parodies, with this being a real disservice to Ridley Scott's original film.

1 Too Many Sci-Fi Movies Have Ripped Off Alien

Alien is the first movie of its kind, but so many sci-fi movies have ripped off Alien that some of the moments feel as if they are clichéd. Modern films like Life and Underwater are just more recent examples of the countless Alien ripoffs that focus on a crew trapped in a station fighting off alien monsters, with them muddying the waters of what makes the original Alien so great. Despite this criticism (and the rest of the aforementioned problems), 1979's Alien is still an undefeated sci-fi horror classic that remains a masterpiece to this day.