30th Anniversary ALIEN at Union Theatre this Weekend

Well, this'll be a treat. Ridley Scott's classic horror sci-fi film ALIEN will be played at the UWM Union Theatre this weekend. If I had to compile a list of my favorite films, ALIEN and its sequel would easily make the top 10. Even though they are numerous, I love those space films where one crew chooses to answer a distress signal from another and terror ensues. The lesson: don't help anybody. ALIEN maintains a tone from the opening moments that has never and likely will never be duplicated. Jerry Goldsmith's quiet and moody score seems to foreshadow the carnage that the xenomorph will eventually carry out. This, coupled with the juxtaposition of industrial and futuristic set pieces really take Scott's film to the next level. You could just watch this film at home, but why pass up the opportunity to see it in a theatre. That's an experience I've always wanted. To sweeten the deal, the version being presented will be the newly-restored 30th Anniversary 35mm print.

The following quotes are from the UWM Union Theatre's website:

"Thirty years after its initial release, Alien remains a benchmark for the sci-fi genre, and bears little relation to its space-thriller contemporaries. From its ominous opening, unsettling production design (both realistic and creepily unearthly), realistic dialogue (much of it improvised); to the unexpectedness of the first entrance — or exit — of the eponymous creature. Starring Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, and Sigourney Weaver as the unforgettable Commanding Officer-by-default Ellen Ripley in a crucial role, challenging gender stereotypes both on and off the screen."

“(Alien) still vibrates with a dark and frightening intensity…It is a film that absorbs us in a mission before it involves us in an adventure, and that consistently engages the alien with curiosity and logic, instead of simply firing at it.”
– Roger Ebert

Friday, May 7 at 11pm
Saturday, May 8 at 9pm
Sunday, May 9 at 4:30pm

Runtime: 117 minutes