Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Tom Skerritt and Sigourney Weaver. The film's title refers to its primary character: a highly aggressive extra-terrestrial creature that stalks and kills the crew of a spaceship. The alien gets onto the ship after the crew board a derelict alien spacecraft. Inside it they find the remains of a large alien creature whose ribs appear to have been exploded outward from the inside. They discover a huge room containing many eggs, one of which releases a creature that attaches itself to the face of one of the crew. They return to their spaceship and the terror starts as terrible things happen to the crew as they try to find and kill the alien.
Alien received both critical acclaim and box office success. It also received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It has remained highly praised in subsequent decades. In 2008, it was ranked as the seventh-best film in the science fiction genre by the American Film Institute, and as the thirty-third greatest movie of all time by Empire magazine. Movie critic Roger Ebert wrote: "One of the great strengths of Alien is its pacing. It takes its time. It waits. It allows silences." The success of Alien generated a media franchise of novels, comic books, video games, and toys, as well as three sequels and two prequels. It also launched Weaver's acting career by providing her with her first lead role.
