The Beast Within: The Making of 'Alien'

I think Alien (1979) is overrated, there I said it. So good to get that off my chest.

Though it spawned an outstanding sequel I find it underwhelming and therefore I went into this documentary prepared to be unimpressed.

I did however expect a better constructed making off film than this. Somehow, someway The Beast Within manages to be incredibly boring and make a cult movie look really quite poor.

Featuring interviews with most of the cast, a few sfx explanations and lots of background on the film these 3hrs really drag as it's almost as if they just don't have much to say about the movie.

Hurt & Weaver don't get much of a spotlight and Kotto is entirely absent. Most of the interviews are with those behind the camera, especially Giger & Ridley.

Not being a fan of the film it was at a disadvantage from the outset, but regardless I can recognise a poorly contructed documentary when I see one.

The Good:

Few decent interviews

Couple of interesting stories

The Bad:

Remarkably boring

Very little content considering the run time

Things I Learnt From This Documentary:

Giger always made me feel very deeply uncomfortable

So many great interviews by the actors. So many great clips of scenes. So much behind the scenes the make the movies even better.Again Ridley Scott did a great job of directing. Sigourney Weaver did a great job in her first role. The special effects were excellent as was the action. The fear seemed real. A movie that still looks good after all these years.

This massive documentary is very good, almost exhausive, ranking in at 178 minutes, longer than the film ALIEN (1979) itself. It's well-made and overwhelmingly informative at times.

It features many interviews detailing the concept to the production of the film. For ALIEN fans this is a must-see but anyone interested in the history of the film for whatever reason should see it, too.

Overall I've seen better but this is still a great documentary for a classic motion picture.

4.5/5

R.I.P. Jerry Goldsmith