The Beast Within: The Making of 'Alien'

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

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.

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