Product Description

Science fiction plucks from within us our deepest fears and hopes then shows them to us in rough disguise: the monster and the rocket. W.H. Auden We live, as we dream - alone. Joseph Conrad So begins the screenplay of one of the greatest movies of all time: Alien. For the first time the complete script of Ridley Scott's legendary film Alien has been cleared for publication. The package includes the complete script, including scenes filmed but not released into the theatres, and hitherto unseen stills from the films and a fascinating introduction by Ridley Scott.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #664405 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
With its bleak mix of science fiction and horror, Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) immediately became known for two things: Firstly, it was a potent, stark contrast to the escapist fairy tale of Star Wars. Secondly, whenever you mentioned "The Alien", nobody doubted that you were referring to anything but the most terrifying creature ever committed to screen. As well as launching the careers of director Scott, star Sigourney Weaver and macabre artist H. R. Giger, the film's screenplay (by Dan O'Bannon) was a tremendous accomplishment, and one that this book celebrates with loving detail. With a forward by Scott himself, the director is quick to note that the script "had been written in an very terse and lean way. The writing cut right to the bone, sucked you in, and never let you poke your head up".

Ridley Scott authority Paul M. Sammon contributes an enticing introduction covering the film's production history, from its beginnings as "Star Beast" to its revolutionary angle of casting a woman as "the secret hero of the piece". Of definite interest to fans is the complete guide to cut scenes that follows the screenplay, and Sammon has made a superlative effort in compiling them in their most complete form. The mystery of whether there was a sex scene between Dallas and Ripley is solved here as well as presenting a wealth of long sought-after moments (Dallas in an Alien Cocoon, Ripley accusing Ash of protecting the Alien). Admittedly of limited interest to film buffs, for aficionados of this landmark sci-fi series at least this is a must purchase, and the best examination yet of this classic film. --Danny Graydon

About the Author
Paul M. Sammon has written for The Los Angeles Times, The American Cinematographer, Cahiers Du Cinema and Cinifantastique. His fiction has appeared in many collections and he is editor of the best selling American Splatterpunks series. As a film maker Paul M. Sammon has produced, edited and directed dozens of documentaries on films such as Platoon, Dune and Robocop. He is the author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner and his latest book is about the making of the movie Starship Trooper directed by Paul (Robocop) Verhoeven. Fifth film due for release in 2002 Screenplay never before published Includes the out-takes only ever seen on wide-screen video Never before published stills Over 1 million copies of Alien video sold, 1 million copies of Aliens and 250,000 of the boxed set - in the UK Fully endorsed by Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox

Customer Reviews

Fantastic insight into a jaw-dropping film
I love this book. I love 'Alien'. This gives gret depth to the film. Evrythig is class - from the colour or the writing to detailed cut-scenes.Pure genius.Rather expensive for marginal intrest, but for fanatics, like me, it's a must!

More to do with Alien
I'm very glad that this book has been put together, it has been clearly layed out with no clutter, but the photos aren't that interesting because they've almost been seen all before, and the ones that haven't could easily be missed. When I read about it being an illustrated screenplay, I thought that it would include the story boards too, such as the ones exhibited in a video shown at an exhibition in the Hayward gallery in London somewhere in the late 1990s , then it might have been more of an illustrated screenplay, so there I'm disappointed. The finish of the book is very pleasing though.

I think that the books basic selling price of £17.99 as printed on the inside cover, seems horrendously over priced as well. It's great that book sellers can offer it at a discount, to reduce the cloud around it. In no time at all, I'm sure that someone's going to transcribe the whole damn thing onto computer to put on the internet with all the other scripts that can be downloaded for free, and then I'd probably annotate the whole thing.

The essay by Paul Sammon was good, and then I've been waiting for his book on the Alien "Legacy" to come out for over a year now, and still I wait. Well, I'll be reading more of this script book now that I've got it.