Ultimate 70s Blogathon Finale: Dirty Harry (1971) by Drew’s Movie Reviews

Time sure flies by when we’re having fun! After 3 weeks of entries, we have reached the final day of the blogathon. We always swap things around for the final wrap-up day so today, over here, I’ll be sharing my darling co-host Drew‘s final review with his thoughts on 1971’s action thriller Dirty Harry which brings in a much needed mention of Clint Eastwood. Of course, you will find my review over on his blog some time today. First, let’s check out what makes Dirty Harry his choice for the Ultimate 70s Blogathon!

Synopsis
When a killer calling himself ‘Scorpio’ (Andrew Robinson) begins terrorizing San Francisco, Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) must bring him to justice.

Review
Clint Eastwood is a household name. To older audiences, he’s an action star. To younger audiences, he’s an award-winning director. In either case, it is hard to find an actor whose career is as prolific or diverse as Eastwood’s. In the early 1970s, he was transitioning from his western roles to more modern day ones. That transition began with Dirty Harry.

Many action movies tend to forego character development to instead focus on the big action pieces. Dirty Harry isn’t much of an exception but just barely. Throughout the film, we learn little bits and pieces about Harry’s past and character traits. We get just enough character development to get a deeper understanding of who Harry is. This was a great move on the writers’ part because since this is the first installment with Harry, there shouldn’t be too much focus on what’s beneath the surface. But at the same time, the small bits that were laid out can be picked up in future sequels without taking away from this film.

For most of the movie, Harry spends his time hunting down the killer going by ‘Scorpio.’ However, Scorpio is not Harry’s greatest adversary of the film: it’s the law. Throughout the movie, Harry tries to bring Scorpio to justice. However, Harry learns that ‘the law’ and ‘justice’ are not always the same thing. It’s an interesting concept to think about and one that frustrates Harry continuously throughout the film.

Eastwood’s background in westerns transfers well into a modern setting. Harry could be seen as a Man with No Name or Josey Wales in an urban setting; An urban cowboy, if you will. Harry’s introduction is one of my favorites in cinema. When he casually walks up to a bank robbery, takes out several of the robbers and delivers his famous lines is absolutely spin-tingling. You know right away the kind of character Harry is.

This also leads into one of the flaws I see in the film. For an action movie, it is unevenly paced. The ends carry the brunt of the action, with the middle doing the little character exploring I mentioned above and follows Harry searching for Scorpio and dealing with bureaucrats. I appreciate the development and smaller moments among the action but this film would have benefited from a better balance of those elements.

As enjoyable as Dirty Harry is, there are better 70s movies. Nevertheless, I chose this as my entry for the Ultimate 70s Blogathon for a different reason: it’s influence on the action film genre. This movie laid the groundwork for a no-nonsense hero, like John McClain, John Rambo, or Paul Kersey. Harry Callahan was the type of character who took matters into his own hands, regardless of the rules. This approach to the action hero showed that audiences would, and could, enjoy grittier action films, fundamentally changing the genre’s landscape.

I thought Dirty Harry was GOOD 🙂 Revolutionizing the action genre, it was grittier and had a different hero than seen in films past. With a cool character introduction and classic action hero one-liners, Harry Callahan is a stylish and memorable character. If there had been a better balance between the action sequences and other scenes, I probably would consider this a great movie instead of just a good one.

Favorite Quote
Harry: I know what you’re thinking: Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Don Siegel – Director
Harry Julian Fink – Screenplay / Story
Rita M. Fink – Screenplay / Story
Dean Riesner – Screenplay
Lalo Schifrin – Composer

Clint Eastwood – Harry Harry Guardino – Bressler
Reni Santoni – Chico
John Vernon – The Mayor
Andrew Robinson – Killer
John Larch – Chief
John Mitchum – De Giorg

Ultimate 70s Blogathon: Island of Death (1977) by From the Depths of DVD Hell

Joining us for the penultimate entry to the Ultimate 70s Blogathon is my Game Warp co-host and showrunner of In the Depths of DVD Hell, Elwood Jones. He is known for his unique choice in films and he drops by here with quite a change with 1977 horror film, Island of Death. Now, if you don’t know Elwood, he doesn’t only write on In the Depths of DVD Hell where he looks at obscure movie titles but right now, he also runs the Movie Tourist column over at That Moment In, as well as the co-host on two other podcasts, Asian Cinema Film Club and TV Good Sleep Bad. A man of many interests and an array of different projects all worth checking out, but first, lets check out his review of Island of Death!

Title: Island of Death
Director: Nico Mastorakis
Released: 1977
Staring: Robert Behling, Jane Lyle, Jessica Dublin, Gerald Gonalons, Jannice McConnell, Nikos Tsachiridis

Plot: Christopher (Behling) and Celia (Lyle) are enjoying a break on a small Greek island, while pursuing their favourite pastimes, which unfortunately for the locals are sex and violence, meanwhile Inspector Foster (Gonalons) is hot on their heels.

Review: Probably the least well known of the video nasty list, yet arguably the most notorious seeing how it only got taken off the list here in the UK last year, still good things come to those who wait which this film might be anything but, but still I think it’s easy to say that this is possibly one of the most explicit movies to have made the list, especially as it is essentially a constant stream of soft core porn, nudity and violence, with only the most paper thin of plots to string the scenes together, which is hardly surprising when Director Mastorakis seemingly had two goals when he set out to make the movie and that was to first make himself as much money as possible, while the second was to make the most violent and perverse film possible after after being inspired by “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, well more specifically he was inspired when he found out just how much money Tobe Hooper was making from it.

Opening with Christopher buried up to his waist in what will later be revealed to be a pit of lime while Celia watches and laughs mockingly we get our first taste of Christopher’s travel documentary esq voice over which continues to appear randomly through the film as the film now cuts back to a few days earlier as Christopher and Celia arrive on the unnamed small Greek island looking like any normal happy couple. Needless to say we are just about fifteen minutes before they are having sex in a phone box while he phones their mother…..yes that’s right they are also brother and sister (though confusingly at times she is also referred to as being his cousin) and really don’t seem to care much about the incestuous nature of their relationship. So after that surprising opening, you would think that Mastorakis might have blown his load early, until Christopher having had his attempts at getting some morning fun rejected instead relives his frustration with a passing goat before graphically killing it in what is unsurprisingly the most talked about moment in the film.

This murderous duo are almost polar opposites to each other when it comes to thier motives, with Christopher murderous tendencies being drawn from his own twisted religious beliefs, making him prone to ranting about his role as the angel of purification and how his victims have sinned as he kills, while these zealot esq beliefs of course makes the residents of the island prime targets for his campaign to purify them of their sins, especially when everyone is prone to spontaneous nudity and so sexually open. Celia meanwhile plays things like his trusted accomplice though seemingly minus Christopher’s religious rants, as she sets up the majority of the murders, as Christopher voyeuristically enjoys watching her having sex and frantically photographing her in action, which seemingly seems to be the only cure for his own impotence, especially when each of the murders are usually followed by frantic sex between him and Celia and more frantic photography of their handiwork.

There is barely a moment wasted here which is not being filled with death, gore or sex or some amalgamation of the three, with the sound of a camera shutter between each scene, creating almost an unintentional feeling that each scene is like a little violent and nasty short, a feeling only further reinforced by the beyond minimal plotting on offer here, which is pretty much abandoned by the final quarter as we lead up to the moments were we first joined the murderous duo, though don’t expect anything to be any clearer by the time we get to were we first started the film, as Mastorakis instead leaps even further into the randomness void of pure cinematic insanity which has Celia making the nasty (literally in this case) with a inbred looking famer, after he beats up and farts (yes you read that right) on Christopher which is around the same point that you realise that Mastorakis really doesn’t care anymore, let alone has any idea how to end the movie.

The death scenes are all explicit and filmed with an almost voyeuristic glee, as Mastorakis unleashes a variety of interesting deaths from the traditional stalk and slash, to the slightly more creative such as a bulldozer blade and memorably using an aeroplane wing to hang one of their victims during flight. Still none of these are shot with any sense of fun are largely just gratuitous violence and gore, which frequently makes for uncomfortable viewing.

“Island of Death” is another key example of a film which made the Video nasty list and which no doubt otherwise would have long since been forgotten like so many of the titles on the list and furthering the belief that the list did more harm than anything regarding protecting the movie going public from these kinds of movies, instead providing exploitation fans and gore hounds with a shopping list of titles to hunt down. Needless to say you can go through life having not seen this film and be all the better, especially as you won’t have wasted an hour and half of your life on this film, which left me with the same feeling I had after watching “The Human Centipede” an equally ghastly experience, which equally was all shocks over substance and like this film also soon realised that it has nowhere to go and no matter how low you sink the moral standard it still doesn’t make up for the serious lack of plotting and as such, I would recommend this only for video nasty completists and celluloid curiosity seekers only.

Ultimate 70s Blogathon: Snoopy, Come Home (1972) by Starry Traveler’s Road

We’re in the final week of Ultimate 70’s Blogathon! Kicking off this week is one of my segment co-hosts, Phoebe from Starry Traveler’s Road with her review of 1972 animated Peanuts film, Snoopy, Come Home. If you don’t know Phoebe, she is my Battle of Ingredients co-host and her blog focuses on parenting, from movies, books and events reviews and recaps that she shares with her little one along with some nice craft ideas. Head on over and check it all out, but first, check out her review in her Movies with Bun Bun style!

Movies with Bun Bun: Snoopy, Come Home (1972)

Hello everyone! Mega big thank yous to my awesome Battle of Ingredients co-host Tranquil Dreams and Drew for hosting the Ultimate 70s Blogathon! The last two Blogathons were fun so here I am again with my Bun Bun for a new movie review!

I am a huge fan of Snoopy for as long as I remember. I have all kinds of collectibles from a pretty battered tin box to a chess board with Peanuts characters as chess pieces. Given this is an Ultimate 70s Blogathon, I decided to show her one of my favorite movies that I watched again and again on those heavy and shiny LaserDiscs called Snoopy, Come Home.

I am lousy at summaries, so I will go straight to IMDb’s:

Snoopy travels to see his sick former owner and then feels obliged to return to her permanently. – IMDB

I watched many Snoopy movies as I adore the dynamic between Snoopy and Woodstock. I am not sure why this one stands out, but I guess the music (the whistling and The Best of Buddies song) and the fact Snoopy tried to go back to his old owner played a role in all this. Also, the catchy and grave voice emphasizing on “No Dogs Allowed” is funny too –

It took me a few tries before Bun Bun settled down on watching the movie with me. One conclusion is, it may be a little bit long for a toddler’s attention span. Bun knows that I like Snoopy as she pointed to my mug when she saw the character (Yes, I drink from a Snoopy mug that says, “Relaxation is an ART. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE”, very fitting for a mom.) Instead of climbing on furniture and banging on my keyboard like last year, she was asking “whatz this?” or commented “Oh no!” every now and then, so I had to occasionally stop and explain what is going on to her. The movie took FOREVER to finish… it was quality time as we watched it twice together. The first time was cut into two due to her bedtime (obviously tantrum ensued) and we watched it in one shot the second time around while eating brunch.

There are actually a few things that I realized from re-watching this movie as an adult and mom. Societal norms have changed a lot over the last 30-40 years! I stopped and commented a lot to bun bun during this segment:

I told her how tying thick ropes and pulling hard were not the way to treat animals, especially a dog. Not to mention spanking a dog or anything/anybody is not a nice thing to do as it hurts; therefore, she needs to play nicely!

Every time bun bun saw a crying scene, she pointed and said, “Oh no!” It is nice to see she understands emotions and other things as she progressively learns more about the world.

This is it for our movie review! Hope you enjoy the rest of the Ultimate 70s Blogathon!

Ultimate 70s Blogathon: 5 Easy Pieces (1970) by MovieRob

Joining us with his second entry for Ultimate 70s Blogathon is from MovieRob and his review of Five Easy Pieces. If you missed his first review, it was for The Exorcist and you can find it here. If you don’t know MovieRob, you sure are missing out on a lot of great movie reviews. I mean, he is a movie watching and reviewing monster with over 3,700 reviews on his site in just a few years time. He hosts the monthly Genre Grandeur segment and is currently doing a 90 Days of Nominees segment. He is a must-read movie review site that you have to head over and check out….after you’ve read his review below of Five Easy Pieces.

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“You’re a strange person, Robert. I mean, what will you come to? If a person has no love for himself, no respect for himself, no love of his friends, family, work, something – how can he ask for love in return? I mean, why should he ask for it?” – Catherine

Number of Times Seen – 2 (10 Mar 2013 and 5 Feb 2018)

Brief Synopsis – An oil worker not content with his life tries to find a way to happiness.

My Take on it – This is a film that I saw a few years ago and wasn’t too enthralled with but since it was nominated for Best Picture, I decided to rewatch in hopes that maybe I would find a way to connect with the film more this time.

But that wasn’t meant to be because I believe that I enjoyed this film this time even less than the first time I saw it.

We all know that Jack Nicholson is a great actor and he has been nominated so many times for an Oscar (not to mention his three wins), but sometimes his roles just don’t connect well enough.

This, IMHO is one of those situations.

His character is constantly seeking his place in life and after running away from his high class life, he does his best to be a blue collar worker while working on an oil field.

His life is passing him by yet he still isn’t content with anything and wants something else.

He constantly yearns to return to his love of music, yet for some reason doesn’t choose to actively pursue this and would rather cheat on his girlfriend and try to have fun which also doesn’t help him feel more content in life.

I just couldn’t understand the character’s real motivations and didn’t care much for the way he chose to act.

The story itself moves along really slowly and doesn’t go anywhere while trying to help Nicholson’s character find his way in life.

Perhaps I am missing something here with this story or maybe it was more relate-able back when it came out, but I personally just couldn’t care much for it and am completely baffled as to how this was nominated for Best Picture that year along with Best screenplay, Actor (Nicholson) and Actress (Karen Black).

Bottom Line – Still baffled how this film got nominated for Best Picture that year.  The performances are nice including that of Nicholson in the lead yet, I couldn’t sympathize with the character at all and didn’t really care as to what would happen to him. The story doesn’t really move along very well and despite knowing that the characters are seeking something better, they rarely try getting it. Perhaps this was more relate-able at the time, but I was just bored the whole time. Even the diner scene wasn’t as powerful as some have claimed.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – When Dupea goes to quit his oil-rigging job, the loud whirring of machines can be heard in the background. This identical sound effect was used by George Lucas for the trash compacter scene in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (3/10)

Ultimate 70s Blogathon: The Exorcist (1973) by Emma K Wall (Explains It All)

Our next participant joining us for the Ultimate 70s Blogathon is Emma from Emma K Wall (Explains It All) with her review of The Exorcist. Before we talk about how iconic The Exorcist is since we have two entries for it already, remember to check out Emma’s amazing blog where she talks about movies, TV, music and books and injects a great personality and style to it all. Its always a fun time over there.

Without further ado, here’s her review of horror classic, The Exorcist.

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Thank you to Drew and Kim for hosting such a great blogathon! And what a cool, psychedelic banner you created too (if I may add – see my right-hand column for proof).

The Exorcist (1973) – Film Review

Though not one of my absolute personal favourites (like top 20 or something), I still believe that The Exorcist is one of the greatest horror films, if not THE greatest horror film ever made. And I realise that’s an incredibly bold statement but it’s hard to imagine anything else ever being as infamous, chilling and powerful. It’s the ultimate battle between good and evil. It has an amazing atmosphere, pairing great writing with genuine terror and is still scary to this day (45 years after its original release – actually that might be the scariest fact of all!). Anyway, twinned with the fact I’d watched it fairly recently it was an easy choice for the Ultimate 70s Blogathon.

I first watched The Exorcist as a teenager (almost a rite of passage) and it did really scare me. But let’s just get this out the way now – of course it won’t ‘scare’ everyone. And of course it won’t scare you if you watch it with your stoner mates and laugh loudly through the crucifix scene. But that doesn’t make it shit, okay? I don’t often get on my high horse with movies (not unless someone starts slagging of Face Off or Zoolander) but it genuinely irritates me when people say “The Exorcist? That’s shit! I thought it was funny”. Er, no mate. It wasn’t the first ever horror film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar for nothing you know (though it didn’t win). Aaaaand exhale.

The Exorcist is an Absolute Classic – plain and simple. I refuse to hear otherwise. Apart from some valid points already mentioned, there are other various reasons it deserves the jagged, bloody crown of horror.

Based on a novel, it has a super, valid and coherent story. Made in the 70s it has those beautiful on-screen retro effects. You know when they’re all freezing cold in Regan’s room and their breath comes out white? Well the room really was like an ice box. And you know Regan’s horrible gravely ‘possessed’ voice? That really was done by a voice actress – who chain smoked and drank whiskey to get the tone right (you gotta love that relaxed 1970s outlook).

It’s also very well directed and I can only assume William Friedkin pissed off the entire set with his gung-ho attitude. Examples include firing a real gun next to someone’s head to get a ‘real’ reaction and the bit where Regan’s mother (Ellen Burstyn) is attacked by her possessed daughter, well she really WAS in pain – and shouting angrily at Friedkin as she landed on the floor, screaming and clutching her back. It was a genuine reaction – and cheerfully kept in the film. If you care to check out the IMDB trivia page you’ll find lots of similar stories. And then of course there’s the cool mystery, intrigue and real life horror that generally surrounds The Exorcist. Like the myth that there was evil ‘written into the pages’ of the script, making it a cursed movie from the beginning. With deaths on the set and a fire that halted production for a number of weeks, interestingly there was actually a real life exorcism ON SET – that’s how freaked out they all were. And the terror definitely continued with the audience, with reports of people fainting, throwing up and running out of the cinema, one guy apparently actually broke his jaw as he collapsed in shear, dramatic fear.

Aside from all that, it also seems important to point out that The Exorcist is also scary, simply because it’s just that – SCARY. It’s dark, it’s claustrophobic, there’s creepy eyes and demonic voices, evil laughter, dark corners and tension. We’re talking about a cute little girl possessed by a malevolent demon for goodness sake. And though it’s now been done many, many (yawn) times, back in 1973, can you imagine how effing terrifying it was?

                                                                                                                                 

So, what more proof do we need that The Exorcist is a terrifying and brilliant delight? We have a great story, a mental director, superb old effects and a genuine feel of evil. Well, I suppose we could do with a world famous theme tune? Something that everyone now associates with the film? Happily The Exorcist also succeeds this, in the shape of Mike Oldfield’s the Tubular Bells. Not a score written for the movie, but a piece of music used in the movie and now basically as famous as the movie. And in places, just as scary.

Reblog: Ultimate 70s Blogathon: The Exorcist (1973) by MovieRob

***Sorry for the late reblog. It seems the reblog button has vanished and I was hoping it was just a maintenance bug with WordPress. However, here’s the manual reblog! Have any of you encountered the same problem?***

Yesterday’s fantastic Ultimate 70s Blogathon entry was from the amazing MovieRob who I know as someone who doesn’t watch horror however he’s offered as the first of two entries, a review of 1973’s horror classic, The Exorcist. I’ve never seen The Exorcist before and I wonder if it’ll hold up if I were to watch it today. Let me just mention that MovieRob is awesome in many ways as a movie reviewer, he also is the first participant in the blogathon to break us out of the latter 70s great films and takes us back to the first half of 70s. Great job!

Head over to Drew’s Movie Reviews to check out his fantastic review of The Exorcist HERE.

On the side note: If you want to catch up with all the posts, we have a Ultimate 70s Blogathon list HERE which is updated daily.

Ultimate 70s Blogathon: Slap Shot (1977) – Ten Stars or Less

To wrap up the first week of Ultimate 70s Blogathon is Ryan from Ten Stars or Less and his look at 1977 sports film Slapshot. Ten Stars or Less gives nice and quick reviews of all kinds of movies everyday with a lovely rating system just as the site’s name implies, out of 10.

Let’s check out what makes Slap Shot his Ultimate 70’s pick!

Just waiting for the next line brawl!

 

If you google the top movies from the 1970’s you will get a long list of franchise defining movies like The Godfather, The Exorcist, Jaws, Halloween, Rocky, Star Wars, and many other Oscar worthy films that defined the decade. I could have chosen any of those epic movies but I figured everyone else was going to so I went off the charts here. Hockey has been a huge part of my life since I was kid and although Slap Shot is not the kind of movie young kids should be watching, I’ve been watching it since a very young age. Slap Shot means as much to the game of hockey, the history of the sport, as the black puck or the ice itself.

 

You are probably asking yourself how do I come to that conclusion, some 40 years later? Well let’s take a moment to examine the connections between the Hollywood version of hockey and the actual game itself. Before I forget to mention it, Paul Newman actually learn how to skate for his role and did all of his scenes. How’s that for a bit of movie/hockey trivia?

 

This film is based on the fictional Charlestown Chiefs, who play in the Federal League. They are a loveable bunch of losers who couldn’t win a hockey game if the other team didn’t show up and they had the ice to themselves. Led by player/coach Red Dunlop (Newman) and leading scorer Ned Braden (<span class=”itemprop”>Michael Ontkean), the Chiefs are looking to relocate to Florida when the local mill closes. In order to make the deal possible, the Chiefs need to change their identity and become winners. Penny pinching General Manager Joe McGrath (Strother Martin) brings in three brothers from the Iron League to change the personality of the team and ignite a fire in the guys. Jeff, Jack, and Steve Hanson are some of the weirdest hockey players you’ll ever meet, but man can these guys play. Whether it’s fighting the opponents, the fans, or each other, the Chiefs begin to win and earns points as they make their way to the championship and hopefully to the sunny beaches of south Florida. </span>

 

Hard to tell if this picture of Hansons was taken before or after the game.

Hockey was a rough and tumble game in the 1970’s. For people who watch today’s game, fighting is non-existent and the game is all about speed and finesse. Several decades ago it was about hitting your opponent through the boards or breaking your stick across their skull. There’s a scene in Slap Shot where one of the Hanson brothers gets hit in the face by a key chain, which prompts the Chiefs to invade the stands and fight everyone. Sadly, there was a game in which a player from the Boston Bruins went into the crowd and fought some fans for God knows what reasons.

 

The Boston Bruins invading the stands 1979

I love hockey history and the 1970’s is definitely one of the most talked about periods. The National Hockey League had expanded from six to 12 teams in 1967 and the power house Boston Bruins would fight against their arch rivals the Montreal Canadiens numerous times for the Stanley Cup during the decade. Meanwhile down in Philadelphia, the Flyers were one of the new expansion teams and looked to leave their mark on the sport. Named “The Board Street Bullies” for their wrestling style of hockey, the Flyers became the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup just seven years after joining the league. A lot of the guys from those teams are in the Hall of Fame, but none of them have all their teeth. Aggressive play has both its rewards and consequences. As evident in Slap Shot, fighting may look pretty on the outside, but when you are in the trenches, it is all out war and some are lucky to survive.

 

Board Street Bullies doing what they do best…

 

I chose Slap Shot as my selection for the Ultimate 70’s pick because it really glorifies what playing hockey was like during that decade. If you didn’t bleed or you still had all your teeth, you weren’t really a hockey player. This film, based on several character’s real life experiences in the bus riding minor leagues, is everything you would want in a movie. There is plenty of sex, dirty jokes, violence, great hockey action, a variety of stupid characters, some crazy characters, a guy named Killer, a goalie who plays despite not taking his medication, brothers who play with this fists, and a general manager who makes his players perform in fashion shows. A lot of the story won’t make any sense to the average movie goer who doesn’t like sports, even though this is really the ultimate Cinderella story for hockey movies. If you play hockey, you can probably quote this movie by heart and definitely know a guy who owns a Chiefs jersey. That’s the beauty of it all.

 

There will be hundreds of movies out there that remind people of life back in the 1970’s, but there will always be one Holy Grail of hockey movies, the film every film made after it has to live to, and that is Slap Shot. Arguably the greatest hockey movie of all-time.

 

The Charlestown Chiefs

Ultimate 70s Blogathon Kick-Off: Alien (1979)

Ultimate 70s Blogathon officially kicks off today.

To get things started, my lovely cohost Drew from Drew’s Movie Reviews and I will be starting things off at both of our blogs today. To kick off the blogathon, I am reviewing Alien, a movie released nearly 40 years ago and started off a franchise that has been getting a revivial in the last few years. For that, it deserves its spot in this blogathon! For myself, this movie holds a significant spot as one of the first 70s film that I ever saw.

Lets check it out!

Alien (1979)

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto

After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as a distress call, its landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious lifeform, and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun. – IMDB

Alien is a 1979 sci fi horror thriller directed by Ridley Scott. Everyone knows that but I honestly had no idea how to start off this review about such a popular movie. As much as it kicks off a franchise, the debate of whether this film or its sequel Aliens is better is almost inevitable. However, while both are very good in their own respects, Alien is one that has always got my heart. It really is quite iconic from both the perspective of its story, the atmosphere, the iconic female protagonist and its impeccably brutal alien Xenomorph, it hits a lot of elements perfectly.  Alien can sometimes feel slightly slower in its pacing but this also is where its tense thriller and horror-esque atmosphere is built so well.The darker environment and the mysterious mists here and there along with the foreign space they investigate create some rather creepy imagery right down to the epic face hugger scene and can only send chills down your spine.

The predatory abilities of the Xenomorph is an unknown and as we follow the different characters and their different encounters, we learn a little more. Xenomorph is one of the outstanding parts of this film. Its a speciman to gain knowledge about and as it develops and transforms throughout the film, making a speechless villain have an incredible amount of presence both psychologically and physically.

A great villain needs to be met with someone worthy to fight them off amd here we have the femme fatale Ellen Ripley who really is the standout character in the movie. Everyone else just fills a spot but Sigourney Weaver’s role portrayal of Ellen Ripley is done so well. She’s tough and smart. The encounters are tense but she also knows how to feel quite real. You can almost say that she breaks the mold of the leading men and their badass role but taking on this tough lady role who fights for survival against this monster alien. As much as Ellen Ripley is a great character and the other supporting roles here as the other six crew members feel dispensable, there are still some decent performances delivered. Ellen Ripley played a voice of reason and the consequences of not listening to her eventually was what caused the disaster on the spaceship.

Revisiting older movies are tough to review. On one hand, its inevitable that some will not carry well over time especially sci-fi films because technology has changed so much over the years. Somehow, as much as technology changed and the tech here seems out of date along with some of the effects, Alien still carries itself really well. The horror moments with the face hugger and the Xenomorph are still creepy and believable. The ship feels real enough to be immersed in the events happening on the spaceship. Overall, Alien as a rewatch delivers itself really well and is still an immersive and thrilling watch and shows how before its times it was when it was released in 1979 with a bunch of unique elements that fit so well together.

Head over to Drew’s Movie Reviews to check out his review to kick off the Ultimate 70s Blogathon some time today!
For the rest of the blogathon, posts will be showing up alternate days between our blogs.
Remember to follow us to not miss out on any of the fantastic entries!

Reminder: Ultimate 70’s Blogathon

Good morning my lovelies!

Drew from Drew’s Movie Reviews and I announced the Ultimate 70s Blogathon last week. If you missed our announcement post, you can find all the details right HERE. Its a simple concept to choose your favorite 70’s movie in short.

I’d love to send out a reminder that Ultimate 70’s blogathon kicks off on February 12th and the deadline for posts to be submitted to us is on February 4th. If you are interested in joining, send us an email to tell us what movie you choose to do or tell us in the comments whether you’d like to join in so we can plan. If you need an extension, that is always an option. We are pretty flexible about it as long as we know in advance and can plan accordingly.

Again, please submit your reviews to us by email as we post them alternately on both our blogs. You can reach us at kim.tranquildreams@gmail.com and drewt510@gmail.com. 

If you know anyone that would like to join, pass on the message. The more the merrier!

Thanks and we look forward to receiving your reviews!