Movies Like Alien

Frequently asked about Alien

Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.

• Is Alien ok for a 12 year old?▾

  Alien (1979) is rated R and contains intense body horror, graphic violence (notably the chestburster scene), strong language, and sustained terror that most parents and guides consider unsuitable for a typical 12-year-old. Common Sense Media recommends it for ages 16+.

• Which Alien film is the best?▾

  Critically, the original Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) are consistently ranked as the best entries in the franchise, with reviewers split between Ridley Scott's slow-burn horror and James Cameron's action-driven sequel. Both hold the highest Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores in the series.

• How much was Sigourney Weaver paid for Aliens?▾

  Sigourney Weaver was reportedly paid around $1 million for Aliens (1986), a significant raise from the roughly $35,000 she earned for the original Alien (1979). She also received a percentage of the film's profits.

• Is Alien 1979 a feminist film?▾

  Alien (1979) is widely discussed as a feminist film because Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, was written as a gender-neutral role and became one of cinema's first female action protagonists who survives through competence rather than rescue. Scholars also analyze its themes of bodily autonomy, male pregnancy imagery, and subversion of gendered horror tropes.

• Why did the Nostromo crew investigate the derelict ship on LV-426?▾

  The crew was awakened from cryosleep by the ship's computer, Mother, after it intercepted a transmission from the moon LV-426. Company policy (Special Order 937) required investigation of any potentially intelligent signal, with crew shares forfeited if they refused. It's later revealed the Weyland-Yutani Corporation already suspected the signal involved a lifeform and dispatched the crew specifically to retrieve a specimen.

• What was Ash's true mission and why did he attack Ripley?▾

  Ash was a Hyperdyne Systems android secretly planted by Weyland-Yutani to ensure the alien specimen was returned to Earth, with the crew classified as expendable. When Ripley accessed Mother and discovered Special Order 937, Ash tried to kill her to protect the mission. After being decapitated, his reactivated head confirms the company's orders and ominously tells the survivors he cannot lie to them about their chances — 'You have my sympathies.'

• Why didn't the facehugger kill Kane immediately, and what was it doing to him?▾

  The facehugger's purpose isn't to kill but to keep its host alive while implanting an embryo down the throat. It feeds oxygen to the host through its proboscis and uses its tail to choke anyone who tries to remove it, while its acidic blood prevents surgical removal. Once the embryo is implanted, the facehugger detaches and dies, leaving Kane seemingly healthy until the chestburster emerges hours later.

• Why did Kane's chestburster grow into a full-sized xenomorph so quickly?▾

  The xenomorph's biology is shown to be extraordinarily aggressive — it molts and matures within hours rather than years. The film implies the creature incorporates DNA or biomass from its host, which is why the adult alien has a vaguely humanoid, bipedal form despite the chestburster's serpentine appearance. Its rapid growth, combined with concentrated molecular acid for blood and a resin-secreting ability, marks it as a 'perfect organism' engineered for survival, as Ash admiringly describes it.

• How does Ripley finally kill the alien at the end of the film?▾

  After setting the Nostromo to self-destruct and escaping in the shuttle Narcissus, Ripley discovers the alien stowed away aboard. She puts on a spacesuit, opens the airlock to blow the creature into space, then fires a grappling harpoon at it as it clings to the doorway. The alien gets caught in the engine exhaust when she ignites the thrusters, finally killing it and leaving Ripley as the sole survivor alongside the cat, Jones.