Fitting 40th anniversary tribute to the super-scary 70's space flick
If you’re a fan of Alien you probably have more than a passing knowledge of the difficult gestation it had. You also probably know what an amazing combination of talents were involved and the huge amount of pre-production work that was undertaken by the creative team to bring Ridley Scott’s vision to the screen.
Author J.W. Rinzler has marshalled all of Alien’s long production history and a slew of new(ish) anecdotes into a handsome, broadly chronological, document, which is superbly illustrated throughout with concept art, behind-the-scenes photos, sketches, blue-prints and continuity polaroids, and storyboards including many so-called ‘Ridleygrams’ alongside excerpts from both the draft and shooting scripts. Some of this material is, naturally, familiar to anyone who has leafed through The Book of Alien or Giger’s Alien, but here it’s part of a swathe of material that’s much less familiar.
Overall, the book is a lovely artefact, if quite weighty, and worth the cover price in my opinion. Paper stock is heavy and glossy, and page layout is good and clear considering how many captions there are. If I have any niggles at all, I’d like to have seen more screen captures, or at least slightly bigger ones, to show the end-product of all the endeavour being described.
Amazing book for an Alien fan.
This was given to a family member who loves the Alien franchise and they were very impressed with the book and its content.
It’s big, it’s heavy, there’s glossy pics, blue prints, behind the scenes, never before seen pics, and much more.
If you’re here and you’re thinking about buying it for yourself or an alien fan, buy it now!
You won’t be disappointed.