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Alien fans can scream all they want, no one can hear them. Ridley Scott will always be known as the guy who directed Blade Runner...
Olivier (from Encinitas, CA)
This would be close, except that on rewatch, the xenomorph is....just a dude in a rubber suit. The conception is great, the early, insanely creepy uncoiling half-glimpses were insanely creepy, but by the time it gets where it's going, it's a dude in a rubber suit doing jazz hands. And the chest-burster looks like a gym sock glued to a remote controlled race car when it moves.
NO this is not a defense of CGI, NO I don't need seamless realism, NO I am not unaware of how bad the Vangelis soundtrack for BR is, but....my wife and I saw the rerelease of Alien on the big screen, and at the same moments we just looked at each other and laughed.
BR is thematically muddled, but its a convincing, atmospheric noir with a great ending. So I voted for it.
I have to go with Alien here even though Blade Runner is also one of my favorite films. If Alien ceased to exist, we would no longer have Aliens, and a world without Aliens is not a world I want to live in.
This is the correct death match because it's the consensus choices for his two best films. And between the two, I voted for BLADE RUNNER, which touches my soul more than ALIEN does, even though that film gave me plenty of night sweats after the first time I saw it.
That being said, I know you two are curious about whether any of his other films would be chosen over either of these two. I'll tell you that I would pick one other Ridley Scott film over ALIEN. That film is KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. I'm specifically referring to the Director's Cut version. I believe that version of the film is the best medieval film ever made, a glorious and profoundly spiritual look at Jerusalem's cultural importance, as well as being a complex portrait of how Western and Islamic culture clash. It's a film perfectly of the moment, exploring religious extremism through the lens of the post-9/11 world, while also being meticulously researched and (surprisingly) very historically accurate. Technically, it's everything I love about Ridley Scott movies: gorgeously shot and designed, expertly paced, and well acted. But beyond that, it has thematic heft that lingers even a decade after its release.
You guys keep acting like this is a tough one, but this is actually the easiest deathmatch since Kurt Russell vs Dennis Quaid. Both of these movies are masterpieces of design and atmosphere, but one of them is also a masterpiece of screenwriting, pacing, and tension, and the other one is Blade Runner. Yes, Blade Runner deals with heavier ideas, in the same way as Prometheus (burn), which is to say that it pays lip service to them without ever exploring them in any meaningful way, or in a way that actually applies to us as human beings in the real world. The fact that Ridley Scott has come out and said definitively that Deckard is a replicant shows that he doesn't even understand his own movie. The main thematic thrust of the film is that this human is more cold and emotionless (robotic) than the robots he is hunting, a theme which is completely undercut if he is also literally a robot. Add to that one of the most lifeless and unengaging romances ever put to film, and a detective story where the only real detective work is an extended "zoom in and enhance" sequence, and you have a movie that is beautiful to watch, but ultimately empty. The only reason it has any emotional heft at all is because Rutger Hauer is so brilliant he is able to bring weight and gravitas to silly dialogue.
Alien, on the other hand, is a perfect film, one of my top five of all time. Every character feels real, and fully developed, to where their actions actually make sense. The slow pace feels deliberate and effective at ratcheting up the tension, rather than ponderous. H.R. Giger's designs are beautiful and terrifying in a way that feels timeless and primal. The alien itself is possibly the greatest monster ever created for the screen, and we are shown its entire life cycle, which gives us a deeper understanding of what it is, and also allows for the film to scare us in different ways over the course of it's running time. The horror of that pulsing egg, is different from the horror of the facehugger, which is different from the horror of the chestburster, which is different from the horror of a giant phallic monster whose soul purpose in life is to kill you. The stripped down, genre aspect of the film, which some have sited as a reason to vote against it, is actually it's greatest strength. I'd rather have an exceptional haunted house/monster/slasher movie than a jumbled, mediocre rumination on what it means to be human any day of the week.
I love both, but I rewatch Blade Runner way more. The creepiness in Alien is dulled somewhat knowing what the xenomorph is. Let me go apologise to my xenomorph plushie now...
This is ridiculous! Anyone who doesn't recognize 'Thelma and Louise' as the best Ridley Scott movie is clearly a chauvinistic pig!
I disagree with the commenters who say Blade Runner hasn't aged well. I appreciate it more as a 40-something than I did as a teenager. The Tears in Rain improvised monologue is perfection (say it with me: "attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion") and wins the poll just for that, but the atmosphere and vision of the future cement it. I'll take it over the current crop of dystopian CGI-heavy films any day. Yes, including Hunger Games. Sorry Adam.
Alien is a cartoon compared to Blade Runner, all simplistic action no thought or questions asked
Blade Runner ,YES
Blade Runner is the clear pick for me, but rather than explain why, I'd like to tell my favorite story about the film: I once discussed Blade Runner with my high school film teacher before we watched it in class, and that discussion involved me explaining the theory that Deckard is, himself, a replicant (as evidenced by his daydream of a unicorn and the origami unicorn at the end of the film). Months later, when it came time to watch the film in class, my teacher began explaining the plot as if Deckard was definitively and undoubtedly a replicant and that that fact was the plot of the film. I couldn't help but laugh, and no one understood why.
While Alien is one of my favourite films of all time, the fact that Aliens would still exist if I pick Blade Runner made this an easy choice. I was shown the opening 10 minutes of Scott's masterpiece in English class when in secondary school (High school) and was left with this sense of awe that few films have managed to recapture for me.
If I had to pick another Scott film besides Alien or Blade Runner, it would be the directors cut of Kingdom of Heaven. Character actors are crammed into this forgotten gem, and Orlando Bloom gives probably his most well rounded performance to date. The extra 45 minutes of story makes the directors cut an epic telling of a subject that still divides the world to this date
When I was younger I would have picked Alien. I saw this film when it originally opened. It was like being slammed with an overwhelming sense of fear. I went home after the film to my apartment. My boyfriend was out of town. Had to call a friend and spend the night at her home. No other film has ever done this to me. Now that I am in my 60's I have to pick Bladerunner. This film speaks to my growing sense of my own mortality. Like Batty I am greedy for more life. I have had a splendid run but I want more. I have a wealth of memories and knowledge of the world. I would also like to poke the creator or rules of evolution in the eye for making me age and eventually turning off my brain.
Ok both are great movies. But one the fact that Alien is not only one of the very few movies in the last 20 years that actually uses it's space setting (and no having stuff fly through it shooting lasers is not "using space") but that it basically has become one of the if not THE template for sucessfull movies set in space for me makes Alien a no brainer choice here!
I'm choosing Blade Runner, but not because it's a better film. Alien's formidable DNA has found its way into dozens of my favorite genre films that take place both in and out of space (The Descent, The Abyss, Event Horizon to name a few). Even after this deathmatch poll, when Alien is gone, we can still experience much of what made it great in those other films. To it's credit, Blade Runner is a film awash in outsize ideas and ambitious design...but somehow it feels like it was made 10 years too soon (before the technology required to make that world a uniquely realized one was available to the filmmaker). Jim Pallini Bethpage, NY
Alien. Why dis even a question?
This is a poll it's easy to get caught up in, and I imagine it will spark some pretty fascinating arguments. But everyone remember: no one will remember the outcome of this poll. It will be lost in time...like tears...in rain...
I have regarded Bladerunner as pretty much my favorite film since I first watched it when I was 15 or so. When given the option to create security questions for websites listing my favorite movie it is always Bladerunner. When they re-released the final cut version in theaters a few years back I went to see it twice, once with my son and once with my wife. I honestly can't count how many times I have seen the movie in all of its versions.
When speaking in generalities, sci-fi is what I do enjoy the most when it comes to books, tv, movies. Tag something as science fiction and I will at least want to check it out (too bad so much of it is not done very well). Alien is certainly up there as a great example of what can be done within a sci-fi theme. The horrors of the unknown and unknowable. The movie also spawned one of the most recognizable aliens/monsters in cinema. BUT...from just that opening scene in Bladerunner I am taken away into this distorted yet beautiful future. The settings, the cinematography, even the Vangelis soundtrack create this world that has bits and pieces we can connect with, want to connect with, but at the same time it is this scary, intimidating world that has crossed the boundaries of what is real, what it means to be real (this is a theme in many PK Dick books). And the way Ridley Scott took this sci-fi story and was able to create an almost 50's style noir movie from it is something that I have grown to really appreciate.
So yes, I vote Bladerunner.
Blade Runner all the way.
For one reason only, Roy's monologue.
The tears in the rain soliloquy provides the one thing Alien is lacking, and that is sentiment. And by this I don't mean cheap thrills about the main characters being in peril, this you get in both movies, but something quite more exceptional.
Roy's change of character answers a question that was actually not raised in the movie (but boldly asked in the title of the Philip K Dick's book), revealing the existence of a soul by showing compassion and respect for Deckard's life, all life in fact, leaving the audience sympathizing and caring for a character that seconds ago was the villain and also because a predictable Hollywood ending was outbided by a deeper one that actually made sense (in the sci-fi universe of the film).
This acts as a sentimental plot twist, deus ex machina and a Usual Suspects-type reveal to both Roy and the audience. In other words more levels and hidden levels than Super Mario...
The power of the monologue is so great that if it was delivered to Ripley by the small inner mouth of the Alien it would not only made Alien win this poll but also any other poll against the Citizens Kane, Godfathers or Taxi Drivers of film history. But alas this is not the case...
I need to rewatch Blade Runner... I get its themes and really like its aesthetic, but for some reason it always left me feeling cold as a sci-fi, a noir, and an existential musing. I don't know, I always thought there was something wrong with me because it's so well-regarded. But for now, Alien wins since I'm pretty sure it's in my Top 10.
from Hesse (Germany)
I am not going to talk about how, as good as Alien is, which is a lot, Blade Runner is the better movie. I am not going to go into detail about the richer plot, the depth of the world created and of the themes explored, the great writing, the unique and entrancing ambiance, the fabulous art direction, the music. Instead I will only give you four words that should definitely solve this question :
Tears in the rain.
*mic drop*
I wanted to re-watch BLADE RUNNER before voting but it looks like my copy went the way of my previous relationship. So I'm voting with the caveat that I haven't seen BLADE RUNNER in at least ten years, whereas I saw ALIEN as recently as last year, if I'm not mistaken.
And so, my vote goes for BLADE RUNNER. Both movies are great, but the rooftop speech, if it's as amazing as I remember, beats anything ALIEN can offer.
To everyone saying that ALIEN is JUST a genre film, I will just quote what Dan O'Bannon, the film's screenwriter, has to say about exactly why he wrote the film:
"One thing that people are all disturbed about is sex... I said 'That's how I'm going to attack the audience; I'm going to attack them sexually. And I'm not going to go after the women in the audience, I'm going to attack the men. I am going to put in every image I can think of to make the men in the audience cross their legs."
The entire film is clearly trying to get you into the body of a woman. It's trying to make MEN feel like what it means to walk around, very conscious of the fact, that someone could force themselves on you and rape you. And it succeeds, wildly. So please do not discredit Alien as just a genre film.
Personally, I would say BLADE RUNNER is more of a genre film. Not that it's bad, but it pretty clearly takes the best of film noir tropes and plays with them. It's stylistic and fun but aside from a few powerhouse moments, it's not as singular or astonishing an artistic vision as ALIEN.
(Woodland Hills, CA)
This poll is evil.
Blade Runner is a great movie. Alien is one of the greatest movies. I'm voting Alien.
Alien is a fantastic genre film, but its genre is basically a slasher. Sure, it has some sci-fi components, mainly the setting, and sure, the Weaver character isn't exploited for sexual hijinks, but the result is the same. It's greatest strength is the influence is makes.
Blade Runner, however, doesn't cower to its genre. Its Sci-Fi, noir, and complicated character study. To those who say the conflict in Alien is stronger: how dare you! The conflict in Blade Runner is to deal with what it is to be human. And the "stars off Orion" speech is the perfect amount of poetry and insight that allows us, as viewers, and a people, to penetrate that question. Blade Runner isn't just a film, its literature on film. Add to that the sexual nature of the film, which allows for some interesting feminist-lens study, and the ever-more-present question of man's relationship with machines, and we see a film that endures well beyond it's scope.
These questions and themes are so much more immersive than our individual identity vs a multinational corporation, or whether science should explore every nook and cranny of the universe. And much more interesting than waiting to see who falls prey next.
All in all, Alien might uplift its genre. It may be the pinnacle and a major influence. But Blade Runner uplifts film.
Alien. Because of all the reasons everyone has stated. And because I still don't know which version of Blade Runner I should be watching.
While Blade Runner may be a slicker, more beautifully designed production that deals with some more complex ideas, Alien is the one that lodges itself deep within your psyche, and viscerally haunts you for years on end. Alien it is.
I used to think my greatest fear was a xenomorph, until I saw the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. Now, my greatest fear is the xenomorph's original designer: H.R. Giger himself. If he even visited the set one time to speak with the cast and crew, the gravelly swiss terror of that man's speaking voice was likely enough to give the whole production the jolt of dread that's palpable in every cell of the final film.
Alien for me. Why - because the film is etched in my memory from when I was a 15 year old teenage girl seeing it at the movies and had never seen a female character in a movie anything like the powerhouse of Sigourney Weaver - I have memories even now at the age of 51 how she affected me watching this movie as a young female living in a small town, feeling powerless with a bossy first boyfriend by my side. I saw Bladerunner a couple years later and while I fell in love with Harrison Ford frankly I fell in love with lots of leading men at that age but I don't have those incredible etched memories of the standout character and performance of Sigourney Weaver's character.
My choice is definitely Alien, but I disagree with the contention that Alien "singlehandedly created the horror/sci-fi genre". It certainly perfected it, but 1958's IT! The Terror From Beyond Space is remarkably similar in plot construction, features an alien who kills a crew one by one, is ultimately killed in almost the same way, and predated Scott's film by over 20 years! I would argue that even Fritz Lang's Metropolis from 1927 featured horror tropes mixed in with the science-fiction. Was Alien the first? No. Was it one of the best? Most definitely.
Definitely Blade Runner. I get more and more out of it with every viewing. Both are pretty incomparable, but I can at least quench my Ellen Ripley/HR Giger thirst with Aliens. Blade Runner is unlike any other neo noir, it's unlike any other Harrison Ford movie, it's unlike any other Ridley Scott movie, it's unlike any other artificial intelligence movie, it's unlike any other dystopian movie... And personally, I think it's just nicer to look at. Blade Runner is simply more bang for your buck.
I don't know what the big deal is, this is probably the easiest death match you guys have ever put up. It's simply gotta be Alien. I never got the love and praise for Blade Runner. Sure, it is nice to look at, has a great score and inspiring imagery. But its glacial pacing and bland main performance by Harrison Ford don't do this film any favors. I've seen Blade Runner multiple times, just to reassess whether I'd missed something but I always come around to the realization that's it's not the masterpiece people make it out to be. Alien on the other hand is a film that works both visually and on a story level. Long story short, Alien all the way.
Alien.
Kirkland, NY
This is no contest for me, it's Alien. I saw both these movies for the first time when I was a pre-teen and just about every major set piece from Alien was burned into my memory on the first viewing. A massive alien cavern with thousands of eggs covered in green laser lit fog - the dead space jockey sitting on a mysterious structure in the background. The flame thrower search in the air ducts, Ash's milky android reveal, THE CHEST BURSTER, Weaver trapped in the escape pod with the Xenomorph - I couldn't forget that stuff if I wanted to. It's a genre defining masterpiece.
I certainly won't bash Blade Runner, but if I have to chose one I'll take Alien and lose no sleep over it.
I've loved each of these films at one time, but the only one I still love is Alien.
Blade Runner was great, but no matter how many different edits come out, it doesn't ever get better and indeed time is not treating it well. A coding sequence cannot be revised once it's been established.
It was made as well as Ridley could make it. But not to last.
If I never hear Tangerine Dream's turgid space-cookie ambient pop again I will die a happy man... yes, I'm that easy to please.
Everyone should see Blade Runner so as to appreciate what it passed on to our real future, and to be happy that it once burned so very, very brightly.
Alien - despite some deplorable sequelizing - wins.
The best Filmspotting polls are death matches but you knew that. This one has acid for blood.
This is the "Sophie's Choice" of all Filmspotting polls. Two of my all-time favourite films. Only one can survive. The tears splash on my keyboard as I type my choice:
ALIEN
It singlehandedly created the sci-fi/horror genre, gave us one of the most memorable Final Girls in the character of Ripley, and is a pitch-perfect, slow-boil of a monster movie. Plus, H.R. Giger's beautifully creepy set designs.
Alien, to me is far and away, the better film. Honestly, Blade Runner bores me. I agree with (Arthouse) Adam that Alien is more artsy than Blade Runner. No matter which version you're watching.
Finally, an easy deathmatch. Whereas James Cameron's ALIENS was an action movie, and Fincher's ALIEN 3 was an existential drama, Ridley Scott's original is a pure horror movie, utilizing the best elements of the genre: silence, screen space, rising tension, modulated pace, and character-building. ALIEN is to sci-fi horror as GOODFELLAS is to gangster cinema.
In contrast, BLADE RUNNER is a mess: overstuffed atmospheric production design oozing onto the floor of a confused, childish narrative. It's a tough sit whether you're 16 or 36, full of stilted acting, wannabe-noir voiceover, and dated visual effects. I'll be glad to see the masterpiece ALIEN survive this deathmatch, dooming all equally risible cuts of the forgettable, titanically overrated BLADE RUNNER into relieving non-existence.
Blade Runner is one of the greatest science fiction films ever made, but as someone who owns a dearly loved plush xenomorph toy I'd be a hypocrite to go with anything other than Alien. Chestbursters forever.
Blade Runner's pacing faulters the entire film with several voids of scenes that neither evoke ideas or emotions. Artificial intelligence has been explored in depth in films like Speilberg's AI and more recently Ex Machina that do not have the slow pace, which makes Blade Runner a harder film to revisit. It's visual influence is what audiences remember. Not the story, not characters (exception of the antagonist), or even the ideas it brings up.
Alien may be a monster movie, yet it builds with effective tension filling scenes with a sense of dread and paranoa. We are always learning something new about this world and the titular creature. Particularly the alien ship where a singular image of the fossilized pilot and countless eggs that stimulated my imagination, making me fear and wonder what else is in this universe. I simply remember not only the visual scope, but the characters, the unfolding story, and the horrific ideas it shows and implies. Alien is the definitive movie in it's genre. Blade Runner is a visual template.
You people are evil. This may be the hardest death match in Filmspotting history. I feel like this is a tough choice that lot of critics must make when deciding a best of list. Which is better, the flawless taught film with minimal grander themes or interests (Alien) or the not quite perfect, uneven but deeply moving and one-of-a-kind work of art (Blade Runner)? In this case as much as I adore Alien as a truly perfect work of entertainment and pulp suspense, a world without Blade Runner is a sad world indeed. Putting aside the countless films influenced by it, Blade Runner still remains one of the best visions of the future, a perfectly poetic tribute to Los Angeles, and the defining American film of the 1980s. In exchange for this poll I demand a much harder reverse poll. Which are you forced to pick as the only surviving Ridley Scott film: Exodus: Gods and Kings or 1492: Conquest of Paradise?
Thanks to H.R. Giger, Alien is a remarkable visual experience. But, after all, it is a conventional, 2 dimensional, quiet, quiet, BANG, scarefest.
I rate Blade Runner among the best ever made, along with La Dolce Vita, The Third Man, and Pandora's Box.
If I still get Aliens, then I choose Blade Runner.
Two totally perfect visual films, but I think Ripley and the Alien defeat Deckard and Roy as central characters with great conflict. Rewatching each this year, Alien is perhaps more quietly the better looking film, and Deckard stands out as being a little boring.
That said, which would I rather watch again and again? Alien. But I might miss having seen Blade Runner once more. Hauer's improvised monologue is my favorite improvisation in film.
I vote Alien because I think it's the better film by a significant margin. But I can see why this is going to be close for a lot of people.
Alien. Because I'm simply not willing to trade Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ian Holm for Harrison Ford and Rutger "Tears in Rain" Hauer.
While Blade Runner is a good film, Alien is the more complete film and a masterpiece. The issue with Blade Runner is that it is so focused on the environment that it begins to lose the story. The other issue is that the characters lack the depth that is present in Alien. The small scale of Alien works to its advantage by making the Nostromo a ticking time bomb. Small films are more likely to achieve perfection because little details can be focused on more deeply than with ambitious films. Scott literally traps us on the ship with this creature where every decision and movement has major consequences. Not only is the xenomorph the most terrifying alien in cinema, but the claustrophobia is only heightened when the face hugger is introduced. Which may be the scariest scene in the film. But really it comes down to Ellen Ripley being the quintessential action hero.
I do think that Blade Runner has some nice moments but as a whole I think Alien is a far better movie. I actually rewatched 2 times Blade Runner in the last 6 months because I wanted to see if what I saw as a kid was still there but mostly it was just a few great scenes that I remembered and a lot of empty space in between.
I'd love to understand what makes it a masterpiece as seen in many people's eyes as I am willing to give it another go seeing it with another perspective.
I do admit that in Blade Runner is tremendously influectial in cinema and as stood with me in memory as the go to comparison looking at scifi/dystopian future genres but I do think that the same can be said about Alien in terms of the aesthetics and art design that would help shape many movies and videogames since.