Every fandom seems to have a special day 
set aside to celebrate just being a fan. Firefly fans have September 20th, Star Trek fans have April 5th, Star Wars fans have May 4th and fans of Alien have April 26th. This year, while we are living in the shadow of uncertainty, we find we have something in common with the crew of the Nostromo. To quote Ripley, “Listen to me, if we break quarantine, we could all die.” Maybe that is over doing it just a tad, but it is better to be safe than sorry. So, while we are all cooped up why not pick up a good book? In honor of 4/26 let us take a look at a very good book, The Making of Alien.
When Alien premiered in June of 1979 it changed movies. Alien was a perfect blending of the science fiction and horror genres. Many other film makers tried to replicate what Ridley Scott had managed to accomplish but none of those other films had the “feel” of Alien. (John Carpenter’s The Thing might be the one exception) Now I normally would warn you about potential spoilers for the movie, but if you haven’t seen Alien by now it is your loss.
The commercial spaceship, Nostromo, is diverted to the planet LV-426 in order to investigate a distress signal. While on the planet one of the crew is attacked by an alien organism and made into an incubator for a lifeform that is a pure killing machine. One by one the crew gets picked off leaving just 2 survivors Ellen Ripley and Jones the cat…and a franchise is born.
All kidding aside the look of the movie is incredible and the fact that the ship had a lived in quality that made it more realistic. With the exception of Star Wars we were raised to believe that spaceships were spotless. The Nostromo was far from spotless, it looked like it was a proper working vessel desperately waiting for the housekeeper to come and tidy up the place. The look and the attention to detail really helped to sell this film to movie goers.
The Making of Alien gives an in-depth look at one of the best science fiction films ever made. The book is broken down into 14 chapters and includes script excerpts, stories from the set and some rare behind the scene photos that I do not believe have been previously released. This book is a grand trip down a cinematic memory lane and a must, for not just fans of the Alien franchise but for all fans of cinema.
The Making of Alien was written by J.W. Rinzler and published by Titan Books. This oversized tome weighs in at a whopping 5.2 pounds and is 336 pages packed with photos, concept art and behind the scenes peeks. Even someone who thought they knew everything about Alien can learn something new. The Making of Alien has a suggested retail price of $60.00 and is available wherever books are sold.
