Introduction It's been a whopping thirty-three years since Dan O'Bannon and Ridley Scott gave us a seminal film in both the science fiction and horror genres: the classic (some say masterpiece) Alien . The film was not only a commercial success, but has gone on to near universal accolades, including a laundry list of award nominations and wins in 1979. Wins include the 1979 Oscar for visual effects, and a nod for art direction. It won Saturn Awards for best sci-fi film, best director, supporting actress, and got a nod for Sigourney Weaver. It also was nominated for best makeup, special effects, and writing. I could go on--there were nominations for the BAFTAs, Hugo Awards, Golden Globes and on and on and on. The film spawned three sequels and two spin-offs with "Sister" franchise, Predator . In general, and with the arguable exception of Aliens , the sequels are all considered generally inferior to the original. Aliens is an interesting case, in that it smartly