Thirty years ago I was 9. I was still dizzy with anti­cip­a­tion for Empire Strikes Back and was in awe of the spe­cial effects of Star Trek: The Motion Pic­ture (the dry­dock scene has one of the best beauty shots of any space­ship — ever). I was only mar­gin­ally aware of another cine­matic phe­nomenon that was unleashed on the pub­lic in 1979: Alien. More >