The Rewatchables: ‘Alien’ | The Best Sci-Fi Movie of All Time? | The Ringer

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey are unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality as they rewatch Ridley Scott’s science fiction horror classic ‘Alien,’ starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and Harry Dean Stanton.
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[@OldenPolyNate]

Wow. They actually posted the entire video! Please do this on every Rewatchable!

[@JeccoGaming]

AGREED

[@richardmerkin69]

VIDEO PODS UBER ALLES!

[@KamiHarp-bn3ri]

​@@richardmerkin69 😢

[@shitpostheavy]

SERIOUSLY

[@chrischancellor7372]

Amen

[@xxshaqattaqxx]

CR's Wayne Jenkins moment is at 1:31:40

[@hmx619]

Your the best just need the overacting award

[@spikespiegel323]

I never laughed so hard!!!

[@xxshaqattaqxx]

@@hmx619 Overacting is at 1:13:45

[@hmx619]

@@xxshaqattaqxx your the goat

[@JackJohnson81828384]

Thank you why is this comment so low down. I had to scroll for like way too long. Let's get those up votes going people.

[@HipHopSince784]

Chris is a national treasure 😂😂😂

[@unropednope4644]

He's really not though

[@rufashaochicken]

@@unropednope4644 OK

[@christiansnyder1746]

If these three ever stop doing pods together I’m going to cry. I spend a lot of time alone during my work day and I listen to Ringer pods constantly and I love it.

[@MohitSubedi]

Yes. Yes. Yes. I’m so happy you’ve uploaded the whole video. A whole new dimension to the podcast. The face-to-face synergy is so good.

[@old_jota]

Indeed. I imagine it a pain for a producer to edit and mix an entire video but always glad to see one of these drop.

[@kevink1575]

Why they never really did will always confuse me. So many great pods we never got video for.

[@MohitSubedi]

@@kevink1575 I mean as aforementioned it would probably be a difficult feat to cut together and edit every hour+ video just for it to get like 30k views on KZbin. That being said … they are the ringer and their parent company is Spotify! That’s why in another comment I suggested they release the videos, but only to Spotify. It would be good incentive to their parent company, and while I personally wouldn’t like that (as an Apple Music user) it just seems like good business incentive to add ‘more’ to the platform that you want your viewer and listenership to lean towards.

[@mjwbulich]

I will never understand this. It's a podcast. I listen to them at work and in the car. If I had 90 minutes of free time I'd just watch the film instead of listening to people talk about it.

[@SolidMikeP]

I love this podcast so much, it’s on top right now for me. No politics, no bs, just friends talking about movies we love.

[@angrykramer]

Hope they start uploading regular again on KZbin. My favorite podcast, always really inciteful and somehow not pretentious.

[@rileyv.4786]

Bill’s TNT middle aged dad energy is the X factor it prevents it from being pretentious like most film podcasts

[@johndixon1725]

The part where Bill says "the cat lures people to the alien and seems kind of into it" is so dam good 1:06:14

[@obamasjumper]

love when rewatchables are put up on youtube

[@ExcentricDragon]

One of the most influential movies for me as a child. Rewound the cassette to death conditioning myself to not look away at the scary scenes. Got a facehugger tattoo with it crawling up my shoulder with its tail coiled around my arm. so glad this got on rewatchables.

[@Loser-lh8di]

Alien is a perfect movie. What a masterpiece.

[@David-iv6je]

It's a REAL SF movie. Not fantasy, not space opera. (And no, I don't think Star Wars had an influence on this. )

[@pancon5]

Yes!

[@wobblertv8083]

Same as Jaws .Perfect sci/fi horror movie .perfect cast .Perfect music .....And the visuals make it look so fresh , it still stands up today .Aliens is the greatest sci/fi action movie ever made .

[@livingbeing1113]

The Thing. That's the undisputed sci-fi best for me.

[@richeaton5752]

The only thing that ever bothered me was how quickly the alien got big enough to lift Brett in the short time after it's "birth".

[@HOEL]

More video podcasts please! It's been sorely missed from the Rewatchables. Alien is an incredible film.

[@qwertymanor]

I can't wait until they do Aliens 2 on the Rewatchables.

[@heiroferror]

they better call it aliens 2 the entire time and just commit to it

[@Able406]

Take a shot every time Bill says “Aliens 2”

[@jorgenwallentin383]

Ripley did not ”go back” for the cat. She dropped the cat when the Alien blocked the way to Narcissus and went back to try to stop the selfdestruct. When that failed she had to return to Narcissus, picking upp Jonesy on the way, right where she left him. The Alien seemed to be gone so she just moved on to the shuttle.

[@BrownBananaDK]

"Found" the rewatchables podcast last year, and I've been listening too every podcast in the series along with most of the "The Big Picture" podcasts. That must bee at least 300 podcasts in the last 12 months. Its been the soundtrack of me rennovating our new "old" house. I've never seen your faces before seeing this video. This is SO weird. And SO SO great. You guys look absolutely nothing like I imagined HAHA!

[@elliotwasslavik]

YES! Do this for every pod, especially rewatchables!

[@Rudy04]

These three could talk about ANY movie and I'd listen and watch

[@vennekolt]

I will pay for for these videos. Please keep them coming

[@xxshaqattaqxx]

the best podcasting trio there is, please upload more vids!

[@terry7907]

Not without Mallory.

[@adamthomas8205]

Definitley my favorite trio. Russillo can also be interchanged as well.

[@apachedisco]

i have listened to every Rewatchables ever. I will listen to some of them again because they are relistenables. Now. now they are rewatchables. amazing and genius Bill.

[@holstorrsceadus1990]

You should do a rewatchables draft to set the play list for the year. I would watch the hell out of that.

[@chrischancellor7372]

Great idea

[@SLIDESPOT]

My intro to Alien was my dad telling me about the chest burst scene and how he had never felt the air leave a theatre like it did as the audience collectively gasped. I saw it for the first time a year or two after its release at age 8 and i was traumatized but i can remember that it seemed to be only regarded as a good horror film by adults. i truly believe my generation put it on its pedestal. There were a list of films we obsessed over as kids and Alien was one of them….as much as it scared the living shit out of us there was an inherent understanding of the beauty of it, it was art to many of us.

[@davidgraceisanxious]

Bill. You need to a rewatchables discussing Tom Hanks career from 92-02. Only hits. Unprecedented

[@cameroncloutier]

I love these episodes. Please keep doing and uploading them.

[@Brandon-a-writer]

Can we get a rewatchables for 'The Thing'? One of the most rewatchable movies ever for me

[@matthartin]

My favourite Wayne Jenkins impression!

[@CouleeCosmonaut]

1:05:47 He gets it. This had me rolling. Thank you for surmise great the truth about cats in life and film.

[@padge2]

Bring these full video pods back. So much more enjoyable.

[@euronimo34]

Wayne Jenkins bit hits EVERY time 😂😂

[@Cash42]

Seeing the full pod is really dope, please do this more often!

[@lalois3]

Please keep the videos coming!! I will also pay to watch whole videos moving forward ☝🏻🫶🫡💪

[@zackstout3076]

You inspired me to rewatch this. I watched it originally with my high school girlfriend and have to admit I was preoccupied with other things…. When I finally paid attention to it I was sucked into the claustrophobic and hopeless horror that the crew was experiencing. Harry Dean and Yaphet reminded me of the 2 coolest grownups I worked with at the time. Always funny and complaining but they bought me alcohol and had great Mary Jane.

[@Bryan8329]

1:31:22 a high school in New Jersey did a stage play of the whole film. They did an encore performance of it introduced by Sigourney Weaver herself. Should still be here somewhere.

[@dudagemcdooderson2974]

It's AMAZING that we get the full video!

[@adriennepender673]

Yes to more video Rewatchables! I listened to the pod and STILL watched the whole thing, and not just because I love ALIEN. I love the interplay, it's comedy gold.

[@04dcd]

A note about the scene of the crew waking up: in the novelization it's explained that professional dreaming is a thing and that people go to watch them the same way we watch movies. The best dreamers are able to control them while also allowing for random improvisational elements and then it talks about some of the crew and how they dream. While this idea is abandoned in the film version it's picked up in Prometheus when we see David watching Shaw's dreams while she's in hypersleep.

[@paulpenne2799]

Saw it in the theater when it first came out. I was 17. The chestburster scene I will admit was through my fingers once he was on the table. It took me years to finally watch without blinking or looking away. S. Weaver was just great, I am pretty tall and I admit I really fell for her once I found out she was 6ft tall. The computer countdown has become the standard for all future SCI-FI films. I thought she was in the clear once she got on the escape pod. Once the aliens arm moved I thought for sure she was dead. What a wonderful film.

[@JeewanthaBandara]

CR going full-on Eagles play-by-play at 33:35 is amazing

[@mjwbulich]

WHT was Wometco Home Theater. It was a single channel cable TV service that mostly played films. It only operated in the north east US. There was a west coast version called ON TV. You screwed a two prong switch into the back of your TV. The same one used for early game consoles. That switched you from antenna to auxiliary. Then you had a box with one knob that turned the unit on and off. Good times.

[@owendavis8417]

Always hilarious to hear Bill refer to his belief that Game of Thrones is set in a real period of history and not a fantasy world. Love ya Bill. Also "Aliens 2"

[@marzelsimmons8708]

Gotta keep doing the videos man this makes it so much better imo. It's obvious they record em all visually why not put them all on KZbin

[@THEremiXFACTOR]

It's a film that has an atmosphere unmatched in any other film. I remember when I first watched it (maybe I was about 12) what struck me most was the sense of isolation and loneliness of deep space.

[@suzannewilkinson4866]

I love Alien for many reasons, but #1 - it was the first movie I had ever seen where the woman vanquishes the bad guy. The woman is the hero. Thanks for reviewing this amazing movie!

[@louisewainwright5438]

We went as a family to see this, I was 13, I think, might have been the first weekend it opened. What a theatre experience! We got our tickets, and started lining up in the foyer to wait for the previous screening to conclude --- WHOA. We started hearing screaming, then more screaming, and then, the quiet. The doors opened. The previous audience filed out, pale and sweaty, looking distinctly ill. Wow. What a film.

[@SolidMikeP]

Bill saying “Alien 2” is hilarious

[@zimmy4868]

I would say this movie and The Thing are my picks for best sci-fi movies.

[@mrb6309]

Not that it matters, but there was something in the ether at the time Alien came out; TV was showing re-runs of Star Trek and it was insanely popular with teenagers of the time.

[@AdamRaia]

They should do this for every Rewatchable.

[@irina1296]

Alien is my personal all-time favorite movie. So phenomenal and impactful

[@rgwebb5165]

The cat in "Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key" is great.

[@richeaton5752]

The only thing that ever bothered me was how quickly the alien got big enough to lift Brett in the short time after it's "birth".

[@ry8102]

New studio lacks the character of your old studio but very happy to see full uploads again - thank you 🙏

[@kevinrowley5530]

Regarding the conversation at 16:55 about Sigourney not being nominated for an Oscar and how no one got nominated for these parts back then: she was actually later nominated for Aliens! One of the all-time cool noms. But the point remains true that most great performances in films of this genre were not, and are not, respected.

[@goopah]

I saw "Aliens" first in the theater with Dad and my little brother. Dad was the only one of us 3 that saw the first movie. He was an artist, and loved H. R. Giger's work in these films. I remember him coming home with a big coffee-table sized book called "The Art of Alien", and placing it on our actual coffee table in the living room. Then later when Grandma and Grandpa visited, I distinctly remember being there when dear old Grandma casually started paging through that book. I actually was holding my breath. She flipped through quite a few pages with no reaction whatsoever, not even making a face, then carefully closed the book and folded her hands in her lap and listened to the conversation that was going on about something else. Great lady. I miss her. I suppose I should have asked her about it, but I was a kid.

[@shorewall]

This was amazing. Really took me back to old Grantland long form content. Loved it.

[@PhilMoskowitz]

The cat Jonesy is one of the many great elements in the movie.

[@DoctoriusJ]

Love these Rewatchable discussions! This is in my top 5 now, with Escape From NY being the absolute best!

[@L4-295]

I literally just listened to that one 2 days ago. Cheers

[@clairek47]

Thank you for posting this. Couldn’t be grateful!

[@shmendri]

Wayne Jenkins 1:31:43

[@dy120481]

Who is Wayne Jenkins? I Googled "Wayne Jenkins actor" and nothing came up.

[@shmendri]

@@dy120481 Wayne Jenkins is a character played by John Bernthal from We Own This City

[@dy120481]

@@shmendri Thanks 🤝🏻

[@dy120481]

Agreed on Exorcist 3 having the best jump scare ever, and "Catrick Perkins" is 👌🏻

[@MLNYD]

1:05:46 - Bill setting off the internet with cats is amazing content (full disclosure: I am a cat person)

[@sevendst19]

sleepwalkers

[@sevendst19]

grumpy cat

[@Snooder]

I'm honestly surprised none of them came up with the correct answer for why the cat. Mice. You need cats on ships because they eat mice and other vermin. It's why we have Ship's Cats on ocean going vessels.

[@oleson13]

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World rewatchable is needed!

[@bacardibum]

god damn i love this show. this is the perfect lineup for the rewatchables.

[@NickHunter]

Seeing this in an Alien/Aliens double-bill at the cinema this Weds. I'm so feckin stoked x

[@Travolta12e]

Had the pleasure of watching Alien on the big screen this week. Even my wife that doesn't like horror movies loved it.

[@anthonyhall7623]

Alien is my GOAT of sci-fi movies. Look forward to the Aliens episode down the road.

[@BrannenClark]

never clicked on a video so fast

[@Nateman1979]

Picking nits: How did the alien go from a little chestburster to a full-size, 7-foot tall monster in a day or two? What did it find to eat before it got big enough to start picking off the crew?

[@m00nx_oliver9]

I immediately thought the same thing the first time I saw the xenomorph or whatever the hell it's called

[@jmelitojr]

John Hurt had just co-starred in “Midnight Express” WHICH he had a beloved pet cat which got hung by that Turkish rat prisoner. You’re welcome for that 2 for 1, lol. LOVE your guys podcast, it gets me through work most days!!!! Keep it up…

[@zkkzuk]

Such great takes. Spent pretty much the entire video nodding and saying "true" to myself lmao.

[@MrGogo22598]

Finally we are back with videos!!!!!

[@wavedgoblin]

Why did y’all stop posting these !?!?!? I fucking love the pod and the video versions are gr8

[@WehlerDealer]

Please post video versions of more Rewatchables! Seeing the reactions to CR's Wayne Jenkins is pure gold content

[@joemckim1183]

Glad that they're doing Rewatchables again, need to make this a regular thing again.

[@joemckim1183]

@@qwertymanor They need to be here on youtube.

[@Flayne009]

So I expect you'll be doing ALIENS sometime in the near future? Greatest film ever made.

[@robbieturnerllc]

1:06:53 “that darn cat” with Doug E. Doug

[@Stefansrb369]

The Thing is the best si-fi movie ever.

[@Binkley-rj6gf]

Way past time for The Thing to be the subject of a Rewatchables.

[@soysaucehairdye7869]

My favorite is Blade Runner 2049, but I also love The Thing having been a huge Dead Space fan.

[@ryanfranklin3206]

Bill Simmons: "not a fan of Joseph Conrad... got a few tough titles in the old archive." Lolllll

[@joshwhalen17]

Meanwhile, Mallory Rubin is staring unremittingly at the horizon. Gently caressing Halo upon her lap, she begins to actualize the imminent oral defenestration of Bill Simmons' cat-takes.

[@michaelfowler3187]

Gotta see rob ager / collative learning material on this movie - I had no idea it was that good until rob ager

[@markbarrett4440]

Rob Ager really nails it every time.

[@m00nx_oliver9]

Bill Simmons cat hot take had me dying of laughter at 2:00 am. Hoping I didn't wake up my sleeping wife

[@hardlux]

Invasion of the Body Snatchers- the 1979 one- is FUCKING AMAZING. Please do it on here!

[@moviegumshoes]

It's always interesting to see these guys whose voices I've personified for the first time...

[@jeffparis5683]

When is the rewatchable on The Town rewatchable. One of the best episodes. I want Bill, Chris, Sean, and rusilleo in every ep

[@bertmustin]

Please do The Thing rewatchable.

[@L4-295]

Thank God I went to my KZbin app before I went to my podcasts app

[@clstuff1]

Yes!!! Love this podcast

[@healingmomentum]

Best film of all time.

[@Jonteponte71]

Guys. The movie you will be smoking, while watching is 1000% "Thank you for smoking" :)

[@chateautemp]

Cats used to be on sailing ships to eat the rats and mice, protecting the sailors from disease and from having their food eaten. Why was the cat on the Nostromo? Superstition? Tradition? To eat space vermin? To keep the crew company? All of the above? And when she takes it at the end - I can't remember the timeline but if she's saving the cat from the alien - apart from being a good character note for Ripley's mother arc, and of humanity (arguably) being the best alien in the universe, removing the cat also protects Earth from having a cat-xenomorph turn up with its xenomorph-mum at some point. Maybe Ripley wasn't saving the cat. She was saving us.

[@gvnggreggg]

We need more videos but I do like listening while I do my gig work

[@cdfs2822]

They should not only upload on KZbin but also have the video on spotify!

[@nickharper1360]

God damn Bill! I didn't know you were gonna post the whole video.

[@ewiken5529]

All-time cat movie moment is the apartment scene in Boondock Saints. Fight me.

[@theastonvillaseal585]

Fair play, great film. Such a vast yet powerful universe

[@TheWaynos73]

Veronica Cartwright also plays freakout chick in the latest version of Snatchers - The Invasion with Nicole Kidman

[@gzus5943]

the kane scene was that generations psyco shower scene. However, the film trumps pysco because it had 2 shocks. the 2nd being the ash is a robot scene,

[@drewom9404]

They haven't posted the outtake of Chris doing the Xenomorph as Wayne?

[@josh0253]

Did not expect this upload at all. The dream team

[@jjmdirector]

MORE VIDEOS!!!