Alien Technology

The navigation system from 1979's Alien looks distinctly timeless despite its anachronistic technology.

Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien stands out for many reasons. Aside from its amazing moody minimalism, I continue to be fascinated by its portrayal of flight navigation technology. Last week, I watched yet again. I began to wonder how a film now more than 30 years old still maintains a uniformly modern feeling.

Though the technology appears “dated” in many ways, it still fits seamlessly into the overall visual environment of the film. The carefully crafted connection between set & technology convinces the modern viewer of its plausibility. Contemporary filmmakers seem all too satisfied making use of CG technology to structure their whole story. Instead, Alien constructs a world in which the technology simply fits. It thereby becomes part of the larger environment rather than an omniscient plot-controlling device. The simplicity of Alien’s vector graphic flight navigation sytem – though now anachronistic technology – makes the film striking timeless.