Ridley Scott

It’s one of the most famous mysteries in sci-fi movie history. Is it finally solved?

It’s considered a classic and it’s got a great new sequel coming out this week. But is the original ‘Blade Runner’ overrated?

Haven’t seen the original ‘Blade Runner’? Read this before you head to the theater to watch the big sequel this weekend.

Denis Villeneuve, Ryan Gosling, and Harrison Ford managed to top one of the most beloved sci-fi films in history with one of the all-time great sequels.

Ridley Scott has gotten into expansive universe mode. When he opened the doors to the possibility with 2012’s Prometheus, he immediately began to plan for more, to write a detailed pre-history of his seminal Alien which has come to us in the form of Alien: Covenant, and which, like the Universe itself, grows ever larger by the day. Now, it looks like he‘s turning his sights to his other sci-fi property, which is itself also getting a sequel this year. And Scott wants even more.

It’s been 35 years since Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner debuted and forever changed the landscape of science-fiction cinema. And 35 years later, the film is making an improbable comeback in theaters this fall in Blade Runner 2049, produced by Scott and directed by Denis Villeneuve. Harrison Ford returns to his role as Blade Runner Rick Deckard, with Ryan Gosling joining him as Officer K and Jared Leto playing himself (we think).

Someday, I hope someone makes a documentary about Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5. First the project was held up by Ridley Scott, then Blomkamp released concept art that kinda-sorta forced the studio’s hand, then Blomkamp’s Chappie bombed and 20th Century Fox started dragging its heels, and then Scott started saying that the project was never actually anything substantial to begin with. No Alien sequel, no matter how fun, could possibly match the twists and turns of Blomkamp’s real-life struggle to get the film made.

While audiences remain pretty split on Ridley Scott’s first official Alien film in nearly 40 years, one thing we can all agree on is there are some interesting gaps in the storytelling. It’s always difficult to argue that fans need to do homework before seeing a movie to appreciate the film; while there certainly are some clips and features available online that add depth to Alien: Covenant, a movie should always stand on its own two legs, and those frustrated by Scott’s decision to chop out sections of the movie aren’t going to give him a pass because they may be added back in somewhere later in the process.

A new Alien opens in theaters this Friday; Alien: Covenant is the first movie in the beloved sci-fi franchise since 2012’s Prometheus, and the first with the word “alien” in the title since 2007’s timeless classic Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. Audiences will decide whether Covenant is a worthy sequel (we liked it), but even if they do, the overwhelming odds are they will find it no better than the third best movie in the history of the series. That’s because the first two movies in the series — Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens — are amongst the best sci-fi films ever made.

If you’re one of the people who thought that Ridley Scott’s Prometheus was a franchise-killer, then you’ve probably awaited the first round of Alien: Covenant reviews with a strong sense of dread. Maybe even the same degree of dread you experienced while watching Alien for the first time, come to think of it. And while I’ll passionately defend Prometheus for days  —  I’ve recently come around on that film in a big way  —  there’s no denying that Alien: Covenant is the biggest question mark of the summer. Could Scott build a bridge between the grandiose science-fiction of Prometheus and the grounded horror of Alien?