"ALIEN"

by
Walter Hill
and
David Giler


Based on screenplay
by
Dan O'Bannon


Story by
Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett



REVISED FINAL

JUNE, 1978





NOTE: THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT CONTAINED SCENE
NUMBERS AND SOME "SCENE OMITTED" SLUGS. THEY HAVE
BEEN REMOVED FOR THIS SOFT COPY.






Science fiction plucks from within
us our deepest fears and hopes then
shows them to us in rough disguise:
the monster and the rocket.

W.H. Auden



We live, as we dream -- alone.

Joseph Conrad




FADE IN

SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE:

INT. ENGINE ROOM

Empty, cavernous.

INT. ENGINE CUBICLE

Circular, jammed with instruments.
All of them idle.
Console chairs for two.
Empty.

INT. OILY CORRIDOR - "C" LEVEL

Long, dark.
Empty.
Turbos throbbing.
No other movement.

INT. CORRIDOR - "A" LEVEL

Long, empty.

INT. INFIRMARY - "A" LEVEL

Distressed ivory walls.
All instrumentation at rest.

INT. CORRIDOR TO BRIDGE - "A" LEVEL

Black, empty.

INT. BRIDGE

Vacant.
Two space helmets resting on chairs.
Electrical hum.
Lights on the helmets begin to signal one another.
Moments of silence.
A yellow light goes on.
Data mind bank in b.g.
Electronic hum.
A green light goes on in front of one helmet.
Electronic pulsing sounds.
A red light goes on in front of other helmet.
An electronic conversation ensues.
Reaches a crescendo.
Then silence.
The lights go off, save the yellow.

INT. CORRIDOR TO HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Lights come on.
Seven gowns hang from the curved wall.
Vault door opens.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Explosion of escaping gas.
The lid on a freezer pops open.
Slowly, groggily, KANE sits up.
Pale.
Kane rubs the sleep from his eyes.
Stands.
Looks around.
Stretches.
Looks at the other freezer compartments.
Scratches.
Moves off.

INT. GALLEY

Kane plugs in a Silex.
Lights a cigarette.
Coughs.
Grinds some coffee beans.
Runs some water through.

KANE
Rise and shine, Lambert.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Another lid pops open.
A young woman sits up.

LAMBERT
What time is it.

KANE
(voice over)
What do you care.

INT. GALLEY

Pot now half-full.
Kane watches it drip.
Inhales the fragrance.

KANE
Now Dallas and Ash.
(calls out)
Good morning Captain.

DALLAS
(voice over)
Where's the coffee.

KANE
Brewing.

LAMBERT walks into the kitchen.
Pours herself a cup.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Two more lids pop open.
A pair of men sit up.
Look at each other.

INT. GALLEY

Kane enjoys a freshly-brewed cup.

KANE
Ripley...

Another moment.
And then the sound of another lid opening.

KANE
And if we have Parker, can
Brett be far behind.

Lid opening sound.

KANE
Right.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

DALLAS looks at his groggy circus.

DALLAS
One of you jokers get the cat.

RIPLEY picks up a limp cat out of one of the compartments.

INT. MESS

The crew of the United States commercial starship Nostromo
seated around a table.

Dallas.........Captain
Kane...........Executive Officer
Ripley.........Warrant Officer
Ash............Science Officer
Lambert........Navigator
Parker.........Engineer
Brett..........Engineering Technician
Jones..........Cat

Five men and two women: Lambert and Ripley.

LAMBERT
Jesus am I cold.

PARKER
Still with us, Brett.

BRETT
Yo.

RIPLEY
Lucky us.

They yawn, stretch, shiver.
Dallas looks over at a flashing yellow light.

KANE
I feel dead.

Kane is not yet fully awake.
Yawns.

PARKER
You look dead.

ASH
Nice to be back.

PARKER
Before we dock maybe we'd
better go over the bonus
situation.

BRETT
Yeah.

PARKER
Brett and I think we deserve a
full share.

DALLAS
You two will get what you
contracted for. Just like
everybody else.

BRETT
Everybody else gets more than us.

DALLAS
Everybody else deserves more
than you two.

ASH
Mother wants to talk to you.

DALLAS
I saw it. Yellow light for my
eyes only...Now, everybody hit
their stations.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM ANNEX

Floor to ceiling data banks.
Another flashing yellow light.
A legend underneath.
COMMAND PRIORITY ACCESS ONLY.
Dallas enters.
Sits at his console.
Removes insignia master computer key attached to
his shirt.
Plug it into the board under the light.
All banks burst into life.
Dallas punches up a computer code on the keyboard.

Legend on the screen...

What's my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ key.

Print-out from computer answers...

01335 on the binary side.

DALLAS
Thank you Mother.

Dallas punches up the combination on the keyboard.
Immediately start getting a readout.

C