Alien is a gift that keeps on giving, and Memory: The Origins of Alien unwraps so many colorfully wrapped boxes of various shapes and sizes.

| Sep 20, 2023

Just when you thought it was impossible to love a film any more than you already did, along comes Memory: The Origins of Alien.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 23, 2022

It was an attractive work, in terms of the cinematography, editing, and graphic design. That can't be said about all making-of documentaries, especially those made by inexperienced or under-funded filmmakers.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 20, 2020

There is the feeling that one can't escape; the feeling being that this plays a bit too much like a glorified DVD extra.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 28, 2020

Memory tasks itself with exploring in all the messy details exactly what makes Alien so special. It does so with incredible minuteness and style.

| Original Score: 5 / 5 | Jul 27, 2020

Memory: The Origins of Alien is a documentary that goes deeper than most in the genre.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Oct 20, 2019

The second half of "Memory" is solely focused on the infamous alien-creature-bursting-out-of-the-chest-of-Kane (John Hurt) scene. You, know, the one that we have all seen a zillion times over the years.

| Original Score: B- | Oct 16, 2019

... with that subtitle it is no surprise that a lot of the inspiration for "Alien" came from author Dan O'Bannon's childhood.

| Original Score: B | Oct 15, 2019

Geeky but not too niche. Heavy but not over our heads. Choppy but never muddled. Appreciative and eager.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 15, 2019

Like the masterful film it considers, the weird, haunting, and fascinating Memory is alternately precise and oblique in the ways it conveys its ideas.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 10, 2019

The film's chief purpose is to pull focus on the work of the late Dan O'Bannon (died 2009) who first dreamt up the idea.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 10, 2019

The Origins of Alien, dissects the journey from concept to conception in microscopic detail, and with abiding fondness for [Diane] O'Bannon's work.

| Original Score: 7.0/10 | Oct 9, 2019

Plenty of the clips in Memory feature Ripley, but Weaver herself is MIA, and making an Alien documentary without Weaver is... well, it's about as good of an idea as making any other Alien movie without her.

| Oct 8, 2019

There's no Sigourney Weaver and there's no Ridley Scott... Given that caveat, it's really comprehensive and very impressive.

| Oct 8, 2019

Taking such a granular approach to the work provides real detail to "Alien," but also reveals some shortcomings.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 5, 2019

While it is generally engaging to learn about the influences of the screenwriter Dan O'Bannon or the artistic process of H.R. Giger (who designed the alien), the documentary is at its least fawning when it focuses on technique.

| Oct 4, 2019

This much I can promise: after seeing this documentary you'll never look at Alien the same way again.

| Oct 4, 2019

... a treat for genre geeks and franchise aficionados, although the absence of Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver is a glaring omission.

| Oct 4, 2019

It has a complex and rigorously argued set of theses that all come together at the end.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 4, 2019

[I]t seems to forget that there's a whole lot of film remaining after the most famous scene.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 4, 2019