Russell has an excellent write-up about the first Alien film on his blog. My favorite part:

It’s harmonious, really, in a way that few mainstream films are now; no standout shots, no ridiculous music, nothing that has any aim but to immerse the viewer in that ship. I watched the new Star Wars trailer the morning before I saw Alien and the utter insignificance of Lucas’ current output aside, the contrast between the two is striking. Why spend eighty million dollars on crap digital sets, leaving your actors (good actors, some of them) in the lurch and you with a bagful of uninspired performaces when you could spend a little more and build sets like those in Alien, where your actors couldn’t help but act? If any of the cast of Alien ever forgot what they were supposed to be doing, all they have to do is look, and it’s right there. Sad. Think of all the craftsmen that built sets for Scott that are getting less and less work now. On the Titus DVD, there’s a behind-the-scenes bit where Julie Taymor talks about all the old Italian craftsmen who worked on her film, and the fact that no one is interested in learning those crafts anymore. These guys are masters – incredible artists, and they can’t get new apprentices because people like Lucas are hiring computer monkeys. Look at the sets in the new Star Wars films and look at those in Titus. There’s not an inch of goddamned comparison. It makes me so sad to think about it – doesn’t anyone ever fucking learn? When those crafts are gone, they are GONE. Knowledge dies, and when it does it goes quietly, right out the back door so softly that you never sense it. The ability to produce sets like those in Alien is a craft that’s dying; creating perfect little worlds out of wood and metal and plaster will be impossible at some point, and I just can’t believe that no one seems to notice.