Sigourney Weaver's portrayal of Ripley as a strong, resourceful heroine broke new ground in character development. The film's visual and narrative style influenced countless sci-fi and horror films.

Similarly, The HBO series also experienced diminishing returns with each progressive season, proving that Crichton's choice to remain hyperfocused on two lead characters ... of a sci-fi weird ...

The conquest of space had to start somewhere, and this B-movie was a landmark in taking space exploration seriously.