[Batman dangles a mugger over the side of a building]
NIC
Don't kill me!  Don't kill me, man!
Don't kill me!  Don't kill me, man!

BATMAN
I'm not going to kill you.
I want you to do me a favor.  I want
you to tell all your friends about me.

NIC
What are you?

BATMAN
I'm Batman.

JOHNNY CASTLE
Nobody puts 'Baby' in a corner.

HAROLD
Hey, it's great to have a new neighbor.  Woman lived here
before you was nuts.  Biggest bitch under the sun. 
Just a senile old hag really.  Wouldn't be surprised if
someone just got fed up and offed her.  Know what I mean?

ROGER
She was my aunt.

HAROLD
Heart of gold though.  Just uh, a saint really. 
And uh such a beautiful woman, for her age.

HUDSON
They're coming outta the walls.
They're coming outta the goddamn walls.
Let's book!

WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST
I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!

JACK DAWSON
I'm the king of the world!

[Vizzini has just cut the rope The Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up]
VIZZINI
HE DIDN'T FALL?  INCONCEIVABLE.

INIGO MONTOYA
You keep using that word.  I do
not think it means what you think it means.

Based on a screenplay

by
Dan O'Bannon

Story by
Dan O'Bannon and Shusett

Extremely concise action lines.

A bit of foreshadowing by Kane and Parker in the mess hall on page 4.

KANE
I feel dead.

Parker emphasizes this with his reply.

PARKER
You look dead.

The fact that this is where the crew will first be introduced to the alien and where Kane will end up dead when it bursts out his chest.  At this point, the audience won't understand these remarks.

On page 7, the first sign that's something's wrong.  They're not anywhere near earth, they're in the wrong system.

On page 9, Dallas informs the crew as to why Mother woke them up.

On page 10, Ash reinforces why they must take a look.  Almost threatening.  He tells them that if they don't, they won't get paid.  They don't have a choice.

On page 19, Brett and Parker question Ripley about getting shares.

Ripley's response.  Could be seen as more foreshadowing.

RIPLEY
Don't worry, you'll both get
what's coming to you.

It doesn't really matter, you'll both be dead.  Audience won't know this, but it'll make sense once the alien arrives on board.  The money and shares won't really matter.

Important moment at the bottom of page 28 when Ripley informs Ash that the signal might not be an S.O.S. But a warning instead.  Ash is very reluctant to let her go and makes up excuses to keep her on board.  His reasons for doing this will become apparent later on.

Major turning point when the facehugger attaches itself to Kane at the bottom of page 31. 

Ripley won't let them enter the ship, she insists that kane should be quarantined.  Ash goes against her again and let's them in.  What's Ash up to?

Ash pretty much owns up to why he let kane on board on page 46 and is very blunt with Ripley.

ASH
Maybe I should have let him
die out there.  Maybe I have jeapordized the
rest of us.  It's a risk I'm willing to take.

What's attached to Kane's face is more important to Ash than the crew in other words.

Dallas explains on page 50 that Ash replaced his regular science officer two days before he left.  Something's not quite right.

They're all a little shocked to see Kane on page 56.  Perhaps he's okay after all.

Kane appears normal on page 58.  They're at the table eating, talking.  A false victory.  Everything appears to be back to normal.  But it's too good to be true.

A good high and low point.

One minute kane seems okay, next he's lying dead on the table.  As Parker foreshadowed on page 4.

There seems to be a slight overlap with the dialogue on page 61 and 62.  Possibly due to this draft being a revision.

Things get really complicated for the crew when Brett is killed on Page 70 and they discover that the alien has grown real big.

Everything comes to a standstill when Dallas appears to be killed on page 79.  A pretty low point for the crew.  He's the Captain.  What are they going to do now?

Ash's intentions become apparent when it's discovered that he's actually an android who's been on a secret mission.  Parker knocks Ash's head off on page 89.

PARKER
A robot, a goddamn android.

Ripley discovers that Dallas isn't dead.  He's been cocooned and asks her to kill him.  This scene wasn't in the cinema release.  I think it was added in a special edition at some point.  I can see why it was taken out.  It lessens the suspense for the audience, they think everyone is dead only to find out that they're not.  Ripley isn't alone.  Also Ripley killing Dallas, she has to, but it's not a nice moment.  Had there been a couple of scenes showing Ripley's relationship with Dallas, it would have made sense in keeping this scene.  It would have made more of an impact.

Also this would have setup what happens to everyone in the sequel Aliens as well.  Showing what they do to their prey once they're caught.

A small scene showing the Nostromo alone in the black void of space and Ripley finding herself all alone on the ship herself.

A nice twist at the end.  Ripley doesn't just hop into the Narcissus and escape.  She discovers the alien has taken up residence.  She must kill it.  She manages to blow it out the rear hatch.  Something they almost succeeded in doing earlier had it not been for Ash interfering.

Definitely worth a read.  Again the action lines are extremely short, written with brevity and clarity.

Read
Watch
Reread

CLAREECE 'Precious' JONES
Some folks has a lot of things around them that shines for other peoples.  I think that maybe some of them was in tunnels.  And in that tunnel, the only light they had, was inside of them.  And then long after they escape that tunnel, they sitll be shining for everybody else.

Should you or shouldn’t you?
This is a tough call.

Many writers toy with this idea.   From a writing point of view, this makes the most sense.  Writing should be seen as work in itself, you’re looking at doing it as a career.  So you should be putting all your time and effort into writing.  Even if it means surviving on food stamps and bread and dripping

There’s nothing worse than toiling away at a mundane, mind numbing, brain cell sapping job, if all you want to do is write.

But making this choice isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Many factors will influence your decision. 

• Family
• Source of income
• Bills to pay
• How much capital do you have in the bank?
• Your age
• How much have you written already? 
  

Quitting your day job after you've written a couple of screenplays probably isn’t the wisest of choices.

If you aren’t affected by any of the above factors and have plenty of savings.  This may well be the best route for you to undertake.

However, and it’s a big however.

Working part-time would probably be the better option to start with.

In doing this, you’ll be bringing in enough to hopefully pay the rent and possibly to live off week to week.  Also, you’ll still be interacting with people.  You’ll be able to source their thoughts on what types of movies they like, what they’d like to watch and so on.  You could even discuss your own ideas with them and get their opinions.

Working part-time will also encourage you that much more to write and work harder.

And from a social point of view, it’ll get you outside that box and talking with people. 

Writing is a very solitary endeavor and writers are solitary creatures after all.

It’s good to see daylight from time to time.