Shadowing Practice: Alien - Movie Review - Learn English Speaking with Video

Alien was directed by Ridley Scott and started a humongous franchise that is still being continued today.

In fact, very soon, Alien Covenant is coming out and that's why I'm going to be reviewing every single Alien movie.

All four of the originals, as well as Alien vs. Predator 1 and 2.

This is gonna be a lot of fun.

For at least a few of these movies it'll be fun.

I don't have to tell you guys that Alien is a revolutionary movie from a special effects standpoint, from a concept standpoint.

This movie let us know that so much could be done on film.

And it did it so successfully that it still works today just as well as it did in 1979.

Even though I wasn't alive, I'm assuming, because a lot of people liked it when it came out.

And a lot of people still like it. So.

Alien is about the crew of the ship Nostromo who are awoken from hypersleep to investigate a distress signal on a planet.

When they get to this planet, a very strange entity attaches itself to one of their crew

and eventually gives birth to a gigantic alien creature that begins to take them all out one by one.

I didn't see Alien as a child.

I saw it when I was about 15 or 16 for the first time and I saw the director's cut first.

And I was blown away by this movie.

I showed it to all my friends who had never seen it instantly.

I wanted everyone to experience this film.

And I'm glad that I didn't see it too young

and was able to at least appreciate certain things in this movie, namely H.R.

Giger's very sexually disturbing imagery that's very prevalent in this movie.

The design of the alien creature itself, the way the face hugger attaches itself to you and then impregnates you, There's a deep, psychologically disturbing,

sexual violation feel to just about everything in this movie, from the way the creatures give birth to the way they kill you,

how the xenomorph mouth opens up and another mouth comes out.

It all just feels as if it is reaching some very gross, hidden, psychologically disturbing aspect that we are all very afraid of.

Ridley Scott's direction and the editing of his sequences is so suspenseful,

It really reaches inside of you and makes you feel as if you are on this ship.

The set design is immaculate.

This is still one of the coolest looking movie ships of all time.

The inside of this thing feels so dirty and lived in.

It feels like a real environment.

There's nothing glossy or clean to it.

It all feels like something tangible that you could reach into the screen and become a part of.

And the crew itself is also very well realized.

You get the sense of how everyone works together.

You have Ash, who is the science officer.

You have Parker and Brett, who are the mechanics.

You have Dallas, the captain.

It's easy to understand how the ship operates.

Everything makes sense.

It's not just a really fun science fiction movie that has an alien monster that's really awesome.

You can tell that Ridley Scott and the writers

and the production crew and everyone was just trying to make a world that felt like it could work.

It wasn't just about this creature or special effects.

This was a real lived-in universe, even though you're seeing such a small little part of it, which is something else about this film that I love.

I absolutely adore contained suspense horror, and there are a lot of films that have since taken the alien vibes and built off of that.

There's a very, very unknown anime film called Lily Cat that is essentially a complete ripoff of this movie.

I've talked about it on my Japanimation era retro rewind video.

The movie Event Horizon from Paul W.S.

Anderson definitely has a very similar feel.

Lots of films have aped this movie for many years, and none of them have ever lived up to it.

Something else that Alien did masterfully that's actually really difficult to do is not have a clear-cut protagonist for quite some time.

You don't really understand who the lead of the movie is until Sigourney Weaver as Ripley steps up about halfway through.

Until then, it's really just the crew itself is the protagonist, the team.

You feel like you're there with them.

You feel like you are absolutely in this moment.

For a while, you think it might be Tom Skerritt as Dallas, the captain, but eventually you learn that, nope, that's not really the case either.

Ripley is the one who has to stand up and take control of the situation, and watching that character blossom in this movie to what she eventually becomes in the next few films is

so much fun to see, since I've seen all of them and I know how it all goes.

I love watching Ripley start as the one who is very clear-cut.

She's like, no, we cannot let these people back on the ship.

It's a quarantine situation.

They could infect all of us She's the only one who's following procedure

and as the rest of the movie goes along She's still

the only character who maintains a clear head throughout every single situation

Even Dallas the captain is like let us in and that's against protocol and Ripley's like no, I can't do

that She's the strongest character in this movie She's the one who knows how to follow protocol

and she gets shit done and you know if you haven't seen alien I'm gonna get into a few spoilers.

I'm assuming most of you have seen this incredible classic film.

If you haven't...

Come on, man.

Like, really?

I'm gonna get into some spoilers here.

Ash.

Let's talk about Ian Holm as Ash, who eventually reveals himself to be an android.

I love watching the film knowing that he is one because there are so many cutaways to him with looks that could, on first viewing be normal.

They work for the situation, but then on second viewing you're realizing he's analyzing the situation.

He's trying to figure out how can he get this specimen back to earth.

It's really brilliant storytelling.

So let's talk about the alien creature itself, the xenomorph.

First off, the chestburster scene is iconic, obviously.

I'm sure most of you know this, but the actors were actually unaware of what was going to happen and so when that chestburster comes out of John Hurt, who by the way, rest in peace,

fantastic actor, sorely missed, they didn't know that was going to happen so their reaction when that thing goes, it's totally genuine.

It's so great to watch that knowing that.

But the xenomorph creature itself to this day is probably my favorite design for any alien in film, which is kind of sad.

I mean this movie came out in 1979 and we've had so many different alien films ever since then.

And nothing has topped this.

This thing is just so fucking cool and terrifying.

It works so well in this movie.

And the sense of horror, whenever it's around,

is so well utilized by Scott because he chooses to go the Jaws route and not show it too often.

In fact, it's really not in the movie that much.

You just get this sense of incredible paranoia, whenever it's nearby or whenever it's not nearby because he never lets you out.

There's rarely a sequence or a scene or a moment that lets you breathe for a second.

Like for instance, after Brett is taken up into the air shaft

and Parker and Ripley come in and the blood's falling down, it instantly cuts to a close-up of Parker and he just he's like, It's big.

Brett!

Whatever it was, it was banging.

It doesn't let you out.

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It never gives you that breathe moment between sequences.

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This film keeps you in its grasp from opening frame to the final one.

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Now, out of the two cuts that are prevalent, the theatrical and the director's cut, I prefer the director's cut.

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Ridley Scott actually made a director's cut that I feel is better than the original.

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He's pretty good at that, actually.

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He likes to tinker with his movies, and somehow he's able to do it without pissing off all of his fans, because he understands what should and shouldn't be in a film,

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even when he's going in to tinker it more.

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What I love about the director's cut is the obvious additional scene

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that has Ripley find Dallas and Brett in their cocooned bodies, and he's like, HELP ME!

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And she, you know, flamethrowers them.

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Really, really awesome scene.

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And it also explains where they were.

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Not that it needs explaining.

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It's kind of cool to not know where the bodies are.

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It leaves it more ambiguous, makes the creature feel more terrifying, like what did the creature do with these bodies?

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But I like the fact that I know, and it's not a very long scene, and I love the look of the scene with the yellow and the orange glow.

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But my favorite addition in the director's cut is just one shot.

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It's the first real close-up frame of the alien

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when Brett is walking and he's looking for Jones the cat

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and you just see this thing hanging and there's no big musical reveal.

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There's no jump scare.

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In fact, the first time I saw it I just kind of went, is that?

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Oh shit.

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And that reaction, you don't get that in monster movies

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because they always build up the reveal of the creature to this big epic moment with music

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and he turns around and oh my god

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and that's how it was in the theatrical exactly like that

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but in the director's cut Ridley Scott is like no let's

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just have this this wide shot of it hanging up there

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it gives me chills it's my favorite additional moment in the

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director's cut guys I don't have to tell you I adore

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this movie it's one of my all-time favorite films Alien is a movie

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that has stood the test of time successfully it has engaging characters it has an incredible creature.

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It's insanely scary, very suspenseful.

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It's one of Ridley Scott's best films.

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Absolutely, without a doubt, Alien gets an A+.

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So guys, my Alien series is going to be continuing with reviews for Aliens,

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Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, AVP1, and AVP2.

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What I really want you to look forward to is my review of Alien 3, because I'm going to be doing that with my buddy Matt Brando, who has a really cool YouTube channel.

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I've done videos with him before, but he has a particular feeling for Alien 3, and I have a different feeling for Alien 3.

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And we both want to present a very in-depth, really well researched review of what Alien 3 could have been, what they were trying to make,

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what we eventually got, the differences between theatrical and the assembly cut,

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and we I just wanted to present a very kind, respectful debate.

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Look forward to that, guys.

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It's coming very soon.

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And of course, my other reviews for the Aliens movies leading up to Alien Covenant, which I really hope is great.

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And I've already reviewed Prometheus, obviously, so.

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Guys, thank you very much for watching.

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And if you like this, you can click right here and get stuckmanized.

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you

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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección

Esta lección de conversación de nivel B2 se basa en el vídeo “Alien - Movie Review”. Las palabras que más se repiten: alien, movie, film, cut, creature. Este vídeo tiene 149 frases y 1948 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 10:45. El hablante habla rápido, unas 181 palabras por minuto, así que espera sonidos enlazados y reducidos. El 83 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.

Vocabulario clave de este vídeo

Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
xenomorph sustantivo	/ˈzɛnəʊˌmɔːf/	xenomorfo
disturb verbo	/dɪˈstɜːb/	molestar, disturbar
theatrical adjetivo	/θiˈætɹɪkəl/	teatral
psychologically adverbio		psicológicamente
suspenseful adjetivo		inquietante
terrify verbo	/ˈtɛɹɪfaɪ/	aterrar
spoiler sustantivo	/ˈspɔɪ.lɚ/	espóiler, destripe
standpoint sustantivo	/ˈstændpɔɪnt/	punto de vista
protagonist sustantivo	/pɹəˈtæɡ.ə.nɪst/	protagonista
adore verbo	/əˈdoɹ/	adorar
attach verbo	/əˈtæt͡ʃ/	adjuntar, atachar
prevalent adjetivo	/ˈpɹɛvələnt/	dominante, mayoritario
cocoon sustantivo	/kəˈkuːn/	capullo, capillo
cutaway sustantivo	/ˈkʌtəweɪ/	chaqué
flamethrower sustantivo	/ˈfleɪmˌθɹoʊ.ɚ/	lanzallamas, lanzaflamas

Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar

Palabra	Pronunciación	Significado
come out verbo	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	revelarse, salir a la luz
look forward to verbo		no ver la hora de, quedar a la espera de
figure out verbo		averiguar, captar
hang up verbo		colgar
stand up verbo		levantarse, ponerse de pie
turn around verbo		darle una vuelta, dar(se) una vuelta

Frases que vale la pena repetir

Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:

You feel like you're there with them.
I'm gonna get into some spoilers here.
It doesn't let you out.

Gramática en este vídeo

Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:

Estructura	En el vídeo
Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora	I've talked · have ever lived · I've seen
Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace	was directed · could be done · are awoken
Oraciones de relativo who / which + oración — información extra sobre una persona o cosa	friends who had · one who has · one who is

Pronunciación a tener en cuenta

El hablante usa 34 contracciones y formas reducidas, como I'm, don't, I've. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.

Los sonidos de “th”: theatrical /θiˈætɹɪkəl/, flamethrower /ˈfleɪmˌθɹoʊ.ɚ/
Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: shaft /ˈʃɑːft/, violation /ˌvaɪ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, revolutionary /ˌɹɛvəˈluʃənɛɹi/
Palabras largas — cuida el acento: theatrical /θiˈætɹɪkəl/, protagonist /pɹəˈtæɡ.ə.nɪst/, immaculate /ɪˈmæk.jʊ.lət/, masterfully /ˈmɑːstəf(ʊ)li/, paranoia /ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/

Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:

s + consonante al inicio — sin añadir una “e” delante: spoiler /ˈspɔɪ.lɚ/, standpoint /ˈstændpɔɪnt/, specimen /ˈspɛsɪmɪn/, scare /skɛɚ/
/v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: prevalent /ˈpɹɛvələnt/, vibe /vaɪb/, violation /ˌvaɪ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, revolutionary /ˌɹɛvəˈluʃənɛɹi/
/z/ — sonora, no /s/: xenomorph /ˈzɛnəʊˌmɔːf/, analyze /ˈæn.əˌlaɪz/

Cómo practicar con este vídeo

Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
Empieza a velocidad 0,75×, haz shadowing frase por frase y vuelve a la velocidad normal cuando te resulte fácil.
Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como xenomorph, disturb, theatrical.

¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.

Técnica de shadowing: lee la guía completa paso a paso →

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