Nostromo

Movie. It’s a spherical room, with a core in the center around which rings spin. The walls are covered in giant spikes and myriad panels which appear claustrophobic. It’s in this room where the events of the movie hit a crescendo and the horrors spill forth. The externals of the ship feel equally menacing – a large bulkhead prodding forwards, with arm-like protrusions giving it the feel of a monster preparing to leap in for the kill. The ship extends backwards with platforms which hold the engines, looking as fragile as the minds of the crew.In fact, there's only one sci-fi spaceship we'd be more reluctant to board than the Event Horizon...7. U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo - Alien(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)If any spaceship speaks of grunts sent out into space by suited bureaucrats, it’s the United States Cargo Star Ship (U.S.C.S.S.) Nostromo. Bulky, rough, and not at all sleek, the U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo is a battleship gray with sections that look kit-bashed or added after disaster. The designers actually took inspiration from World War II submarines, hence the claustrophobic feeling. In truth we rarely see much of the exterior of the ship, but the interior has become an icon of retro-futuristic sci-fi design.Confusingly, the Nostromo is actually a lot smaller than most people think - it's the small ship that lands on LV-426, not the massive thing that gets left in orbit. That's actually a refinery that the ship is towing behind it, like an intergalactic haulage truck. The interior of the ship is a mixture of clean white living spaces, industrial corridors, and high tech hypersleep pods. As it’s on its way back to Earth, the Nostromo is diverted to investigate a distress beacon, prematurely waking the crew from their hypersleep and, well, abject terror ensues. Any spaceship that can endure (well, mostly) a xenomorph attack is pretty badass and makes it one of the coolest spaceships in sci-fi.Get the U.S.C.S.S Nostromo crew patch at Amazon.6. Thunderbird 3 - Thunderbirds(Image credit: ITV)There was a time when spaceships were modelled as simple rockets, the design of which deviated only slightly between properties.

To surge forward. INT. BRIDGE - SUNRISE The crew at their posts. An electrical hum permeates the air. RIPLEY Lock tractor beams. The pitch of the hum changes. The ship levels itself. RIPLEY Retract leading struts. EXT. PLANET - SUNRISE The Nostromo hovering above the ground. Held on beams of shimmering force. The landing struts begin folding. INT. BRIDGE - DAY DALLAS Take us up. Lambert bends over the voice amplifier. LAMBERT One kilometer on ascension. INT. PLANET The Nostromo begins to levitate skyward. Seemingly pushing upward on the beams of light. INT. BRIDGE - DAY The ship continues vibrating. DALLAS Switch on lifter quads. A powerful, deep throbbing begins. The vibrations increase. RIPLEY (into speaker) Everything holding together down there. INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE Parker and Brett strapped in and vibrating. PARKER We fix something it stays fixed. BRETT Right. EXT. NOSTROMO - DAY The starship hovering below cloud ceiling. Then begins to accelerate through the dense atmosphere. INT. BRIDGE - DAY All viewscreens operational. DALLAS Engage artificial gravity. Lambert throws a switch. The ship lurches. LAMBERT Engaged. DALLAS Altering the vector now. A huge tremor runs throughout the ship. PARKER'S VOICE (o.s.) Dust is clogging the damn intakes again. We're overloading. DALLAS Just hold us together until we're beyond G1... The pitch of the engines changes...deepens. EXT. NOSTROMO - DAY The ship moves at an acute angle. Slices through the boiling clouds. INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE Parker and Brett watching the guages. INT. BRIDGE - DAY Outside the

Print-out from Mother out of his hand. ASH The other ship did. DALLAS That's what I mean. Studies the print-out. ASH It's big enough. Can't see any reason why not. CUT TO: EXT. NOSTROMO AND REFINERY APPROACHING THE STAR/PLANET SYSTEM INT. BRIDGE Dallas at his console speaking to Ash. DALLAS We're coming into range of the planet. What kind of orbit do you plan for the cargo. ASH Z local vertical mode. DALLAS You figure it will hold that. ASH You worried about redundancy management disabling CMGS control. DALLAS Yeah. ASH CMG control is inhibited via DAS/DCS. We'll augment with TACS and monitor through ATMDC and computer interface. (pause) Feel better? DALLAS A lot. EXT. NOSTROMO Moving within range of the planet. INT. BRIDGE The crew strap themselves to their seats. DALLAS Prepare for separation and orbital insertion of the cargo. Much preparation for separation, etc. DALLAS Give me an EC Pressure reading. ASH 3.45 n/c m^2 squared (5 psia) DALLAS Shout if it changes. Deactivate probe retract system. KANE What about the pressure seal. Dallas hits appropriate switches. DALLAS Now the probe retract system. Kane hits other equally appropriate switches. KANE Okay. DALLAS Release captive hatches and disengage probe. Kane working switches and buttons. KANE Disengaged. Dallas punches buttons of his own. EXT. NOSTROMO The Refinery separates from Nostromo. INT. BRIDGE Dallas watches the refinery moving away on a viewscreen. KANE All free and clear. DALLAS Ash. ASH Orbital insertion complete. DALLAS Okay. The money's safe. Let's take it

Down. EXT. NOSTROMO Engines coughing to life. Nostromo begins its descent. Below night's tide rolls across the planet's surface. INT. BRIDGE The viewscreen shimmers. RIPLEY Turbulence. EXT. NOSTROMO Tug-module hydroplaning downward. A set of brilliant lights switch on. Cut through the thick atmosphere. INT. ENGINE ROOM - CUBICLE Parker and Brett strapped in their seats. Begin rocking from the sudden, extreme turbulence. PARKER Chirst. Overloading. What the hell are we going through. BRETT Dust fritzing the compressor. PARKER There goes the conversion stabilizer. BRETT I don't know if the digital solenoid... PARKER Forget it. If we don't crash, dollars to your aunt's cherry we get an electrical fire... INT. BRIDGE The turbulence continues unabated. Lambert's eyes follow cross-plot gauges. LAMBERT Drop begins...now. Fifteen kilometers and descending... twelve...ten...eight and slowing. Five. Three. Two. One kilometer and slowing. DALLAS Lock tractor breams. A loud electrical hum. KANE Locked. DALLAS Kill drive engines. The engines fall silent. LAMBERT Nine hundred meters and dropping. Eight hundred. Seven hundred. EXT. PLANET - NIGHT Storm blowing across the night-shrouded surface. The Nostromo hovers on glowing beams of light. Landing struts unfold like insect legs. The ship slams down. Rocks heavily on massive shock absorbers. INT. BRIDGE - NIGHT RIPLEY We're down. An enormous vibration. The panels in the room flash simultaneously. Light go out. KANE Lost it. Lost it. INT. ENGINE ROOM Another huge vibration. An electrical fire breaks out along three control panels. INT. OILY CORRIDOR Huge flash fire whips along corridor. INT. ENGINE ROOM

Screens, clouds, clouds, clouds. Another tremor runs through the ship. The crew's eyes riveted to their instruments. DALLAS Let's pick up the money and go home. EXT. NOSTROMO The ship clears the top of the cloud layer. Bursts out into star-sprinkled space. Trailing a wake of glimmering dust flecks. Attached itself to the hovering refinery. INT. ENGINE ROOM CUBICLE Brett waves his arms in exultation. BRETT We did it PARKER Walk in the park. When we fix something it stays fixed. Big smiles. INT. BRIDGE The Nostromo now safely beyond gravity. DALLAS Set our course and get us up to light plus four. Lambert begins punching buttons. LAMBERT Feets get me out of here. EXT. OUTER SPACE The Nostromo now at light speed. Preceptible movement in the surrounding universe. A corona effect emerges. Stars approaching the Nostromo appear blue. Receding stars going to amber. Redshift, made visible because of the craft's velocity. INT. MESS Parker, Brett, Dallas and Ripley around the table. Drinking coffee. PARKER The best thing to do is just to freeze him. Stop the goddam disease. He can get a doctor to look at him when we get back home. BRETT Right. RIPLEY Whenever he says anything you say 'right'. You know that, Brett. BRETT Right. RIPLEY What do you think, Parker. Your staff just follows you around and says 'right'. Like a regular parrot. Parker turns to Brett. PARKER Yeah. Shape up. What are you, some kind of parrot. BRETT Right. DALLAS Knock it off... Kane

From the shuttles acceleration pulling against her. EXT. SPACE The Narcissus continues to power away from the mother ship. The larger bulk of the Nostromo quietly receding. All is strangely serene. INT. NARCISSUS Ripley finishes strapping herself in. Reaches and grabs the cat box. The cat yowling within. Ripley hugs the box to her chest. Hunches her head down over the container. EXT. SPACE The Nostromo drifts farther away from the shuttle-craft. Finally becomes a small point of light. Then it blows up. Transforms into expanding orange fireball. Pieces of metal flying in all directions. And then the refinery explodes. 200,000,000 tons of fuel blasting silently into the cosmos. INT. NARCISSUS The shockwave hits the shuttle craft. Jolting and rattling everything within. Then all is quiet. Ripley unhooks herself from her straps. Rises, and goes to the back of the escape craft. Stares out through the porthole. Face bathed in orange light. EXT. SPACE Piece of debris float past. The boiling fireball fades into nothingness. The Nostromo has ceased to exist. INT. NARCISSUS Ripley watching the final destiny of her ship and crew mates. A very long moment. Then, behind her, the lethal hand emerges from deep shadow. The Alien has been in the shuttle-craft all along. The cat yowls. Ripley whirls. Finding herself facing the Creature. Ripley's first thought is for the flamethrower. It lies on the deck next to the Alien. Next she glances around for a place to hide. Her eye falls on a small locker containing