1. What exactly was the "Space Jockey" from the first Alien movie?
2. Also why was the space ship cresent shaped? Neither were totally explained in the movie.
3. Is it true that people actually walked out of the theatre back in 79? ( I`m 25)
4. Is it also true that people jumped during the chestburster scene? Can anyone personally attest to ques 3 or 4?

Quoted:
1. What exactly was the "Space Jockey" from the first Alien movie?
    ??? I don't recall the term "Space Jockey" from Alien.  I've seen it a few times, and that doesn't ring any bells.

2. Also why was the space ship cresent shaped? Neither were totally explained in the movie.
        ???  I rememeber the Nostromo looking like most sci-fi ships.  

3. Is it true that people actually walked out of the theatre back in 79? ( I`m 25)
    I'm 36, which made me 10 in 1979, so ???

4. Is it also true that people jumped during the chestburster scene?
    See Q#3

1. The thing in the chair has been reffered to as the "Space Jockey" outside of the movie. I was wondering if there was any explaination on him/her/it.
2. I didn`t mean the Nostromo, I meant the Alien ship.

Quoted: 1. What exactly was the "Space Jockey" from the first Alien movie? 2. Also why was the space ship cresent shaped? Neither were totally explained in the movie. 3. Is it true that people actually walked out of the theatre back in 79? ( I`m 25) 4. Is it also true that people jumped during the chestburster scene? Can anyone personally attest to ques 3 or 4?

1. Who the "Space Jocky" was is never explaned. For those that don't know "Space Jocky" is the name of the large thing that was in the spaceship the crew found. It never had a name in the movies, I belive the movie crew and fan base use the term.

2. Never explained. Looks good on camera.

3. Yes. It was quite a "gory" move back in the day.

4. Yes. The chestburster scene was very graphic for the time. Scared my wife silly.

Av.

Quoted: Quoted: 1. What exactly was the "Space Jockey" from the first Alien movie? 2. Also why was the space ship cresent shaped? Neither were totally explained in the movie. 3. Is it true that people actually walked out of the theatre back in 79? ( I`m 25) 4. Is it also true that people jumped during the chestburster scene? Can anyone personally attest to ques 3 or 4? 1. Who the "Space Jocky" was is never explaned. For those that don't know "Space Jocky" is the name of the large thing that was in the spaceship the crew found. It never had a name in the movies, I belive the movie crew and fan base use the term. 2. Never explained. Looks good on camera. 3. Yes. It was quite a "gory" move back in the day. 4. Yes. The chestburster scene was very graphic for the time. Scared my wife silly. Av.

+1 all around.

I was 14, that thing was right over the plate for me.

The chest buster scene was one of those groundbreaking deals that you have to see to understand.  Once someone does something so perfect, it gets re-done, ripped off, and generaqlly sequelled into passe pretty quick.

I was a majorly scary movie when I first saw it, and I still love it.

Couple of interesting things about the Space Jockey from the extended cut editions of the various Alien movies, plus some stuff I read on some fan boards....

1. The space jockey was a being from another planet who dealt the alien species as a weapon. He was making a delivery of eggs, when an egg hatched, he got infected, and the ship crash landed on LV 426, after he was killed.

2. Being who got infected by the alien species, and purposely crash landed his ship on uninhabited LV 426 to avoid infecting the rest of his species.

In any case, it interesting conjecture, there was talk of an Alien prequel showing how the craft ended up there....

The space jockey by the way is a "giant" being within the bowels of the "alien" ship (conjecture saying that the ship isn't made by THE alien species, but another alien species who fell victim to THE aliens somehow...). You will see him in wide shots of the crew inside the downed ship in the original Alien movie.....

images.google.com/images?q=space%20jockey&hl=en&hs=S0P&lr=&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&tab=wi

3. I was at the Chicago premiere in 1979 -- sat right behind Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy (some here might even be old enough to remember them) who both loved it -- and not a single walkout at that showing.

4. Certainly the cast's reaction to the chestburster was genuine. They were not told exactly what was going to happen, how messy it was going to be or how bad it was going to smell.

Quoted: 3. I was at the Chicago premiere in 1979 -- sat right behind Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy (some here might even be old enough to remember them) who both loved it -- and not a single walkout at that showing. 4. Certainly the cast's reaction to the chestburster was genuine. They were not told exactly what was going to happen, how messy it was going to be or how bad it was going to smell.

smell?
what all did they use for that scene?

Quoted: Quoted: 3. I was at the Chicago premiere in 1979 -- sat right behind Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy (some here might even be old enough to remember them) who both loved it -- and not a single walkout at that showing. 4. Certainly the cast's reaction to the chestburster was genuine. They were not told exactly what was going to happen, how messy it was going to be or how bad it was going to smell. smell? what all did they use for that scene?

same here.
I beleive the blood was actually raspberry juice

According to Ridley Scott's audio commentary it was basically "blood and KY jelly" although daily supplies of cow stomach and sheep intestine were brought in for the egg opening/face hugger pouncing scene so who knows what else may have also been in there. I seem to remember the bit about the smell from a "Making Of..." feature but I could have just made it up.

Quoted: 2. Being who got infected by the alien species, and purposely crash landed his ship on uninhabited LV 426 to avoid infecting the rest of his species.

Alien and Aliens were both kick-ass movies! I loved them!   Forget about the rest though! They sucked!

Going back on topic. Wasn't the Nostromo diverted to LV 426 because of a distress call? If that was the case then the "space jockey" may not have crash landed there on purpose.

Quoted: Quoted: 2. Being who got infected by the alien species, and purposely crash landed his ship on uninhabited LV 426 to avoid infecting the rest of his species. Alien and Aliens were both kick-ass movies! I loved them!   Forget about the rest though! They sucked! Going back on topic. Wasn't the Nostromo diverted to LV 426 because of a distress call? If that was the case then the "space jockey" may not have crash landed there on purpose.

They thought it was a distress call but it turned out to be a warning. Weiland Yutani sent them to get bio weapons. Crew expendable.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: 2. Being who got infected by the alien species, and purposely crash landed his ship on uninhabited LV 426 to avoid infecting the rest of his species. Going back on topic. Wasn't the Nostromo diverted to LV 426 because of a distress call? If that was the case then the "space jockey" may not have crash landed there on purpose. They thought it was a distress call but it turned out to be a warning. Weiland Yutani sent them to get bio weapons. Crew expendable.

Ohhhhhh .... Now I get it. Thank's Twonami!

Wow.  I thought I was a movie buff.  

I didn't know people actually made up expanding plot lines.

Back that summer me and my buds knew exactly what time the creature popped out of the stomach at the drive in. We'd drive up there and sneak under the fence just for that scene and leave after.

I think the space jockey was also "hashed out" in one of the first Aliens comics series by Dark Horse comics. Either ina short story in Dark Horse presents or in the series that was the follow-up to the Aliens movie (which was probably a better story idea than the actual sequel to Aliens).

ETA: Found this here

A Nightmare Fulfilled: Reaction to the Film (19:21): This fascinating featurette has various cast and crew talking about their preview recollections and audience reactions. From the disastrous sound problems in St Louis to the amazing reception at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, where it was running around the clock to keep up with public demand.   Veronica Cartwright recalls that she had to queue and pay for her own ticket and couldn't believe it when people began to leave the theatre to go and "barf in the foyer." Rumours also have it that someone attempted to set fire to the 'Space Jockey' model in the foyer as they thought it was the work of the devil (Déjà vu Exorcist hype…anyone?).   Tom Skerritt even claimed that one particular theatre owner, who was tired of people vomiting in the bathrooms, actually cut the 'chestburster' scene from the reel.

Space Jockey "explanation"

I'm sure the crescent shape of the "derelict space craft" has no major significance other than it's an alien design. Read here


Here's a clipping from one of the pages of Aliens: Outbreak (from Dark Horse Comics, which I believe is a trade paperback collection of various series including the original six part miniseries). IIRC this story had some major tie ins of the "space jockey".

And for all you retro fans... here's another space jockey.

They really didn't tell the cast exactly what was supposed to happen in the chest-bursting scene.  The blondish gal literally fainted and fell over backwards unconsious from the shock of the scene.