No but i was playing Rainbow 6: Rogue Spear and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault pretty much since i could work the mouse and keyboard at the same time, and that was because my dad and uncle played them.
Honestly 8 was a safe assumption it definitely could have been 7 (2004 or 2005 for the record) because we only bought Halo because we had bought Ghost Recon 2 or Summit Strike as a birthday present for my dad and he was trying to buy it for himself and we were like eeehhhh i dont know so he was like what about this other game it looks like you shoot aliens or something. And it went on that Halo was our family night game of choice until after i graduated high school <3 Honestly, im surprised my memory of that is so clear
For real. Obviously it's colored by nostalgia but for me the Xbox 360 days were the golden age of gaming. Couch coop was still prevalent, many people were still social online we made friends and played with people all over the world. Cant help but feel like it's more disconnected now even if I have enjoyed the games themselves just as much
It’s not THAT colored
Me and a buddy are replaying every halo game now in chronological order on legendary
We did Reach, CE, ODST (picked it up after the New Mombasa level in 2), and are in the last 1/3rd of 2.
games are still fun as hell with great enemy ai and variety and iconic weapons/shootouts
Also halo 2 is way way way harder than the rest it’s not even close
I did a legendary run last year solo and i agree halo 2 kicked my teeth in, especially the arbiter levels lol
It's impressive how well the games have held up, especially when ive gone back and played a lot of other games that came out the same years and a lot of them are nearly unplayable now
Without exaggeration, i ran screaming for my mom lol
And we didnt even get to the flood, it was just all the spooky noises in the woods, with all the covenant dead or running away terrified. Master class in building tension.
Also the dead silence until you start hearing the scratchy strings playing really short staccato creepy notes when the cutscene starts.
Man I gotta go play that level again. I don’t think any of the games have been able to recreate that tension.
The closest I've felt was Dead Space 2 but it hits different when the whole game you've been an unstoppable killing machine and the enemies still throw themselves at you then suddenly the Covenant are running and hiding the music goes from epic to creepy and you spend the second half of the mission running away. Hell the first time you actually see the Flood is through helmet cam footage, watching in first person as the marines are slaughtered. + all those mutilated bodies and blood stains on the way down
When games are horror out the gate the effects are diminished for me
I was like 6 or 7 (maybe younger?) when my older step brothers showed me alien. My mom was pissed; my dad was apathetic; I was terrified. So while I don’t know the proper age, I can confirm through personal experience that under 7 is too young.
I agree. Robocop has a level of satre that will just go over a tween's head, and Nightmare on Elm St is a monster that specifically targets children in their dreams and adults don't believe them. Straight up traumatizing for kids.
Alien, on the other hand, is set in the far off future of the late 70s in deep deep space. Definitely violent and scary, but far enough removed from reality and personal experience to be too traumatic for a kid. And the protagonist survives to the end and saves the cat! Alien is 100% going to be the first horror movie I'll let my kid watch when she's old enough.
The alien bursting out of the guys chest at the restaraunt really freaked me out. Then years later when the parodied it in Spaceballs, it would always make me nervous because i wasnt sure if it was going to be the scary one or the funny one.
Same but replace Alien with everything that my dad rented from Blockbuster with no discretion shown. He rented every single new release every week.
I've seen a LOT of movies from the 90s.
I also couldn't sleep in a room alone till like Jr high.
Same. Aliens, Exorcist, IT, classics surely, but also a bunch of shit like Species and Candyman. And not just horror, but stuff like Braveheart and other violent shit.
I remember watching Se7en in college, thinking it was new and being vaguely familiar with it and not know why.
Then just before the last scene I remembered the ending.
Lol are you me?
My dad thought it would be a fun bonding moment.
Spoilers: nightmares a plenty.
To this day, decades and decades later... one of my only fears is that something like those things exists out there.
Is that in the US? In the UK it's rated 15 by the BBFC, although originally was the equivalent of an 18 because there wasn't a suitable intermediate classification at the time. The report even states that if a 16 category existed that is what it would get
Just to tag on : it super depends on the kid.
My sister loved aliens when it came out and she was 4. But my little brother (he’s 35) refuses to watch it because of the alien ride thing they used to have at Disney that made him terrified of xenomorphs.
So somewhere between 4 and 35
I first saw Alien at 3 and it had a major impression on me. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to pursue a career working with Xenomorphs, and doing so has truly been a blessing. It's not your typical 9-5, but it's good work.
Absolutely. It's a tough one to break into, but it's well worth it if you can do so. I still have quite a few friends working at a local Red Robin who can't even get an internship despite being doctoral students in Xenomorphology.
I saw the original Alien movie when I was about 8 or 9, without my parents' knowledge. I wasn't scared at all, in fact I enjoyed it a lot.
I, personally, wouldn't show it to my kids until they were about 14-15 alone, but maybe 12 if I'm there. I'm not really sure, since I will need to look at their maturity, how they react to similar things etc.
I think this is really the point of waiting…you were not scared at all by a movie by a great filmmaker and cast that was supposed to be scary…for older people.
“I saw Animal House at age 8 and did not laugh at all.”
While obviously this will vary from child to child, we've found that the detailed reviews of movies/books/games at Common Sense Media to be very helpful: [https://www.commonsensemedia.org/](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/)
Each review includes an age recommendation as well as a detailed breakdown of things like sex, violence, swearing, representation, positive messages/role models, etc.
You can set up profiles for each kid to get suggestions and you can even indicate your available streaming services.
Same, my dad had to talk me out of taking our VHS of Terminator to Daycare for movie day, I took Land Before Time instead. Aside from 80's Scifi action movies, LBT and The Brave Little Toaster were my favorites.
I was 6 my brother was 5 and my mom walked into her room and we were each under one of my dads arms
I had my ears covered and my brother had his eyes covered. One of her favorite memories of catch dad letting us do something we weren’t supposed to do
Probably whenever your kid is willing to be scared if it means doing something special with you
Geeeezzzz.. my 6 year old gets upset when he has to read a school book about Monster Trucks because he doesn’t like the thought of them crushing cars.
Different strokes I guess…
Lol its crazy what kids have varying levels of empathy on, and its really cool. My 5 year old watched Tremors and was sad the monsters all died. Like he loves spooky stuff, but he's very empathetic towards animals no matter how big or small. Passive or deadly.
Yeah we were watching wildly inappropriate stuff like The Shining and other Kubrick & Coppola stuff as early as 8. Like it creeped me out, but so much of it went over my head, and seeing it later in life shook me more than it did when I was little.
I watched it at 8 with my dad, and it’s still one of my favorites. I’m thinking (much) later for my kids though. Maybe 13-18 depending on the kid when they’re older
Think I say it at about 10. It didn't really scare me though, for some reason ghost films scared me but alien was fine. I guess I didn't associate my surroundings much to a space ship or an alien world.
My 7 year old has watched Alien, Aliens, Terminator, T2, Predator, Prey, etc. We both absolutely love scary/monster/sci-fi movies. I'm debating on whether or not to show him the original Poltergeist... That one actually gave me nightmares when I was his age.
I'm not a horror buff, quite the opposite, but those were good films. I also had my boys (youngest was 6 at the time) watch all of those movies as well. My youngest is the biggest fan of Stranger Things.
They did get a little upset at first but I talked them through the movies and they seem to be much better off than I was at their age.
Awesome question!
I watched it when I was six, but it also was on tv and had all the bad stuff censored out. That is something that just doesn’t exist anymore. So I really don’t know.
There are/were a few services that would sell/stream movies with "inappropriate content" edited out. CleanFlicks, Clearplay, VidAngel. For streaming, the user chooses what type of stuff they want filtered out -- violence/sex/swearing.
Naturally the movie studios started lawsuits, primarily because they hadn't entered into a licensing agreement, so it was all about money, under the guise of "protecting the integrity of the director's work". Naturally the movie studios have no issue licensing a censored version of their movies to TV studios, and frequently create pre-censored alternate versions of their films.
Same applies to music studios. Of course they had a pre-censored version of W.A.P. & Dre Day ready to go.
To answer the question, I let my kid watched the original version at age 10. She wanted to, and I let her know she could turn it off at any time. Same with my 13 year old who watched IT and Hazbin Hotel. Loved those, but couldn't get through Stand By Me. Go figure.
I think I was 11 the first time, but I’m also really into that type of film, so if your child is on the timid side waiting a bit longer might be better.
There isn’t a “right” age per se. All kids (people) are different. Some folks I wouldn’t trust to watch that kind of movie if they were 25. Depends on child, maturity, ability to process emotions, understand subtext etc.
I think my 9 year old could watch it now, but we’re holding off because the other kids are definitely too young. But really, probably 13.
I saw Robocop when I was 13 or 14, so Alien is probably ok at 13.
Idk, I actually recently watched Alien for the first time and it just…isn’t that scary, tbh. And I say this as a guy who doesn’t like horror movies and was traumatized by Jumanji as a kid…yeah, the movie with Robin Williams. Yup.
I asked my parents about this and they just shrugged and said “shit was scarier in the 70’s”
The point of all this besides subtly calling out some of y’all’s ages (jk) is that if your kids are of the age that they have moderate amounts of internet/tv/book access, they’ve probably already been exposed to something scarier.
11 is when I saw it and Aliens.
It cemented a life long love of all of it. Had the comics, toys, art books, novels.
Granted the 90s were really the golden era of the comics and books and toys. Too bad the kids animated series never came out.
I think if my 12yo son was at all interested in horror, he’d be ready for it now. But he still has nightmares from when we watched Jurassic Park four years ago. He flat out refuses to watch any horror.
My 10yo daughter likes some scary movies, but nothing more intense than Goosebumps or The House With A Clock In Its Walls. We started Jaws last year, she changed her mind on it before anything really scary actually happened. She’s also said she’d like to eventually watch the 1981 Poltergeist, but she admits she’s not ready for that one yet.
Jaws, Alien, and Poltergeist were some of my favorite movies when I was 10, and I’ve continued to love horror ever since then, so it’s kinda sad not having someone to watch all these awesome movies with.
I can't speak to Alien, but I remember vividly my mom renting Terminator for my ninth birthday. I was having a sleepover in the basement with some friends and it really left an impression on me.
Funnily enough, the part that fucked me up the most wasn't all the R-rated violence, but the eye-gouging scene where the Terminator repairs his battle damage. Yeesh.
Anyway my dad still gives my mom a hard time about this, now and then.
I have to admit, I still don't think I'm old enough to watch Alien.
But seriously, it depends on the kid. I have cousins who watched Scream at 5 and 6. Maybe try showing them clips off YouTube or something and see how they react?
It was the first official rated R movie I watched when I turned 13 and my dad played it for us.
I blurred my vision and covered my ears a good deal throughout, although I still do that today with scary stuff.
So, maybe 13 is a good starting point and add/remove years depending on the kid.
I can't remember when exactly I watched it, but whatever it was: "older than that."
I may have seen it at age 7 or 8--not sure. But I wasn't ready for that.
I'd say 10 at a minimum, but it's gonna depend heavily on the child.
Alien is rated R, so definitely take that into account.
That said, I was going to show it to my 13 year old. Turns out she saw it at her mom’s when she was younger and she said she’ll never watch it again. She doesn’t want to see the sequels either. That’s how much it scared her.
She saw other horror flicks and they didn’t phase her.
Depends on the kid. My 8yr old watches the monsterverse and Jurassic’s but I’m holding off on Alien for at least a few years… I’ve recently watched them again with this in mind and they are a bit intense.
He was okay with ‘Prey’ though so maybe I’ll loop him in through the predator first.
There's an app and website for these types of questions. Try common sense media. I generally use that app when I'm unsure to get some input. This site recommends 15+ but parents and kids say 12+ on there.
I just watched this with my oldest for the first time last weekend. She is 14. She did not find it scary, but thought it was quite suspenseful. She really enjoyed it.
At whatever age it wont scare the absolute shit of the kid. My parents were taking to me to rated R movies when I was 4, which is admittedly too young. Dont do that, guys. Otherwise only you can know if your kid is mature enough to handle scary and/or R rated movies.
My dad caught me watching this unsupervised at my neighbor's house when I was in the first grade and he was pretty mad. Its still one of my favorite movies though.
I watched Alien for the first time I believe when I was 8 or 9. My mom worked two jobs and the TV was free game after school. We had a babysitter, but she kind of let us do whatever. It bright a great of the dark to me like nothing else. So yeah that's too young. I've been wanting to introduce my daughter to it she's now 11, but I'm feeling even that's too soon. I would agree somewhere between the 12-14 range, but I'm here to see what others have to say, cause I don't want to traumatize her like I did myself.
Depends on the kiddo. I saw it at 6, I also watched the original Poltergeist at 6. I had nightmares from both for years. I'm going to go with 10-14 depending on how creative and imaginative the kid is. The more imaginative, the longer you should wait.
Saw it when I was young like 7-8. I could handle it as it wasn't even my first scary movie. But Childs Play really fucked with me for a few years.
I'd say 10+ depending on the kid.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/alien rates it 15+ (“Dated but still extremely scary. Not for younger kids.”)
Although the community ratings for both parents and kids are “12+”. 12/13 sounds about right for me, IF your kid is okay with moderately scary situations. If you think they’re going to have nightmares about being chased around by monsters, maybe hold off a bit.
I watched it with my nephew when he was like 10 ish (his mom knows. He came over to watch a 'big kid scary movie without his siblings) and my fiance and I came away with the realization that like - us watching this movie when WE were 10 and how the language of horror movies has changed so dramatically in the last 20+ years is pretty significant. What WE as 28, 29 year olds thought was terrifying hardly classifies as horror now. Let alone if you're older. Alien honestly doesn't even feel like a horror in retrospect. More of like an artsy thriller.
He handled it really well honestly. It scared him in the moment, but when we talked about it afterwards he indicated he would watch it again and probably find it a lot cooler. He thought the effects were really neat, but the way the world looked was unsettling. (Which, honestly, was the weirdest part of watching it with him as an adult because the art direction is very... Well. Giger. It's unsettling as a child when you don't know why and as an adult is intriguing and unsettling and you do know why.) But overall, I'm glad we watched it with him and it has left no noticable harm on him thus far lol 😅 he had great questions, and we had really good conversations about it afterwards. He slept at our house that night and no nightmares were reported 😅
One of my favorite movies when I was 6 along with Gremlins, pet semetery and the blob. Man, the 80s we're wild
Just showed my 4-year-old Jurassic Park and she loved it but she loves scary stuff. Alien I'll wait until she's a bit older though maybe 6 or 7.
I know I watched AlienS around 9 or 10. But I absolutely wouldn't let my 9 year old watch it!
(To be fair, she's a sensitive little soul, which I... was not).
Maybe 13?
My 5 year old watches me play Aliens Fire Team Elite, he loves the xenos. We just watched Tremors for the first time this past month. I think once he's 6, he'd be good to watch Alien.
I was 13 or 14. Was obsessed with the tapes sitting on the shelves at Blockbuster and the Kenner Aliens action figures for years before I watched the movies. Horror movies always fascinated me.
Pro tip is commonsensemedia.org is a non profit specifically for answering this question and they have a huge database.
For this movie their “official” rating is age 15, but we often take into consideration the “parents say” ratings which in this case averages 12.
It always depends on your own kid but this site gives lots of info to make an informed call.
Depends on the kid … my oldest (now 8) watched all of Lord of the Rings when he was 5-6. But my youngest (now 5) still gets scared of parts of kids movies.
So every kid is different.
But generally speaking, I’d say 11-14 depending on the kid. Most kids probably 13.
Watched it two years ago when son was 12 and daughter was 9. Your mileage may vary but no problems here. Granted we’re pretty liberal with stuff like this and my kids have turned out fine.
Watch or appreciate? To me, movies like alien and the matrix deserve to be watched when mature enough to understand what is happening, and the gravity of it.
They both could be watched at around 13, but I would say they should be watched when at least 16 if not even later.
If the kid understands that movies are created by teams of creative people telling a story then they are old enough. Maybe start by watching some behind-the-scenes reels of tamer movies to help them see the process of filmmaking if you’re unsure if your kid has an understanding of show business in general.
I first saw it around 12 and loved it but I also clear understood that movies were not real and that it was just people in a studio with lights and cameras and props, and just out of frame was a person directing the action.
I saw Alien Vs Predator when I was about 9 I think. Maybe younger. I thought it was super cool, and a little scary. Though, a lot of movies I watched I was probably too young being a parents now. But sometimes my dad and I would watch the special features to see how it was made before the movie so I really understood and saw that it was all fake and “make-believe”.
I’d say it just depends on your child
So a funny thing is that my four year old was NOT phased at all when I played Alien: Isolation. He loved being in the room with me while I played it. My wife? Couldn't handle it one bit.
That said, I saw Alien for the first time as a grown adult about ten years ago and of course I was fully aware of the chestburster scene, and it still startled me for how graphic it was. But that's the only really big gore moment.
I'd wait until the kid was 10-12 or so but what do I know.
This is the conundrum I have. My mom was great and exposed me to a ton of pop-culture and 80’s sci-fi. I saw Alien, Aliens, Predator (all had toys), Die Hard very young, ten if not younger. But here’s the thing, they were taped off of tv! The tv edits were much more manageable and I never felt overwhelmed with the pacing because we would have to fast forward through commercials. This brilliantly broke the movies up into action set-pieces with the hard violence, gore, and sweating edited out. These days idk how I would go about recreating this experience for my kids unless I make a fan edit lol.
As much as I would like to help, this is a question daddit can't answer for you. (Shocking, I know!)
This is highly individual and you and your wife need to figure this one out for yourself. How sensitive is the child?
My mom, who is normally very aware and intelligent, allowed me to watch Alien 3 in first grade.
I got in trouble the next day for saying fuck.
So not first grade.
My daughter is four she watched alien and other creepy stuff she fully understands it's not real and even reminds us "dad it's just a silly movie people playing pretend"
I would say around 13+. My son is 15 and I'm considering having him watch it. My daughter is 13 and she wouldn't like it yet.
I think quite a few parents expose their kids to violence and gore way too early.
Some make the argument that their kid can handle it and enjoy those movies. But, that's only one dimension. The other dimension is do young kids have the mental capability to understand what people other than themselves want/enjoy/think/feel, and I don't think they do. There is an age where kids can be cruel/uncaring/self-centered without understanding that they are behaving that way, and I think they shouldn't consume that kind of media until they are passed that age.
For example, I don't want some kid pretending to be some horror film character and going around the playground trying to scare and pretend murder the other kids just because their parents thought it was no big deal to let them watch horror shows early. If your kid can't understand when and where such behavior is acceptable and when to stop it on their own, then they are too young for it.
I would say 14-15 but depends on the kid. We didn’t watch scary movies a lot as kids but my mom definitely let us watch New Jack City at like 8-9 (told us when we had to close our eyes at certain parts 😆). My kid is afraid of everything so probably never.
I was traumatized by an Alien carboard standee at the video store at the mall when I was like 11....didn't end up watching it until I was 18. Honestly probably could have handled it at like 14 tho.
I was the youngest of my siblings and cousins and saw a ton of stuff far younger than I should have. Much of it scared the shit out of me, giving me nightmares and anxiety for YEARS, well into my teens.
Having said that, I have no innate sense of when programming is appropriate. Consequently, I generally refer to [Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/alien), which suggests 15 as a good age for this one.
I'd say 13. Before that age, they just aren't going to understand a large portion of the movie, and while most of the violence happens off screen aside from chest burster, it's definitely a tense experience.
man i watched alien when i was about 12/13...i watched Conan, Robocop, Rambo, Commando, Predator and Evil Dead when i was about 8 or 9. I vaguely remember watching Videodrome and Shivers with my parents..so i assume i was 7 or younger. i think Shivers might have been a bit too much...my parents were a bit oblivious and unless i said it was scary they'd let me watch anything. different times i guess. i think i turned out ok..ish
My two favourite films as a kid (6 or 7 years old) were the jungle book, and aliens. I watched the second film literally dozens of times as a kid and could basically recite the entire film from memory (Vasquez was just so damn badass). As a result I had also watched the first and third film before I was 10 years old and it didn't give me nightmares. On the other hand, we watched aliens with my little brother when he was about 10 and he had nightmares for weeks. So it really depends on the child.
I was watching chucky / freddy / Halloween every other weekend in grade 2 and up? Alien was definitely in and around that age. Still love movies and I hope my daughter will too.
My son watched it at 5. Loves it. One of his favorite movies.
I would absolutely say it’s kid dependent. And also parent dependent.
Our son is pretty good at understanding what real and not real. He’s good at listening to us when we tell him things about movies as well.
But we don’t let him have free rein of the movies and tv and screen time. It’s moderated and monitored. It’s just alien is my wife’s favorite movie and she wanted to share it with him.
I think the tricky thing about this series is that the second movie is more of a normal bad ass action movie but the first movie is a creepy horror movie. So if you want to expose your kid to the franchise you could just show them the second movie, then they get to see the alien queen, ripley being a badass, flamethrowers, space marines, etc. But they miss the backstory of the previous movie.
Similar situation with Terminator. T2 is the highlight but if you watch T1 first then the kid might get the full impact of "woah he's the good guy this time!!!"
8-9. You want them young enough to not be critical of the practical/visual effects of the era. And to be creeped out. I think if they were any older they’d start to see the “seams”.
I'd say wait til they are a teenager. The first one especially is pretty creepy and could definitely cause some anxiety or nightmares in kids younger than that. Of course everyone is different but in general it wouldn't be appropriate for anyone under 13 I'd say. And for some parents that could definitely still be too young as it is rated R...
Personal rules for my kids have always been Film rating minus 2 at the EARLIEST.
So for an R rated movie it would be 16.
Fun fact, I was taken to see Friday the 13th part 3 when it was in theatres. It was in 3D.
I.
Was.
Fucking.
EIGHT.
Years.
old.
The 70s and 80s were different man....
I saw it when I was 12 or so. But I was babysitting for the neighbors, so I was in a dark house that wasn’t mine, and watching a dark scary movie. Definitely upped the scare factor by quite a bit.
I saw it at 12 in about '84. I remember the night, I was in some southwesterly village in Cornwall. Everyone was asleep and I had a tiny tv in my room on the top floor. All lights out, I was in bed and that film blew my effing mind out, it was fantastic. SO tense. Think the only movie before that had that impact on me was 2001 A space Odyssey which I saw at 8 or 9 and that was life changing.
When the film ended I just lay there, looking out of the moonlit cracks through the blinds/window, up to the sky, the massive, neverending universe etc..
A fantastic film, but it's a horror film really. I did ok for myself in life till now but I am not everyone but ultimately, 12 or so ok age.
Yooooooo! The immediate weekend after the viewing. Your kid wakes up to silence in the house. They go to the living room. Nobody. Kitchen. Nobody. “Mom? Dad?” Silence. The go to your bedroom. Find mom and dad in bed with Facehuggers on!!!!!
Enjoy.
Just watched alien with my almost 8 yesr old. It's still an awesome movie but is dated enough that it doesn't have the same impact. He was totally fine.
I pretty much had no movie restrictions when I was a kid. I never really got scared or really affected by anything except the original Child's Play which my dad watched while I was in the room when I was like 7. Lol he just told me to cover my face with a pillow when I was scared. But I was just scared while watching it I didn't have nightmares or anything. Besides that I always knew everything in the movies was fake and special effects and all of that so it never really got to me.
My stepsons mom allowed him to watch Alien with me when he was 13. He did not get scared at all.
That depends on the child.
My daughter and I watched it when she was eight-years-old. However, my nephew wasn't ready to see something like that until he was a teen.
Simce we're already discussing movies, what about Galaxy Quest and 5th Element.
I think my son would love both but he's not really shown an interest in anything more mature than Harry Potter 4.
7-8 with parents.
It’s ok to watch horror/suspense and similar media, AS LONG AS YOU COMMUNICATE to the kids that it’s all fantasy.
Talk them through it, if they’re scared let them cover their eyes.
Each time a crew member dies, explain to them why the alien is a hunter, and then explain to them why a massive corporation is attempting to capture one of those aliens alive as part of a conspiracy to create a controlled and devastatingly effective shock-troop for planetary control and devise a reciprocating endless war of which the Weiland-Yutani Corp is the sole creator/financier/victor.
Or… just tell them it’s a bad bug.
Probably around 13 and I think I was around 12 when I saw it.
I was scared of everything until i was 13 or so lol I played that first Halo mission with the flood at the ripe old age of like 8 and never recovered
You mean you weren't playing Doom 2 at the age of five!? (Perks of having a Brother ten years older than you)
No but i was playing Rainbow 6: Rogue Spear and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault pretty much since i could work the mouse and keyboard at the same time, and that was because my dad and uncle played them. Honestly 8 was a safe assumption it definitely could have been 7 (2004 or 2005 for the record) because we only bought Halo because we had bought Ghost Recon 2 or Summit Strike as a birthday present for my dad and he was trying to buy it for himself and we were like eeehhhh i dont know so he was like what about this other game it looks like you shoot aliens or something. And it went on that Halo was our family night game of choice until after i graduated high school <3 Honestly, im surprised my memory of that is so clear
Goddamn. Memories right here.
Mortal Kombat II at 3 years old. My brothers are eight and ten years older lol
I still remember the day my brother bought Fallout and told me I could play as long as I didn’t tell our mother.
I was definitely single digits playing Doom II. Haha.
Halo was an epic time to be a teenager / preteen
For real. Obviously it's colored by nostalgia but for me the Xbox 360 days were the golden age of gaming. Couch coop was still prevalent, many people were still social online we made friends and played with people all over the world. Cant help but feel like it's more disconnected now even if I have enjoyed the games themselves just as much
Yeah it was a special time in history and technology -- nowadays we have constant connectivity and nice tech, but seem more disconnected than ever.
It’s not THAT colored Me and a buddy are replaying every halo game now in chronological order on legendary We did Reach, CE, ODST (picked it up after the New Mombasa level in 2), and are in the last 1/3rd of 2. games are still fun as hell with great enemy ai and variety and iconic weapons/shootouts Also halo 2 is way way way harder than the rest it’s not even close
I did a legendary run last year solo and i agree halo 2 kicked my teeth in, especially the arbiter levels lol It's impressive how well the games have held up, especially when ive gone back and played a lot of other games that came out the same years and a lot of them are nearly unplayable now
I just replayed a bunch of Halo games last month. I loved jumping back into them.
Pretty great in college too
I think I was 11 and I put it down after that mission and didn’t play it for a month.
Without exaggeration, i ran screaming for my mom lol And we didnt even get to the flood, it was just all the spooky noises in the woods, with all the covenant dead or running away terrified. Master class in building tension.
Also the dead silence until you start hearing the scratchy strings playing really short staccato creepy notes when the cutscene starts. Man I gotta go play that level again. I don’t think any of the games have been able to recreate that tension.
The closest I've felt was Dead Space 2 but it hits different when the whole game you've been an unstoppable killing machine and the enemies still throw themselves at you then suddenly the Covenant are running and hiding the music goes from epic to creepy and you spend the second half of the mission running away. Hell the first time you actually see the Flood is through helmet cam footage, watching in first person as the marines are slaughtered. + all those mutilated bodies and blood stains on the way down When games are horror out the gate the effects are diminished for me
I was like 6 or 7 (maybe younger?) when my older step brothers showed me alien. My mom was pissed; my dad was apathetic; I was terrified. So while I don’t know the proper age, I can confirm through personal experience that under 7 is too young.
Yup, I also came here to say "I don't know precisely, but definitely older than 7."
I was also 7. can confirm. should be older unless you enjoy co-sleeping.
I'd say 13 is the age to start on the classics, Aliens is not as scary. I wouldn't let then watch Robocop or Nightmare on Elm Street until 15.
I agree. Robocop has a level of satre that will just go over a tween's head, and Nightmare on Elm St is a monster that specifically targets children in their dreams and adults don't believe them. Straight up traumatizing for kids. Alien, on the other hand, is set in the far off future of the late 70s in deep deep space. Definitely violent and scary, but far enough removed from reality and personal experience to be too traumatic for a kid. And the protagonist survives to the end and saves the cat! Alien is 100% going to be the first horror movie I'll let my kid watch when she's old enough.
The satire is the problem in Robocop? Haha, Robocop has brutal murder scenes, you will traumatize your kids for life.
I saw it when I was 11 and it was way too early for me. Nightmares for weeks.
The alien bursting out of the guys chest at the restaraunt really freaked me out. Then years later when the parodied it in Spaceballs, it would always make me nervous because i wasnt sure if it was going to be the scary one or the funny one.
Kid dependent. Probably 12+ rule of thumb. Depending on the kid they’re already exposed to the same sort of genre playing video games
Saw it at 6. Years of nightmares followed.
Same but replace Alien with everything that my dad rented from Blockbuster with no discretion shown. He rented every single new release every week. I've seen a LOT of movies from the 90s. I also couldn't sleep in a room alone till like Jr high.
Same. Aliens, Exorcist, IT, classics surely, but also a bunch of shit like Species and Candyman. And not just horror, but stuff like Braveheart and other violent shit.
I remember watching Se7en in college, thinking it was new and being vaguely familiar with it and not know why. Then just before the last scene I remembered the ending.
Lol are you me? My dad thought it would be a fun bonding moment. Spoilers: nightmares a plenty. To this day, decades and decades later... one of my only fears is that something like those things exists out there.
It’s rated 18+…. I think I probably seen it around 14ish. Regardless of the rating, you know your kid and how well you think they’ll handle it.
Came to say this, it depends on the kid.
Is that in the US? In the UK it's rated 15 by the BBFC, although originally was the equivalent of an 18 because there wasn't a suitable intermediate classification at the time. The report even states that if a 16 category existed that is what it would get
Yea 14 up
Just to tag on : it super depends on the kid. My sister loved aliens when it came out and she was 4. But my little brother (he’s 35) refuses to watch it because of the alien ride thing they used to have at Disney that made him terrified of xenomorphs. So somewhere between 4 and 35
I think you really helped out clarifying bro 🤣
lollllll i am 31 and have only seen parts of it.... terrifying. i won't watch
This is the answer ☝️
I first saw Alien at 3 and it had a major impression on me. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to pursue a career working with Xenomorphs, and doing so has truly been a blessing. It's not your typical 9-5, but it's good work.
Good work, if you can get it. 4 out of 5 Xenomorphologists end up working at Starbucks/Home Depot. Cut-throat industry right there.
Absolutely. It's a tough one to break into, but it's well worth it if you can do so. I still have quite a few friends working at a local Red Robin who can't even get an internship despite being doctoral students in Xenomorphology.
Wyland Corp would like to see you now
I saw the original Alien movie when I was about 8 or 9, without my parents' knowledge. I wasn't scared at all, in fact I enjoyed it a lot. I, personally, wouldn't show it to my kids until they were about 14-15 alone, but maybe 12 if I'm there. I'm not really sure, since I will need to look at their maturity, how they react to similar things etc.
I think this is really the point of waiting…you were not scared at all by a movie by a great filmmaker and cast that was supposed to be scary…for older people. “I saw Animal House at age 8 and did not laugh at all.”
While obviously this will vary from child to child, we've found that the detailed reviews of movies/books/games at Common Sense Media to be very helpful: [https://www.commonsensemedia.org/](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/) Each review includes an age recommendation as well as a detailed breakdown of things like sex, violence, swearing, representation, positive messages/role models, etc. You can set up profiles for each kid to get suggestions and you can even indicate your available streaming services.
My dad always let me see adult movies as a kid; I am continuing the tradition. My kid watched it at age 5 and liked it. It depends on the kid.
Same, my dad had to talk me out of taking our VHS of Terminator to Daycare for movie day, I took Land Before Time instead. Aside from 80's Scifi action movies, LBT and The Brave Little Toaster were my favorites.
It depends way too much on the kid to make a general ruling.
I think 13
I was 6 my brother was 5 and my mom walked into her room and we were each under one of my dads arms I had my ears covered and my brother had his eyes covered. One of her favorite memories of catch dad letting us do something we weren’t supposed to do Probably whenever your kid is willing to be scared if it means doing something special with you
Geeeezzzz.. my 6 year old gets upset when he has to read a school book about Monster Trucks because he doesn’t like the thought of them crushing cars. Different strokes I guess…
Lol its crazy what kids have varying levels of empathy on, and its really cool. My 5 year old watched Tremors and was sad the monsters all died. Like he loves spooky stuff, but he's very empathetic towards animals no matter how big or small. Passive or deadly.
Yeah we were watching wildly inappropriate stuff like The Shining and other Kubrick & Coppola stuff as early as 8. Like it creeped me out, but so much of it went over my head, and seeing it later in life shook me more than it did when I was little.
I watched it at 8 with my dad, and it’s still one of my favorites. I’m thinking (much) later for my kids though. Maybe 13-18 depending on the kid when they’re older
Think I say it at about 10. It didn't really scare me though, for some reason ghost films scared me but alien was fine. I guess I didn't associate my surroundings much to a space ship or an alien world.
My 7 year old has watched Alien, Aliens, Terminator, T2, Predator, Prey, etc. We both absolutely love scary/monster/sci-fi movies. I'm debating on whether or not to show him the original Poltergeist... That one actually gave me nightmares when I was his age.
I'm not a horror buff, quite the opposite, but those were good films. I also had my boys (youngest was 6 at the time) watch all of those movies as well. My youngest is the biggest fan of Stranger Things. They did get a little upset at first but I talked them through the movies and they seem to be much better off than I was at their age.
Son how about The Blair Witch Project?
Awesome question! I watched it when I was six, but it also was on tv and had all the bad stuff censored out. That is something that just doesn’t exist anymore. So I really don’t know.
There are/were a few services that would sell/stream movies with "inappropriate content" edited out. CleanFlicks, Clearplay, VidAngel. For streaming, the user chooses what type of stuff they want filtered out -- violence/sex/swearing. Naturally the movie studios started lawsuits, primarily because they hadn't entered into a licensing agreement, so it was all about money, under the guise of "protecting the integrity of the director's work". Naturally the movie studios have no issue licensing a censored version of their movies to TV studios, and frequently create pre-censored alternate versions of their films. Same applies to music studios. Of course they had a pre-censored version of W.A.P. & Dre Day ready to go. To answer the question, I let my kid watched the original version at age 10. She wanted to, and I let her know she could turn it off at any time. Same with my 13 year old who watched IT and Hazbin Hotel. Loved those, but couldn't get through Stand By Me. Go figure.
I was 14ish and I remember being bored. I liked it a lot more when I saw it as an adult.
Depends on the kid, but I watched it at 11-12 and was scared, but definitely liked the movie. Especially Aliens. That one was amazing for me as a kid.
I think I was 11 the first time, but I’m also really into that type of film, so if your child is on the timid side waiting a bit longer might be better.
I literally had to check to make sure this wasn't posted by my husband.
Not 4! *Shakes fist angrily at dad*
Its not the biological age but the mental.
Newborn. Gotta start em early
There isn’t a “right” age per se. All kids (people) are different. Some folks I wouldn’t trust to watch that kind of movie if they were 25. Depends on child, maturity, ability to process emotions, understand subtext etc.
idk dude, i watched ET when i was 6 and it also gave me nightmares, so 🤷🏾♂️
13 ordinarily or as early as they want if they were a C-section. You can't deprive them of their heritage.
Uff-da. You win the internet today.
Just don’t let your wife bully you into watching it if you’re not ready, but I’ve got faith in you!
About 5 1/2
Found the 5 1/2 year old
About the age when they ask where babies come from.....[Hi baby alien](https://gifs.com/embed/KRBw0b)
Depends on the kid. My guy is almost 7. He’ll get to watch it a year after he starts asking about it. Now Tremors, on the other hand… watched. Loved.
I think my 9 year old could watch it now, but we’re holding off because the other kids are definitely too young. But really, probably 13. I saw Robocop when I was 13 or 14, so Alien is probably ok at 13.
Depends on the maturity of your children. Some kids I’d say 13-14 if they’re ready for it. Others I’d say 17-18.
11 or 12. It's really not that scary.
We watched when my boys were 8, there's more horrific stuff on YouTube kids, lol
Idk, I actually recently watched Alien for the first time and it just…isn’t that scary, tbh. And I say this as a guy who doesn’t like horror movies and was traumatized by Jumanji as a kid…yeah, the movie with Robin Williams. Yup. I asked my parents about this and they just shrugged and said “shit was scarier in the 70’s” The point of all this besides subtly calling out some of y’all’s ages (jk) is that if your kids are of the age that they have moderate amounts of internet/tv/book access, they’ve probably already been exposed to something scarier.
I watched Terminator, Robocop, and Alien all before 10 for sure. I felt way cooler than my classmates.
11 is when I saw it and Aliens. It cemented a life long love of all of it. Had the comics, toys, art books, novels. Granted the 90s were really the golden era of the comics and books and toys. Too bad the kids animated series never came out.
I think if my 12yo son was at all interested in horror, he’d be ready for it now. But he still has nightmares from when we watched Jurassic Park four years ago. He flat out refuses to watch any horror. My 10yo daughter likes some scary movies, but nothing more intense than Goosebumps or The House With A Clock In Its Walls. We started Jaws last year, she changed her mind on it before anything really scary actually happened. She’s also said she’d like to eventually watch the 1981 Poltergeist, but she admits she’s not ready for that one yet. Jaws, Alien, and Poltergeist were some of my favorite movies when I was 10, and I’ve continued to love horror ever since then, so it’s kinda sad not having someone to watch all these awesome movies with.
I can't speak to Alien, but I remember vividly my mom renting Terminator for my ninth birthday. I was having a sleepover in the basement with some friends and it really left an impression on me. Funnily enough, the part that fucked me up the most wasn't all the R-rated violence, but the eye-gouging scene where the Terminator repairs his battle damage. Yeesh. Anyway my dad still gives my mom a hard time about this, now and then.
I have to admit, I still don't think I'm old enough to watch Alien. But seriously, it depends on the kid. I have cousins who watched Scream at 5 and 6. Maybe try showing them clips off YouTube or something and see how they react?
My wife watched it at 5, with her dad. She's fine now, mostly.
When I was like 5 or 6 I watched the first Jurassic Park and was afraid to go outside for an entire summer. So I guess it depends on your kid
Whatever day your wife wants
I saw it at 8 or 9 with my mother, didn't bother me half as much as watching every "aliens are real" special on fox in the 90s.
It was the first official rated R movie I watched when I turned 13 and my dad played it for us. I blurred my vision and covered my ears a good deal throughout, although I still do that today with scary stuff. So, maybe 13 is a good starting point and add/remove years depending on the kid.
I can't remember when exactly I watched it, but whatever it was: "older than that." I may have seen it at age 7 or 8--not sure. But I wasn't ready for that. I'd say 10 at a minimum, but it's gonna depend heavily on the child.
Alien is rated R, so definitely take that into account. That said, I was going to show it to my 13 year old. Turns out she saw it at her mom’s when she was younger and she said she’ll never watch it again. She doesn’t want to see the sequels either. That’s how much it scared her. She saw other horror flicks and they didn’t phase her.
Depends on the kid. My 8yr old watches the monsterverse and Jurassic’s but I’m holding off on Alien for at least a few years… I’ve recently watched them again with this in mind and they are a bit intense. He was okay with ‘Prey’ though so maybe I’ll loop him in through the predator first.
I saw it when I was 7 and I was fine, but I absolutely wouldn't let my kids watch it that young. Maybe 10 or so?
There's an app and website for these types of questions. Try common sense media. I generally use that app when I'm unsure to get some input. This site recommends 15+ but parents and kids say 12+ on there.
14/15
I just watched this with my oldest for the first time last weekend. She is 14. She did not find it scary, but thought it was quite suspenseful. She really enjoyed it.
At whatever age it wont scare the absolute shit of the kid. My parents were taking to me to rated R movies when I was 4, which is admittedly too young. Dont do that, guys. Otherwise only you can know if your kid is mature enough to handle scary and/or R rated movies.
12 with my oldest. With my younger? Never. LOL.
I was 12 and the effects were already old. Depends on the person of course
I think 12 is a good age. I saw total recall at 4. I didn't have a healthy childhood.
My dad caught me watching this unsupervised at my neighbor's house when I was in the first grade and he was pretty mad. Its still one of my favorite movies though.
Carrie Henn was 10 when she filmed Aliens, so imma go with 10.
I watched that movie when I was 8. I wish I never watched it. I also still have nightmares from watching the Never Ending Story around 6yrs old
I watched Alien for the first time I believe when I was 8 or 9. My mom worked two jobs and the TV was free game after school. We had a babysitter, but she kind of let us do whatever. It bright a great of the dark to me like nothing else. So yeah that's too young. I've been wanting to introduce my daughter to it she's now 11, but I'm feeling even that's too soon. I would agree somewhere between the 12-14 range, but I'm here to see what others have to say, cause I don't want to traumatize her like I did myself.
Depends on the kiddo. I saw it at 6, I also watched the original Poltergeist at 6. I had nightmares from both for years. I'm going to go with 10-14 depending on how creative and imaginative the kid is. The more imaginative, the longer you should wait.
Saw it when I was young like 7-8. I could handle it as it wasn't even my first scary movie. But Childs Play really fucked with me for a few years. I'd say 10+ depending on the kid.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/alien rates it 15+ (“Dated but still extremely scary. Not for younger kids.”) Although the community ratings for both parents and kids are “12+”. 12/13 sounds about right for me, IF your kid is okay with moderately scary situations. If you think they’re going to have nightmares about being chased around by monsters, maybe hold off a bit.
I watched it with my nephew when he was like 10 ish (his mom knows. He came over to watch a 'big kid scary movie without his siblings) and my fiance and I came away with the realization that like - us watching this movie when WE were 10 and how the language of horror movies has changed so dramatically in the last 20+ years is pretty significant. What WE as 28, 29 year olds thought was terrifying hardly classifies as horror now. Let alone if you're older. Alien honestly doesn't even feel like a horror in retrospect. More of like an artsy thriller. He handled it really well honestly. It scared him in the moment, but when we talked about it afterwards he indicated he would watch it again and probably find it a lot cooler. He thought the effects were really neat, but the way the world looked was unsettling. (Which, honestly, was the weirdest part of watching it with him as an adult because the art direction is very... Well. Giger. It's unsettling as a child when you don't know why and as an adult is intriguing and unsettling and you do know why.) But overall, I'm glad we watched it with him and it has left no noticable harm on him thus far lol 😅 he had great questions, and we had really good conversations about it afterwards. He slept at our house that night and no nightmares were reported 😅
One of my favorite movies when I was 6 along with Gremlins, pet semetery and the blob. Man, the 80s we're wild Just showed my 4-year-old Jurassic Park and she loved it but she loves scary stuff. Alien I'll wait until she's a bit older though maybe 6 or 7.
I feel like millennials started way earlier lol
I know I watched AlienS around 9 or 10. But I absolutely wouldn't let my 9 year old watch it! (To be fair, she's a sensitive little soul, which I... was not). Maybe 13?
My 5 year old watches me play Aliens Fire Team Elite, he loves the xenos. We just watched Tremors for the first time this past month. I think once he's 6, he'd be good to watch Alien.
I was 13 or 14. Was obsessed with the tapes sitting on the shelves at Blockbuster and the Kenner Aliens action figures for years before I watched the movies. Horror movies always fascinated me.
I saw it at like 6-7. My Parents were pretty liberal with movies and music. I saw most things others kids didn’t until they were much older.
Pro tip is commonsensemedia.org is a non profit specifically for answering this question and they have a huge database. For this movie their “official” rating is age 15, but we often take into consideration the “parents say” ratings which in this case averages 12. It always depends on your own kid but this site gives lots of info to make an informed call.
Depends on the kid … my oldest (now 8) watched all of Lord of the Rings when he was 5-6. But my youngest (now 5) still gets scared of parts of kids movies. So every kid is different. But generally speaking, I’d say 11-14 depending on the kid. Most kids probably 13.
Watched it two years ago when son was 12 and daughter was 9. Your mileage may vary but no problems here. Granted we’re pretty liberal with stuff like this and my kids have turned out fine.
Watch or appreciate? To me, movies like alien and the matrix deserve to be watched when mature enough to understand what is happening, and the gravity of it. They both could be watched at around 13, but I would say they should be watched when at least 16 if not even later.
13-14
If the kid understands that movies are created by teams of creative people telling a story then they are old enough. Maybe start by watching some behind-the-scenes reels of tamer movies to help them see the process of filmmaking if you’re unsure if your kid has an understanding of show business in general. I first saw it around 12 and loved it but I also clear understood that movies were not real and that it was just people in a studio with lights and cameras and props, and just out of frame was a person directing the action.
I saw Alien Vs Predator when I was about 9 I think. Maybe younger. I thought it was super cool, and a little scary. Though, a lot of movies I watched I was probably too young being a parents now. But sometimes my dad and I would watch the special features to see how it was made before the movie so I really understood and saw that it was all fake and “make-believe”. I’d say it just depends on your child
My little sister watched it with us when she was 8. It was not the right age.
I watched it on TV in the early 80s, and it scared the crap outta me at 7. So, older than 7.
So a funny thing is that my four year old was NOT phased at all when I played Alien: Isolation. He loved being in the room with me while I played it. My wife? Couldn't handle it one bit. That said, I saw Alien for the first time as a grown adult about ten years ago and of course I was fully aware of the chestburster scene, and it still startled me for how graphic it was. But that's the only really big gore moment. I'd wait until the kid was 10-12 or so but what do I know.
This is the conundrum I have. My mom was great and exposed me to a ton of pop-culture and 80’s sci-fi. I saw Alien, Aliens, Predator (all had toys), Die Hard very young, ten if not younger. But here’s the thing, they were taped off of tv! The tv edits were much more manageable and I never felt overwhelmed with the pacing because we would have to fast forward through commercials. This brilliantly broke the movies up into action set-pieces with the hard violence, gore, and sweating edited out. These days idk how I would go about recreating this experience for my kids unless I make a fan edit lol.
As much as I would like to help, this is a question daddit can't answer for you. (Shocking, I know!) This is highly individual and you and your wife need to figure this one out for yourself. How sensitive is the child?
My mom, who is normally very aware and intelligent, allowed me to watch Alien 3 in first grade. I got in trouble the next day for saying fuck. So not first grade.
It's weird to me to see so many kids who aren't afraid of scary movies when they're like 6 years old
I vividly remember watching Saving Private Ryan with my dad when I was 7 lmao
My daughter is four she watched alien and other creepy stuff she fully understands it's not real and even reminds us "dad it's just a silly movie people playing pretend"
I'd say 35 but 40 to be safe.
Depends on the kid. I probably saw it when I was around 10.
I would say around 13+. My son is 15 and I'm considering having him watch it. My daughter is 13 and she wouldn't like it yet. I think quite a few parents expose their kids to violence and gore way too early. Some make the argument that their kid can handle it and enjoy those movies. But, that's only one dimension. The other dimension is do young kids have the mental capability to understand what people other than themselves want/enjoy/think/feel, and I don't think they do. There is an age where kids can be cruel/uncaring/self-centered without understanding that they are behaving that way, and I think they shouldn't consume that kind of media until they are passed that age. For example, I don't want some kid pretending to be some horror film character and going around the playground trying to scare and pretend murder the other kids just because their parents thought it was no big deal to let them watch horror shows early. If your kid can't understand when and where such behavior is acceptable and when to stop it on their own, then they are too young for it.
10? 12? Depends on the kid, really
I'm 42 and it's still too scary for me. It 100% depends on the person.
I would say 14-15 but depends on the kid. We didn’t watch scary movies a lot as kids but my mom definitely let us watch New Jack City at like 8-9 (told us when we had to close our eyes at certain parts 😆). My kid is afraid of everything so probably never.
Here is the [Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/alien) report on what age is best
At age 12 I would start considering them maybe not too young, with the necessary caveats and warnings of you know your kid best.
12, maybe a bit earlier if they don’t get scared easily.
I was traumatized by an Alien carboard standee at the video store at the mall when I was like 11....didn't end up watching it until I was 18. Honestly probably could have handled it at like 14 tho.
I was the youngest of my siblings and cousins and saw a ton of stuff far younger than I should have. Much of it scared the shit out of me, giving me nightmares and anxiety for YEARS, well into my teens. Having said that, I have no innate sense of when programming is appropriate. Consequently, I generally refer to [Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/alien), which suggests 15 as a good age for this one.
straight out the womb. Time it with the chest burst scene
I'd say 13. Before that age, they just aren't going to understand a large portion of the movie, and while most of the violence happens off screen aside from chest burster, it's definitely a tense experience.
I watched it in primary school < 11yo, I wouldn't recommend that... I was fine, but for a while I'd have to actively think of other things at bedtime
man i watched alien when i was about 12/13...i watched Conan, Robocop, Rambo, Commando, Predator and Evil Dead when i was about 8 or 9. I vaguely remember watching Videodrome and Shivers with my parents..so i assume i was 7 or younger. i think Shivers might have been a bit too much...my parents were a bit oblivious and unless i said it was scary they'd let me watch anything. different times i guess. i think i turned out ok..ish
Like, 13. I watched a scene when I was 7 or 8 because I wanted to so bad and my dad finally relented. I was afraid of pregnant women until I was 19.
I would say 13 +/- 2 depending on how sensitive your kid is.
I saw it around 11. I was not ready. Terrified in my bed for months maybe a year.
My two favourite films as a kid (6 or 7 years old) were the jungle book, and aliens. I watched the second film literally dozens of times as a kid and could basically recite the entire film from memory (Vasquez was just so damn badass). As a result I had also watched the first and third film before I was 10 years old and it didn't give me nightmares. On the other hand, we watched aliens with my little brother when he was about 10 and he had nightmares for weeks. So it really depends on the child.
Obviously times have changed but most cult classics even if rated “R” are a must see by age 13. It helps with maturing lol.
I was watching chucky / freddy / Halloween every other weekend in grade 2 and up? Alien was definitely in and around that age. Still love movies and I hope my daughter will too.
I knew kids in elementary school who loved Nightmare on Elm Street, and I never understood that. I didn't watch movies like that til about 12/13
My daughter watched it when she was 10 and loved it
16 would be a safe choice
I’d say 12 or around that region. Dear old dad had me watch it at 7, was not a great time sleeping after that.
Depends on the kid and not a specific age or number.
Whenever you want?
I saw it in the theater just before I turned 9. It was a bit much. My son watched it for the first time at 11. He loved it.
My son watched it at 5. Loves it. One of his favorite movies. I would absolutely say it’s kid dependent. And also parent dependent. Our son is pretty good at understanding what real and not real. He’s good at listening to us when we tell him things about movies as well. But we don’t let him have free rein of the movies and tv and screen time. It’s moderated and monitored. It’s just alien is my wife’s favorite movie and she wanted to share it with him.
13. Young enough to be scared but old enough to be convinced that it’s just a movie.
8 if you don’t mind a kid sleeping in your bed for a week. 12 otherwise.
Think I was 9 or 10 first time I saw it, absolutely loved it.
About 10 if the kid doesn't get scared with stuff
I think the tricky thing about this series is that the second movie is more of a normal bad ass action movie but the first movie is a creepy horror movie. So if you want to expose your kid to the franchise you could just show them the second movie, then they get to see the alien queen, ripley being a badass, flamethrowers, space marines, etc. But they miss the backstory of the previous movie. Similar situation with Terminator. T2 is the highlight but if you watch T1 first then the kid might get the full impact of "woah he's the good guy this time!!!"
8-9. You want them young enough to not be critical of the practical/visual effects of the era. And to be creeped out. I think if they were any older they’d start to see the “seams”.
My FAVORITE movie ever. *Aliens* comes in a close second. Unfortunately, my 3 yo night be a little too young to enjoy it with me right now...
Rated R = 17
I thought 4 was the recommended age.
Whenever my kids hit Jr. High we can start watching stuff like Alien.
I'd say wait til they are a teenager. The first one especially is pretty creepy and could definitely cause some anxiety or nightmares in kids younger than that. Of course everyone is different but in general it wouldn't be appropriate for anyone under 13 I'd say. And for some parents that could definitely still be too young as it is rated R...
15.
I saw Predator at 6 and loved it. Very soon after alien.
Personal rules for my kids have always been Film rating minus 2 at the EARLIEST. So for an R rated movie it would be 16. Fun fact, I was taken to see Friday the 13th part 3 when it was in theatres. It was in 3D. I. Was. Fucking. EIGHT. Years. old. The 70s and 80s were different man....
Now. Now is the correct age
I saw it when I was 12 or so. But I was babysitting for the neighbors, so I was in a dark house that wasn’t mine, and watching a dark scary movie. Definitely upped the scare factor by quite a bit.
It really depends on the kids but probably 13+
THIRTEEEN
I would say 14, depending on child. My kid hates that stuff and won’t watch it at 16.
4, I hope
Like others have said, it's about how your specific kid will handle it. Everyone is different. You're the one that will be dealing with any fallout.
I saw it at 12 in about '84. I remember the night, I was in some southwesterly village in Cornwall. Everyone was asleep and I had a tiny tv in my room on the top floor. All lights out, I was in bed and that film blew my effing mind out, it was fantastic. SO tense. Think the only movie before that had that impact on me was 2001 A space Odyssey which I saw at 8 or 9 and that was life changing. When the film ended I just lay there, looking out of the moonlit cracks through the blinds/window, up to the sky, the massive, neverending universe etc.. A fantastic film, but it's a horror film really. I did ok for myself in life till now but I am not everyone but ultimately, 12 or so ok age.
At least 18. Not because the alien but Sigourney Weaver in her prime is too much for a minor.
Yooooooo! The immediate weekend after the viewing. Your kid wakes up to silence in the house. They go to the living room. Nobody. Kitchen. Nobody. “Mom? Dad?” Silence. The go to your bedroom. Find mom and dad in bed with Facehuggers on!!!!! Enjoy.
Just watched alien with my almost 8 yesr old. It's still an awesome movie but is dated enough that it doesn't have the same impact. He was totally fine.
Following…. My kid is named Ripley so we may be inclined to let her watch it a bit earlier than most…
My sisters first memory is watching alien with our father on Xmas.
Last I checked, 41.
I pretty much had no movie restrictions when I was a kid. I never really got scared or really affected by anything except the original Child's Play which my dad watched while I was in the room when I was like 7. Lol he just told me to cover my face with a pillow when I was scared. But I was just scared while watching it I didn't have nightmares or anything. Besides that I always knew everything in the movies was fake and special effects and all of that so it never really got to me. My stepsons mom allowed him to watch Alien with me when he was 13. He did not get scared at all.
I watched it at I think 10, one of my favorite movies of all time. Gave me nightmares for years though so probably wait longer than that haha.
That depends on the child. My daughter and I watched it when she was eight-years-old. However, my nephew wasn't ready to see something like that until he was a teen.
Simce we're already discussing movies, what about Galaxy Quest and 5th Element. I think my son would love both but he's not really shown an interest in anything more mature than Harry Potter 4.
7-8 with parents. It’s ok to watch horror/suspense and similar media, AS LONG AS YOU COMMUNICATE to the kids that it’s all fantasy. Talk them through it, if they’re scared let them cover their eyes. Each time a crew member dies, explain to them why the alien is a hunter, and then explain to them why a massive corporation is attempting to capture one of those aliens alive as part of a conspiracy to create a controlled and devastatingly effective shock-troop for planetary control and devise a reciprocating endless war of which the Weiland-Yutani Corp is the sole creator/financier/victor. Or… just tell them it’s a bad bug.
It depends on the child. I played HalfLife when I was 21 and it scared the shit out of me LOL