10 Secrets Behind Alien's Nostromo Ship You Didn't Know
9. The Design Was Influenced By Both World War II & Star Wars
According to the production team, the Nostromo's design and construction were influenced by two major things: World War II and Star Wars.
The Nostromo's tight, labyrinthine corridors were intended to evoke the feeling of a World War II submarine, with the set designers even dressing much of the ship's interiors with decommissioned aircraft parts from a nearby RAF base.
The crew chairs on the bridge were literally taken from fighter aircraft, and much of the med-bay was comprised of actual, genuine military medical equipment.
This aesthetic style also transpired through to the smaller production models of the Nostromo, with the crew using WWII model kits from battleships, tanks, and bombers to create the more articulate surface details.
And then there's the Star Wars influence: the release mechanism which attaches the Nostromo to whatever vessel it's hauling incorporated the skirting from R2-D2 model kits, and TIE Fighter parts were used to accentuate the underside of the attached ore refinery.