Aliens (1986)

Just recently, I have purchased the new Alien Legacy box set on DVD, and each one is excellent. Aliens is the second chapter in the Alien saga and is probably the most remembered by today's generation. Let's face it; it changed the way sci-fi movies were made forever,and it hasn't been for the best(I'm not saying Aliens is a bad film). Aliens set such a high standard in action sci-fi(basically the new genre the James Cameron has created) that none of the copycats can compete. Take the recent movies Soldier and Event Horizon(both directed by Paul Anderson). They both try to be Alien movies but do not succeed. My advice to Mr. Anderson is to stop trying to copy what has already been done. Enough said.

As for Aliens, it is a perfect sci-fi action movie. Great casting(although ALL are stereotypes), great music(James Horner is the man), great use of technology and a well written script are all present. Weaver's performance is outstanding; one of the best action heroes of all time just happens to be a woman. If you have a chance to watch the director' cut of Aliens, I suggest you take it(it's available in the new Alien Legacy box set or alone on DVD and VHS as well as on laserdisc). It expands on Ripley's maternal persona which makes Weaver's performance all the better.

James Cameron came off making The Terminator and made Aliens. He used his expertise in the sci-fi genre and created an engrossing story that does not let up until the final reel of the film. For all the young folk out there that have not seen this film, watch it and see perfection in action movie making. A must see.

Fmovies: I have watched this movie when I was a pre-teen at the cinema, and MY! It completely blew me away. It has got my adrenalin pumping so hard that I almost wanted to slip back to my seat and take a breather! Although during that time I didn't quite understand most parts of it (too young to understand), I was deeply immersed into such rich story-telling and the fantastic alien creatures. The tensely build-up atmosphere and the space-ships, grips you so tightly it seems never to let go.

This movie rocks, scares you right on to your face, very mysterious, have tons of special effects (not quite CGI though, but the mechanical aliens looks just so threatening and scary). James Cameron is such a fabulous story-teller in this Sci-Fi stellar! The movie ran at more than 2 hours but I didn't feel that at all. Actually James has cut out a lot of scenes for this theatrical release back then, but you can still get those scenes back on the DVD (extra 17 minutes footage).

The acting is good especially from Sigourney Weaver, Paul Reiser and Lance Henriksen (as the robot). Sigourney's Ripley is such a strong-willed woman, that even put shame to men (somehow I feel this is quite unbelievable, because she has got so much energy, especially the scene where she gets back to the Queen's hatch to save Newt). I have watched other alien series (Alien legacy - All four parts), but I can say this part 2 of the series is my favourite, followed by Alien, then Alien:Resurrection, and lastly Alien3)

I am quite happy to see this film stays high at one of the top Sci-Fi movies in IMDB)

Till now as an adult, I still go back to watch this DVD occasionally and every time I watch it again, it brings in a completely new scare, and new thoughts, also the new meaning of what is a horror movie all about!

Highly recommended if you haven't watched this yet. I give it an 8 out of 10! (Truly deserves the high IMDB rating at 8.2 to-date)

ALIENS really does have it all. Perfect direction. Beautiful cinematography. Intense characters. Big guns. Action. Heroism. Courage. Battles. Friendship. Bravery. It is certainly the BEST sequel ever made in movie history, and one of the GREATEST MOVIES EVER MADE.

At its core is Lt. Ellen Ripley (played by the badass Sigourney Weaver), a warrant officer, and tough as nails. Her character is one of the greatest heroines of all time. Sigourney really does pull it off. No one else could have done it like her. Ripley's maternal connection with the young girl Newt is amazing to watch...but the ultimate scene is her final battle with the galaxy's most deadly creature - set to a pulsing military score (James Horner delivers in a big way!). Quite possibly my favorite fight scene of all time.

There's not really much else to say - just go watch the movie on DVD, and you will not be let down. You're in for a wild ride!!!

ALIENS: THIS TIME, IT'S WAR

Aliens fmovies. There are really good movies and then there's that select few that change your life. For me movies like Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, JFK, Titanic and Star Wars did that. By viewing a movie you see life in a different light. Aliens also did that to me. I didn't think a movie could scare me as much as Halloween did but this one certainly did that and more. The atmosphere in this movie, and the lighting and cinematography and of course the direction are top notch, and some of the scenes are some of the scariest I've seen in my life time. But what puts this movie over the top as one of the all time greatest films ever made is the casting.

Sigourney Weaver is terrific but it is her supporting cast that shines and makes you feel like you know the crew that is heading to that desolate planet.

Paul Reiser is perfect as Burke,the slimy corporate kiss ass that cares about profit before human lives. Lance Henriksen shines as Bishop, the cyborg with a heart. Jeanette Goldstein is the rough around the edges female marine that more than holds her own with all the testosterone floating around and Michael Biehn ( another Cameron favourite )is the perfect quiet leader that leads by example and not so much a loud demonstrative voice. But the show stopper in this flick ( just as he always is in any movie that he is in ) is Bill Paxton.

Paxton and Cameron have worked on Terminator 1, True Lies, Titanic and Aliens and Bill is one of those actors that steals scenes from every actor and was always a recognizable face even before Titanic. Here, his Hudson character is the comic relief but he is also perhaps one of the true characters that we can all identify with. His tough exterior is nothing more than camouflage for his frightened fragile interior. He realizes the dire situation that they are all in and he can't hide his fear. When he finds out that they won't be rescued for at least seventeen days, his response is " Hey man, we're not going to survive 17 hours man! Those things are going to come in here and they're going to get us and..... " ( Ripley ) This little girl survived longer than that with no weapons and no military training. " ( Hudson ) " Why don't ya put her in charge!!! "

Paxton is a gift to any and every movie that he is in and this is his finest work. He should have won a best supporting actor that year. And if you haven't seen this movie, rush to see it if only for Bill Paxton. He steals the show. But if a tightly wound, brilliantly technical and unbelievably scary movie is your thing, then you can't go wrong here. This is easily a ten out of ten, and one of the best ever made. If Spielberg is the king is Hollywood, then Cameron is his heir apparent. Oh, and one more thing, Paxton will win an Oscar one day.

Series note: It is strongly advised that you watch this film only after seeing Alien (1979). This is a direct continuation of that story.

57 years after the events of the first film, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is found and awakened from hyper sleep to discover that a terraforming colony has been set up on LV-426, the planet wherein she and her fellow crew of the mining cargo spaceship Nostromo first encountered the titular aliens. When Earth-based communications loses contact with LV-426, a band of marines are sent to investigate, taking Ripley and a representative from the company that financed the colony, Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) along for the ride.

For the difficult job of following up Ridley Scott's excellent Alien, director James Cameron decided to go a completely different route--to make a fast moving, slightly tongue-in-cheek, boisterous action extravaganza. Remarkably, he was able to do that while still maintaining a stylistic and literary continuity that melds Aliens seamlessly with the first film.

Ripley is much more fully developed in this film, although unfortunately, some of the most significant scenes were deleted from the theatrical release (if at all possible, watch the 2-hour and 37-minute director's cut instead). Cameron fashioned Aliens into a grand arc where Ripley's actions at the end of the film have much more meaning as she's not only fighting monsters, but also fighting to retain a semblance of something she lost due to her 57-year hyper sleep. As in the first film, she is still the most intelligent, courageous and resourceful member of the crew, but she has much more colorful company.

The marines accompanying Ripley back to LV-426 may be too cartoonish for some tastes (as for viewers of that opinion, most of the action and the film overall is likely to be too cartoonish), but for anyone more agreeable to that kind of caricatured exaggeration, it's a joy to watch. I'm a big fan of both Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen, and both turn in wonderfully over-the-top performances, at their diametrically opposed ends of the emotional spectrum--Paxton as the spastic surfer/redneck and Henriksen as the intense, moody sage, with a surprising reality and an even more surprising conscience to go along with it. We also get a cigar-chomping Sergeant, a crazy, butch Private, and a complex, pensive Corporal as main characters, and a mysterious, bright young girl (played in a terrific performance by Carrie Henn). Much of the center section of the film hinges on the interrelationships of these characters, despite the action trappings going on around them.

Cameron carries over the crypt/labyrinth motif of the first film, and adds a metaphorical descent into the bowels of hell in the climax. The action throughout is suspenseful. Aliens contains one of my favorite "cat fights" in any film. It's also worth noting the influence this film may have had on Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers (1997)--although admittedly, we could say that Cameron was influenced a bit by the Robert A. Heinlein book, as well. Throughout all of the varied action sequences, as well as the important early scenes of colonists on LV-426, Cameron is able to clearly convey the logistics of very complex sets, so that viewers remain on the edges of their seats.

Part of what makes the monsters so effective is that we're not told too much about them. We only get glimpses into their physiology's, their behavioral patterns and their intelligence. Cameron gives us

THE sci-fi movie. It's nearly perfect in every way: storyline, characters, menacing threat, suspense, action, direction, music, emotion, etc... It's always been a favorite of mine and still is. To me this is not just a film, it is an experience. The adrenaline pumps like in no other film and rarely have we had the chance to see a heroine as compelling as Sigourney Weaver. She can kick anyone's ass and still keep a heart and soul. (Why she didn't win the Oscar back in 1986 is beyond me.) When the action starts, you're in for the ride of your life. Truly a milestone in movie making. Now if they could only release it on DVD...