"This time,
it's war."
Everyone was surprised when a young, hotshot
Canadian director named James Cameron wrote the
script and was chosen to direct the sequel to
the massive hit "Alien." He faced an incredible
amount of opposition, but when all was said and
done, he created a masterpiece that is equal to
the original, but is in a different form.
Despite being a rookie, Cameron delivers. He had
already written and directed "The Terminator,"
and his career would shoot off after this (much
like Ridley Scott's) and he would direct
"Terminator 2," "The Abyss," and he would win an
Oscar for directing " Titanic."
"Aliens" takes place 57 years after the first
film Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is finally
found by a salvage crew and is awakened from her
hyper sleep. The bosses back home don't believe
a word of her story about how an alien killed
the rest of the crew. She is declared unstable
and loses her job. To add insult to injury, she
also learns that the planet that the alien was
found on is now a colony populated by many
families. Soon, contact is lost with the colony,
and Ripley is called in to accompany Colonial
Marines (including Cameron regulars Bill Paxton,
Michael Biehn, and Lance Henricksen) and a
sleazy executive (Paul Reiser) to the planet.
Naturally, soon they are fighting for their
lives.
"Aliens" chooses not to mimic it's predecessor,
and is an action film instead of a suspense
film. But what an action film! It may not be as
scary as the first, but it is gripping and
exhilarating. So the sequel is bloodier and has
a higher body count, but it doesn't clash with
the first. After all, the first film had one
alien, while this one has hundreds!
Geiger's Alien design is basically the same, but
here it has been built and slightly modified by
Stan Winston, one of the great technical men in
movies. Winston did "The Terminator" films,
"Jurassic Park," and "Predator." Since the
aliens are seen more in this film, he has
designed them to look creepier and more
detailed. He also designed and built the Alien
Queen, who is simply terrifying. Winston proves
that you don't need CGI to be scary. You just
need the talent to tap into the mind of the
audience and mess with them.
Equal to "Alien" on just about every level,
"Aliens" is another classic film. It paved the
way for visual effects as we know them today,
and it earned Sigourney Weaver an Oscar
nomination. Nominations for films like this are
uncommon today, and entirely unseen then. This
film showed that Sci-Fi was not a kiddie
franchise, but something that could be named
among the greatest films of all time.
© Written by
Jacob Hall
TC Candler's Comment
The equal of
its prequel... this is more entertaining alien
hunting from Ripley and gang. Not a
classic that some have claimed... but worthy
popcorn fluff.
Richard
Propes' Comment
Hmmm. I
just realized I had this film rated equally to
its original. It's not. The film is, in my
opinion, more entertaining and yet less
satisfying as a film. The script is a dumbed
down version of the original and the cast almost
feels aware of the fact. "Aliens" is still an
above-average sci-fi thriller, but it's a
definite letdown from the intelligence of the
original film.
