Aliens (1986)

Mostly Lives Up To The First Installment. Mostly.

Cameron's bigger budget, higher octane follow up to the ground breaking 'Alien' has more of everything that the first film had, but that doesn't mean it is the superior film.

James serves up the action with a good helping of cheese, thanks in large part to Bill "We're all gonna die" Paxton and the rest of his cliched 'elite soldier' comrades. Throw in a side of Newt (They mostly come at night. Mostly.) and you get just a little more silly dialogue than you can ignore.

Where the film triumphs is in the relentless tension created by the character's ever more desperate circumstances and dwindling numbers. Cameron's hordes of aliens don't deliver the same scares as the lonely ET in 'Alien' but they are more menacing, not just by virtue of numbers but by improvements in special effects.

This is a modern classic, a standard setting film, and a must-have for serious sci-fi fans. This DVD includes two versions of the film, commentary and more extras than you could want. A collectors edition that deserves the title. October 7, 2008

One Scary Movie

I have a few things in mind when I review a movie and unlike the professional critics it has nothing to do with artistic merit or who won the oscar. What makes this film great is...

1) It is one of the best if not THE best of the genre
2) It WILL make you tense and put you right in the action
3) It has strong replayability

Buying a DVD is a luxury for me so I make sure that it is a damn good film before I hit the 'buy' button. Aliens is a classic movie that will be with you for years and you will find yourself watching it over and over again. This is probably one of the top 10 DVDs I own. September 12, 2008

The best of the Alien movies

Aliens, the sequel to Alien, is the best of the Alien quadrilogy, and is one of the most influential science fiction movies ever made. You can find references to this movie in sources as diverse as the film "Starship Troopers," the PC game "Starcraft" and TV's "Battle Star Galactica." In a three way tie with "Bladerunner," and "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," for best science fiction film ever made, Aliens is a thrill ride with some of the most chilling visuals of any horror/science fiction film. Lt. Ripley is also one of the most memorable characters in any sci-fi movie or science fiction franchise. Aliens is so good, I can almost forgive Sigourney Weaver for her recent, ridiculously cheesy Direct TV commercial. August 24, 2008

An Engaging Thriller

This isn't so much a strict sequel to Alien as it is a re-imagining of the Alien mythos. As one of the greatest horror films ever made, Aliens couldn't possibly have been an acceptable follow-up if Cameron had tried making it a horror film. Luckily, the very smart decision was made to turn Aliens into an action-thriller film, and it succeeds. Aliens, while an entirely different sort of film, is taut, engaging, and very well-made.

The characters and plot are nothing special here. In Alien, the real star of the show was the Nostromo. The dark, claustrophobic spaceship provided the perfect backdrop for Giger's shadowy creation to stalk around. In Aliens, the aliens themselves are the stars. Whereas we never get too clear a picture of the adult alien in the first film (even at the end, the creature is still guised in shadow), aliens are quite clearly visible in this film. The special effects are magnificent. The queen alien is perhaps one of the most majestic and terrifying creatures ever to appear in a film. And Ripley's final descent into the collapsing hive is a visceral and disturbing descent into Hell itself.

The action is intense, the various moments of anticipation are nerve-wracking, the special effects are eye-popping, and the story, if more conventional, is adequate for the purposes of the film. The acting is a bit weak in some areas, but not enough to be distracting. Overall, this is a solid and entertaining film, and one of the few instances where a sequel actually manages to be decent. August 15, 2008

A Better Film

"Aliens" shows a vast improvement over the first Alien film, which--in my opinion--isn't the classic it's made out to be. You can see my elaboration on that in my review for that film; but as for this movie, I was much more satisfied with the story, characters, and even direction than I was in the first film.

Writer/director James Cameron shows an effort to make this film a bit more character oriented than the first film, which didn't give us a chance to connect with the characters. Ripley is fleshed out by the appearance of Newt, a young girl whose family has been killed by the aliens. We now see Ripley not only fighting for her life, but fighting for Newt's as well. She grows to care very much for the little girl, which creates some very strong suspense during the violent and thrilling climax. Another character that, despite his short screen time, feels fully fleshed out and real is the android Bishop, who I had grown very attached to by the end of the movie. The other characters other than Ripley, Newt, and Bishop aren't really that fleshed out, and the military personnel often revert to cliches and one-dimensional characters.

The acting isn't all that great--especially with the panicky soldier that says "we're done for meeyyan!" every five seconds--and even Sigourney Weaver doesn't give an all around impressive performance. What she does handle well, and what the entire film handles well actually, is the climax, where Ripley (Weaver) races to find Newt, throwing herself into a building infested with full sized aliens, face-huggers, and something much worse and much bigger.

Overall, this film easily beats out its predecessor for best Alien movie. I'm definitely on board to see the other two films in the series, and see if they--despite what critics have said about them--can compare.

6/10 August 8, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...