Aliens (1986) User Reviews

Good strong sci-fi action movie

[Harlekwin_UK · 8/10 · 8 May 2023]

Ripley and Jones are rescued, but 57 years have past and humans now colonise the planet where the original Alien was found.

Can the Company get a crew of Marines out to the planet in time to save them? Can they survive themselves?

After being awoke from such a long hypersleep, Ripley's life is very different. The Company does not believe her story and she is striped of her profession. Even all her family have now passed away. She finds herself tortured by nightmares.

When the Company loses contact with the colony, after sending some colonists to investigate Ripley's story, they have a change of heart and send the crack Marines in to rescue the colonist but need Ripley's knowledge.

She eventually, reluctantly joins the trip as an advisor, as long as they kill the creatures they find.

When the team find that the colony is completely overrun with the creatures, survival becomes the only concern.

Strong sequel. Very different in mood, deliberately, as they move into a sort of siege story and the hide and seek of the first drifts away.

As a result this is a less effective horror story but is a very effective grownup sci-fi movie.

Although the Marines are all stereotypes, and they have the minimum required to cover all the options, they are well acted and the action is well paced.

Sigourney Weaver's second outing as Ripley allows the character greater depth and flexes some different acting muscles too. There is a believable set of relationships and dynamics between Ripley and the other characters, especially young "Newt", played by Carrie Henn. Indeed, the child steals many scenes from the more established actors.

Lance Heinrikson and Michael Biehn are always good to watch but Bill Paxton is superb as the 'comic relief' Hudson. Paul Reiser, very popular at the time, pulls in the slime as the Company man looking to make his fortune - at any cost.

The effects are good and the sets again very believable. The final showdown again grips.

Although this is a very effective sci-fi action movie it is not a traditional horror, lacking the menace of the original.

Things to look out for: nightmares, inquiry, queen alien, grunts, Newt, loads of one liners, another android.

This is how it's done, you morons

[IMDbKeepsDeletingMyReviews · 9/10 · 7 September 2020]

Welcome to 1986, where they had diverse AND well-written characters in what has to be one of the best Sci-Fi Action films of all time: ALIENS.

Even in 1979, Ellen Ripley was what those wannabes today want to recreate: a strong, yet believable female character with a real challenge and a highly competent movie around her. Now, imagine being tasked to do a sequel to ALIEN. You'd be right to directly spray your pants, go throw up, have a heart attack and then politely decline. But not James Cameron. He went on and made one of the most valuable and memorable sequels in film history, despite having a lot of nay-sayers in his own team who didn't believe he could pull it off. Oh, the balls this guy had.

Well, what can I tell you about this film that you don't already know? If you really haven't seen it, go watch it. Immediately. It basically is the American version of the suspenseful, British original, but it does get to expand on the world-building quite a lot, as well as on Ripley herself. Add Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton and a ton of Xenomorphs, paranoia, action, quite a bit of horror, Paul Reiser and Lance Henriksen and a badass called Vasquez, and you will have a cocktail that you won't forget, I promise. Then just realize that I didn't even mention Sigourney Weaver and holy cow, why are you still reading this?

Go watch this movie!

Gets better every time I see it

[carflo · 10/10 · 8 December 2004]

I am just going to add my voice to the chorus of praise for this movie. It is as near to being perfect as any I have ever seen. I will not say that it is much better than Alien - which is just about near to being perfect also. But I do love all the characters in this movie. I have rarely seen a movie where all the characters were so well developed. Even most serious dramas seldom develops each character so completely. None of these characters are stereotypes even Paul Reiser as Burke, although the slimy company/government man villain is a prerequisite in disaster type movies. I would almost say that my favorite is Michael Beihn as Hicks, just because I like his work & consider him to be underrated. But I also like Lance Henriksen as Bishop, William Hope as Lt. Gorman, Bill Paxton as Hudson, and of course, Jenette Goldstein as Vasquez. I liked all of these characters. I cared about their lives & deaths. The final scene for Gorman & Vasquez still chokes me up after seeing it many times.

I am not ignoring Sigourney Weaver or Carrie Henn. Ripley is the template for the modern action heroine. In the 24 years since Alien, few have been able to measure up to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. Even in Alien 3 & 4, Ripley was still powerful, despite the 3ed rate quality of the movies. As for Carrie Henn as Newt, she was the emotional heart of Aliens. Cameron's ability to develop well rounded characters does not detract from his ability to create great action scenes or to scare the audience out of a several years of growth.

Excellent sequel--matches the brilliance of the first film

[BrandtSponseller · 10/10 · 7 February 2005]

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 just enough to become wrapped up in the film, but not so much that we become overly familiar with the aliens, or start to question the logic behind the film. He also smartly carries over some devices from the first film that were abandoned to an extent, such as the acidic blood of the aliens, and he supplies answers to the few questions that the first film raised, such as why the blood doesn't corrode instruments and objects when a dead alien is examined.

Aliens is yet another example of a sequel that is just as good as an original film in a series. Just make sure you watch both in order, and try to watch the director's cuts.

One of the most thrilling films ever- special edition highly recommended

[Derek237 · 10/10 · 31 August 2005]

James Cameron is an extremely talented action director because not only does he know great action, but he always backs the action up with a great story and interesting characters. Aliens is his finest achievement, as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I should specify: Aliens Special Edition is his finest achievement.

In 1986 several scenes were cut to keep the movie's run-time reasonable but there was one scene that was incredibly foolish to leave out. The scene I refer to is near the beginning where Ripley learns that her daughter has died while she was away in 'hypersleep' for 57 years. "I promised her I'd be home for her 11th birthday," cries Ripley. This is a very moving scene that adds a great deal the character's depth and makes more sense to why she cares for a little girl named Newt later in the film. She's seeking penance through Newt with her love and determination to keep her alive at all costs. The theatrical edition obviously doesn't elude to any of this, and even cheapens the relationship between Ripley and Newt- just a little bit. James Cameron has said that all of his movies are love stories, and Aliens is a story of parental love. He has also said that the special edition is his intended (if not definitive) version of the film. For about five years or so the Special Edition was the only version of Aliens you could get on DVD. It should have stayed that way.

Aliens is a unique film experience: it's genuinely thrilling and exciting, unlike a lot of movies where people shoot the evil monsters and there's disgusting blood and rapid gunfire, and it's really meaningless. In Aliens' case, the aliens are very threatening and more than just target practice. We don't see any aliens for over an hour, but once we do, it's a huge payoff. By that time, we get to know some interesting characters: Hicks (Michael Beihn), a take-charge marine who also turns out to be sweet and sincere, Hudson (Bill Paxton), a braggart who turns out to be a coward and complains most of the time, Vasquez (Jeanette Goldstein), the iron-willed woman soldier who proves to be one of the bravest characters in the film, Bishop (Lance Henrikson), a robot that is very helpful for everyone's survival, Burke (Paul Rieser), the slimy company man who the audience loves to hate, and of course, the adorable little Newt (Carrie Henn), a girl who has survived unspeakable horror. Holding the whole film together is Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver in her surprise-Oscar-nominated performance. I think the only reason why the audience cared for her in the first film is because she was the only person left and we wanted her to live. But for this film, James Cameron added so much to her. With all this investment in characters, we're really concerned for their well-being. We don't want those aliens to get them. Some die, and I'm always truly bummed out when it happens.

Filled with amazing performances and an abundance of thrills, Aliens is one of the greatest of any genre it attempts: whether it's action, sci-fi, horror, or even drama. I personally liked it better than the first film, but it's really like comparing apples and oranges. I prefer the special edition and don't see why anyone should view the other version instead.

My rating: 10/10

Outstanding blend of sci-fi, action, and humour.

[ruth.boaz · 23 February 2000]

I rate Aliens a perfect 10. This second installment in the Alien series evolves the original movie's horror/sci-fi genre into action-adventure/sci-fi, setting a standard which has not yet been matched. I like this movie because it paints a picture of the future which is realistic enough to suck you in during the beginning of the film and then quickly introduces you to interesting characters who you become concerned with; some you love and others you hate.....but none of them bore you. By the time the action starts it's possible to forget you're watching a movie (at least the first couple of times). The plot is filled with tension that is occasionally broken by some of the most memorable one-liners in history (especially by Private Hudson). The special effects are remarkable, considering the fact that they were accomplished the "old fashioned way" prior to digital manipulation. I can report that I now own the Director's Cut and rate this version a 10 also. The extra footage will be extremely interesting to fans of the 1986 release. Either version gives you great characters, suspense, action, firepower, sarcasm, and wit. Aliens is an outstanding show!

This ain't a film.

[Pluto-3 · 10/10 · 14 August 1998]

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...

One of the best films ever made.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 4 February 2020]

So often when you think of sequels you imagine cynical attempts to cash in on successful movies, efforts to bring in the coins with any old rubbish, when you think of the likes of Police Academy, Halloween and Jaws you can understand why, and then there is Aliens......

Not often is a follow up as good as the original (and better in some ways,) but Aliens is, I would class it as one of the best movies of all time, a cinematic Masterpiece which seems to improve with age. It's a space horror, which is dramatic, action packed and funny at times.

Aliens changed the genre, sci fi would never quite be the same again. This film will have you gripped, glued and on the edge of your seat, truly an adrenaline fuelled thrill ride, with amazing visuals, wonderful acting, and terrific music. Film makers of today watch and see how it should be done.

A masterpiece. 10/10

Less consequence means less tension

[schuelererik · 6/10 · 15 October 2020]

Not a bad movie but the abundance of aliens and how easy to kill they seem in this film takes away a lot of the tension that the first movie so brilliantly built up. This is more of an action thriller than a horror movie and is less fun and thrilling to watch for me personally.

James Cameron and Bill Paxton at their finest

[baumer · 10/10 · 15 June 1999]

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.

I'm in the minority.

[LnineB · 5/10 · 25 May 2018]

After a brilliant ,claustrophobic and atmospheric first film , Mr. Cameron takes the Alien franchise into the realm of what would become the fail safe formula of success for action movies . He does this a full decade or even two before it becomes the norm for every action film for decades after its 1986 release. For any other franchise this would be good. But after a Sci-Fi/Horror classic original, the second film is horribly dated and predictable. Cameron removes all the horror out of the film and replaces it with an all out assault on the viewers senses. He even changes Rippleys character from a sensitive but strong survivor female lead to an alpha female , who can do no wrong, including out boxing a natural predator while controlling a bulky and clumsy metal machine body crane. The first film appeals to all demographics while the second is an unapologetic attempt to appease the testosterone filled 20 year old audience. Everything plays second fiddle to the action including the cinematography, set design, acting and even the Alien, hince the need for multiple Aliens. It is simply TOO EPIC ,with too much action and having too much ego.

In space, nobody can hear you s**t your pants

[one9eighty · 10/10 · 12 February 2020]

57 years ago Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) was part of the Nostromo spaceship's crew that encountered a terrifying alien, as the last remaining member of the crew she has drifted through space in hyper sleep. Awake and alive nobody believes her, so she is asked upon to support a Colonial Marine outfit as they go back to Moon LV-426 - a now colonized moon where the original Alien came from. They have recently gone dark and potentially abandoned the moon, and the authorities want to know why. The Colonial Marines are outfitted with state of the art warfare machinery and an arsenal to potentially deal with any threat.

This is an amazing film - on par, if not better than the first in the series. It takes concepts from the first film, and then changes the approach and dynamic of the plot - expanding the universe in which the story unfolds. Some sequels just re-hash what came before them; this takes the original and does an A-Team transformation on it, attaching guns, lasers, nitro, bells and whistles. The end result is a genre bending action horror sci-fi chase war thriller masterpiece. There are explosions, special effects, gorgeous cinematography and mise-en-scene, great plot, thrilling story, top actors delivering excellent performances, scares, frights, fights, character development - oh believe me, I could go on singing the praises of this film. When James Cameron was given the reigns to this after Ridley Scott's seminal "Alien" film a lot of film-goes where dubious - but given the proof of the "Terminator" movie, Cameron had the pedigree to be successful and boy did he deliver! Not just a tour-de-force of a visual spectacle, but also a film lecturers dream as the material further promotes lots of themes and discussions - none more than the heroine who is the vehicle for plot. If the first film made people look at Sigourney Weaver differently, this film went a long way to elevating her star power as she totally flipped action hero conventions on their head - to this day her performance is still synonymous with being a major player in the change from masculine dominated cinema. The matriarchal bond shown between Ripley and Newt is great, the character development goes some way to showing an attempt to fix the fragility of the broken bond exemplified at the start of the film when it becomes clear that Ripley's own biological daughter is resentful of the unjustified absence of a mother. Another well documented discussion this film birthed deals with the parallels to war films, and in particularly Vietnam themed war film - however rather than shoehorning academic thesis' into this review I'll just say that the film did more than just entertained, it became an icon in cinema.

I seriously cannot give this film less than 10 out of 10. It scared, thrilled and entertained me as a child when I watched it (admittedly under the legal age), and it still keeps a smile on my face as I watch it as an adult.

Aliens..My all time favourite Sci-Fi movies. It rocks!

[jimfly_2003 · 9/10 · 29 January 2003]

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)

"I knew you'd come..."

[subarctic · 10/10 · 6 February 2003]

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

All-time classic; one of the greatest films ever made

[Leofwine_draca · 10/10 · 17 March 2015]

What more can be said that hasn't been said before about one of the greatest movies of our time? One of Jim Cameron's top three films, this is by far the best of the ALIEN saga, an endlessly rewatchable piece of classic action cinema which can best be described as "Vietnam in space". The alien is back and has multiplied, so now we have the now-classic action premise of "group of marines vs. invincible enemy".

From start to finish this is perfectly made entertainment with every frame minutely conceived to be the best. The music is eerily gripping and there are dozens of one-liners to be had from Bill Paxton, excelling in his first big role as the comic relief. The horror and gore quotient hasn't been reduced at all, this is definitely not a film for the kids. But oodles of gripping suspense and guns-blazing action violence is the main thing this sequel offers and it still remains one of the best action classics of our time. Even now, when some of the special effects are starting to look a little ropey (most remain fantastic, however, especially the Queen) and when you begin to realise there are no more than six aliens on screen at one time, this is still pulse-pounding entertainment, packed with horror, suspense, tension and plenty of thrills.

The cast is efficient, an ensemble outfit that pays off nicely. Sigourney Weaver puts in her best performance in her best role that she can never hope to better success-wise. Michael Biehn is the hard-but-human soldier who befriends her, Lance Henriksen has his mainstream breakthrough role as the likable android Bishop. Paul Reiser's Burke is one of the greatest portrayals of corporate evil I've seen, a fantastic show of strength, corruption, evil and cowardice from Reiser. The rest of the marines are great and, most importantly, believable and likable. The action never lets up and the extended version has to be seen to get the full story. Although it runs for two and a half hours this is a film that never runs out of steam; instead it will just age gracefully like the finest wines, sitting in its place in history as a classic of the '80s.

Action, horror n science fiction combined in an amazing way.

[Fella_shibby · 8/10 · 28 April 2021]

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs.

Revisited all the four parts in the early 2k on dvds which i own.

Revisited this part (154 mins special edition version) few days back as i am on Alien movie marathon n very impatient to check out Prometheus n Covenant.

This movie has some amazing star cast, lots of fireworks, intense action n claustrophobic horror.

A milestone in movie making....

[WoBiE1 · 10/10 · 7 June 1999]

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.

The Americanization of Alien

[kustom135 · 6/10 · 21 December 2005]

James Cameron's sequel, simply put, lacks the style and depth of detail of Ridley Scott's original. It's also sadly Americanized. Wisecracking Marines with big, jutting guns, cigars, and knife games. A swarm of aliens instead of one solitary killer. Ambitious, mouthy, corporate go-getters. In other words, indulgence where Scott practised restraint ...

And, of course, space travel has changed between 1979 and 1986. Oh, you're still put into hibernation but, in this episode, space is of little consequence, it seems. Yet in the first movie, everyone hated hibernation and space travel was a long, drawn-out trip! The crew in _Aliens_ flits about as if they're heading across town to kick some butt.

Seems Cameron just couldn't resist putting his personal stamp on the film (and stamping out Scott's vision). He even glommed a scene from _2001_ and stuck it right at the beginning of his film.

Cheap sci-fi action garbage with all the TRUE suspense taken out. _Alien_ was a higher standard than that. Cameron, you were out of your depth.

The best Sci Fi action flick ever made

[sqeaston9 · 10/10 · 2 February 2008]

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Every aspect of this movie is spot on, which I can only put down to James Cameron's obsessive attention to detail. The characters are distinct, memorable and believable. The plot builds slowly into the most tense, suspenseful roller-coaster ride I've ever experienced in the cinema. The special effects are good even by today's standards, and the sets are simply second to none. This is one of my top 10 favourite movies of all time.

If you like this kind of movie and haven't seen this yet, what are you waiting for? Twenty years on and the only other Sci Fi action movie in the same league is James Cameron's Terminator 2. I can only hope he returns to this genre in the future, he is the master.

Oh, and try to see the special extended edition if possible, the extra scenes make an amazing movie even better.

Make it a 7.5, and just don't think too hard!

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 21 January 2021]

When I recently revisited this film I was underwhelmed. I don't think I've sat through it a second time since it was in theaters in 1986. I remembered it as a great action film and it is still a great action film.

The main problem that I had - the problem I have with most James Cameron films - was the dialogue. He writes lines for these characters like they are caricatures rather than actual people. The proceedings come off shrill where the original Alien was a masterpiece of originality - monsters with acid for blood so you can't even kill them without killing yourself and destroying your spacecraft. At least I can't complain about the lack of originality of the material, because Cameron is writing and directing a sequel here.

It almost singlehandedly created the aesthetic of the "space marine," which makes it really hard to not see their behavior as cliche, even if it did create the cliches. I also get that their macho posturing is supposed to contrast with how quickly they dissolve under pressure, but that isn't really a particularly fascinating character or plot development. You know from the start that they don't have a clue what they are getting themselves into. Did they not read Ripley's report like they were instructed to do? Yet not a one says "Yikes!" prior to first engagement with something that is not your typical big bad.

And the cliched mother/daughter relationship just springing up between Ripley and Newt is rather grating on the nerves too. I've never watched the extended version, but apparently Ripley had a daughter in the extended cut of Aliens who grew to adulthood and died during the 57 years Ripley was "lost in space". That would have had this spontaneous maternal reaction make more sense.

Cameron hits all of the tent pole emotional triggers - although he does it completely without nuance - the evil corporation that is just too big, prejudices accepted in an earlier era going out of fashion, and some people deserve to be rescued while others do not???? Oh, well, it is a great thrill ride. Cameron always does that well, and does it well enough here to make the film a suspenseful rollercoaster as long as you don't think too hard.

"Game over, man! Game over!"

[cinemais4life · 10/10 · 4 July 2022]

My favorite movie of all time. It's one of those rare movies that is completely perfect in almost every aspect you can think of. The setting, the characters, the dialogue, the visual design, the writing, the storytelling, the pacing, and the acting. Oh my gosh, this movie is really one of the greatest movies ever made. It might probably be the best sequel of all time. It perfectly follows the story without changing or ignoring the stuff that happened in the original movie. It also has nothing but practical effects and miniatures in the action sequences and sets that makes this blow most of the CGI-filled 'movies' out of the water. And guess what, it has a strong female lead character. But the reason why this works is because there was no woke identity politics or forced diversity to pander to the soy filled SJW leftists on social media and Twitter because this wasn't even a thing in 1986. What mattered was actual good storytelling and writing which is the reason why most movies suck. "We're on express elevator to hell, goin' down!" Keep on rockin' on, Aliens!

Great follow up

[SnoopyStyle · 9/10 · 12 October 2013]

It's 57 years after the first movie. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) has been lost in cryogenic sleep until she's discovered by a deep salvage team. She's asked to return to the planet to investigate why the colony there has lost all communication. She and a team of space marines must battle the aliens in an all out fight.

James Cameron has taken this franchise from its horror origins to a great big action adventure. The change in style is seamless. The action is perfect, and it's a non-stop roller coaster ride. Ripley has transformed herself from the feminist icon into a powerful mother figure. There isn't a false note in this movie. The characters are all well drawn from the humanist robot Lance Henriksen to the comic relief Bill Paxton. They all work to create one of the most thrilling rides of all times.

Hands down one of the best sequels ever!

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 15 May 2007]

Back in 1986, sequels had become very common (Superman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones), yet people were suspicious when they heard of a follow-up to Alien, Ridley Scott's acclaimed sci-fi horror from 1979. Most of the criticism was aimed at the fact that Scott had nothing to do with the new movie, which had been entrusted to an unknown (at the time) named James Cameron. Fortunately, Cameron had shown he knew the genre two years earlier with The Terminator, and by perfecting the skills he had developed on that film he delivered Aliens, which still stands out as one of the greatest science fiction flicks of all time.

Given how the first film ended (all characters but one died), Cameron wisely decided to radically separate his movie from the original, and he does so from the very beginning by having Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) wake up from her cryogenic sleep and make a shocking discovery: although she hasn't aged at all, 57 years have passed since she left the Nostromo, meaning everyone she knew is either dead or very old (in a particularly heartbreaking scene, she talks on the phone with her grown-up daughter, who is full of resentment for her "unjustified" absence). In addition, no one believes her story regarding the alien since, as she's told by scientist Carter Burke (Paul Reiser), the planet where these creatures allegedly lived has been successfully colonized. Suddenly, though, all communications with LV-426 are inexplicably interrupted. Thinking there might be some truth to Ripley's tale, Burke asks her to join him and a group of soldiers on a mission to uncover the mystery. And while most of the participants are in it just for the money, our heroine realizes this is her only chance of confronting her worst nightmare and overcoming it for good.

The main problem with Alien, some have said, was that, as great as it can be, the characterizations were reduced to the minimum (not that it really mattered, with Ridley Scott ensuring the film retained the right pace and suspense throughout). With Aliens, character development is the last thing fans should worry about, Cameron being fully aware of each individual's potential and exploiting it as much as he can. Ripley, who was just part of an ensemble in the original, is now allowed to carry the whole film, and boy, does she carry it: rarely has there been a more solid, compelling female role in a genre movie like this (the fact that Sigourney Weaver is the only actress, thus far, to have received an Oscar nomination for a science-fiction film is further testament to Aliens' immortality). The supporting cast is equally good, with a multitude of different characters ranging from funny (regular Cameron collaborators Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton) to weird (Lance Henriksen's android Bishop) and bringing something extra to the movie's unique atmosphere.

Ah, the film's mood: that's the other aspect Cameron deserves all the credit in the world for. On a superficial level, it could be said Alien was a horror movie, while the follow-up is more action-oriented; that may be true, but one should also notice that every single spectacular battle scene actually oozes tension, never leaving the audience with a pause to breathe or relax. In fact, Cameron has succeeded where many other directors would have failed: he stayed faithful to the original's tone, but managed nonetheless to make the film undeniably his own.

Relentlessly creepy, occasionally very violent and consistently compelling, Aliens is a pitch-perfect piece of adult science-fiction. Watch it on a double bill with Scott's version and you will get four hours of genre film-making at its finest.

Prophetic & Visionary...

[Xstal · 9/10 · 29 December 2023]

Aliens (1986)...

Allegorically and quite unintentionally a tale of a virus, ignorantly released its only aim is to destroy us, the wheels set in motion, a search begins for a new potion, but perpetuation has begun, and there's absolutely nowhere you can run - from the evolutionary transformations, variations and mutations, the prequels, sequels and un-equals yet to come.

Just like all great frighteners, there are links to the real world horror of what the world of science mixed with mother nature might have in store for us in the not too distant future, or indeed may well be incubating in a laboratory nearby already.

Aliens (1986).

Quite Good, but not of the caliber of the original.

[bilahn · 9 April 2001]

I have been long a fan of the orignal "Alien", but somehow I never saw this sequel until now. If this were in fact the first or only "alien" movie, I would undoubtedly rate it higher than I do. It's edge of your set, exciting, and much better than most movies of this type. The special effects are great, and there are some real scary moments.

But to say this is "as good" or "beter" than the original--that I cannot agree with.

First of all, there is very litte original in this sequel. Indeed, it is more of a remake of the first Alien than a progression. The plot if very similar, and indeed, the ending is basically the same idea, right down to Sigourney Weaver in her underwear. So the mere fact that is not original is to be considered. What Aliens offers over Alien, is faster pacing, more and bigger aliens, and a generally higher adrenaline level. This is probably why a lot of people prefer it. And it is all very well done.

But Aliens is basically a military shoot-em-up. The original, for all its comparative simplicity, is a much more subtle, deftly constructed, and very atmpospheric movie. The spareness creates a feeling of claustrophobia and terror which is very effective and memorable. I found Alien truly psychologically frightening, while Aliens is more of an in your face adrenaline rush. Alien also has a more interesting cast, more human and subtle. The military posturing of the Aliens cast was pretty standard stuff. Sigourney Weaver, of course, is possibly even better than in the first movie. I also like the music in the first movie better.

I find Leonard Maltin's comment on the Alien inexplicable. What he seems not to like about the first movie is there in spades in the second movie.

Aliens is a darn good movie, but Alien is a sci-fi classic.