In reference to the Director's Cut

I'm not sure which film I like more, Alien or Aliens. On one hand you have a great horror film that is extremely claustrophobic and genuinely scary not to mention groundbreaking. On the other, you have one of the best action films ever made that manages to keep that claustrophobic feeling yet is more expansive. Looks like it's going to have to come down to the little things - the supporting cast and the effects. Once again, Alien is groundbreaking. The film is dark yet great to look at.

Then there's also Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto and Tom Skerritt. On the other hand the special effects are taken up a notch and the aliens are much more threatning. Plus unlike the original, I found the supporting cast to be much more memorable and that's thanks to James Cameron. Thanks to his regulars of Bill Paxton and Michael Biehn, both actors give memorable performances. Maybe it's just because I haven't seen the original in awhile, but there is nothing memorable from a cast standpoint outside of Sigourney Weaver. Outisde of her character, there was no one to root for in the original. Here, you want every character to make it. I think that's thanks to James Cameron who is a master at this.

And then one thing the original never had was the mother/daughter storyline (Or that it eventually becomes that) that's where the heart of the movie lies and it's very well done.

Great film. A+

B. Good but not great, at least by today's standards.

how is that, considering todays standards are much lower than back then?

Absolutely brilliant.

A

One of the better sequels of alltime, its not as good as the first IMO but its one hell of a sci-fi action film.

B+

A+

Aliens is a smashing sci-fi/action combination flick. While the first was scary, chilling, quietly suspensful and terrifying, the second is adreneline pumping and beautifully exciting, while maintaining the overall creep and scare factor of the aliens.

Cameron does a very good job expanding on the unexplained but authentic, convincing, and complex sci-fi would Scott created, and the early scenes, including the devestating 57 years later revelation and the introduction of the soliders, are very well done. But it is when the ship blows up and the crew gets stranded on the planet, that things really pick up. JC is of course, the greatest action and spectacle director of all time, and Aliens shows that greatly.

The original encounter with the aliens, the hideout in the building, the vent scene, the deaths, anytime the action picks up it is brilliant. And yet, throughout the movie, things just get better and better, until the amazing pre-climax with the mother alien and Ripley on top of that burning building waiting for her rescue. The way Cameron constructed that scene, the thrilling power of it all, it gave me goosebumps. The final scene with the robot machine is also great, and I have to say that Bishop being pulled apart is one of the biggest "AHHH" moments I've seen in a while.

On top of that, the entire thing is this great ode to motherhood. Ripley's relationship with Newt is done very well, with Sigourney Weaver's performance anchoring the entire thing of course. What makes JC so so great, is that not only is he a master of spectacle and action, but all his films have this glorious human factor to them as well. Whether it'd be the love between Sarah Conner and Reese, the trio in T2, Jack and Rose in Titanic, or Ripley here, the human factor is one of his greatest traits, and it absolutely shines in Aliens. It makes you care for the heroes as people, something not many action films can say they accomplished.

One of the finest sci-fi or action flicks ever, and more proof of Cameron's godliness. I think I prefer the first ever so slightly, but both would make my top 40 most likely. Absolute treasures of cinema.

a movie granted a token of critical credibility is seems exploited by plebeians and phalluses alike and bestowed with the medal of honor (knighted by Sir Berardinelli Price). but lo! it is merely a prototypal transformerbot, slightly better of course, but not by very much for most of its slowly running time.

to think I pushed off my Buñuelfest for this.

... again.

this is the closest it has ever been--I literally hold the diary of a chambermaid in my hand.

That was actually my first Buñuel.

Goddamn hipsters.



No, you're not smarter than the rest of us, and you're a goddamn autistic robot. I get it.

I always liked the subtext of this movie. Marine machismo is blasted away and the only people left are a fruity robot, a middle-aged woman, a little girl and the biggest asshole marine incapacitated. And Vasquez, of course. The only 80s action movie that instead used lesbianism for its homoeroticism.

So I caught it last night after a VERY LONG TIME. This is not as horror as I thought but its still a great movie and one of the best sequels (aside from Terminator, Spider-Man and Toy Story sequels). The thrills and space ship drama are far superior here which is why it works though ofcourse the horror elements are traded for thrills but its still a great standalone movie and Sigourney Weaver is VERY GOOD in this.