Aliens

  Originally I was scheduled to cover Nia DaCosta’s Candyman sequel (for the second time) but its release date was pushed back to the end of August. Barring any further delays I will finally be covering it on September 3rd. In lieu of this new release, today I’m following up on my Alien review with Aliens.

Aliens was written and directed by James Cameron (The Terminator) and was released on July 18th, 1986. Aliens was made on a budget of $18.5 million, made $10,052,042 upon opening, and went on to make $131,060,248 worldwide. The film received critical acclaim upon release and even garnered Sigourney Weaver (Galaxy Quest) the first of her three Academy Award nominations.

Following the events of the first film, Ripley’s (Weaver) shuttle is picked up by a deep space salvage team. Upon awakening, Ripley discovers that she’s been lost in space for fifty-seven year and that LV-426 (the planet where the Nostromo picked up the alien) now has a human colony on it. Despite her warnings, the Company sends scouts to the derelict and they quickly lose contact with the colony. A group of marines is sent to investigate, with Ripley along as a consultant, and find themselves face to face with hundreds of aliens and a new, even greater threat.

I first encountered the Alien franchise when I was fourteen by way of Alien vs. Predator (which I picked up on a whim while at Wal-Mart with my family). While I really liked the first, I fucking loved the second. I watched this movie at least once a week and even brought it with me on a family vacation to Florida where I would watch it on our portable DVD player. Over the years, my tastes have evolved and I now prefer the original, but this film is still one of my favorites of all time.

Aliens' success lies primarily in two areas. The first is that it doesn’t try to recreate the first film. Instead it stands on its own two feet by expanding the world and upping the scale. As the plurality of the title indicates, our heroine is facing a far larger number of aliens this go around, but at least she’s come prepared.

The second big success of the film is that it allows Ripley to grow and develop more nuance as a character. We learn early on (if you’re watching the Director’s Cut, which you really should be) that she had a daughter who was about to turn eleven when she left on the Nostromo who passed away of old age in the interim. This, as well as her relationship with Newt (Carrie Henn) that forms throughout the film, allows Ripley to become a richer character while still being the “ultimate badass” (to borrow a phrase).

Speaking of which, this film has such a fun supporting cast. With such a large cast, it’d be impractical to list them all so I’m going to focus on my three favorites:  wisecracking Hudson (Bill Paxton, Twister), badass Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein, Terminator 2: Judgment Day), and heroic android Bishop (Lance Henriksen, Millennium). 

Is Aliens as frightening as the original? No, and it’s not trying to be. It is, however, an exciting adventure with an excellent emotional throughline. Ripley’s confrontation with the Queen is rightfully one of the most iconic moments in film history.

Rating: 5 nukes from orbit (just to be sure) out of 5

Other Observations:

• Does the Dog Die? Ripley leaves Jonesy behind, but those hamsters in the science lab on LV-426 weren’t so lucky.

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: The Queen ripping Bishop apart. Really surprising moment.

• “Get away from her you bitch!” - Icon

• Paul Reiser’s (Mad About You) Burke is a real scumbag.

Next Week: Next week is the one year anniversary of the first review on this blog (The Hills Have Eyes (2006)) so to celebrate I’m covering the original Hills Have Eyes, which I’ve not seen in about ten years.