Tour de force

Ridley Scott's Alien is one of the Sci Fi/Horror genre's greatest films ever. It set new standards at the time and has been a major influence on many films that have followed. I first saw Aliens in 1986 on its cinema release. Being a fan of the original made me have very grave doubts indeed about just how good a sequel could be, let alone approach the standards of the original. Well those doubts were simply blasted away by what was up on the screen. Aliens is simply that rare animal, a sequel that is better than the original.

James Cameron takes up the story, 50 years on from the original which sees the rescue from deep space of the two survivors of the original film's Nostromo - Warrant Officer Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver and the ship's cat - Jonesey.
Ripley is taken back to Earth and finds her account of what happened to the Nostromo dismissed out of hand by the authorities, and her own motives and sanity questioned. To her horror while she acclimatises to a life fast forwarded 50 years, she also discovers that terraforming colonists have settled on the forbidding planet that held the ship full of Alien eggs which led to the destruction of her ship and crew. News then comes of a total loss of contact with the colony, and Ripley reluctantantly agrees to go along as an advisor on a military mission to see what has happened to the colonists....

Aliens succeeds brilliantly as an out and out action film which on a first viewing, will leave viewers with white knuckles as they are taken through a series of terrifying sequences, all the way to that amazing confrontation between Ripley and the gigantic Alien Queen, a scene that has deservedly taken its place in movie history....
Along the way, Ripley takes an orphaned girl under her wing and their growing mother/daughter relationship is convincing against the backgound of what is going on, and becomes an integral part of the film's plot.

Aliens is one of James Cameron's very best films. It is an exhilirating ride from start to finish. Some of the sequences with the marines are a little camp at times but add to the enjoyment factor anyway. As for the inclusion of the 20 mins of 'lost footage', I think it enhances the film and gives the viewer some insight into the lost colonists which was lacking on the original release of the film.
A must see film which I recommend very highly, indeed.

The most rapacious parasite in the universe

But this time, it's not The Aliens - I'll let you find that out for yourself.

Ripley's back, and so are the aliens, lots of them, and they're hungry (as usual). She has a small army with her this time; for plot purposes, consider them edible. There's also a cute little girl to bring out Ripley's maternal side, for those moments between the shootups and the splatter. They save the best for last, though, with Ripley and the queen in hand to hand combat (not that either is really using hands).

For once, the sequel is as good as the first - and the first was great. This is a fitting successor to "Alien," which may still be the best scary-space-monster movie ever.

//wiredweird

Special edition - not so special

You are better off with the original version (which I would rate 5 stars). The deleted scenes that were put back into the movie should have stayed deleted. When I purchased this edition I thought "Great, more of a good thing". Boy was I wrong. I watched the new scenes out of curiosity but next time I watch the dvd I will be fast forwarding through all of them. Get the original version, you'll be much happier.