"...A flaming, flashing, crashing, crackling blow-em-up show that keeps you popping from your seat....[Weaver] is a one-woman army..."
New York Times
"...Technically, [the] film is superior in all respects. Special effects are varied and always convincing..."
Variety
"...Canny, ironically funny and certainly successful when Weaver's around....ALIENS is a perfectly honorable sequel, taut, inexorably paced..."
Los Angeles Times
Cinemaroll Review
(Excerpt) James Cameron’s Aliens, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi shocker Alien, begins with the hero of the first film, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), awaking from a 57-year hyper-sleep on her spacecraft Nostromo to be told that planet LV-426, where she first encountered the alien eggs, has been colonised by people.
Unsurprisingly, the colonists soon go missing, and Ripley is sent with a rescue team to find out what happened. The moment we the audience meet the rescue team it becomes clear that this is going to be a very different film from Scott’s effort.
Where the crew of the Nostromo had been a group of unassuming civilians, the crew of the sequel are a bunch of gung-ho marines armed to the teeth and ready to kick some alien ass. Or so they think. And an ambush feels like something that can happen at any time in this film.
The pervasive use of fog and muted, artificial light not only creates a sombre tone, but also means that both we and the characters only get to see the aliens once they’re too close to run away from. This creates a feeling of peril that never abates, and which allows a few nasty surprises to come our way.
The grim set design and lighting is complemented perfectly by the camerawork: Occasional establishing shots are used to reinforce the idea that we are far away from Earth, but for the most part the cameras keep close to the characters, evoking both uncomfortable empathy and nauseating claustrophobia.
Long single takes during the more subdued scenes switch to frantic cross-cutting during the action scenes. And tracking shots are also used deftly, particularly at the end, when Ripley finds out what’s been laying the alien eggs.
Cameron knows that the most frightening monsters are those we don’t really understand, and so he never reveals much of the aliens, tending to obscure them in silhouette or allow only fleeting glimpses with wildly veering cameras.
Sound too is used masterfully in this film: the howling wind masks alien footsteps and chills in its own right; the motion trackers throb like heartbeats, rising in pitch and speed as the aliens near; and non-diegetic sound is subtly used to exacerbate the dread, especially when Ripley and Newt are trapped in a lab room with a pair of face-huggers.
James Horner’s score supplements the sound-work throughout the film excellently, ranging from discordant, minimalistic string-plucks during the more creepy scenes; through bittersweet violins for the emotional exchanges between Ripley and Newt; to full-blown militaristic drum-marches as the marines prepare to attack.
Sci-fi horrors are not usually noted for their acting, but Aliens, like its predecessor, is an exception. Every cast member delivers: Carrie Henn makes chary, naive Newt completely believable; Lance Henriksen convinces us he is an android without being wooden (or plastic).
Paul Reiser deftly earns our hatred as the slimy Burke; and the marines, with their superb delivery of flashy one-liners and beefed-up attitude, provide a nice foil to the general pessimism that pervades the film.
But it is Weaver who steals the show, playing a Ripley hardened by the events of the first film, expertly treading the line between martial and maternal. And, believe it or not, maternity is what this film’s about.
The aliens have a mummy too, which, though hardly the most touching relationship in the film, spectacularly shows us exactly how much fury hath a mother scorned, and which provides the film with its heart-pounding climax.
Motherhood isn’t the only theme here: planet LV-426 itself is a labyrinth, filled with twists and turns and dark recesses, murky and frightening like the subconscious. And the aliens themselves can be seen as Freudian symbols: face-huggers that inseminate people and xenomorphs with phallic heads that penetrate their victims with their secondary jaws.
But in the end, Aliens is about emotion and not allegory, and if it leaves us with any thoughts, then they’re not about the power of motherhood, or the prurience of the unconscious, but simply about how deliciously devastating sci-fi cinema can be.
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Aliens Reviews
Quipster Review - 4.5 out of 5 stars
Debates may rage on as to whether Aliens is actually a better film than Alien, and I'm of two minds myself on it myself, but regardless of the conclusion, one thing is clear -- they are both exemplary works of science fiction cinema. Ultimately, where you stand will probably have more to do with what kinds of movies you have a preference for. If you like intelligent, absorbing sci-fi and atmospheric horror, Alien is the choice. If you like adrenaline-charged action and mind-blowing special effects, Aliens gets the nod.
Or if you're anything like me, and love both styles of movies, you'll be in for a treat, as both films are near the tops of the list no matter which way you try to slice it. Aliens is the right way to do a sequel. It carries the storyline where the first film leaves off, and rather than regurgitate the formula, it takes the story into a new direction, and does so without ever losing momentum in the process. There is also a maturation in the characters, all of whom change as the film drives forward, rather than stay stuck in shallow stereotypes.
Ripley (Weaver, Ghostbusters) started off Alien as your average woman who is thrust into bravery out of necessity, and this trend continues, seeing her go the distance in becoming a full-fledged soldier in doing what's right (from a humanistic point of view). Even the supporting characters change on a smaller scale, with the diminutive Newt learning that she can trust someone again, while the big-talkin' Hudson (Paxton, Apollo 13) eats a bit of humble pie once he gets a taste of how dominating the menace truly is.
This isn't just great action, it's terrific character development, and while the technical aspects do leave a lasting impression, it's really the quality screenwriting by Cameron that allows the film to pay off in a large way as the film heads toward its explosive conclusion. Although the film starts where the first film leaves off, with Ripley in a cryogenic sleep drifting in the escape shuttle, what Ripley doesn't know until after she is rescued is that she has been that way for 57 years.
When she gets back, the company that owned her ship is very interested in why she decided to blow it to smithereens, and are not too impressed with her implausible "alien on board" story, since they have recently inhabited the newly terraformed world Ripley claims to have encountered the alien on, and have found nothing to indicate there is any danger there. That is, until the company loses all signal from the far-off settlement, and offer Ripley full reinstatement if she will act as advisor to a squad of Marines sent to investigate the affair.
With intensity that builds to a fever pitch, Aliens is a true rollercoaster ride that only accelerates to white knuckle proportions right up until the cataclysmic ending. This is action filmmaking at its finest, with complex plot developments, an absorbing science fiction backdrop, and truly heinous villains to make you squirm in your seat. The funny thing about it is, I'm only describing the second half of the film. The first hour is almost nothing but plot and character development, with only the merest hints of an alien monster to be found.
You'll never notice, because the drama is every bit as interesting as the further action scenes, working perfectly in concert to make each half all the more satisfying. It's a great action, science fiction, horror, and war film all rolled into one -- working so wonderfully on all levels that you almost forget the underlying social commentary on the evil motivations of corporate greed and the continuation of the female as action hero that Cameron (True Lies) would perfect in the Terminator films.
It's a dark and sticky descent, but effectively so, as the grotesque imagery only makes the situations all the more horrific, and the danger to the precious little girl Ripley all but adopts all the more immediate. Aliens is absolutely must-see for anyone who has seen Alien, and both films are essential viewing to anyone who enjoys science fiction and horror. Sadly, this is also the final film in the Alien series that I even claim to be part of the story, as subsequent entries do little more than destroy almost every facet that made the first two films so wonderful to behold.
Cameron's mastery of action is prodigious, Weaver's Ripley is fantastic, and the special effects wed the story to perfection. Pure adrenaline for all action junkies -- it's one of the best thrill-rides ever made.
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Beyond Hollywood Review
James Cameron’s “Aliens” is, in my humble opinion, the definitive Humans vs. Aliens movie. As far as I’m concern, every film that has come after “Aliens” are inferior clones. Even the animated “Final Fantasy”, for all of its cinematic breakthroughs, was nothing more than a rich man’s “Aliens.” It’s no surprise then that “Aliens” is the film by which I measure all Humans vs. Aliens movies. What makes “Aliens” a classic is how it brilliantly lulls you into its world with a sense of security before assaulting your senses with a barrage of American firepower, acid-spewing aliens, and claustrophobic tension.
In fact, the movie doesn’t even kick into high gear until well after the 50-minute mark, but as soon as that happens, the film never relents. The way the film manages to sustain its high-octane power, while never compromising on its quiet, personal moments, is just incredible. “Aliens” is James Cameron’s sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 “Alien”, a cerebral experience that attempted to scare with atmosphere and paranoia. “Aliens,” on the other hand, is content to thrill with firepower. The film brings back Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the only survivor from the first film, who has been frozen in cryo sleep for the last half century or so.
Awaken into a new world she is ill-prepared for, Ripley is informed that the alien planet where the alien creature that terrorized her commercial vessel (from the first film) came from has since been colonized by humans. Oh, and it just so happens that said colony has gone off the radar, and the colonists are believed…in trouble. Ripley is asked to return to the alien planet as a guide to check up on the colonists. She is hesitant at first, but eventually agrees out of a need to resolve unfinished business (of the personal and alien-killing variety, natch).
The bulk of the rescue crew consists of Marines, including the easygoing Hicks (Michael Biehn), the loudmouth Hudson (Bill Paxton), and the inexperienced commander, Gorman (William Hope). No sooner does the crew land on the planet that it becomes apparent things have gone terribly wrong. In fact the colonists are either all dead, fed on, or are being used as breeding apparatus by the aliens! “Aliens” is the perfect title for this movie. Whereas part one was called “Alien”, properly denoting the single alien creature in that movie, “Aliens” is literally crawling with the alien creatures. They are everywhere — on the ceiling, along the walls, and in the shadows.
Under Cameron’s direction, the aliens are frighteningly real, physical, and in your face. They move with the speed of snakes and kills with the ferocity of tigers, but what really makes them a formidable foe is their cunning. These bastards are smart, has mastered organization, and there are a lot of them. Once the first mini-gun opens fire, “Aliens” shifts into action mode. At nearly two hours and 20 minutes, the movie lives up to the original film and, in my opinion, surpasses it. This is no cerebral experience, this is full-tilt action at its finest. Best of all, Cameron and his crew has the cast and the budget to pull off everything they wanted.
Even more impressive is that this is only Cameron’s second movie, the first being “The Terminator”. (Cameron actually shot, edited, and released “The Terminator” and “Aliens” back-to-back. He was also the writer of 1986’s “First Blood,” the first “Rambo” movie. How’s that for a banner year?) Besides making a star out of Sigourney Weaver as one of the first woman in cinematic history to kick ass and take names on an epic scale, the film features perhaps the finest and most memorable character to sci-fi fans everywhere.
Bill Paxton (”Frailty”) is Hudson, the loudmouth who utters some of the most memorable lines in all of sci-fi, including but not limited to his mantra of, “Game over, man! Game over!” after the alien army has all but destroyed his unit. “Aliens” is good stuff. No, let me rephrase that. “Aliens” is great stuff.
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New York Times Review by Walter Goodman
The special-effects specialists are featured prominently in the credits that precede ''Aliens,'' and so they should be. Under the direction of James (''The Terminator'') Cameron, they have put together a flaming, flashing, crashing, crackling blow-'em-up show that keeps you popping from your seat despite your better instincts and the basically conventional scare tactics. The sequel to the 1979 sci-fi shocker ''Alien'' opens today at the Warner Twin and other theaters.
It's a touch less innovative than its predecessor, which introduced slimy ''hostile organisms'' that use humans as incubators and burst from people's stomachs at inopportune times, but it makes up in technique what it lacks in novelty. The effects, perils in outer space and in shadowy corners, quite overwhelm the skimpy script, which is loaded with gibberish uttered with authority: ''Stand by to initiate release sequencer.'' When somebody says something sensible like ''we're all in strung-out shape,'' it sounds like a gag.
The plot, to use the word casually, starts with the rescue of Sigourney Weaver, who, you may recall, lost the rest of the crew of her spaceship to murderous monsters in ''Alien.'' She has spent the ensuing 57 years loitering unconsciously in space, and no sooner does she get back to civilization, as it were, than off she goes again with a band of rough-looking, rough-talking, cannon-toting marines, of both sexes, to try to discover what happened to a colony of humans out there somewhere. Anybody who saw ''Alien'' can guess what has happened.
The question is whether it will happen to Miss Weaver, the marines and a little girl, the colony's sole survivor, who looks and acts like a Hollywood child actress. If that doesn't matter to you, forget the whole thing. Miss Weaver's name in both movies is Ripley, and believe it or not, this smart good looker is a one-woman army. There is something inherently parodic about Warrant Officer Ripley, in a T-shirt, blasting away with a flame-spouting, grenade-launching weapon capable of wiping out a small zoo; it's a Rambo joke. But Miss Weaver does the job without cracking a smile. Adrian Biddle's camera goes for the closest close-ups you've ever seen.
They don't do much for anybody's complexion, but you can tell the pores from the beads of sweat on each marine's neck. When it comes to those aliens, however, the camera, understandably, doesn't get too close. It veers about, often at high speed to the quickened beat of the music, and what with all the movement and murky lighting, you can't get a sharp look at the creatures put together by Stan Winston, supervisor of ''creature effects.'' Although the aliens still have that nasty way of bursting through people's skin, mostly we meet them full-grown, with scales and coils and, my, what big teeth.
Now they look like dragons, now like sea monsters or pterodactyls or a combination plate of lizard, bat, eel and spider. The young aliens resemble agitated lobsters. I thought I saw an elephant trunk on the Big Mamma alien, who is too big to be blown away even by Miss Weaver's big gun, but it could have been something else. Anyhow, it wasn't anything you'd want clutching at your foot while you were trying to hang on to your spaceship and not be gulped into the void. No monster movie with pretensions can do without a scene that stirs a twinge of compassion for the monsters.
It might be just my wishful imagination, but I thought I detected an expression of anguish on Big Mamma, a prodigious breeder, as dozens of her extra-large eggs were getting badly cracked. But she could merely have been opening her glacierlike jaws to devour that little girl.
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References:
abc.net,
beyondhollywood.com,
boxofficemojo.com,
cinemaroll.com,
comicsbulletin.com,
dailyscript.com,
denofgeek.com,
filmtracks.com,
imdb.com,
nytimes.com,
quipster.net,
time.com,
wikipedia.org
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