Aliens Movie Review:


The sole survivor from the Nostromo has to advise a group of marines who have orders to investigate the disappearance of an entire colony who were placed on the planet on which the alien came from that wiped out that ship's crew. Little do they know, the planet is infested with these aliens,

I was never a big fan of sci-fi. I loved star wars but as a friend said, what male around 30 doesn't. An entire generation was raised on it but I'm going on a tangent. I never liked Scifi because quite frankly, there were movies like Star Trek made. (I'm not a fan) Then I saw Aliens. I may not be a sci fi fan but I do like a good horror. So which does Aliens fall into? Well, Who cares? It's a great movie. You want suspense? Watch Alien. You want dark, overbearing and stylish horror? Watch Alien 3. You want gung-ho, lets shoot these mother*******, Vietnam in space which just happens to feature aliens, don't you dare look anywhere but here. Sigourney Weaver is fantastic. She is finally given room to give humanity to Ripley, which was close to hinted at in the first. She is traumatized from the events in the first movie. But what's good for us is that she's also pissed off. And someone had the masterstroke of giving her a rather large piece of artillery. She gives great balance to the character. She has the guns but she lends so much humanity to the role with Newt that this is not one of those supernaturally bulletproof action heroes you saw so much of around the middle eighties. She is vulnerable. She is maternal. And that rounds the character so much that it goes beyond an action film or a horror film. It makes you care about a true character that has been placed in this situation. The Special Edition adds to this maternal sign with extra scenes relating to Ripley's daughter.

This is a film that has more than one flaw though. It panders to quite a lot to stereotypical characters if you look beyond Ripley. The marines are clearly monster fodder and the corporate bad guy was stale even when this was made. But those are minor gripes. The special effects are first rate. The creatures retain a lot of the menace from the first movie and am I the only one who is creeped out by the face huggers?) then of course, there is the alien queen which is a great contrast to Ripley. The script is often quotable ("stay away from her you bitch!" "Game over man!" etc) and the thrills come quick and fast and the scares and tension from the original still is evident. In my humble view, the special edition still remains the finest in the series. Oh, and it's way better than Titanic! If you haven't seen it, see it. If you have seen it and don't own it…go buy it. Don't you know Cameron needs the money these days? Enjoy.

David McCulloch

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