Aliens (1986)

The planet from Alien has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough?

Director:

James Cameron

Writers:

James Cameron (story), David Giler (story),

Stars:

Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn

Top 250 #58 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sigourney Weaver	...	Ellen Ripley
Carrie Henn	...	Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden
Michael Biehn	...	Cpl. Dwayne Hicks
Paul Reiser	...	Carter Burke
Lance Henriksen	...	Bishop
Bill Paxton	...	Pvt. Hudson
Jenette Goldstein	...	Pvt. Vasquez
William Hope	...	Lt. Gorman
Al Matthews	...	Sgt. Apone
Mark Rolston	...	Pvt. Drake
Ricco Ross	...	Pvt. Frost
Colette Hiller	...	Cpl. Ferro
Daniel Kash	...	Pvt. Spunkmeyer
Cynthia Dale Scott	...	Cpl. Dietrich (as Cynthia Scott)
Tip Tipping	...	Pvt. Crowe

Storyline

Fifty seven years after Ellen Ripley survived her disastrous ordeal, her escape vessel is recovered after drifting across the galaxy as she slept in cryogenic stasis. Back on earth, nobody believed her story about the "Aliens" on the planet LV-426. After the "Company" orders the colony on LV-426 to investigate, however, all communication with the colony is lost. The Company enlists Ripley to aid a team of tough, rugged space marines on a rescue mission to the now partially terraformed planet to find out if there are aliens or survivors. As the mission unfolds, Ripley will be forced to come to grips with her worst nightmare, but even as she does, she finds that the worst is yet to come.

---

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Space Marine | Nightmare | Rescue | Extraterrestrial | 

---

Taglines:

This time it's war

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for monster violence, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 July 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien 2

Filming Locations:

Acton Lane Power Station, Acton Lane, Acton, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$18,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$85,200,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Brandywine Productions, SLM Production Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min 154 min (1992 special edition)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Cameron was not impressed by the way that Ray Lovejoy was editing the film, and was seriously considering firing him and having the film re-edited from scratch by Mark Goldblatt, Cameron's editor on The Terminator, and Peter Boita, who had already been bought on-board to edit the more dialogue driven scenes. Upon hearing that his job was in danger, Lovejoy grabbed all the footage from the film's final battle, locked himself in an editing suite over the weekend, and presented the fully edited version of the battle to Cameron the following week. Cameron was sufficiently impressed to let Lovejoy stay on-board and supervise what was intended to be the final edit.

---

Goofs

In the opening scene of Ripley (frozen), it shows her head tilted to her left, then the close-up shows her faced forward.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Salvage team leader: Bio-readouts are all in the green, looks like she's alive. Well, there goes our salvage, guys.

---

Crazy Credits

The ALIENS title forms slowly during the opening credits. The full title isn't seen until the opening credits are finished, and the "I" illuminates brightly.

---

Connections

Referenced in Death Race 2 (2010)
The "Weyland Corporation" running the prison system shares half the name of the "Weyland-Yutani Corporation" which operates colonization, exploration, android production, and other industries in the Aliens universe.

---

Soundtracks

"Movie music"
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra

User Reviews

One of the most thrilling films ever- special edition highly recommended

James Cameron is an extremely talented action director because not only does he know great action, but he always backs the action up with a great story and interesting characters. Aliens is his finest achievement, as far as I'm concerned. Of course, I should specify: Aliens Special Edition is his finest achievement.

In 1986 several scenes were cut to keep the movie's run-time reasonable but there was one scene that was incredibly foolish to leave out. The scene I refer to is near the beginning where Ripley learns that her daughter has died while she was away in 'hypersleep' for 57 years. "I promised her I'd be home for her 11th birthday," cries Ripley. This is a very moving scene that adds a great deal the character's depth and makes more sense to why she cares for a little girl named Newt later in the film. She's seeking penance through Newt with her love and determination to keep her alive at all costs. The theatrical edition obviously doesn't elude to any of this, and even cheapens the relationship between Ripley and Newt- just a little bit. James Cameron has said that all of his movies are love stories, and Aliens is a story of parental love. He has also said that the special edition is his intended (if not definitive) version of the film. For about five years or so the Special Edition was the only version of Aliens you could get on DVD. It should have stayed that way.

Aliens is a unique film experience: it's genuinely thrilling and exciting, unlike a lot of movies where people shoot the evil monsters and there's disgusting blood and rapid gunfire, and it's really meaningless. In Aliens' case, the aliens are very threatening and more than just target practice. We don't see any aliens for over an hour, but once we do, it's a huge payoff. By that time, we get to know some interesting characters: Hicks (Michael Beihn), a take-charge marine who also turns out to be sweet and sincere, Hudson (Bill Paxton), a braggart who turns out to be a coward and complains most of the time, Vasquez (Jeanette Goldstein), the iron-willed woman soldier who proves to be one of the bravest characters in the film, Bishop (Lance Henrikson), a robot that is very helpful for everyone's survival, Burke (Paul Rieser), the slimy company man who the audience loves to hate, and of course, the adorable little Newt (Carrie Henn), a girl who has survived unspeakable horror. Holding the whole film together is Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver in her surprise-Oscar-nominated performance. I think the only reason why the audience cared for her in the first film is because she was the only person left and we wanted her to live. But for this film, James Cameron added so much to her. With all this investment in characters, we're really concerned for their well-being. We don't want those aliens to get them. Some die, and I'm always truly bummed out when it happens.

Filled with amazing performances and an abundance of thrills, Aliens is one of the greatest of any genre it attempts: whether it's action, sci-fi, horror, or even drama. I personally liked it better than the first film, but it's really like comparing apples and oranges. I prefer the special edition and don't see why anyone should view the other version instead.

My rating: 10/10