Aliens remains a firm favourite of mine, and its hard to comprehend there being many people out there who have not had the honour of viewing it, but perhaps some of you need reminding just how good it is, so.....
Its the sequel to Alien, where Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) was the only survivor on her whole spaceship when a toothy slimy acid-bleeding alien monster burst out of the stomach of John Hurt, grew to the size of a VW Campervan and killed all her mates. Since then Ripley has been in cryogenic sleep for a fair old while, she wakes up to find that the corporation are doing a fact finding mission to the planet they picked the alien parasite up on and she gets a ticket to tag along as alien liaison. The emphasis of the film is on the mainly military (a dozen marines, one android, a company issue asshole, Ripley and a little girl (Newt) they pick up) contingent of misfits trying to stay alive long enougth to get off the alien covered planet. The aliens breed by incubating within live prey, and the planet had a whole colony of humans a bit back, that are now being used as a live hatchery, so there are a good number of the big slimy guys to shoot at, run away from and generally scare the living bone marrow out of you. From the magnificently over-the-top dropship that lands them on the surface, to the climatic battle with a sort of 23rd century fork lift truck this film is one long adrenaline rush of special effects, macho(especially form the ladies!) posturing and sublime set-pieces.
James Cameron(who also directed Titanic, very similar film) does a great job of following Ridley Scotts classic original. If the first film was Psycho in space, then this is Psycho 43 , where Anthony Perkins clones himself 3000 times, goes to live in a knife factory and asks the Dirty Dozen to come get him. The Giger inspired Aliens are seen in full effect, but are also very effectively kept in the shadows for a good deal of this very dark film (turn your brightness up if you are watching the old VHS copy!).
Theres also a special edition release of ALiens, with restored scenes and a bit more backstory of the planet before Ripley arrives and what happens to Newts parents. The little girl is actually very good in the film, and manages not to conform to the usual Hollywood stereotypes of sickly sweet sidekick that many dreaded, she also features very breifly in ALien 3, but you'll have to watch it.
An absolute blinder of an action/sci-fi/horror movie whose power has not diminished in the years since its original release. Highly, highly recommended.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1979 - Science Fiction - Director: Ridley Scott - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
James Cameron'sAliensdigests all the virtues ofAlienand regurgitates them bigger, louder ... more
and brasher than before. By the simple expedient of turning the singular beast of the original into a plural, Cameron transforms the franchise's focus from horror ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
James Cameron'sAliensdigests all the virtues ofAlienand regurgitates them bigger, louder ... more
and brasher than before. By the simple expedient of turning the singular beast of the original into a plural, Cameron transforms the franchise's focus from horror ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
In this action-packed sequel to Alien Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley the only ... more
survivor from mankind's first encounter with the monstrous Alien. Her account of the Alien and the fate of her crew are received with skepticism until the mysterious d...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Excellent presentation of the film itself in terms of both image and sound; comprehensive photo gallery; interesting interview with James Cameron. Disadvantages: No Director’s Commentary; only one trailer included; no music audio options — essentially, this is not an extras-lite DVD, but it simply has nowhere near as much content as the Alien DVD it follows.
Advantages: great, fun movie, excellent C.G effects and loads of extras!!!!! Disadvantages: a little tame on the gore and violence factor compared to the previous films!
![Aliens (Special Edition) [DVD] [1986]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/127176565.jpg "Aliens (Special Edition) [DVD] [1986]")
![Aliens [1986] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78518282.jpg "Aliens [1986] [DVD]")
very helpful by (100%):
