ALIENS

* * * *

STARRING: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henrickson, Paul Reiser, Jeanette Goldstein

1986, 137 minutes, Directed by: James Cameron

Description: Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, who awakens on Earth only to discover that she has been hibernating in space so long that everyone she knows is dead. Then she is talked into traveling (along with a squad of Marines) to a planet under assault by the same aliens that nearly killed her. Once she gets there, she finds a lost little girl who triggers her maternal instincts--and she discovers that the company has once again double-crossed her, in hopes of capturing one of the aliens to study as a military weapon. — Amazon.com

Regarded by many as the best movie in the Alien series. And it definitely is when pure adrenaline pumping action is the yardstick by which you judge a movie.

Boasting more special effects, a much faster plot and lots of fireworks, this movie is totally different to its predecessor (Alien), pitting space marines against hordes of vicious aliens.

The first twenty or so minutes of the movie is merely getting the plot into place - thereafter it is exhilarating chases through dark corridors as arrogant space marines get routed by alien monsters.

Cameron (who did similar stuff with his Terminator movie a few years before) knows his turf: the movie is truly exciting and scary. More like Rambo goes to outer space than the haunted house in outer space!

Often criticised for its Reaganisms and gung-ho philosophy, there is an admitted Vietnam analogy. Director Cameron has admitted so much himself: the marines are brash, arrogant and over-confident. They come armed to the teeth, yet they quickly get their asses kicked by the aliens. But it is not an Forever War analogy.

The only one who makes any sense in the movie the whole time is Ripley, who keeps muttering "Nuke Them" like a macho sneering Dr Strangelove. Imagine if her sentiments were ever translated into real political terms! Gulp! But forget all this and simply sit back and enjoy the roller coaster ride . . .

(Although made many years after the first Alien movie - usually a bad stunt for any sequel to pull - this one actually did better at the box office than its predecessor! Followed by Alien 3 in 1992 and Alien Resurrection in 1997.)
 

• Read an extended review of Aliens.
• Read the script.
• Download the trailer.
• Read about the planned Alien prequel.

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