Aliens

Ripley and Jones are rescued, but 57 years have past and humans now colonise the planet where the original Alien was found.

Can the Company get a crew of Marines out to the planet in time to save them? Can they survive themselves?

After being awoke from such a long hypersleep, Ripley's life is very different. The Company does not believe her story and she is striped of her profession. Even all her family have now passed away. She finds herself tortured by nightmares.

When the Company loses contact with the colony, after sending some colonists to investigate Ripley's story, they have a change of heart and send the crack Marines in to rescue the colonist but need Ripley's knowledge.

She eventually, reluctantly joins the trip as an advisor, as long as they kill the creatures they find.

When the team find that the colony is completely overrun with the creatures, survival becomes the only concern.

Strong sequel. Very different in mood, deliberately, as they move into a sort of siege story and the hide and seek of the first drifts away.

As a result this is a less effective horror story but is a very effective grownup sci-fi movie.

Although the Marines are all stereotypes, and they have the minimum required to cover all the options, they are well acted and the action is well paced.

Sigourney Weaver's second outing as Ripley allows the character greater depth and flexes some different acting muscles too. There is a believable set of relationships and dynamics between Ripley and the other characters, especially young "Newt", played by Carrie Henn. Indeed, the child steals many scenes from the more established actors.

Lance Heinrikson and Michael Biehn are always good to watch but Bill Paxton is superb as the 'comic relief' Hudson. Paul Reiser, very popular at the time, pulls in the slime as the Company man looking to make his fortune - at any cost.

The effects are good and the sets again very believable. The final showdown again grips.

Although this is a very effective sci-fi action movie it is not a traditional horror, lacking the menace of the original.

Things to look out for: nightmares, inquiry, queen alien, grunts, Newt, loads of one liners, another android.

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs.

Revisited all the four parts in the early 2k on dvds which i own.

Revisited this part (154 mins special edition version) few days back as i am on Alien movie marathon n very impatient to check out Prometheus n Covenant.

This movie has some amazing star cast, lots of fireworks, intense action n claustrophobic horror.

THE sci-fi movie. It's nearly perfect in every way: storyline, characters, menacing threat, suspense, action, direction, music, emotion, etc... It's always been a favorite of mine and still is. To me this is not just a film, it is an experience. The adrenaline pumps like in no other film and rarely have we had the chance to see a heroine as compelling as Sigourney Weaver. She can kick anyone's ass and still keep a heart and soul. (Why she didn't win the Oscar back in 1986 is beyond me.) When the action starts, you're in for the ride of your life. Truly a milestone in movie making. Now if they could only release it on DVD...

I am just going to add my voice to the chorus of praise for this movie. It is as near to being perfect as any I have ever seen. I will not say that it is much better than Alien - which is just about near to being perfect also. But I do love all the characters in this movie. I have rarely seen a movie where all the characters were so well developed. Even most serious dramas seldom develops each character so completely. None of these characters are stereotypes even Paul Reiser as Burke, although the slimy company/government man villain is a prerequisite in disaster type movies. I would almost say that my favorite is Michael Beihn as Hicks, just because I like his work & consider him to be underrated. But I also like Lance Henriksen as Bishop, William Hope as Lt. Gorman, Bill Paxton as Hudson, and of course, Jenette Goldstein as Vasquez. I liked all of these characters. I cared about their lives & deaths. The final scene for Gorman & Vasquez still chokes me up after seeing it many times.

I am not ignoring Sigourney Weaver or Carrie Henn. Ripley is the template for the modern action heroine. In the 24 years since Alien, few have been able to measure up to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. Even in Alien 3 & 4, Ripley was still powerful, despite the 3ed rate quality of the movies. As for Carrie Henn as Newt, she was the emotional heart of Aliens. Cameron's ability to develop well rounded characters does not detract from his ability to create great action scenes or to scare the audience out of a several years of growth.

So often when you think of sequels you imagine cynical attempts to cash in on successful movies, efforts to bring in the coins with any old rubbish, when you think of the likes of Police Academy, Halloween and Jaws you can understand why, and then there is Aliens......

Not often is a follow up as good as the original (and better in some ways,) but Aliens is, I would class it as one of the best movies of all time, a cinematic Masterpiece which seems to improve with age. It's a space horror, which is dramatic, action packed and funny at times.

Aliens changed the genre, sci fi would never quite be the same again. This film will have you gripped, glued and on the edge of your seat, truly an adrenaline fuelled thrill ride, with amazing visuals, wonderful acting, and terrific music. Film makers of today watch and see how it should be done.

A masterpiece. 10/10