Aliens (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Aliens (Special Edition)
Movie Review: THE Great Female Action Hero and an overall great film
Summary: 5 Stars
The second installment in the Aliens saga has been my favorite of the bunch ever since first seeing it. There are multiple reasons for this. For one, being a sequel, there was no need to develop gradually learning about what the situation on the planet is. The plot gets going a lot earlier than in ALIEN. Second, the pace is much faster and intense than in the first. Indeed, this is one of the tensest films ever made. But primarily, ALIENS is the best in the series because the character of Ripley has developed into the best female action role in the history of film. A lot of movies over the years have featured women in action roles, but most of the time, they are not terribly believable. Most of the time, the women look like what they are: actress with model's good looks awkwardly holding a gun. Not Ripley. Although traumatized by her encounter with the alien in the first film, she takes her fear and trauma and channels it into an intense anger and assertiveness. When she sees the indecision and ineptitude of those supposedly in charge of the mission, Ripley is forced to step forward and assert herself. When she does so, she emerges as the greatest female action character ever.Ripley makes this movie. Her sheer courage in doing what she has to do to not only to save herself but the young girl who is the sole survivor on the planet drives her to undertake some amazing feats of courage. Her will drives the film forward, and there are few more extraordinary moments in Sci-fi than when she and the alien queen do battle with Ripley using a mechanized freight handler as a combat weapon.
There are so many other excellent things in this film: the great supporting cast, with Lance Hendrickson portraying one of the best androids I can remember seeing in film; the continued superb set design, and the extraordinary action sequences. And has there ever been a greater movie monster than the Alien Queen?
The Aliens series is one of the very best, but of those films, this one is the best of the bunch.
Movie Review: Blockbuster Action Directors watch this to see how it's done
Summary: 5 Stars
Aliens is in my honest opinion the best offering which the action genre has ever produced, it can hold it's own when compared with the very best movies of the eighties.
The character of Ripley is given a very strong willful interpretation by Sigourney Weaver, her performance here when contrasted with the more demure and warm roles she has played reveal her to be an actress with some range. The secondary characters in the movie were likewise, well constructed and interpreted. Some of the scenes and characters are fascinating, from the Android knife trick to the occasional attenpts at humor (appropriately sequestered to the beginning of the film, before the tension takes hold) "Hey Vasquez did anyone ever mistake you for a man?" - "no, You?". The main villain in the movie, the character Burke, is very well acted by the actor who plays him, this guy comes across as oily and psychotic as...well...your average politician. Amother good performance was that of the young girl. As the tension builds and the body count rises, there are enough twists and changes to keep it extremely tense and entertaining. The Aliens themselves were fantastic, sleek chitinous insectile horrors with an air of extreme malevolence stalking the survivors through the abandoned space port.
What is especially interesting is the reversal of traditional Gender Roles in many parts of the film. Take Ripley and Hicks, this male character comes across as an awestruck schoolboy as he yields to everything Ripley suggests without any questions, while her character is deliberately designed (in the film) to exude a greater aura of command and courage than the Marines (to strengthen her warrior - credentials). The other female Soldier looks like a butch Lesbian (oops not very pc i know - sorry), even the little girl is portrayed as having more courage than one whining scared marine. Lastly the male commander of the mission is a slightly cowardly educated type who is unsure of himself.
Movie Review: Ho-Ah! The Best of the Alien Saga!
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow! I loved the movie Alien but this one by far is way better. I bought this movie immediatly when it came out on special addition on DVD. The DVD menu is well done with the marine camera shots and the special features are great too. I liked how instead of having just the Aliens' trailer, it had ALL the Alien trailers as well which is very rare these days. The photos were cool to look at and I loved how they described all the marines' equiptment.Now the movie itself was also awesome! I have a huge thing for marines and even thought they all died (except for Hix played by Micheal Bean) I still loved the movie. I loved how Bill Paxton played Corporal Hudson, the nerdy/bad boy electronics expert. They all did a great job as portraying the marine look and attitude. And I thought the equiptment looked pretty darn convincing and cool at the same time.
The special effects were not only great at the time of it's release but are still good today. The crew did an excellent job with the aliens, the marine spaceship and dropship.
I also loved James Horner's musical soundtrack. He did an excellent job in Terminator 2, True Lies and The Last of the Mohicans however I think this was one of his best mastpieces. He deserved an oscar for this one.
The acting could not have been better. I mean Pual Riser was the corporate bad guy, that's pretty cool and unexpected. Micheal Bean was great as the quiet, battle hardened marine. Bill Paxton as mentioned above. I'm not a Weaver fan but she did a great job anyway.
The suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat and you will root for the marines. Don't worry, the kick some serious tail and go down in all guts and glory. And it was very tame gore and language wise as compared to other suspense movies. That made me very impressed.
I can go on all day ranting about this movie but instead, I recomend you buy this movie today. It's a great buy and fun to watch no matter how many times you watch it.
Movie Review: Get away from her
Summary: 5 Stars
Not so much a sequel to 'Alien' as an alternative take on a similar idea, this is the finest action / sci-fi film of the 80's. Coming back to it after all this time it's surprising to note that it is a proper science-fiction film, and not just an action film with a vague futuristic backdrop - the technology seems real, the glimses of futuristic society seem genuine, and it hasn't dated in the slightest. 'Aliens' has all the James Cameron trademarks - flashy cinematography featuring acres of monochrome lighting, an epic length, a fetish for technology, and Bill Paxton. Despite being over two hours long it flies by - after a long build-up, the film is more or less constant action, and it even takes some time to say something deep-but-vague about family and motherhood and so forth. Sigourney Weaver makes a perfect action heroine, being tough but recognisably human - whereas other films would either make her wimpish and compromised, or go the other way and make her an invicible, high-kicking 'manga babe', here Ripley is just a normal person in an abnormal situation, who happens to be a woman. The subtle-but-obvious romance with the brave, injured Lieutenant Hicks is handled extremely well, too - making the opening of 'Alien 3' all the more jarring. The characters are all stereotypes from WW2 films (Bill Paxton's initially-braggardy marine looks forward to getting home from the wars, and the moment he does so you just know that he is marked for death), but they work, and the acting is uniformly solid. The music deserves a mention, too - it uses a couple of cues from Jerry Goldsmith's 'Alien' music, and James Horner's alternately ambient, Wagnerian score was so good that he used bits for a decade or more afterwards.Surprisingly, the 'extra bits' are quite sparce - apart from the extra footage from the special edition, there are trailers and an interview with James Cameron, but not much else.
Movie Review: They mostly come at night...mostly
Summary: 5 Stars
"Aliens" is the near perfect sequel to the original "Alien" movie. Much of the credit for its excellence must go to James Cameron, who both wrote the screenplay, and also directed, what is generally acknowledged as a classic in the genre... Full of twists and turns, Aliens holds your attention to the very end. This film firmly established the character Ripley as a science fiction icon, and helped define the female action hero. Like the original, Aliens has a good supporting cast, though perhaps not as distinguished. Paul Reiser, has probably never done a better job of acting, than he does here in the role of Burke, a pure weasel who ... Bill Paxson is the soldier Hudson,... Young actress Carrie Henn is wonderful as Newt. Michael Biehn, is Hicks, a levelheaded corporal ... Jenette Goldstein makes her film debut as the soldier Vasquez. And Lance Hendrickson is Bishop, a "synthetic" you can trust.
The special effects hold up rather well, though most of exterior scenes of the planet, buildings, vehicles and ships look a bit dated. It's interesting to note that radio and video communication, so far in the future, is so poor. And they still haven't improved those silly proximity meters, the ones that don't tell you where the enemy is until they are on top of you.
The special edition DVD contains 17 minutes of additional scenes that flesh out and complete the story. We learn more about Ripley's daughter, and what happened to the colonists on LV-426. The background provides insight into Ripley's relationship with Newt. Also included is an interview with James Cameron, which provides information about the film and also the man. Aliens SE, while not replete with extras, does provide a completed version of this terrific film. Your SF collection, would not be complete without this thriller.