Continuity mistake: When the Marines first enter the reactor room, the "Mission Time" readout on the shoulder mounted cameras jumps backwards and forwards in time with every cut. (00:54:10)
Aliens (1986)
2 reviews
Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Carrie Henn
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Average rating
(21 votes)
I own this movie on DVD.
After I introduced my girlfriend to Alien with the 40th anniversary showing in theaters, I had to get her started on the rest of the series.
Aliens, like it's predecessor, still stands the test of time and holds up extremely well. A few dated effects here and there aside, this is a timeless film.
Taking place about 50 years after the end of the first film, the series shifts gears in genera from sci-fi horror, to sci-fi action thriller as a group of space fairing marines with Ripley return to the planet where her and her crew had discovered the aliens 50 years prior. Only in that time, the planet had been colonized by humans, and they had recently came across the nest of the face hugger eggs and now there are many aliens. Hence the title.
The rumored backstory of how James Cameron got the deal for making the feature with that title is awesome and I hope true.
This film is just as good as the first film, and the perfect sequel to it. The franchise has never been to this level in the years since, even with the under rated Alien 3, and especially not with the abysmal 4th film. The prequel movies are also decisive but good on their own rights, but nothing can seem to live up to the first two films. And with good reason with how great they are.
Mistake Status: Like the first film, I'll probably get around to dissecting this one for mistakes eventually.
Aliens is the definitive sequel to the 1979 classic-this time pitting the horrid monsters vs Space Marines as a derelict colony that's been wiped out. Heroine Ripley bonds with what appears to be the sole survivor - a little girl named "Newt" who managed to evade capture and death due to her small size and great ability navigating the air ducts. The tagline "This time it's war" delivers as Cameron has the fierce, relentless creatures battle the group of soldiers sent by the Company, and when the mission becomes compromised, Ripley must try to save herself, the child, and what's left of the would-be rescuers before time runs out for them all! Great science fiction action-adventure, rousing musical score, nightmarish visuals and a finale that includes a robotic power-lifting exoskeleton vs a giant Alien Queen! It's a must-see for any Alien franchise fan, and could have easily been the finale.
More mistakes in Aliens
[All ammunition has been confiscated.]
Marine: What are we supposed to use? Harsh language?.
Trivia: Paul Reiser's character Carter Burke was so immediately hated that during the movie's premiere his sister hit him, and when Burke's death occurred, his mom's response was simply "good."
Question: I know that the studio chose James Cameron to direct due to the strength of his script, but why wasn't Ridley Scott offered the chance to direct? And was the studio considering a sequel before Cameron joined?
Chosen answer: The studio was considering a sequel before Cameron was involved, but regarding directing it, Ridley Scott told "The Hollywood" in a 2008 interview, "They didn't ask me! To this day I have no idea why. It hurt my feelings, really, because I thought we did quite a good job on the first one." The studio liked Cameron's script and at that time he had enough clout to be able to insist on directing it.
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Answer: It really was all down to James Cameron having already written the script and proving himself capable of directing with 'The Terminator.' It was just a quicker, easier, and almost certainly cheaper decision to let him direct his own script rather than get someone else, even Ridley Scott. While the producers had wanted to make an 'Alien' sequel almost immediately, at the time the head of 20th Century Fox didn't want to pursue it fearing it would be seen as an obvious cash-in and flop. When a new executive at the studio came in a couple years later, the project was put back on track, and I believe Cameron was the first to be approached to write the script.
TonyPH