Aliens Special Edition Blu-Ray Review

Rated R (Monster Violence, and for Language)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 34 Minutes

Cast-

Sigourney Weaver-Ellen Ripley

Michael Biehn-Corporal Dwayne Hicks

Carrie Henn-Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden

Paul Reiser-Carter Burke

Lance Henriksen-Bishop

Bill Paxton-Private William Hudson

William Hope-Lieutenant William Gorman

Al Matthews-Sergeant Al Apone

Jenette Goldstein-Private Jenette Vasquez

Mark Rolston-Private Mark Drake

Ricco Ross-Private Ricco Frost

Colette Hiller-Corporal Collette Ferro

Cynthia Dale Scott-Corporal Cynthia Dietrich

Daniel Kash-Private Daniel Spunkmeyer

Tip Tipping-Private Tim Crowe

Trevor Steedman-Private Trevor Wierzbowski

Directed by James Cameron 

"Get away from her, you BITCH!"

Mote: Part of the "Alien Anthology" Blu-Ray box set.

‘Get away from her, you BITCH!’ If Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece “Alien” focused on a slow-burn atmosphere seeped in suspense and dread, James Cameron’s highly anticipated sequel, “Aliens,” released seven years later in 1986, exploded into all-out action. Cameron was a fan of the original and expressed interest in making a sequel while doing pre-production work on another film that would also become influential, “Terminator.” Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox felt that “Alien” had not generated enough profit to warrant a sequel and it was only after the breakout success of “Terminator” that Cameron was given approval to direct. “Aliens” retained some of the claustrophobic aspects of the original but differed greatly in style and tone, as it was a frenetic action adventure, cementing Sigourney Weaver’s status as an action heroine. However, its greatest feat was that it was one of those rare sequels whose reputation exceeded that of the original film.

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), last survivor of the commercial towing spaceship Nostromo, is found and rescued by a salvage crew after drifting in space for fifty-seven years while in hyper-sleep. Back on Earth, her corporate employers, Weyland-Yutani, question her about the destruction of the ship and the loss of their payload, expressing skepticism about the creature she describes as there is no physical evidence. Ripley’s space flight license is revoked pending psychiatric evaluation and learns that the planet where her crew encountered the Alien, now called LV-426, is home to a terraforming colony. Later, a corporate representative named Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) informs her that they’ve lost contact with the colony and want her to come as a consultant with a contingent of Colonial Marines to investigate. She initially refuses but decides to face her fears after her harrowing experience and agrees to come along for the mission. While onboard the warship Sulaco, she is introduced to the android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) and a motley crew of marines led by the inexperienced Lieutenant William Gorman (William Hope). The group arrives on the colony to find it abandoned and in a state of disarray with the only survivor being a traumatized young girl named Rebecca, who goes by the nickname ‘Newt’ (Carrie Henn). The rest of the colonists are discovered to be held near the nuclear-powered atmosphere processing station but the rescue goes horribly wrong, as it is home to a massive Alien nest and their ranks are decimated, leaving Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn) in command. With every escape cut-off and the processing station about to go critical in a matter of hours, it is up to Ripley to lead the survivors to safety.

“Aliens” is a different beast when compared to the original film. Some of the horror elements are retained, particularly a disturbing dream sequence and when the marines roam the empty corridors of the colony, recalling the claustrophobia on the Nostromo. Once they enter the nest and are attacked by the Aliens, the rest becomes a relentless assault that gets the adrenaline pumping. Cameron executes each action sequence to perfection and by immersing us right in the heat of battle, we can feel the desperation that creeps into all the characters. He likened the Marines’ disastrous first encounter to the Vietnam War, where the enemy used the environment to its advantage to effectively nullify our superior firepower and advanced technology. We still never get a good look at the Aliens themselves, except for close-ups of their slime-covered mouths and it builds on the fear of the unknown as the marines can’t see what they’re shooting, but are assaulted from below, above, and all sides. The ultimate payoff comes when we are finally introduced to the Alien Queen and Ripley’s battle with her is the mother of all battles. The final thirty minutes has Ripley become the ultimate badass as she tapes a flamethrower and a pulse fire together and carrying a sling full of grenades in an effort to save Newt. That’s another thing that makes this an excellent sequel because it just doesn’t deliver on action, it also has heart. At the center of this is the relationship between Ripley and Newt, and the growing mother-daughter bond that they share. In fact, one of the film’s most touching moments is when Ripley disposes of the Alien Queen and Newt runs into her arms, crying ‘Mommy!’

Cameron also builds and expands on certain aspects that were only hinted at in the original film. The director’s cut of “Alien” had a scene where Ripley discovers Dallas cocooned and impregnated; in “Aliens” we learn that these creatures function like an insect hive but they don’t operate on pure instinct because they learn and adapt, bypassing the sentry guns set up by the survivors and attacking by coming out of the ground and bursting from the roof. The corporation is now given a named, Weyland-Yutani, and shows a rather bleak future where profit is more important than human life. When Ripley is interrogated, the group of executives sitting there shows no concern about the loss of the crew and focuses on how they lost their expensive space freighter and its payload. Carter Burke is the ultimate corporate tool and I was cheering when an Alien showed him real ‘penetration.’ Most sequels nowadays try to repeat the success of the first film by offering more of the same but Cameron does a complete stylistic 180 for “Aliens” that builds on Scott’s minimalist approach and thereby creating one of the greatest science fiction action films of all time.

Sigourney Weaver is the only returning cast member and while she played a secondary role in the original, here we see her face her fears and kicking all kinds of Alien ass. Due to the more action-oriented tone, she nicknamed her character ‘Rambolina.’ Weaver feels more comfortable this time around and achieves an effective balance between Ripley’s maternal instincts with Newt and her motivation to prove that she’s as capable as any man. She was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, which is a rarity considering that the action and science fiction genres are always ignored. The rest of the cast includes Michael Biehn as the level-headed Corporal Hicks and Bill Paxton as Private Hudson, who provides some small comic relief with his macho-man talk but when things get rough, he starts whining. Carrie Henn’s only film role has been Newt and while her screaming gets a little grating, she has some cute scenes. Lance Henriksen plays fan-favorite Bishop and Paul Reiser is slimeball Carter Burke, who does an amazing job of making us dislike him.

“Aliens” arrives on Blu-Ray as part of the “Alien Anthology” package and includes both the theatrical and longer special edition. Cameron initially has us all worried when he said he de-noised it and removed all the film grain and while some scenes take on a waxy appearance, it’s extremely rare and hard to notice. The video is perfect and can serve as demo material while the audio is a joy to listen from the distinctive pinging on the motion trackers to pulse rifles going off, blasting Aliens to screeching body parts. James Horner’s score blares with urgency during the action sequences.

Released on July 18, 1986, “Aliens” holds the rare distinction of being more critically acclaimed than its predecessor, with a whopping 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film didn’t disappoint at the box office either with $131 million against an $18 million production budget and in addition, received plenty of accolades at the Academy Awards. The original “Alien” was a very small film but Cameron’s sequel is when the franchise really started to come into its own and earned a legion of devoted fans. Nowadays, you don’t make this distinction with sequels but I can say with utmost confidence that “Aliens” is a science fiction/action masterpiece!

Final Rating: 5 out of 5

"Get away from her, you BITCH!"