Aliens (1986 movie)

Film poster for Aliens

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction horror movie starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton and Paul Reiser. It is a sequel to the 1979 Alien.

Overview

Directed by James Cameron from a story written by him, David Giler and Walter Hill, the film is more a high-paced, action adventure than the tense sci-fi horror of the first film. It was tremedously successful, following Cameron's The Terminator in helping to establish him as a major action director. The film, like its predecessor, was shot in England on a budget of only about $18 million. The production was somewhat problematic, marred by several disputes between Cameron and the film crew, which eventually led to an all-out strike late in the production.

Plot

In this film, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the only human survivor of Alien, is rescued from space after 57 years in hypersleep. She learns that a colony has been founded on LV-426, where she first encountered the alien. When contact with the colony is lost Ripley (now a Lieutenant) is drafted to assist a squad of gung-ho Colonial Marines to investigate. They travel aboard the vessel Sulaco (like the The Nostromo, a nod to Joseph Conrad)

The marines and Lieutenant Ripley find themselves trapped in the seemingly deserted colony while armies of aliens come after them. The story adds much to the overall mythos of the series, including Cameron's introduction of an "alien queen" to the creatures' life cycle, and introduces the character of the android Bishop, the only character except Ripley to appear in more than one movie in the series (not counting Ripley's cat, Jones).

Analysis

It has been pointed out by some critics that Aliens works as an allegory of the Vietnam War, in that an overly confident military finds itself in a quagmire battling an unseen opponent they cannot comprehend. Sigourney Weaver, who holds strong views on gun control, has stated that she was deeply uncomfortable with the amount of gun violence in the movie, and that Ripley would be required to strap on heavy artillery herself. But she admitted she ended up enjoying the role, and that the gunplay held a seductive appeal.

The film added an additional level of depth to Ripley's character by establishing a daughter who grew old and died while Ripley was lost in space. Thus, when Ripley discovers the little girl, Newt (Carrie Henn), hiding in the ruins of the colony, Newt becomes a surrogate daughter for Ripley, allowing Ripley to overcome her feelings of guilt and achieve closure.

Accolades

Was nominated for seven Academy Awards and ended up winning two (Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects). Sigourney Weaver recieved her first Academy Award nomination for this film. Another actor whose career benefited from Aliens was Bill Paxton; he plays the cowardly grunt Hudson who, later, defiantly battles to the death when swarmed by the aliens.

Versions

Aliens’ theatrical running time was 137 minutes. Later, Cameron cut together a 154 minute version that, among other things, expands upon the daughter subplot and includes scenes of the colony before the alien infestation. This was first released on laserdisc and VHS in 1992. Both versions of the film were released together for the first time in the 2003 Alien Quadrilogy DVD box set.

Sequels

This film was followed in 1992 by the ill-received Alien 3 and in 1997 by Alien: Resurrection.

Cast

• Sigourney Weaver - Lieutenant Ripley
• Michael Biehn - Corporal Hicks
• Paul Reiser - Carter J. Burke
• Lance Henriksen - Bishop
• Carrie Henn - Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden
• Bill Paxton - Private W. Hudson
• William Hope - Lieutenant Gorman
• Jenette Goldstein - Private J. Vasquez
• Al Matthew - Seargant. Apone
• Mark Rolston - Private M. Drake
• Colette Hiller - Corporal Ferro
• Daniel Kash - Private D. Spunkmeyer
• Cynthia Dale Scott - Corporal Dietrich
• Ricco Ross - Private R. Frost
• Tip Tipping - Private T. Crowe
• Trevor Steedman - Private T. Wierzbowski
• Paul Maxwell - Van Leuwen

Crew

• James Cameron - Director and Screenwriter

• Gale Anne Hurd - Producer
• David Giler - Executive Producer
• Walter Hill - Executive Producer
• Gordon Carroll - Exectutive Producer

• Adrian Biddle - Cinematographer (replaced Dick Bush)
• Ray Lovejoy - Editor
• Stan Winston - Creature SFX
• James Horner - Composer

External link

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about Aliens (1986 movie).

• Aliens (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/) at the Internet Movie Database

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