My Rating: 4/5 stars
A very old movie, but still worth watching. Both “Alien” and “Aliens” do great jobs showing different people responding to a great, unknown threat with “state of the bad-ass art” action. The movies are definitely rated R.
“Aliens” (1986) is an awesome sequel to the superb futuristic, sci-fi thriller, “Alien” (1979), which is unexpected because most movie sequels are cash cows for Hollywood and signs that Hollywood has run out of original ideas. “Alien” and its sequels are essentially about “I am woman, hear me ROAR!” without the usual over-dramatic, superficial liberal elements. For example, “Aliens” gives proper respect to maternal instincts instead of replacing it with “Paris Hilton, a proud whore I am.”
In my opinion, “Alien” and “Aliens” are classic movies. Notice how the former title is singular and the ladder title is plural. The third and fourth sequels (“Alien 3" and “Alien: Resurrection,” respectively) are insipid, unoriginal cash cows. They are so bad, I pretend they do not exist. A lot ideas from past sci-fi and horror ideas were combined together with newer ideas to create “Alien” and “Aliens.” In return, “Alien” and “Aliens” inspired many future movies, stories, and video games.
In all “Alien” movies, the story revolves around the female hero, Ripley, who is well acted by actress Sigourney Weaver. The first two movies have excellent supporting actors. “Aliens” continues where “Alien” ended. “Aliens” is very similar to “Alien,” except “Aliens” further develops Ripley’s character, reveals more information about the alien, and shows how US marines deal with the alien, instead of the space explorers in “Alien.”
In “Alien,” the movie sets in the distant future where mankind has colonized many distant planets under the leadership of the United States of America. Ripley was a pilot on a space freighter. The space freighter’s crew checked out a mysterious signal from a nearby, barren planet (LV – 426). The crew finds an alien space craft.
While exploring the craft, a crew member is infected by some strange, parasitic alien. The infection grows into a little alien that eventually thrusts itself out of its host’s chest, killing the host, and running away. The little alien grows into a six-foot tall monster that is rabid, sneaky, super agile, super strong, and fast. The monster has acid blood and saliva that melts metal. Like all monsters, it likes to sneak around in dark areas; it cannot be seen with infrared vision. (I think the movie makers made a mistake in the film because the monster does not seem to have super hearing and super smelling.)
Within 24 hours, the monster kills the space freighter’s entire crew, save Ripley. To kill the monster, Ripley self-destructs the space freighter and escapes on a little spaceship. To ease the long trip home, Ripley goes into a machine for suspended-animation.
In “Aliens,” Ripley’s spaceship is luckily discovered by a deep-salvage spaceship. Ripley had been drifting in space for almost 60 years! Ripley tells people her horrific story, but no one believes her. Nobody else has ever discovered an intelligent or highly intelligent life form. Furthermore, a corporation had put a colony on planet LV–426 for over 20 years. The colony’s job is to make the planet breathable for further expansion and exploration. The colony has 60 to 70 families, and all of the colonists have reported the planet is completely barren.
Soon after, the colony sends out an emergency signal and suddenly stops contact with the outside world. Now, the corporation and US military wants to check out the colony. They convince Ripley to join the team as an adviser, just in case her story about the monster is true. The thrill begins.
>> NOTE: SPOILERS BELOW of the movie’s characters <<
RIPLEY: the main character and heroine. In “Alien” to “Alien 3,” she finds inner strength to save herself and others by resisting and escaping from the alien threat. By the fourth movie, “Alien: Resurrection,” she turns into, what soldier Hudson would describe as, the “ultimate bad ass.” She had a daughter but due to her misadventure, Ripley missed out the vast majority of the daughter’s life. The daughter naturally passed away without any children.
Ripley is smart (both book smart and street smart), perceptive, level-headed, and result-oriented. She is a team-player and has people skills. In other words, she is a natural leader. She is also a pragmatic humanitarian.
NEWT aka Rebecca: a little girl from the troubled colony on planet LV – 426; she is the only survivor of the colony after the alien’s parasitic attacks. She survives because she is smart and small enough to hide in the colony’s many shafts and tunnels. She is traumatized, but eventually regains her humanity under Ripley’s care.
CARTER BURKE: A corporate scumbag. He is solely interested in furthering his wealth, career, and fame. He works in management for a major corporation. He seems like nice guy, but behind the long, smooth talks and innocent expressions, he is deceitful and manipulative. He joins the space adventure as the corporation’s representative. Of course, he has secret motives.
He is only a team player when being so is advantageous for him; otherwise, he will sacrifice anybody for his profit. Soldier Hudson correctly describes him as a “rat-face son of a bitch” who should be wasted.
BISHOP: an android. He is extra strong with super-human reflexes and coordination. He is well-mannered and calculated. He is very intelligent in both engineering and biology (including medicine). He is also a superb pilot. He is a team player, but he has a tendency to get lost in his thoughts and studies.
LIEUTENANT GORMAN: the leader of the team of US marines. Fresh from officer school, he is book smart, but greatly lacks real-life combat experience. He is very professional to the point that he seems impersonal.
SERGEANT APONE: second in command to Lt Gorman and one of two African Americans. He is a tough, brave marine with lots of real-life experience. He follows orders with an upbeat attitude.
HICKS: third in command after St Apone. He is a natural leader very similar to Ripley, although not quite as an effective leader like Ripley. As expected, him and Ripley get along very well with each other. He is a tough, brave marine with real-life experience.
VASQUEZ: a female marine who operates one of two heavy guns. She is another tough, brave marine with experience who knows how to follow orders and stick with the team, but sometimes, her cockiness clouds her judgement. From what soldier Hudson jokes about her, it seems future America still has a problem with illegal immigration from Latin America, haha.
HUDSON: a marine who likes to clown around while acting immature and cocky, but when things get difficult, he panics and gets real scared. He is good with software and all types of hardware. With strong leadership, he is an effective soldier. He is experienced.
DRAKE: Vasquez’s best friend amongst the bunch who operates the second heavy gun. Another solid, experienced marine.
FROST: the second African American and another experienced marine. He is friendly.
FERRO: the sole pilot and a female soldier with experience. She speaks with confidence like all military pilots.
In the 1990s super-successful, real-time-strategy PC game, “Starcraft,” the game quotes her twice for so cooly stating: “We’re in the pipe, five by five,” and “Rough air ahead. We’re in for some chop.”
SPUNKMEYER: co-pilot. Not much about him.
DIETRICH: the medic. She is the third female soldier (Vasquez, Ferro, and her).
CROWE & WIERZBOWSKI: the last two marines. Not much about these two guys.
>> more SPOILERS BELOW <<
Any scene with Hudson goofing around or panicking is hilarious, like when the marine’s drop ship crashes, Ripley and Newt talks in the foreground. Hudson cries out, “That’s it man! Game over man! Game over man!.” Then Burke proposes starting a camp fire and singing songs around it.
The movie’s last scene is too unrealistic, even for a futuristic, sci-fi thriller, because the enormous alien queen escapes the planet by hiding in the second drop ship’s compartment for its landing gear. There is no way the aircraft’s landing-gear compartment had enough space to hold such a large creature.