My First Encounter With Aliens
My first memory of Aliens is from childhood. Friends of the family were staying with us and the oldest of the kids suggested we rent the movie for a night's entertainment. I was not brave enough and declined to watch. I did happen to "see" one scene and that was too much for my young eyes. Now, years later I am quite happy to have overcome my fears.
Acid for Blood and Brains Too! Aliens does quite well as a follow up to Alien. Unlike many sequels that try to rehash the original's novelty, Aliens successfully charts out new territory. Instead of the lone alien, we now have a colony and the combat-untrained commercial crew is replaced by highly-trained space-marines. The outcome of this new setting offers the audience more than the first film by itself, as a good sequel should.
Aliens expands on what we know of the species. The first film establishes the life cycle and toughness of the creature while the sequel shows us it is intelligent as well. This point comes across better in the director's cut of Aliens where, for example, the creatures attempt to reach their prey via some of the corridors before discovering an alternate route. The theatrical release skips the aliens' failed approach through the corridors.
New Motivation
The original Alien had the qualities of a horror movie applied in an original context. The lone killer is following its survival instincts to feed itself. Aliens expands on the theme of alien survival. They need hosts for their young which drives them to attack the humans. Regardless of the aliens' motivation, Aliens reintroduces the species created in the first film giving the audience something familiar and tangible to keep in mind. However, Aliens also offers a new setting, a new story and new characters making a movie that can stand on its own without entirely relying on the original.
... Hear Me Roar
The strongest, or rather toughest characters in Aliens are the women. This may have been incidental as Ripley was originally written as a male character in Alien. Deliberate or not, the characters best suited for survival in Aliens are female. During the initial encounter with the creatures, the inexperience of Gorman (William Hope), the commanding male officer, is exposed as the platoon's greatest weakness. He freezes in disbelief and the group is slaughtered. Afterwards, Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn)) is left in command. He reluctantly accepts his position taking cues from Ripley, Sigourney Weaver's character. The other surviving male marine is Hudson (Bill Paxton) who is reduced from a cocky veteran to a cowering child after the first battle. Meanwhile Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), a female marine, keeps mentally cool.
In the course of events, Newt (Carrie Henn), a young girl colonist is discovered as the sole survivor of the human colony the marines were sent to save. Her apparent trials with the aliens has forced her to grow up quickly and she never panics.
Finally, we have the queen alien, also female. She commands her minions and is mother to all the aliens. Ripley's final showdown is against the queen who proves to be a formidable and intelligent (she learns to use the elevator) foe.
Closing Aliens takes the basic slasher qualities of Alien and turns them into an action flick. The atmosphere of Aliens borrows some elements from the original in its industrial feel but overall it is a movie of its own and quite different from the first. Film analysis aside, Aliens is simply a good action movie. A wide range of characters, suspenseful sequences and some remarkable visuals combine to produce a solid film worth owning.
Ripley Sigourney Weaver the sole survivor from the original ALIEN is awakened after 57 years of drifting through space her stories disbelieved by Comp...More at Family Video
The survivor of the 1979 "Alien" returns to planet LB 426 with Marines sent to check her horror story. Directed by James Cameron.More at HotMovieSale.com
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