1986’s “Aliens”, written and directed by James Cameron.
Starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Lance
Henrikson, Janette Goldstein, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, William Hope, Al Matthews,
Mark Rolston, and Ricco Ross.
Winner for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing (Don
Sharpe) and Best Visual Effects (Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson,
Suzanne M. Benson).
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress (Sigourney
Weaver), Best Art Direction (Peter Lamont and Crispian Sallis), Best Sound
(Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier, Michael A. Carter, Roy Charman),
Best Film Editing (Ray Lovejoy), and Best Original Score (James Horner).
What is it about?
In the original “Alien”,
we were introduced to Weaver’s character, Ellen Ripley, whom while on a space
exploration/mining mission to the moon LV-426 came into contact with a horrific
alien Xenomorph. With the help of a coldly efficient and corporate values
aligned android, the alien killed the rest of the crew, before Ripley defeated
it and set her escape pod on a crash course back to earth.
In this sequel, we pick up 57 years later, where Ripley’s
ship is recovered. Freshly woken from cryosleep, she gets a crash course about
how things have changed in her absence. Her daughter has since passed away, and
the company is looking for answers after Ripley blew up the ship Nostromo and
it’s cargo, in an effort to kill the horrific alien. Ripley finds herself under
investigation for her actions, while suffering nightmares from her experiences. The company
then learns that after terraforming LV-426, that the colonists living there
have gone missing. With some trepidation, Ripley teams up with a group of
marines to go and find the colonists. When they arrive, nothing happens. And then…
everything happens. In an alien environment, surrounded by hostile inhabitants,
will Ripley be able to avoid history repeating itself?
Why is it worth seeing?
As written in the “Alien” review, I say that the Alien
franchise (at least the first 4) is one of the more interesting, because of the
unique views that the individual directors bring. Here, James Cameron creates
what is (by some) regarded as one of the best sequels of all time. Cameron
reintroduces us to the universe that Ridley Scott created, an organic and
artistic hive of etched and carved biomass, full of hissing and disgusting
creatures, and drops a group of bad ass marines in the middle of it all. In the
middle of the melee, Cameron expands the story to include themes of maternal
protection.
It’s not a stretch to say that “Aliens” is one of my
favourite movies of all time. It’s story is science fiction action packed (a
Cameron staple), but also tinged
with plenty of horror, for it’s acid blooded antagonists and their disregard
for human cavities as anything other than vessels for further propagation. Even
better, Cameron takes his time in getting there, and first time watchers will
be tempted to comment that the movie is too slow- before the roller coaster
starts. You’re either averting your eyes from the alien’s disgusting biology or
clutching onto your arm rest from adrenaline fatigue: the ultimate kind of sci
fi action/horror hybrid.
Inspired by the technologically superior but environmentally
overwhelmed situations that came from the Vietnam war, Cameron also brought
something else: combat intensity. “Aliens” pulls no punches, and Cameron employs every
trick known to man in stretching his $18 million budget to make it look 2-10
times that. It’s high tech toys nicely contrast with the biomechanical artistry
of the environment the soldiers face.
But what keeps me coming back is a couple of other factors. For starters, the
gang of marines that Ripley ends up going back to the planet with, at first
merely seem like stock background characters, a bunch of grunts who take
orders, shooting first and asking questions later. But upon reflection, with
the limited amount of time granted to them, they are great character depictions.
From the green lieutenant who has no experience, to the team leader who has every
great military cliché memorized (my second favourite military portrayal next to
R. Lee Ermey in “Full Metal Jacket”), to the heavy gunners who are heavy on
fast twitch muscles, to the pilot who effortlessly flies and does little else, to
the sarcastic private who hates his job, to the loud mouth a-hole who’s all
talk until the shit gets real, to the intelligent next in command who
reluctantly takes duty when there’s no one left, to the second toughest person (next
to Ripley) in the group- who makes no bones about being a woman. They are joined
by a less sinister android (an improvement on the last movie’s murderous
version), and by a company man “overseeing” the operation who is easily the
movie’s slimiest organism- in a movie full of burst body cavities, chicken
carcass/vagina resembling face huggers, gooey alien pods, and birth sac
explosions. Finally, the crew finds a survivor, a little girl who managed to
avoid getting captured or killed by the Aliens. Together the cast gels, and
then things get tough and all hell breaks loose, sewing the fertile seeds for
character development.
The other thing that keeps me coming back to “Aliens”, is
Weaver’s portrayal of the traumatized, but intelligent and tough as nails
Ripley. It’s one of the greatest action movie performances of all time, and it
still feels underrated despite a nomination for Best Actress that year (quick,
name another Best Actress nominee from an action/science fiction flick). Weaver
has said that she wanted to base her character as a “Rambolina” (Rambo was big
back then, and Cameron himself wrote the script for one of the sequels), but I’d
like to challenge that. When I think about her character, I can’t think of a
better combination of vulnerability combined with resourcefulness. Don’t get me
wrong, she kicks maximum ass and has the biggest and hairiest balls in the
cast, but what propels Ripley into the movie pantheon stratosphere is moments
of maternal compassion and kindness, alongside the action. Ripley goes through more
trauma than the rest of the cast, but she never loses her head in the fight for
survival, and never stops trying to protect her surrogate daughter. As the
movie progresses, Ripley goes from being mocked and ignored, to listened to and
followed by trained marines as the de facto leader. You would too, as she’ll
outsmart you before punching your lights out while clad in an exo-suit- the
ultimate form of platform shoes.
James Horner, who would feud here with the individualistic
Cameron (and was nominated for an Oscar for his efforts), and then rejoin him
to win an Oscar for “Titanic” 11 years later, here creates an unbelievable
score to accompany the creeping dread that sneaks up on the group, before
unleashing the orchestra for the marathon sprint. The score is so iconic, that
it has been used countless times in movie trailers (particularly action ones).
Making 10 times it’s budget, “Aliens” catapulted Cameron into
the master of blockbuster films echelon, inspired countless video games, and
set the stage for at least 6 more sequels. None of them would be able to bring
what Cameron does here: an action packed ode to killin’ bugs while filling old
wounds. If in space no one can hear you scream, at least they can hear you
cheering.
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