a movie that worked twice

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2010)

When I see 800+ reviews, I think "do I have anything to add here"? I haven't read every review here, but I DID want to share how my experience of this film changed over time. I will preface it by stating that I had recently purchased the wonderful 'director's cut' of the film. The theatrical release would only rate an 8 out of 10, but Cameron's re-edited version is a solid 9.
I found it interesting that when I saw Aliens in the theater, in my late teens, I loved it for a straight-forward action film. When I watched it again now, as the father of a toddler and a newborn, and with the scene of Ripley discovering her daughter had died put back in (can't believe they ever cut this crucial element), it suddenly had an incredible new depth. Ripley's discovery of Newt, and the strength of parental love, gave new meaning to everything Ripley (and the Queen alien) did. The action and humor were still there, still great, but now there was so much more....a whole movie within a movie. Anyone who poo-poos Newt as a plot device to the story is likely childless, I would guess.
One more aside...one reviewer mentioned that the QWERTY keyboards probably wouldn't be around in the future. I have to add to that all the smoking early on. Probably something taken for granted in 1986, it now seems like cigarette smoking may become extinct in a few decades....
"Maybe you're not up on current events, pal, but we just got our asses kicked!!!"