THE Greatest Action Movie Ever

Rating: 10/10 (30 May 2006)

I have lost count to the amount of times i have watched this movie. And even after each session...i find myself overblown by the experience of it. Make no mistake, this is the sequel to one of the best sci-fi movies ever made,but i~t takes the alien saga in a completely different direction,this one is action oriented while the first one was more of a suspense movie. Has everyone knows or should know by now,this movie takes place exactly 56 years after the events on alien,and the formerly unknown planet is know a Wayland yutani colony. Ripley is faced with this new reality,and despite her effort to warn the people around her,there is no reason to believe her story...until they lost contact to the colony. And this is where this movie truly begins. Ripley comes back to the planet where this saga began...only this time with a group of marines. You can see that from early performances that the cast was very well selected,after all this is a James Cameron film,so it has to have quality in it. First of all Sigourney Weaver,the main character and one of her best performances ever,the viewer will love her from the start,as she can be so sweet,but ruff at the same time. Strong on the outside,and even more on the inside. Michael Biehn has also an important role. His character has the perfect balance of being a military man,but also a person with feelings and a rational side. In opposition with him we have Paul reiser has the perfect company greedy employee. Then one of my personal favourites,Bill Paxton,and i read this on a user review on this same website "He truly steals the show",and i make these my words too. Every scene with him is just phenomenal,a tough guy on the outside,but a very fragile on the inside. He gives a great dose of humour to this action film. The rest of the characters are marine tough guys, simple characters but also here with great performances. Newt is probably one of the greatest characters and most influential to the movies storyline. The way Ripley gets attached to her,and all the complicity they build throughout the movie,makes the audience sensitive,something rare or even unseen in a movie of this nature. The way a woman and a child are trapped in an hostile and alien infested environment,doesn't seem fair at times,and it keeps us holding on to the screen in a powerful way. Then there are the sets,and the overall feeling they transmit. It really seems that the movie is taking place in an alien planet,and the equipments and weapons truly look futuristic,the spaceships are well designed,and the special effects on the aliens are very well done(no cgi here!). The colony complex is very well done,and you actually believe and feel the fear and claustrofoby of the characters. One of the best movies of all time,and even today,20 years after its release,it still manages to stand up on a genre that is overflown my all kinds of good,and bad movies. If you haven't seen this one,stop reading NOW and go buy one of the special edition dvds available everywhere,or buy the complete alien quadriology DVD set. A must seen movie.