Good, but not nearly as great as Alien or Alien 3

Rating: 5/10 (29 September 2016)

Aliens has been officially called one of the very few sequels to be deemed better than the original by critics. Sue me, but I liked the original Alien movie and Alien 3 a lot better.
Don't get me wrong, I really liked Aliens, it's a good movie... but it somehow lacked the tense atmosphere and isolation of ALIEN and ALIEN 3. Aliens is The Terminator of the Alien franchise- directed by no one else but Terminator's own James Cameron - and it is definitely more action-oriented. That is not necessarily bad, and I can understand why some people might prefer this, I however didn't.
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) reprises her role with equal brilliance as in Alien, and there is no doubt, without her there wouldn't have been a Terminator 2's Sarah Connor and probably no Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Xena Warrior Princess. Ripley is a genuine action hero and a role model for female heroines.
Apart from the stereotypical marines, performances are quite good, first and foremost Lance Henrickson and also Michael Biehn.
The 1990 special edition (director's cut) offers more depth to the characters, but at a run time of almost 3 hours is a bit long, the theatrical version is paced just perfectly.
The aliens are more numerous and serve as cannon fodder rather than posing a serious threat at times. Some of the prolonged action scenes in the DC are tedious and I can understand why they didn't make it into the theatrical cut. I prefer the isolation and near powerlessness of Alien and Alien 3 to the more action- and SFX- oriented Aliens.
Aliens' outstanding visual and sound effects won Academy Awards. Unlike many other movies, these Oscars are well deserved. The aliens look outstanding and far better than some of today's CGI BS. Like Terminator 2, Aliens was a landmark for SFX.