A rollercoaster that doesn't stop for a second.

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2002)

I love "Alien" (1979) - but I completely adore "Aliens". I know that "Alien" is more intelligent, that one can read all kind of freudian themes into it - that's why I love it. "Aliens" is a completely different movie, though. This is an action movie - and it's one of a kind. Not until "Speed" have I've seen a movie that kinetic, barely have I seen a movie that well directed. Cameron pulls all the right strings and pushes the action forward like no other could have done. Examples? When Ripley rescues the soldiers from the reactor building (it's not over until Hicks has calmed down Ripley), when the soldiers set down on the planet, the final attack in which Gorman and Vasquez die (an emotional scene for all its dryness) etc.
The characters will stay in your head. There's Ripley of course, soft spoken Hicks, vulgar Hudson and our lesbian powergirl Vasquez. And there's the Aliens. The concept is really simple - just multiply the monsters - but it works so great here. This is a war against an invisible, brutal enemy. Some compared it to Vietnam; well one can, but on the level, that all the soldier's (America's) firepower was no match against a well adapted enemy. But it's better not to read that much into "Aliens". It's just a dark, very well made (this cost only 18 million!) sci-fi-action-war-movie with energy for 2 films.
Rating: 10/10