James Cameron's best movie

Rating: Null/10 (5 September 2000)

Because of all the hype over Titanic and the Terminator films, it's a shame that hardly anyone brings this movie up with James Cameron in mind. It's a very good continuation of the first film, and it's one of those rare sequels that are done by a differebt crew and is just as worthy as the film it succeeds.
A few spoilers ahead...
Aliens faithfully follows the concept that movie monsters are best seen midway (or later) through the film, even though we had already caught a glimpse of what one little soldier alien looks like at the ending of Alien. Then we finally see the queen...holy cow! What a nasty creature! It's probably the most hideous monster in movie history. The scene with Sigourney Weaver going down the elevator and loading one gun after the other until we see the doors open and reveals Ripley and her one-woman arsenal is awesome. It made us realize that a woman with a well-written role can be a tough-as-nails action hero in a non-comic book fashion. Bill Paxton is hysterical in this film, and his final few minutes in the movie are classic. And when we see our few remaining heroes in a room lit by only by a red emergency light as Hudson anxiously reads from his little radar is one of the best scenes in all of sci-fi history. The intensity of this scene soon ends and right away the film kicks into high octane and never lets up. The film is relentlessly exciting from this point on, and the excitement continues even after a brief moment in which we think the movie is about to enter a sappy ending. And when we see the bay doors open and Ripley walk forward in the giant robot is the epitome of the word awesome...and then her first line from that point puts on the exclamation point. It's a shame that this movie was followed by the awful Alien 3 and the even worse Alien: Resurrection (one of the worst movies I've ever seen). I'm still awaiting for that rumored Alien 5, in which the aliens make their way to Earth. If the idea ever turns into a production, I'll be satisfied if it's only half as good as Aliens is.