All-time classic; one of the greatest films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2015)

What more can be said that hasn't been said before about one of the greatest movies of our time? One of Jim Cameron's top three films, this is by far the best of the ALIEN saga, an endlessly rewatchable piece of classic action cinema which can best be described as "Vietnam in space". The alien is back and has multiplied, so now we have the now-classic action premise of "group of marines vs. invincible enemy".
From start to finish this is perfectly made entertainment with every frame minutely conceived to be the best. The music is eerily gripping and there are dozens of one-liners to be had from Bill Paxton, excelling in his first big role as the comic relief. The horror and gore quotient hasn't been reduced at all, this is definitely not a film for the kids. But oodles of gripping suspense and guns-blazing action violence is the main thing this sequel offers and it still remains one of the best action classics of our time. Even now, when some of the special effects are starting to look a little ropey (most remain fantastic, however, especially the Queen) and when you begin to realise there are no more than six aliens on screen at one time, this is still pulse-pounding entertainment, packed with horror, suspense, tension and plenty of thrills.
The cast is efficient, an ensemble outfit that pays off nicely. Sigourney Weaver puts in her best performance in her best role that she can never hope to better success-wise. Michael Biehn is the hard-but-human soldier who befriends her, Lance Henriksen has his mainstream breakthrough role as the likable android Bishop. Paul Reiser's Burke is one of the greatest portrayals of corporate evil I've seen, a fantastic show of strength, corruption, evil and cowardice from Reiser. The rest of the marines are great and, most importantly, believable and likable. The action never lets up and the extended version has to be seen to get the full story. Although it runs for two and a half hours this is a film that never runs out of steam; instead it will just age gracefully like the finest wines, sitting in its place in history as a classic of the '80s.