One of the best sci-fi horror films ever!

Rating: Null/10 (6 October 2002)

As a teenager, this was easily my favorite movie, I think I've seen this film around 30 times during those years. I'll never forget the first time I saw Aliens, I was a kid and it was on really late on HBO. I was instantly hooked with the characters, story and the thrills...when a movie would give me nightmares for several nights in a row, I knew, even back then that the filmakers did something right.
This was when James Cameron used to make great movies (I'm sorry, but Titanic, though decent, isn't what I'd call a great movie), and you can tell his passion for his writing and directing. Few movies have used such genious in character development...we get to know the rag-tag group of marines prior to their landing on the alien planet in the best type of way, through sarcastic remarks and immortal one-liners (trust me, this film has a ton of them). Also, few movies make you feel such a pang of loss when one of them falls prey to the marauding alien menace. Basically, almost every character reaches an epiphany and changes at the end...it is a story about bravery and courage, primarily, and sci-fi/horror secondarily. I have to tip my hat off to Cameron, he made a roller coaster of a movie with heart and substance, a rarity these days.
The movie picks up right after the first one, and has Ripley sent with a bunch of space marines to LV-427, the planet where her crew from the first film touched down and made contact with the Alien. This movie is much better than the first one b\c it effectively utilizes the best elements from the first one (namely, pop out scares and atmosphere...those are about the only reasons when Alien is at the least, a decent movie) and combines it with wonderful story-telling, good special effects, likeable characters who are realistic and heart pounding on the edge of your seat thrills.
After watching it about a year ago on the special edition (that is a must have for any fan, 17 minutes of deleted scenes restored!) I must admit that I had a slightly different look at it. The alien special effects, though really good, especially for the time, are pretty embarrassing looking at times (there is the same stock footage of the same alien blowing up in an explosion of acid during the marines' initial raid of the hive used several times in a matter of minutes, and the part when the aliens are jumping from the ceiling looks really unrealistic), but it doesn't detract from the movie. James Cameron creates over half of the film's suspense from the thought of the aliens lurking off screen, and not their actual on-screen presence, which to me is pure genius. I can kind of see why, though wish they hadn't, cut the scene with the centry guns from the original movie, since it shows these four automated cannons mowing down scores of aliens, it does, in a way lessen the effect of the fear of unknown as opposed to what can be seen. Cameron uses marine technology (the shoulder mounted vid-cams linked to the troop transport and of course the motion sensors) as tools for suspense. It is very effective, especially with Hudson's voice cracking, "Five meters, man...four...".
Speaking of which, the film has so many memorable one liners, and I won't go into all of them: "I say we waste him, no offense." "Fire in short controlled bursts." and of course, "Let's rock!" Perfect fuel to burn the fires for any adolescent teenager.
What a stellar cast, too. Lance Hendrickson, Bill Paxton, Sigourney Weaver all give wonderful and believable performances, but the actor that stands out the most is the very talented and incredibly underappreciated, Michael Biehn. His portrayal of Corporal Hicks, as a calm and collected, brave, but slightly terrified and underexperienced marine is one of the most believable performances I have ever seen. I wanted to kill the filmmakers of the third Alien movie for offing his character in the first few minutes of the film, which totally ruins the happy ending in Aliens, and kills off the best character in the four movies combined. It's amazing that Michael Biehn never became a superstar especially with his work with Cameron on three occasions (Terminator 1, Aliens, The Abyss), but anyway, like I said, his performance truly shines. Bill Paxton does a pretty good job too, given the material he had as a totally unstable short-time marine, and I loved the transformation of his character at the end.
There are a few flaws which have bothered me for years, which is the only reason I cannot give this movie a 10. *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* First, how did the alien queen get on board the drop ship without anyone noticing (that landing gear opening was waaayyy to small for her to squeeze through), secondly, the guns are supposed to have 50 rounds each left over from the APC reckage, but they fire hundreds if not thousands of bullets at the aliens, also, for 'caseless' bullets, there sure are a lot of spent casings spewing about, and lastly, 60-70 families seems like an unrealistic number for 157 or so colonists...and the list goes on, but these are nit-picky things, and WILL NOT detract from anyone's fun from the movie, these are just minor complaints from a major fan of the series. SPECIAL NOTICE: This is the funniest goof-up I have ever seen...if you slo-mo the scene where the upper half of Bishop reaches out and grabs Newt's hand as she is nearly sucked out of the ship by the void outside, you can see the hole in the floor where Lance Hendrickson's body/waist is sticking out since he has to literally stand up to grab her, and you also see the obvious 'intestinal bib' that he wears. This 'goof-up' is hilarious and is worth a look for a good laugh. ***END OF SPOILERS***
All in all, a kick ass action flick that has scares, good sci-fi and an excellent story/characters. Everyone should check this one out, it will definitely keep you entertained on a friday night. One of my personal favorites. 9/10.