This and the original make the best 1-2 punch in sci-fi films.

Rating: 10/10 (24 September 2002)

James Cameron cemented his reputation as a bravura filmmaker with this, only his third directorial effort (following PIRANHA II and THE TERMINATOR). He and producing partner Gail Anne Hurd took what's usually a crap assignment -- making a sequel to an established hit -- and extrapolated the original's main characters and themes brilliantly. Despite a tight budget, given the requirements of the action and effects, they delivered what must have been quite a surprise to the studio: a film that in many ways surpassed its predecessor in sheer entertainment value.
In 1986, as a loyal member of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, I attended a 20th Century Fox pre-release slide presentation for ALIENS, at which the publicist summed up his take on their upcoming film thusly: "You have no idea!" And he was right. All of us sci-fi fans who were there were just hoping for a decent sequel; something that wasn't too stupid and insulting to its transcendent source material. Little did we know.
Not too many months later, I managed also to be at the Avco Cinema in Westwood for the opening night of ALIENS. In the same audience with me were none other than Cameron, Hurd, and studio exec Scott Rudin, there presumably to observe the unspooling of their film with a real, not recruited, audience.
I often think back to that evening, probably the best movie debut I've ever experienced. Because the crowd went nuts, me along with them. From the opening shot, you could sense that these filmmakers "got it"; that Cameron really, truly, totally, completely knew what he was doing. And you should've heard the hollering and whistling when Ripley finally faces the Alien Queen, strapped into her Power Loader suit, snarling her trademark line with perfect fearless rage: "Get away from her, you BITCH!" I'm telling you, it doesn't get any better than that. And I bet Jim Cameron really felt like King of the World at that precise moment.