Rating: 
Summary: The Talented Mrs. Ripley
Review: Aliens is probably the coolest, most exciting action film ever. The tension builds and explodes in total feverish madness. The action sequences are adrenaline-pumping and very VERY well-done.They really assembled quite a cast here. These characters are so cool, you could watch them forever. Hudson, Bishop, Hicks, Drake, Vasquez, Apone, Newt and even Gorman. And let's not forget the fabulous Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, who gives a blistering performance here. Anyway, enough reviewers have given the proper praise to this amazing film, so I'm not even gonna bother trying. I'm just here to give my 5-stars, and shut the hell up. I love this damn movie.
Rating:
Summary: Anyone Hear About The Quadrilogy?
Review: This 9 DVD box set will feature Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 (yuck) and Alien Resurrection (yuck) with two discs for special and theatrical edition releases of each film. Aliens Special Edition will always be the greatest version of Aliens, and one of the greatest sci-fi films I've ever seen. BUT, that won't stop me from trying to buy The Alien Quadrilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Best of series and one of the best Sci-Fi / Thillers ever.
Review: Aliens still stands, almost 20 years after it's original release, as the gold standard against which other Sci-Fi/Horror/Thillers are judged. Just about everything in this movie is perfect. James Cameron's screenplay is an awesome extension and expansion of the Aliens' and Ripley's story- recounting the all savageness and terrifying qualities of the aliens without re-treading old material and even adding a few new twists that make them even scarier than they already were. Not the least of which is having many, many more of them. The acting and directing are excellent. Unlike most Horror/Thrillers, each of the characters (with a couple of minor exceptions) is unique and memorable, and even though they do rely a little heavily on some clichéd stereotypes, they play the stereotypes so well we love them anyway. When we lose any of them, and not to spoil the plot or anything but we do lose quite a few, the impact is clearly felt. We like these guys and we want them to win. The opening is good, explaining what happened before and how it has affected Ripley, and setting up a believable reason why she would ever consider going back. Once things get going- and boy, do they get going- we know it's going to be, as one character puts it, "an express elevator to hell- going down!" I mean that in a good way- this is one smooth, scary, fun ride.
Some of the action scenes are chaotic- which is of course as it should be when you are trying to depict a fierce battle or a life-and-death struggle. In the heat of combat the characters can't see or know exactly what's going on and that's part of what makes the situation so frightening. By accurately showing the disorienting nature of these action sequences, Cameron makes us feel just as terrified as the characters in the movie are, and yet he never makes things so confusing that we are completely lost. You always can tell generally what's happening, and usually, what's happening is bad. In between the action scenes there are lots of good "atmosphere" scenes which serve to both further explain the story, flesh out the characters, and heighten the overall tension and sense of fear. Anyone who says that the production values are less than excellent hasn't seen the movie or doesn't know what they are talking about. The sets are huge, extremely detailed, and have that rare but important "well-worn" look. Nothing in the movie looks like fake or like a prop- it all looks real and like it's been used- just like it would in real life. Too often in sci-fi the set designers seem to think that in the future, nothing ever gets dirty or that every ship and remote outpost will have The Galaxy's Best Maid Service - everything looks new and perfectly clean. In Aliens, things look appropriately modern but they are also messy- In a word, everything looks very realistic. I think the budget for the movie was about $20M, which in 1986 was not low, but it looks like they spent twice that much. A note about the Aliens- the original movie introduced without question the scariest and deadliest movie monster ever created. It's been copied and imitated but it would be hard to imagine making one better. James Cameron succeeded - twice. First, the one flaw in the original is that we didn't get to see much of it and when we did, it was fairly obvious that it was a guy in a suit. I mean, it was a scary-looking alien suit, but it still looked, and moved, like a guy in an alien suit. Now, in this sequel, Cameron specifically set out to make the aliens look MORE "alien." To do that he did a number of things, including adding some detail to the overall creature design, but most importantly he changed the way they move- instead of walking upright on the ground all the time, these aliens crawl, jump, slither and swim- on the walls, on the ceiling, and on the floor, and, except when they are camouflaged and waiting in ambush, they are always moving. Their tails thrash about behind them and over their heads, and they contort into un-natural positions. In some cases, it's still guys (actually girls, I think, because they had to be very thin and flexible) in suits, in other cases, it may be animatronics, in every case, they look like freaking monsters. Sometimes, you see them move in the shadows and you can't quite tell which end is up- that is on purpose and it's effect is to make them look more like aliens/bugs and less like us. That, in turn, makes them even scarier. On top of all that, Cameron gives us a completely new form of alien that was alluded to in the past but now is seen it all it's glory- and without giving away details to the three people who haven't yet seen this movie- well, let's just say she's a real bad-ass. This DVD contains some extra scenes which have been re-inserted into the film- some of them are interesting and add a little extra back story about Ripley and life on the colony before it gets overrun, including a nice piece that explains how that happens. Some other scenes later in the movie I could do without- they add a little extra action but they're not that interesting. Some of the other extras include some behind-the-scenes stuff about how they designed the creature effects and how they shot certain scenes- kind of cool if you are a film student or die-hard fan of the franchise. If you liked the original, or if you have any interest in sci-fi, action, or horror flicks, this DVD is already in your collection or it ought to be.
Rating:
Summary: Ripley's back with a vengence
Review: "Aliens" is the sequel to the smash hit science-fiction movie "Alien". Sigourney Weaver reprises her role as Officer Ripley. There are some differences. Now, she's Lt. Ripley, and she's now playing a determined marine soldier. Her acting is amazing throughout the movie, especially the bonding with the young girl, Newt and the emotional aftermath from the horrifying experience in The Nostromo. Such level of acting deserving earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. All the other actors were also wonderful: Michael Beign, Paul Reiser, Lance Henrickson, and many more. Besides Sigourney Weaver's amazing feats, James Cameron's directing is amazing. He led the entire cast and crew to their fullest potentials in creating his creative and original ideas. Every detail is flawless. He proves on "Aliens" that he is the master directing and producing science-fiction and extravegent movies. The visual effects and the sound effects are amazing! Every physical detail looks as real as if the audience was standing next to Ripley. No one can notice any of the computer editions. The sound effect technicians deserving won an Oscar for their efforts. The aliens and the eggs look very scary in credit of the great make-up team. The queen alien is the most amazing. Such elaborate settings give pride to the science-fiction genre. The plot was written wonderfully. Few writers can master continuing the flow between one movie to its sequel. Every line contains heave substance, keeping the audience's eyes wide open anxiously awaiting for the next scene. The twists and turns between dramatic scenes and action scenes offer added watching pleasure. There is no dull moment. There are many unforgettable quotes that the audience may continue repeating for days after watching the movie. One example is, "get away from her, you b****!" exclaims Ripley. "Aliens" is one of the best movie sequels released in movie history. Few others succeed this feat. It offers added action versus the original. Those who love action movies and/or science-fiction movies should watch "Aliens". However, "Alien"(the original) must be watched before this installment. Otherwise, all events will be confusing. It offers insight of how Ripley became haunted by the aliens. The two movies, plus "Alien 3" and "Alien: Resurrection" offers the audience an explosive experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a worthy sequel to the original Alien
Review: ALIENS is a movie that doesn't put enough faith in its story and relies too heavily on cliched characters, absurd one-liners and sappy sentimentality to be a truly great sequel. Like the more recent and equally flawed Armageddon, we Earthlings must put our future in the hands of band of misfit fools (this time they're Marines, unfortunately) who are so juvenile and unprofessional they should be a disgrace to anyone wearing a uniform. Unlike the original and wonderful ALIEN, where the characters at least advanced the story, ALIENS introduces us to a cast of typical Hollywood-crafted stereotypes. For example, we see a hotheaded, bandana-wearing Hispanic tough girl; a cigar-chomping African American drill sergeant; and a cowardly wise-cracking village idiot who actually yells at one point: "We're all gonna die, man!" (Bill Paxton should erase this gig from his resume). There are so many bad lines in this movie, I found myself shaking my head when I should have been frightened. Having said all that, the movie isn't all that bad, especially compared to the two later sequels. Weaver's performance as Ripley is excellent and the writers manage somehow to remain true to her character by giving her interesting things to say. That, along with the special effects, nice editing and intriguing story line, make ALIENS a decent popcorn movie despite all its weaknesses. If you're the type of person who loves action movies simply for the action, flying bullets and cool special effects, I suspect you'll love ALIENS. But if you're looking for a thought-provoking, serious science fiction film more in line with the original ALIEN, I think you'll be disappointed with this effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthy sequel
Review: One of the halmarks of the Alien franchise is the use of talented, upstart new director - in this case, James Cameron - who scripted this film right after the success of 'The Terminator'. Whereas 'Alien' was an exercise in the horror of isolation of space, 'Aliens' takes a turn into an action-war film. Remembering that 1986 was also the year of 'Platoon' and 'Full Metal Jacket', it is no suprise that Cameron chose to insert plot lines that paralleled the Viet Nam experience (i.e., a technologically superior race ultimately gets in over its head against a much more primitive enemy). With an excellent ensemble (Bill Paxton, Lance Hendrickson) that actually matched the original, the sequel actually worked well. What merits particular attention with this DVD is the inclusion of significant deleted scenes, which were left on the cutting-room floor because of time constraints (the movie was already pushing 2 1/2 hours). The most important is a scene where Newt's family ventures out to the alien spaceship for a nasty surprise.
Rating: 
Summary: Dumb but engaging rollercoaster ride
Review: An enjoyable if lamentable betrayal of a lovely idea: Scott pitted a crew of boorish and clueless, inadequately armed mining engineers against a magnificently original monster. Cameron goes for the bogstandard action movie, pitting a stereotyped bunch of special forces grunts with very big guns and flamethrowers against an army of said creatures whose characteristics are here developed in the desperately cliched direction of the large and destructive carniverous social insect. Oh and naturally there's a cute little girl thrown in for everyone to rescue. As bogstandard and derivative action flicks go, this is really very entertaining and nicely paced, but bogstandard and derivative it remains: a woefully disappointing sequel and far less original and intelligent than either 1 or 3.
Rating:
Summary: It is my favorite science fiction/ horror film
Review: Actually, this almost created a new genre; the sci-fi/horror/action-adventure that was later copied, in my eyes, by Paul Verhoven in Starship Troopers. That wasn't quite as scary, but it still had the elements to make it a sci-fi, the elements to make it a horror film, and of course, the elements to make it an action-adventure film. Need I say more? Aliens started that kind of picture and nothing has yet come close to even equaling the masterful direction and writing (by James Cameron), the masterful acting (lets go down the list and commend Academy Award Nominee, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, portraying the child who Ripley takes in as a daughter and tries to protect throughout most of the film, even, Paul Reiser for playing the most sleazy and back-stabbing man in space, Michael Biehn for being the very reserved hero, and even, Bill Paxton as the funny, sometimes annoying character, Hudson), and lets not forget the masters behind all the technical wizardry. Stan Winston and his wonderful puppets and makeup, and Alien suits comes to mind. You have to see this movie to understand how great, how intense and how new a film it really is.
Rating:
Summary: Is there really anyone who didn't love this movie?
Review: This is a brilliant film by James Cameron, who seems to have a natural talent for making some of the humans worse than the Aliens. If you haven't seen it, there's even one scene in which you find yourself rooting for the Aliens themselves, and you die hard fans know what I'm talking about. I hate the term timeless but this movie really is, and were it not for the antiquated computer screens you see all over the place, everyone and their grandmother would have a hard time telling when this film was made. The cinematography is top notch, the script is outstanding, the characters are so real you think you know them, and the emotional adrenaline refues, in most places, to let you get up and pee. You're like "Yeah, Yeah, Get em!" and "Don't take no crap!" and "Oh, my dear sweet God--No!" Though the whole movie. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Like no other
Review: Aliens is one of my favorite films ever and has to be among the greatest movies ever made. It's a film that I want to see again and again, because it provides a thrilling plot with terrific storytelling. When I first saw Aliens I was scared out of my wits, had nightmares for two weeks, and swore I would never see it again. But I did see it again, and things changed. It's a freaky, suspenseful flick the first time around, after that it's just enjoyable. Aliens is the sequel to Alien, which was an OK film, but not as good as its sequel. After Aliens came two horrindous follow ups that were crappy and not thought through very well. So I have to say this is the best Aliens film out there and I don't recommend the others, except maybe the first. Aliens takes place 50+ years after Ripley's run in with the first of what turns out to be many Aliens. She learns that the world in which the alien she had encountered came from has been colonized by colonists. One thing leads to another, and Ripley finds herself on another mission this time accompanied by marines. Well as you can imagine, all hell will break loose. Ripley's character is unbelievabley real. I think Sigourney Weaver will forever be tight casted for these kind of dark roles, even though I believe she is a better actress than what most think. But she envelopes the character Ripley so well, it's the perfect role for her. Ripley is the female version of John Wayne: no nonsense, do it herself, take charge kind of person. Other female leads have attempted to do this as well in other movies, but mostly aren't as successful due to the unrealness of their characters. But Ripley's female "machoism" works because it's believable, and that's because she's a great actress. You have other characters like Bien who plays Hicks, one of the few marines that get along with Ripley. There's Burke, played by comedian Paul Reiser, who is this sleezy pencil pusher out to make a buck on everyone's demise. And Hudson, played by Bill Paxton, a whiner who uses the "F" word in almost every sentence. A great mix of characters who all bring conflict to both the plot and each other. But besides the characters and plot and suspense, that isn't necessarily what makes Aliens so great. What makes it great is that it's a pioneer of a film. And I don't mean special effects. Science fiction combined with horror has had dismal performances in the past, present, and probably future. But Aliens is a success because it combines these two genres into one movie and creates realistic, and comprehensible events within this unrealistic storyline. In other words, it makes the unreal suddenly real to us all. This is the mark of a truely good movie, especially if it is sci-fi or horror. This is accomplished by good acting as well as great directing. It is also accomplished when the intensity of the plot never fades, it keeps you on your toes, and this is done by giving multiple problems for the characters of the films to solve. And this film is a problem solver film 101:
problem 1: find the aliens.
problem 2: find a way to kill the aliens
problem 3: find a way to survive from the aliens
problem 4: find a way to escape from the aliens Boom, boom, boom, boom. One problem to hurdle right after another. Great storytelling, with believable characters, with the aid of intensity through compelling problems. Most horror films lack at least one of these. Aliens does not. The only thing I recommend to beware of is the excessive cussing in this film. In some cases I find it over used and unnecessary. But that's Hollywood for you. The violence isn't so bad, despite what you may have heard. I don't think you'll be disappointed in this film, at least after the second time around. It's a film that will amaze you, terrify you, and entertain you like no other. Grade: A
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