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Summary: Aliens- They Messed With The Wrong Species
Review: I have seen the first movie, and this one takes the story and goes with it to awesome levels. If you liked "ALIEN" then you'll kill for "ALIENS." The whole movie is one big nerve racking roller coaster ride. It has tons of action and plenty of our favorite friends, the aliens. I also liked it because of Michael Biehn, who was in 1984's "The Terminator," one of my other fav dvd's, and also because this time more than one person lived to tell the story. So if you don't have this DVD, get it before someone else does.
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Summary: The Best Futuristic Military Film Ever Made
Review: The Scott film was good, especially at the end. But this one, it captures the fear and intensity of close quarters combat like nothing else. Perhaps it takes Giger's creatures to actually reach the jaded audience, but this one does it. The very premise of the beings just makes it sickeningly scary. The production and casting are still benchmarks, though some of the green screen footage of the drop ship in the reactor complex now needs to be CGI touched up. I will disagree with most of you on one point, though. The additional footage is not necessary. In fact, I think the scene with Newt's parents actually harms the narrative flow and suspense by giving too much away. The first "Director's Cut" version was the best, in my opinion.
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Summary: The best Sci-Fi/Action film EVER!!!!
Review: 'Aliens' is a great film with thrills and intense action. The srory is great and has great little twists. If you only get to watch one film from the 'Alien' series make it the second one,'Aliens'. The first is great too. The acting is graet and the special effects are awsome. The sound make the film suspensful. Sounds like the Blip,Blip,Blip of the Motion Trackers. Aliens is an awsome film wich will always be a classic.
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Summary: kick ... dvd!
Review: i was'nt sure at first to spend the momey to buy the special edition or not and it turns out i did the right thing. this is an awesome movie, and now it has 17 min of new footage that shed allot of light into many scenes that had some holes in them before. well, lets review, great new footage, wonderful picture quality, and a great movie. this movie is a non stop roller coaster and is a must for any sci-fi or thriller fan!
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Summary: The butt -kicking sequal to Alien
Review: This movie is without a dout the best movie in the Alien series. It's totally awsome. It is just dripping with action and gunfire and all that stuff. Very realistic special effects and a very cool looking Alien. Also you finally get to see just where all the eggs come from and meet the extreme mother Alien. Run out and see this movie as soon as possible. Cause' this time it really is war...
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Summary: Good but hasn't aged well.
Review: When I was seven years old, my dad took me to see Alien and I never fully recovered. And when I saw the sequel about eight years later, I thought it was even better, as many did. But trust me, this film has aged about as well as Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine" or Coca-Cola clothing. The first one is still fresh, visually stunning without resorting to the millions of visual cliches inherent in almost all of Cameron's work. The script is miserable, with multitudes of stock 80's lines like "Game over, man, game over!" Indeed. And in this version, one of the most potent devices is ruined by the added footage of Newt's family finding the mothership, that device being the great fear of the unknown, the suspense created by not knowing what happened to all of the colonists. This entire sequence belittles the impact of the soldiers discovering them all dead en masse in the aliens' nest, which was by far the most ominous scene in the film. It was the fact that you never got to see the interior of the colony itself beforehand that made it all the more suspenseful and terrifying. Others here seem to disagree, however, so just see for yourself. But if you haven't seen Alien, get it first. I'm pretty sure the new DVD version has the extra sequence where Ripley finds Dallas. That has to be one of the most disturbing sequences I have ever seen in a sci-fi film and is a prime example of how "director's cut" footage can help a film, as minimal as the addition's length was.
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Summary: Mad About Aliens!
Review: When I first saw "Aliens" on video in 1987, I did not know what to expect. From the first movie's reputation, as well as what I heard about the second one, I did know to expect a substantial amount of violence, blood, and gore. I normally tended to avoid such films due to my squeamishness. Yet, something about the visceral power of "Aliens" made me ignore the blood, disembowelments, and the obligatory exploding stomach of an alien-cocooned colonist to find a disturbingly beautiful aesthetic. As a fourteen-year-old boy watching heroic Space Marines spending the loads of pulse-rifles on the bad "xenomorphs," I did not notice the multiple layers of meaning that viewers could find within the Alien series. I missed the films’ relatively obvious allusions to Joseph Conrad in the names of the spaceships Nostromo and Sulaco. I also did not understand the hazier subtexts that one could read into the "Alien" series, such as the exploration of our deepest fears, with the aliens acting as mythic surrogates to make us explore our own "hearts of darkness."With many other Vietnam War-related films coming out around the same time as "Aliens" ("Rambo II," "Platoon," "Full Metal Jacket"), the contention of some critics that "Aliens" acts as a metaphor for U.S. involvement in the War seems plausible: "dropships" resemble combat helicopters; central character Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is brought as an "advisor" to the operation; and the Space Marines are used as tools of a "military-industrial complex," with corporate interests endangering the lives of anyone to procure alien fetuses to make a profit. Related to this are themes of colonialism (including fears of "Others" inhabiting the space to be colonized), and the possibility that the xenomorphs represent another group that has been marginalized as "Other": Women. This theme of “alienation” from other women receives even more profound symbolic analysis from critics examining Aliens, probably the most controversial film of the series. Although praised like its predecessor for portraying Ripley as a strong female protagonist, this film has also has received criticism for its allegedly conservative subtext (one critic dismissed it as a "Pentagon-inspired family-values picture for the Reagan 80s”) and as promoting Ripley as some kind of ideal “Uberfraulein” who is not too “feminine” and not too “masculine.” (like the Space Marine Vasquez played by Jenette Goldstein, against whom Ripley appears relatively more maternal and nurturing in her relationship with the orphaned Newt (Carrie Hehn). Ripley's relationship with Newt also evokes controversy, with some critics pointing out that the alien queen's biological destiny of motherhood contrasts strongly with Ripley's culturally-sanctioned choice to act as a nurturer to Newt. From this perspective, Ripley's ultimate victory over the alien queen occurs within the context of a patriarchally-approved competitive feminism sanctioned by "The Company;" in order to become a successful woman, one must accept the tools and attitudes of the patriarchy. This includes an aggression that shuts out other women, human and otherwise. In the later films, however, Ripley actually becomes more alien. She carries an alien fetus in the third movie (before her Wagnerian self-immolation), then becomes resurrected as a part-alien in the fourth. What will happen to her in the fifth movie? Speaking of Wagner, parallels with his gigantic opera epic “Ring des Nibelungen” may be coincidental, but I think they’re there. Besides the facts that the “Alien” series has four films and the “Ring” comes in four operas, there’s also Ripley’s self-immolation to save humanity like in Gotterdammerung (or, as in the abortion debate, to have control over her body); and the music (played by the London Symphony Orchestra, no less) used during the battle sequences of “Aliens” has echoes of the smithying music portraying the dwarves’ enslavement in Act Two of “Das Rheingold.” And then there’s the critique of capitalism (attributed to the “Ring” by George Bernard Shaw) which also pops in the Alien series (particularly in this movie in the guise of Carter Burke, played with barely-concealed neurotic ooze by Paul Reiser). So one is left with political ambiguity in “Aliens,” and one must decide whether it’s a gung-ho Reagan era war movie set in a future infested by Freudian neuroses, or if it’s a critique of a capitalist system that sacrifices lives just to squeeze out a profit. Or to just think it's a kick-[butt] movie, or too upsetting for one's nerves. Whatever one may consider its ideological stance, “Aliens” deserves to be on a list of top science fiction films. While not “artsy-craftsy,” director James Cameron crafted this film marvelously, shooting only a few alien models with minimal detail in dim lighting to give the effect of stalking hordes. (The test footage of the phallic alien fetus puppet, and of the alien queen stand-in, is quite amusing) Particularly memorable is the devastating first battle between the Space Marines and aliens, with disorienting cuts between the “real” battle sequences and video relays of the action (replete with static and close-ups of panicked Marines) to an armored surface vehicle. (Considering this film and “Titanic,” I think Cameron would definitely be the one to finally film a “War of the Worlds” that’s faithful to H.G. Wells’ novel... with better-rounded characters than Wells threw in). Although the added-in scenes enhance the film somewhat, I expected something more emotionally satisfying (tear-jerking) for the scene where Ripley finds out about her biological daughter’s death. All that said, “Aliens” still continues to fascinate, even after 15 years. It is indeed a kick-[butt] movie, but there’s a lot more (probably) going on beneath the surface text as well. That’s what makes me return to it every so often.
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Summary: Great Sci-Fi action movie
Review: They definitely did this DVD right. The extra footage really enchances the story line and gives you a lot of background on Newt, her family, and what happened on LB7. The audio and video transfer are first rate. Even though the audio is not DTS it is one of the best Dolby 5.1 tracks I have heard. The extras are good but not overwhelming. Overall a great DVD and a must for any Sci-Fi fan.
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Summary: Now things make more sense!
Review: The restored footage filled alot of plot holes that the original film left open. The scenes of the pre-alien attack colony, what happened to Ripley's daughter, and others. Plus the restored picture quality is great. Millions of people watched this movie and are still in love with it (like me). It has everything: Action, Suspense, Drama, and the Aliens!
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Summary: Best in the Alien series...
Review: Although most would rate Ridley Scott's "Alien" - the first in the series, as the best, as far as excitement goes, this has got to be it. Be sure, this ain't no chick movie. It's for the guys. See the way the marines deploy, their firepower, the way they look - it's extreme. Keeps you on your toes. And the restored 17 minutes, which shows a little of what happened to the colonists and Ripley's daughter, helps to flesh out the movie more. Cameron was probably right to leave those bits out of the first screening as they were not as strong as the rest.
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