On one hand, the republic would not have fallen if there had never been a sequel to Alien. Entire books could be written about how great—bordering very closely on perfect—Alien was as both science fiction and horror, not to mention how brilliant it was as cinema. Its unanswered questions are actually assets, deepening the mystery and thus the horror. But, on the other hand, those unanswered questions provided the basis for Aliens, a massively entertaining and actually quite moving piece of work.
What makes Aliens not only a sequel but a companion piece to Alien is the way it does for the action genre what its predecessor did for horror. Each picture is a master class in its respective genre, from narrative to design to acting, with every element integrated perfectly and contributing to making Alien a near-perfect SF horror movie, and Aliens a near-perfect SF action movie.
The story picks up (almost) where it left off, with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and Jones the cat adrift in hypersleep, intercepted by another spaceship. It turns out it’s now 57 years later, and not only are all her Nostromo shipmates dead (minor Alien spoiler) but so is just about anyone she ever met before that ill-fated voyage. Even worse, she finds out that the planet where the Nostromo found the alien is being terraformed by Weyland-Yutani.
Inevitably—if you saw the first movie—Weyland-Yutani lose contact with the terraforming colony, and Ripley is asked to accompany, in an advisory capacity, an elite Marine unit to go get to the bottom of things. They find one survivor. Well, one human survivor…
The differences between horror and action as a genre come into play here, as there are this time, not one, but many malevolent xenomorphs menacing our protagonists (all the more reason for the title not being Alien 2 but Aliens) as well as a sequence of escalating obstacles to overcome. Not to mention in an action movie, the likelihood of multiple protagonists surviving is increased, as action frequently requires a team working together.
That brings us to the cast, which is Aliens’ greatest strength. Ripley, simultaneously hardened by her experiences in the first movie and possessed by a ferocious maternal connection to the lone survivor, grade-school-age girl Newt, becomes an all-time classic character. And she’s not the only one: Marines Hicks, Vazquez, and Hudson are all action movie Hall of Famers (easily the best performances of Jenette Goldstein’s and Bill Paxton’s careers, and is only denied the top spot in Michael Biehn’s due to his having been Kyle Reese and Johnny Ringo). Bishop is one of cinema’s great androids, well-played by the great Lance Henriksen. And the malignant Weyland-Yutani yuppie Burke is both a terrifically oily villain and by several orders of magnitude the best thing Paul Reiser has ever done.
Aliens spends over half its running time with its characters before the action starts, which is not to be confused with it starting slowly. If anything, that time adds to the tension (since we all know at some point people are going to start getting their asses handed to them by H.R. Giger aliens) and invests the audience far more deeply in the people handed their ass. That Aliens’ structure is a steady build makes the feverish intensity of the climax all the more effective: contrast it with so many modern blockbusters, that start out with the volume turned all the way up and leave it there for the whole movie, leading to sensory overload. Aliens manages to reach greater heights and have more impact precisely because it takes its time on the build. By the time Ripley straps into the cargo loader it’s all you can do not to stand up and cheer, out of the sheer exhilarating intensity of the movie as a whole.
Easily one of the best sequels extant, Aliens is arguably the first movie of writer-director James Cameron’s to really feel like his; this is to take nothing away from The Terminator, it’s just that its leanness and the small size of its budget has little to do with the bigger-is-better, more more more James Cameron that would follow. Aliens features the goofy gung-ho banter and overgrown adolescents (neither of which, to be clear, is necessarily a bad thing, certainly not in most James Cameron movies) that would later populate The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies, and even Titanic to a degree. Aliens benefits from a freshness the others lack in that regard, as this was Cameron’s first trip to that particular well. It was also an early demonstration, much like The Terminator, that James Cameron knew how to build an action movie that worked. Because he does. Oh does he ever.
While I agree with most everything you’ve said, is it bad that your final paragraph now has me thinking of nothing more than the hope of there being a True Lies rewatch at some point this year? “… because my horse is getting tired,” still makes me smile when I think about it :)
When I first saw this, I didn’t have much interest in horror movies, and knowing the first was a horror film, I presumed this was as well. A friend finally convinced me to watch it one day, before we went swimming. So I said I’d watch it only if there wasn’t a water scene…
And I’m really, really glad I watched it. I hadn’t watched the first, so this was my first experience with the franchise, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. I even liked a few things in the 4th one, though the ending was so bad it pretty much ruined the movie.
I must admit to not liking Alien as much when I first saw it, since the sequel was so much more action packed. But I came to respect it and like it, because it is a fantastic movie.
This is only the best performance of Bill Paxton’s career if you ignore a whole lot of his (recently tragically cut short) career. Yes, he was magnificent and iconic as Hudson, but his resume has a lot of greatness in it, many of it much more layered than the rather shouty Hudson.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I somehow missed this completely growing up until I finally saw it for the first time at university in a proper theatre doing retro movies. My friend asked if she could hold my hand cause she gets scared … I think I nearly tore her arm off at several points :D
My favourite moment though was just before the cargo loader scene, some loon yells out “Let’s get ready to rummmmbblle” and the door opens and Ripley emerges. Utterly perfect timing.
Magnificent action film, though a bit too much horror for my ideal tastes.
Hands down my favorite movie of all time, and Ripley my favorite character. She has major PTSD from the first film but she still keeps her head straight and does what needs to be done. I am way more interested in a vulnerable character overcoming fear to be badass than action heroes fearlessly convinced of their own invulnerability.
And also, THE QUEEN REVEAL. And also, ULTIMATE MOM FIGHT. A battle between two mothers for the survival of their children? Oh give me that all day! My husband likes horror a bit more, so Alien is his favorite, but for me it’s got to be Aliens, the perfect action film.
It’s interesting to note that on two re-watch posts about Alien and Aliens combine for somewhat less than 20% of the comments (most of which were favorable) about what is often considered the far lesser film: The Fifth Element ….
often considered the far lesser film: The Fifth Element ….
Why in the hell would anyone even compare them? That’s like criticizing Stripes for not being as great of a war movie as Saving Private Ryan.
Still puzzles me why they cut the scene of Ripley learning about her daughter for the theatrical version. Thankfully they put it back in for the extended version. It adds so much to her character and the overall story.