Bill Paxton Movie:

				Salesrank:
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Aliens is one of the few cases of a sequel that far surpassed the original. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, who awakens on Earth only to discover that she has been hibernating in space so long that everyone she knows is dead. Then she is talked into traveling (along with a squad of Marines) to a planet under assault by the same aliens that nearly killed her. Once she gets there, she finds a lost little girl who triggers her maternal instincts--and she discovers that the company has once again double-crossed her, in hopes of capturing one of the aliens to study as a military weapon. Directed and written by James Cameron, this is one of the most intensely exciting (not to mention intensely frightening) action films ever, with a large ensemble cast that includes Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Michael Biehn. Weaver defined the action woman in this film and walked away with an Oscar nomination for her trouble. --Marshall Fine

Aliens [Region 2] Reviews:
One Scary Movie
2008-09-12 - I have a few things in mind when I review a movie and unlike the professional critics it has nothing to do with artistic merit or who won the oscar. What makes this film great is...

1) It is one of the best if not THE best of the genre
2) It WILL make you tense and put you right in the action
3) It has strong replayability

Buying a DVD is a luxury for me so I make sure that it is a damn good film before I hit the 'buy' button. Aliens is a classic movie that will be with you for years and you will find yourself watching it over and over again. This is probably one of the top 10 DVDs I own.

The best of the Alien movies
2008-08-24 - Aliens, the sequel to Alien, is the best of the Alien quadrilogy, and is one of the most influential science fiction movies ever made. You can find references to this movie in sources as diverse as the film "Starship Troopers," the PC game "Starcraft" and TV's "Battle Star Galactica." In a three way tie with "Bladerunner," and "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," for best science fiction film ever made, Aliens is a thrill ride with some of the most chilling visuals of any horror/science fiction film. Lt. Ripley is also one of the most memorable characters in any sci-fi movie or science fiction franchise. Aliens is so good, I can almost forgive Sigourney Weaver for her recent, ridiculously cheesy Direct TV commercial.

An Engaging Thriller
2008-08-15 - This isn't so much a strict sequel to Alien as it is a re-imagining of the Alien mythos. As one of the greatest horror films ever made, Aliens couldn't possibly have been an acceptable follow-up if Cameron had tried making it a horror film. Luckily, the very smart decision was made to turn Aliens into an action-thriller film, and it succeeds. Aliens, while an entirely different sort of film, is taut, engaging, and very well-made.

The characters and plot are nothing special here. In Alien, the real star of the show was the Nostromo. The dark, claustrophobic spaceship provided the perfect backdrop for Giger's shadowy creation to stalk around. In Aliens, the aliens themselves are the stars. Whereas we never get too clear a picture of the adult alien in the first film (even at the end, the creature is still guised in shadow), aliens are quite clearly visible in this film. The special effects are magnificent. The queen alien is perhaps one of the most majestic and terrifying creatures ever to appear in a film. And Ripley's final descent into the collapsing hive is a visceral and disturbing descent into Hell itself.

The action is intense, the various moments of anticipation are nerve-wracking, the special effects are eye-popping, and the story, if more conventional, is adequate for the purposes of the film. The acting is a bit weak in some areas, but not enough to be distracting. Overall, this is a solid and entertaining film, and one of the few instances where a sequel actually manages to be decent.

A Better Film
2008-08-08 - "Aliens" shows a vast improvement over the first Alien film, which--in my opinion--isn't the classic it's made out to be. You can see my elaboration on that in my review for that film; but as for this movie, I was much more satisfied with the story, characters, and even direction than I was in the first film.

Writer/director James Cameron shows an effort to make this film a bit more character oriented than the first film, which didn't give us a chance to connect with the characters. Ripley is fleshed out by the appearance of Newt, a young girl whose family has been killed by the aliens. We now see Ripley not only fighting for her life, but fighting for Newt's as well. She grows to care very much for the little girl, which creates some very strong suspense during the violent and thrilling climax. Another character that, despite his short screen time, feels fully fleshed out and real is the android Bishop, who I had grown very attached to by the end of the movie. The other characters other than Ripley, Newt, and Bishop aren't really that fleshed out, and the military personnel often revert to cliches and one-dimensional characters.

The acting isn't all that great--especially with the panicky soldier that says "we're done for meeyyan!" every five seconds--and even Sigourney Weaver doesn't give an all around impressive performance. What she does handle well, and what the entire film handles well actually, is the climax, where Ripley (Weaver) races to find Newt, throwing herself into a building infested with full sized aliens, face-huggers, and something much worse and much bigger.

Overall, this film easily beats out its predecessor for best Alien movie. I'm definitely on board to see the other two films in the series, and see if they--despite what critics have said about them--can compare.

6/10

One of my favorite movies of all time
2008-07-02 - Let me begin by saying, I'm a huge fan of the first two movies in the series, specifically Alien. I loved the nail biting suspense of not knowing what the creature looked like or where it was, or even what it could do. Suspense... that was the first movie.

Action... that is this movie. Almost from the beginning we have aliens and gunshots to keep us entertained and at the edge of our seat.

Aliens takes place after Ellen Ripley (Weaver) returns to earth from the first movie. Plagued by nightmares and the loss of her child (an added scene to the DVD which gives a bit more depth to he character). Enter Paul Reiser as the token corporate schmuk who gets Ellen to return to the planet LV426 (where they answered the distress call in the first movie and picked up the Alien). Apparently there has been a colony of people living there setting up an atmosphere on the planet that are suddenly not responding.

Somewhere in all of this There is added in footage of the terraformers (settlers) which explains how the aliens got to the colony in the first place. This scene also gives more background on Newt.

So Ripley and a group of Marines (Bill Paxton, Michael Bienn, Lance Hendriksen and several others) set out to determine what happened to the missing colonists.

Once they land on the planet the non-stop action begins. Instead of just one alien wreaking havoc on a ship, there are now legions of them crawling all over the settlement. It turns into a life and death game of war between the two species as the humans attempt to survive in this dangerous environment.

One of the main differences between this film and the first one is that they have no problem showing the aliens to you. This takes some of the mystery out of them, however they are no less frightening. Also we are given a better understanding of how the aliens work in this movie, setting up for the third and fourth films in the series.

Another difference is in the sheer action of this flick, this one is more about gun fire, grenades, flame throwers, and painful death scenes. Unlike many action movies however, the characters are interesting and we are saddened by their demise. Even Bishop (Lance Hendriksen) the android becomes a lovable character.

There are 17 minutes of additional footage that have been added into the film since the theatrical release, I was able to find most of it, but I'm sure some is just added shots in the action sequences.

The Special Features on the DVD include cut scenes, Trailers, a slide show and a Behind the Scenes. Honestly I was disappointed because the behind the scenes wasn't the one I expected it to be. At one time I saw on TV a behind the scenes special that was very interesting and informative, this seemed to be a chopped down and edited version of that.

Incase you haven't seen the movie, the acting is believable, somewhat above what you would expect in an action adventure film. Some of the lines are a bit forced but nothing takes away from the viewer's enjoyment of the film. The script is interesting and easy to follow, I have to admit that the added in footage did help explain several of the questions I had in the original version of the movie.

The special FX are awesome and totally believable except for one awful blue screen shot at the end. All of the creatures are realistic and frightening. The sets are dark, dismal, and add to the overall feel of the film. (My mom always asks why in the future everything has to be so ugly). The action scenes are fluid and exciting to watch. I have nothing negative to say about the movie.

If you like the film buy the DVD to get the additional footage and to own a classic Action/Horror Flick. Don't buy it just for the DVD extras because they aren't all that exciting.

Recommended:
Yes