For my next revisit, I now turn to James Cameron's Aliens (skipping the 1st movie for now). This movie is my favorite Alien movie and I could not wait to watch it again. Aliens was greenlit following the success of Cameron's other film, The Terminator and had a troubled production with several people of the production crew having conflicts with James Cameron. Despite all this, Aliens was a Box-Office success and was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won 2.
The plot takes place 57 years after the first film when Ellen Ripley returns to the planet LV-426 where she first encountered the hostile Alien. This time she is accompanied by a unit of Colonial Marines who soon encounter the Aliens and a Alien queen.
First off, the performances are spot on by everyone, every single actor gives life to their character. Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, and Lance Henriksen all shine in their roles with Weaver making the movie what it is. The action scenes are remarkable and pull you into them. The blood and gore doesn't go over the time but finds the right amount in the movie. The sets are brilliantly done and the special effects are astounding. James Cameron also manages to capture a horror and action-adventure tone in the movie, making it even better. The Alien designs are also brilliant.
I can't really think of a single bad thing to say at all about this movie. One thing I will say is that the movie can feel a bit to violent at times and somewhat intense but this is just a minor setback on a otherwise awesome movie!
So, yes, Aliens does still hold up after all of these years and it gets even better to me everytime I watch it. If James Cameron ever does return to make another Alien film, he'll have his work cut out if he hopes to make it as half as good as this.
-3.5/4 stars-
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