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Aliens |
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Aliens is a 1986 science fiction horror movie starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton and Paul Reiser. It is a sequel to the 1979 Alien.
Overview
Directed by James Cameron from a story written by Cameron, David Giler, and Walter Hill, the film is more of a high-paced, action adventure film than the tense sci-fi horror of the first film. It was tremedously successful, following Cameron's The Terminator in helping to establish him as a major action director. The film, like its predecessor, was shot in England on a budget of only about $18 million. The production was somewhat problematic, marred by several disputes between Cameron and the film crew, which eventually led to an all-out strike late in the production.
Plot
In this film, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the only human survivor of Alien, is rescued from space after 57 years in hypersleep. She learns that a colony, Hadley's Hope has been founded on LV-426, where she first encountered the alien. When contact with the colony is lost, Ripley (now a Lieutenant) is drafted to assist a squad of gung-ho Colonial Marines to investigate. They travel aboard the vessel Sulaco (like The Nostromo, a nod to Joseph Conrad).
The marines and Lieutenant Ripley find themselves trapped in the seemingly deserted colony while armies of aliens led by their Queen, who rules the colony, come after them. The story adds much to the overall mythos of the series, including Cameron's introduction of an "alien queen" to the creatures' life cycle, and introduces the character of the android Bishop, the only character except Ripley to appear in more than one movie in the series (not counting Ripley's cat, Jones).
Analysis
It has been pointed out by some critics that Aliens works as an allegory of the Vietnam War, in that an overly confident military finds itself in a quagmire battling an unseen opponent they cannot comprehend. Sigourney Weaver, who holds strong views on gun control, has stated that she was deeply uncomfortable with the amount of gun violence in the movie, and that Ripley would be required to strap on heavy artillery herself. But she admitted she ended up enjoying the role and that the gunplay held a seductive appeal.
The film added an additional level of depth to Ripley's character by establishing a daughter who grew old and died while Ripley was lost in space (this scene was not included in the theatrical version but was seen in extended versions on TV and DVD). When Ripley discovers a little girl, Newt (Carrie Henn), hiding in the ruins of the colony, Newt becomes a surrogate daughter for Ripley, allowing Ripley to overcome her feelings of guilt and achieve closure.
Accolades
Aliens was nominated for seven Academy Awards and ended up winning two (Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects). Sigourney Weaver received her first Academy Award nomination (Best Actress) for this film.
Another actor whose career benefited from Aliens was Bill Paxton; he plays the reluctant grunt, Hudson, who later defiantly battles to the death when swarmed by the aliens.
Impact
The depiction of the female characters, especially Ripley and Private Vasquez, as fearless warriors made a considerable impression in the North American perception of women in action films, particularly in futuristic science fiction. Since Aliens, it grew to be expected in futuristic stories that the female characters be as ready to do battle on an equal basis with the male characters.
Versions
The theatrical running time of Aliens was 137 minutes. Later, Cameron cut together a 154 minute version that contained the daughter subplot as well as scenes of the colony before the alien infestation and extra battle scenes involving the marines' robot sentries. This was first released on laserdisc and VHS in 1992 and in The Alien Legacy in 2001. Both versions of the film were released together for the first time in the 2003 Alien Quadrilogy DVD box set.
Prequels
This film was followed by several sequels:
- 2004: Alien Vs. Predator
- 1979: Alien
Sequels
- 1992: Alien³
- 1997: Alien: Resurrection
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