Movie Night #98: Aliens

Movie Night98: Aliens (1986)
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen
Plot: Lt. Ripley (Weaver) is found floating around in space after the events of the first movie – floating in space for over 50 years! Her life has ended, her flight clearance is revoked, and her family has passed on. Meanwhile, the planet where her crew first encountered the alien species has been populated by terraformers, but the Company has lost contact with them.

Lt. Ripley is asked by the Company to join the Space Marines and investigate, and what they find there is an infestation of xenomorphs. The entire population of the planet has been transformed into merciless aliens, and it’s up to the space marines to exterminate them. However, with so many eggs and so many aliens around, it begs the question – who’s been laying all of these eggs?

One of the most entertaining and ground breaking series of sci-fi horror films of all time, Aliens showcased more of what made James Cameron a great director. And creating some of the most memorable sci-fi moments of our time with a combination of Stan Winston creature effects and H.R. Gieger designs. If you haven’t seen at least the first three Alien movies, then shame on you (everything after that has just gone downhill).

I went out and bought the entire Alien Quadtrilogy – 9 DVDs in a set that would make any sci-fi nerd cream in their pants. Absolutely amazing, every movie has both a theatrical release and the director’s cut (which is great for the first two movies, but not so great for the second two), and then a 9th DVD that talks about how this amazing set came together. Well worth whatever you can find it for, I assure you.