Aliens

Aliens (1986)

Runtime: 154 minutes (The Director’s Cut, anyhow)

Directed by: James Cameron

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn

From: 20th Century Fox

Now, if you want to know which films I rank highest among my favorites, I don’t have a particular list of which ones are the best but this one is up there somewhere in the discussion. As much as I enjoy Alien and its claustrophobic and intense setting (one of these days I’ll review that), I more enjoyed this pumped-up macho adrenaline rush where the action and horror genres are melded together perfectly, along with a great story and such themes as being a mother and trust issues.

It’s difficult to try and figure out what to say about this that will come off as intelligent and well-written given that many people have done so before. So, that’s why I’ll be brief here. I will say that I watched the movie via the Alien Anthology Blu-Ray collection and while the print there isn’t crystal clear it still looks better than it did on DVD, for sure. This long review of the set includes thoughts on all four movies and I agree with a lot of what is said about Aliens.

What I’ll say I enjoy about the movie the most-besides it turning out to be an almost non-stop thrill ride for the second half-is that the first half takes its time building up the story and introducing the characters and how they interact with each other. They’re all very entertaining, especially Hudson (Bill Paxton). The movie often throws funny lines out there, lightening all the tension that’s going on. I don’t mind at all that the movie is 2 ½ hours long as it doesn’t seem that length when you’re watching it. The action also more than delivers and even in 2011 it’s a great rollercoaster of excitement and just plain emotion.

If I could see it on the big screen one of these days it’d be the cat’s pajamas. I got to see Alien that way a few years ago; while it was likely a DVD projection (it turned out to be the Director’s Cut that Ridley Scott did which he didn’t even want to do but had to do just so there’d be a different version of the movie out there) I still thought it was great watching a classic in that format. Watching Aliens that way would make me quite excited. I mean, if more movies were like that (in terms of action, story, and not being insulting to the audience's intelligence) I'd be a happy camper.

I’ll be back on Sunday night, where I plan on discussing a more obscure film than Aliens but I will be watching that for the first time and it happens to be on the big screen and I’ve heard some good things about.