Aliens

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton, Michael Beihn, William Hope and Lance Herikson.

Director: James Cameron

Release Date: 1986

Running Time: 2hrs 17 minutes

Genre: Sci Fi

Rating: 18

Format: Blu-Ray

Synopsis:

A team of soldiers find themselves on a moon from "Alien" that has been colonized, there's a catch, all contact is lost.

Aliens follows on very nicely from Ridley Scott's hit movie "Alien", however this time James Cameron is in the directors chair! Ripley's escape shuttle was found drifting through space by a salvage team, when she is taken to hospital she's informed that she was in hypersleep for 57 years, haunted by her past she tries to put the pieces together for Company Representative Carter Burke. Ripley finds herself desperately trying to convince the team what she actually saw. If you loved the first film, believe me your going to absolutely love this! Award winning director James Cameron delivers quite possibly one of the best sequels of all time! The thought of hypersleep sounds rather claustrophobic and risky. What if something goes wrong? Oh wait....that's Passengers.

Was James Cameron already thinking about "Avatar" when he directed this? Watch carefully there are a few elements in this movie that are also in his hit movie "Avatar", Sigourney Weaver makes a triumphant return as Ripley, however you may recognize a few familiar faces too "Terminator" star Michael Beihn, Bill Paxton and Lance Henrikson. Cameron clearly thought they worked well together. The late Bill Paxton delivers a very interesting performance as Private Hudson, although his character is funny, he also drives me absolutely nuts, his character just irritates me. It's almost as if he's trying to overplay his character, none the less it works really well with the story and he works really well with the others characters, particularly Bishop.

Sigourney Weaver delivers a very convincing and realistic performance, it's very nice to see a different side to her character, only she knows what to expect once they are back on the planet. This makes it even more exciting knowing that other characters have no idea what to expect or what is coming after them creating the perfect amount of tension and suspense. Its one of those moments where you can feel your heart beating out of your chest in anticipation. Cameron definitely has a spark for creating some serious tension! Did James Cameron write a better screenplay then Dan O'Bannon? Personally? Yes. Both movies are incredible, but I do think Cameron was able to produce a more impressive looking movie and storyline.

Cameron has been very clever not to rely on jump scares, instead you are shown elements from the original movie, the lighting department have been very clever when it comes to setting a scene, allowing the audience to only see so much before the scene is lit up and it jumps right out at you! The score really works well with the lighting and the performances of the actors in creating frightening sequences. James Cameron made sure that his audience saw more action on screen then the previous film. The special effects are fantastic and don't look over done. In all honesty I think James Cameron took inspiration from "Terminator", if you compare the two movies there are rather a few similarities. It is however an extremely impressive looking film for 1986!

You will find yourself asking questions, however those will be answered in "Alien Covenant", more so in "Alien vs Predator", if your claustrophobic, one scene in particular may make your skin crawl, none the less the scene was impressively filmed with a close up shot. The cinematography is gorgeous, the set design looks very realistic and adds to the tone of the film very well. Personally the film is a little bit too long for me at 2hrs 17 however that doesn't mean to say that the movie drags because it doesn't. Each and every scene works well and explains a bit more of the story without dragging the film down.

Amazing storyline, twice as exciting as the first film, incredible performances from Sigourney Weaver, Michael Beihn, Bill Paxton and Lance Henrikson, plenty of twists and turns, beautifully shot and highly entertaining! Cameron definitely knows how to put on a show! Highly recommend!

5/5 stars