Aliens (1986)

The planet from Alien has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough?

Director:

James Cameron

Writers:

James Cameron (story), David Giler (story),

Stars:

Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn

Top 250 #58 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sigourney Weaver	...	Ellen Ripley
Carrie Henn	...	Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden
Michael Biehn	...	Cpl. Dwayne Hicks
Paul Reiser	...	Carter Burke
Lance Henriksen	...	Bishop
Bill Paxton	...	Pvt. Hudson
Jenette Goldstein	...	Pvt. Vasquez
William Hope	...	Lt. Gorman
Al Matthews	...	Sgt. Apone
Mark Rolston	...	Pvt. Drake
Ricco Ross	...	Pvt. Frost
Colette Hiller	...	Cpl. Ferro
Daniel Kash	...	Pvt. Spunkmeyer
Cynthia Dale Scott	...	Cpl. Dietrich (as Cynthia Scott)
Tip Tipping	...	Pvt. Crowe

Storyline

Fifty seven years after Ellen Ripley survived her disastrous ordeal, her escape vessel is recovered after drifting across the galaxy as she slept in cryogenic stasis. Back on earth, nobody believed her story about the "Aliens" on the planet LV-426. After the "Company" orders the colony on LV-426 to investigate, however, all communication with the colony is lost. The Company enlists Ripley to aid a team of tough, rugged space marines on a rescue mission to the now partially terraformed planet to find out if there are aliens or survivors. As the mission unfolds, Ripley will be forced to come to grips with her worst nightmare, but even as she does, she finds that the worst is yet to come.

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Plot Keywords:

alien | space marine | nightmare | rescue | extraterrestrial | 

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Taglines:

This time it's war

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for monster violence, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 July 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien 2

Filming Locations:

Acton Lane Power Station, Acton Lane, Acton, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$18,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$85,200,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Brandywine Productions, SLM Production Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min 154 min (1992 special edition)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A Spydor toy from the He-Man franchise was bought as a reference to test how the facehuggers would move.

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Goofs

When the salvage crew shines a light onto Ripley's face while she is sleeping at the beginning of the movie, her right eyelid twitches. However, people's eyelids twitch all the time when they are asleep.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Salvage team leader: Bio-readouts are all in the green, looks like she's alive. Well, there goes our salvage, guys.

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Crazy Credits

As the final credits fade, there is the sound of a facehugger scurrying across from left to right.

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: The Marksman (2012)
"...which is being held by Gorman from Aliens."

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Soundtracks

"Movie music"
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra

User Reviews

Gets better every time I see it

I am just going to add my voice to the chorus of praise for this movie. It is as near to being perfect as any I have ever seen. I will not say that it is much better than Alien - which is just about near to being perfect also. But I do love all the characters in this movie. I have rarely seen a movie where all the characters were so well developed. Even most serious dramas seldom develops each character so completely. None of these characters are stereotypes even Paul Reiser as Burke, although the slimy company/government man villain is a prerequisite in disaster type movies. I would almost say that my favorite is Michael Beihn as Hicks, just because I like his work & consider him to be underrated. But I also like Lance Henriksen as Bishop, William Hope as Lt. Gorman, Bill Paxton as Hudson, and of course, Jenette Goldstein as Vasquez. I liked all of these characters. I cared about their lives & deaths. The final scene for Gorman & Vasquez still chokes me up after seeing it many times.

I am not ignoring Sigourney Weaver or Carrie Henn. Ripley is the template for the modern action heroine. In the 24 years since Alien, few have been able to measure up to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. Even in Alien 3 & 4, Ripley was still powerful, despite the 3ed rate quality of the movies. As for Carrie Henn as Newt, she was the emotional heart of Aliens. Cameron's ability to develop well rounded characters does not detract from his ability to create great action scenes or to scare the audience out of a several years of growth.