Fifty-seven years after surviving an apocalyptic attack aboard her space vessel by merciless space creatures, Officer Ripley awakens from hyper-sleep and tries to warn anyone who will listen about the predators.
57 years after Ellen Ripley had a close encounter with the reptilian alien creature from the first movie, she is called back, this time, to help a group of highly trained colonial marines fight off against the sinister extraterrestrials. But this time, the aliens have taken over a space colony on the moon LV-426. When the colonial marines are called upon to search the deserted space colony, they later find out that they are up against more than what they bargained for. Using specially modified machine guns and enough firepower, it's either fight or die as the space marines battle against the aliens. As the Marines do their best to defend themselves, Ripley must attempt to protect a young girl who is the sole survivor of the nearly wiped out space colony.Written by
blazesnakes9
The initial cut of the movie ran nearly 150 minutes, which was commercially risky. James Cameron was in doubt about how to shorten it, since shortening random scenes would only save minutes, and make the film feel rushed. Producer Gale Anne Hurd finally suggested cutting out a few scenes entirely, such as the references to Ripley's daughter, as well as the early scene on the colony and the Derelict Ship. Cameron hesitated to cut the latter, as it was the only direct link with the original film. He later realized that Hurd was right, as these scenes could be cut without damaging the plot, and deleting them brought the film neatly under 135 minutes. All these scenes were restored in the Special Edition that was created 6 years later. See more »
Goofs
(at around 4 mins) 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. Although people's eyelids twitch all the time when they are asleep, Ripley is is frozen in cryogenic suspension - not merely asleep. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Salvage Team Leader:
Bio-readouts are all in the green, looks like she's alive. Well, there goes our salvage, guys.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The ALIENS title forms slowly during the opening credits. The full title isn't seen until the opening credits are finished, and the "I" illuminates brightly. See more »
Alternate Versions
A Special Edition saw a limited release on Laserdisc in December 1991, in which only 10,000 copies were made. It had 17 minutes of restored footage. It was also released on VHS in 1992 and 1993. Audiences first experienced this on DVD when it was released in 1999. There were several rare copies of Aliens released on VHS that included the Sentry gun scenes but no others. See more »
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.
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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.