1:29:17 James Cameron said before in an interview that he knew he could never match Ridley Scott in a pure horror like the original Alien film, so he said he leaned into the action bits more because he knows his own strengths in filmmaking. Also the original plan for the franchise after Aliens was to let Scott have Alien 3 and Cameron would have 4 and they would just keep passing the movies back to one another.
Thanks guy’s 😊 awesome reaction. The first time I saw this it scared the heck out of me when the Alien took the elevator 🤯 The scene where they find the woman cocooned was for me the most disturbing part. In the other cut they don’t talk about Ripleys daughter. I hope you watch Terminator 1 and 2. I didn’t watch any of the other Alien movies.
"Mother" in the first movie (Alien) was not AI. It was just the ship's computer. There was no AI in the 70s when the first movie was made. (It had no machine learning abilities.) I just watched both your RU-vid videos (Alien and Aliens). I commented on your Alien video webpage also. Prometheus answers many questions raised in the first two movies. But although it's done well (special effects) it's really stupid. Matter of fact it's so bad, it's good. You may want to watch it for fun. But be prepared to be amazed by it's cinematography and special effects. And be prepared to laugh at how stupid it is.
@@MarcelPilieA concept of AI has existed since very early science fiction. Though I agree Mother isn't a fully fledged AI, she clearly communicates better than most chat-bots did until recently. I'd say Mother is a limited AI; a computer with enhanced analytical abilities, but rightly like you say, no learning process.
Fun fact: Carrie Henn who played Newt grew up to become a teacher. In interviews, she has said that parents always find out who she is and they end up sending their kids with DVDs or memorabilia in their backpacks for her to sign😂
my wife is an instructional aid and worked with her at an elementary school. she goes by a married name. i dont think anyone knows who she is. my wife was watching the Aliens documentary while binging the "movies that made us" in netflix and when adult Carrie Henn came on my wife was like "hey i work with her!" my mind exploded.
Ellen Ripley and Sarah Conner - the two greatest action heroines. Despite the decades that have passed, both have not lost an iota of their popularity! And that says a lot about the quality of the films that "created" them!
@@StargazerFS128 Alien fanboys would argue that Ridley Scott created Ellen Ripley. But I digress. Cameron gave Ripley the life and layers you would expect in any great female character. Ripley and Sarah Connor are up there with Scarlett OHara in my book, thanks to James Cameron.
@@larsoliver656 Yes, and he was gone, kaput, nada. I guess one can say he killed himself since he asked Ripley to do it. In any case, he wasn't killed by a xenomorph which was the overall point
“The fact this is all practical is insane.” This is why you hear people that grew up on the older stuff complain about a lot of movies today and the crappy CGI effects. You just can’t beat good practical effects. It’s impressive and believable. This movie is approaching its 40th anniversary. Even movies before this one are still mind blowing. I understand computer effects can have a place but they rely on it for everything now. I especially hate computer effects in horror.
It's worth noting that there are crap practical effect too. I always try to bring this up that just because effects are done practically, in-camera, doesn't automatically make them better than digital effects. There have also been amazing digital effects in the past too, which have allowed film makers to do things that would have been virtually impossible to do practically. Both Digital and Practical effects take skill and effort to make work and neither is inherently superior to the other in my opinion. That all said, the effects in this movie are amazing do indeed still stand up nearly 40 years later, so big round of applause to all the hard working people who made them happen.
I feel it’s always a “use the right tool for the job” choice. Practical effects can be amazing but so can digital depending on what you need. The “problem” with digital usually is not digital itself it’s dumb directors and producers who don’t know the amount of work needed and think everyone can be fixed in post-production and never give the effects team enough time to actually do the job right. Directors who know the limits of what can be done in the time allowed and when to use practical or digital make some amazing-looking stuff
@@weldonwin thank you People just cherry pick the good and bad bad out of practical effects and cgi respectively and say that practical is better. BOTH can be good and bad, it depends on the effort the producers decide to put in
The Alien Queen, a masterpiece of cinematic engineering, 3 man operate it and it is real, on screen effect, so it will never age !! That whole sequence vs the loader is just iconic !
@@SubterrelProspector Ni but it's an extremely good one, it's not janky like the Rancor is Return of the Jedi. It's top tier and because it's real, it has weight and presence, so it's an effect that will age well !
The colony had been there for twenty years. It wasn't until Ripley was rescued that Burke found out about the Xenomorphs, and sent a message to the colony.
Yes, but what never made sense was why the company treats Ripley's story like she's literally insane. It was the company that sent the orders in the first movie to save the alien, and let the crew die. How does the company pretend to know nothing of this in Aliens?
@@GK-yi4xvprobably because the higher ups died a long time ago and hid the records. The inquiry board isn’t actually weyland yutani but government and commerce officials judging Ripley if she was insane or a criminal.
@@GK-yi4xv The simplest explanation would be lost knowledge, something not uncommon in large corporations. We assume due to Ash being a last minute replacement that the company was already aware of the signal, so they were being very patient and very quiet about investigating, willing to wait for the Nostromo to be on it's way back to Earth before investigating. This implies that only a small number of people knew, and when the Nostromo went missing, they'd have kept quiet in order to avoid implicating themselves. After 57 years, those responsible would have retired long ago and are probably dead.
You said it yourself, they pretended not to know, because it was in the best interests of the company and the executives. The company blamed the ship loss on a rogue employee, preserving it's stock price, profit margins, executive bonuses etc. The records of any orders to the android would have been long buried, or destroyed, and most of the executives who issued the orders would have been retired, or dead, after 57 years.
@@GK-yi4xv I thought it was a standing order for all vessels, if they encounter some sort of alien it must be retrieved, all other considerations secondary.
About the visual effects: in 1986, the film's in-camera methods were considered old fashioned and low-tech -- rear projection, foreground hanging miniatures, and simple rod puppets, yet they looked fantastic at the time. Best of all, they look fantastic today.
I think it's *because* they were old fashioned. They'd had time to refine the techniques and get everything looking just right. I've seen a lot of older movies with practical effects that are obviously fake because the budget or mechanics just weren't capable of producing the desired results. It also helps that they stayed firmly within mechanical limits. The Thing, released just four years prior, has some seriously janky effects because they tried to show off the alien's shapeshifting abilities way too much. I still laugh at the bit when one of the guys opens the kennel door and an *obviously* taxidermied wolf is flung across the screen. I keep imagining someone on the crew sitting just off camera holding that thing until he's cued to throw it. Or maybe they'd rigged a catapult to release when the door opened.
It's hard to believe Alien was made in 1979, and Aliens in 1986, these films look so incredible, especially on Blu-Ray! The sets, the lighting, everything is so cool in these films!
I think sometimes these old movies look so good because they had to, there was no ”we’ll fix it in post”. If it didn’t look spectacular in the camera they just had to try harder before shooting.
@@hackapumpYeah, no. Those were not all in-camera effects. After _Star Wars_ and by the late-80s/early-90s, analog compositing had been developed to a high art, so there actually was a lot done in post.
Respect to the design team with the sets. Props and practical effects. Understand this is close to 40 yrs ago. Scifi Movies like Aliens, Star Wars and Star Trek deserves their props in the creation of vision of the world they create. Believe me, some movies don't hold up with the special effects, like The Last Star Fighter, Close Encounters of the third Kind, Indiana Jones and the Tenple of Doom and other movies you never heard of. This movie has held up extremely well for 1986
It also doesn't hurt that they happened to have been directed by two of the best auteur film makers of the last century working with scripts and special effects and writers and actors at the top of their game. The Alien Queen for instance is a massive animatronic puppet suspended on a crane and had two people stood inside it operating the arms and took a dozen people working in sync to fully puppeteer. (The reason the crest is so unreasonably large is to hide all the cabling.) IIRC It still holds the record for largest puppet on film. After 1& 2 the series goes downhill, no-one knew what to do with it; 3 is for diehard fans only, a brutal a grim affair with one of the most troubled shoots in film history. Its director David Fincher has disowned it. The Assembly Cut is the most coherent cut of the film and therefore the best. It can be enjoyed but be prepared to be disappointed. Alien 4 is a self-referrential dark comedy and best avoided at all costs.
The "Xeno in the water" is LEGENDARY in the special effects industry. So much so, that when it came time to consider this movies for Oscars in special effects, they ONLY provided the clip of the Xeno coming out of the water for consideration of the award..... needless to say, they WON the Oscar for special effects that year.
Should have won other awards and the Xenomorph rising from the water isn’t even the best effect in the whole movie. It’s wild to me how much science fiction gets shit on for awards. Still to this day even.
Guys. Mother was just the ship's computer in Alien. An advanced computer, sure. But it wasn't an entity planning and manipulating events. As the computer, the instructions for Ash, to recover a specimen, were stored in the computer's storage. The orders were restricted to Ash, but as acting captain, Ripley was able to override the restriction. Kind of like using an Admin password.
Terminator & T2 are must watch. As companion to the Alien movies Predator 1 & 2 are necessary watching if you continue. You'll see Bill Paxton (Hudson) make an appearance in the other 2 franchises as well even though it's only a brief appearance in Terminator. When the actor who played Burke took his mother to see this movie she looked at him at the end and basically told him "You deserved to die." 😂😂😂
Aliens is a good candidate for the best James Cameron movie. In terms of everything, design, character, storytelling, sound design, soundtrack and special effect, it's mostly perfect. It's what people wished Avatar 1 and 2 was but really are not. It's also a good candidate for top 5 or 10 best sequel in all of cinema cause it doesn't take anything from the first movie who is a masterpiece in his own right, but add and explore the universe...The best sequels do that ! Also i feel it influence a lot the idea of the space marine outside of the style of Warhammer 40K. It gives another idea of it.
Actually, James Cameron took a _lot_ from the first movie. There are so many similarities that it's almost unimaginable that nobody picks up on it - that by itself is masterful. Just to name a few from the top of my head, but there are many more: - Panning shots in the very first moments of the movie - Introduction to the crew on the ship is when they're in the cryopods - Ripley 'going back' to find Jonesy and Newt - Not showing the deaths from the alien attacks, but leaving it up to the imagination of the audience - Blowing up the ship/facility doesn't kill the alien because it's on the escape ship - The alien is thrown out of the airlock at the end of the movie James Cameron is a master at _using_ the aspects from the first movie and integrating them organically into the plot - in a smart way. You won't see that he's copying a lot of the first movie, but he certainly does. That's why they're good sequels, because they understand which aspects of the first movie made it such a good movie.
Yeah, James Cameron really should've taken a long hard think about *why* so many people were rooting for the guy hitting all the villain boxes of the last forty years.
Still though compared to other modern movies Avatar 1 and 2 are still very good and the box office proves it, and 3rd movie will most likely make boatload of money too. He still knows how to tell a story even if it is a simple and clicheed one and knows special effects too
1:02:00 She's not picking directions at random. Cameron specifically established in the colony scene the kids used to play in the air ducts, and Newt was the best at it. Which explains why she's the only survivor, why she knows her way around here, and why she's pretty good at evading the queen on the Sulaco.
@@GK-yi4xv Dude, she's trying to remember a maze while being chased by a bunch of aliens. Give her a break. It's still quite different from just "knowing" her way around with no explanation whatsoever, which is what you get in the theatrical version.
Fun fact, I had a cat and I called him Jonesy, as I was watching Alien on VHS when a neighbour knocked on my door and asked if I wanted a kitten. He lived for 18 years, died about 5 years ago. I miss ya Jonesy!
My absolute favorite of the entire franchise. What will stick with me forever is the little girl - Newt - in the scene with Ripley. "These people are here to protect you, they're soldiers." to which Newt just replies with a straight stare in her eyes "It won't make any difference". Holy! That sent some shivers down my spine. Then she just looked at Ripley and with this look adds without words to her comment "You know it and I know it."
I had someone jump on me on another channel for saying the same thing. Ironically they actually predicted like two of the future plots during the reaction, lol.
I wish they'd have made the Alien: Earth War comics into movies. Way better in every way. Great continuation of the story and the characters. If you're not familiar with them check out the channel Alien Theory. The guy does great narrations of the comics and shows the pics/art from them. 🖖
The dark horse comic sequels were great it's a shame they only used a few comic elements in the later movie sequels (like the crazy general training the aliens with fire etc) in alien resurrection
@IntheeyesofMorbo "Music of the Spears" is the story you are referring to. The Dark Horse comics were all made into paperback novels. I have most of them. Hard to find now, but worth seeking out. ... The alternative canon of the comics is 100% superior in every way.
I agree totally. I did not see the first movie in the theater - not until VHS years later, but I did see this one theatrically. I also saw Alien3 in the theater but completely checked out after the first few minutes. Sure, it has it's own thing about it, but as a continuation of the story from the first two? No. Alien and Aliens is all there is.
Echoing some of the comments below, definitely watch the Assembly cut of Alien 3; or whatever the hell the non-theatrical version is called. You get a bit more context that really improves the experience - but I would love to see your reaction to 3 as well. Also yes, Terminator 1 and 2 are a must, and Predator 1 and 2 ought be on the list!
@@andreabindolini7452 Yeah.... Alien3 doesn't exactly run with the character dynamic set up throughout Aliens, which I think is a big part of why it is disliked by so many fans of the franchise. I still enjoy it, and it's going to be necessary if you plan to continue onwards to Alien: Resurrection.
@@johndracup3428 One can say that Alien 3 is not strictly necessary as a premise to Alien: Resurrection (that, by the way, is even worse)... could be only a bad dream in hypersleep... ;-)
Not everyone agrees with you, the fan base is split. Alien 3 does a good job of wrapping up the series, in my opinion, and I'm British, so the accents don't bother me, unlike a lot of other people. Alien Resurrection was a cash grab, pure and simple, but it was still enjoyable, and had it's moments. @@andreabindolini7452
Because of this movie, Sigourney Weaver became the first female action hero ever. And she was nominated for an Oscar.. EDIT: I totally forgot about Pam Grier as Foxy Brown in the 70s.
"First female action hero ever." Not really, I love Ripley and Sigourney Weaver but there were others before her. I say this not to correct anyone but to point out the work of others that are forgotten or sadly overlooked. My first thought goes to Sandahl Bergman who won a Golden Globe for her performance in Conan the Barbarian as Valeria, back in 1982. She was awesome, carving through the villains of the film, saving Schwarzenegger more than once. Ripley is an absolute icon though, probably the first female action hero in the lead role... probably. Was Ripley an 'action hero' in Alien from 1979? That's debatable. More a survivor I think. Still, a legend of cinema.
My thought goes to Princess Leia. In the first few minutes of Star Wars, she has a gun in hand and takes out a stormtrooper. But I will say Ripley put a strong stamp on action heroine in Aliens. What I love about her is that she has her own demons. She's scared to death, but she faces them head on. Such a relatable character.
@@floppyblanket2587😂 I tried really hard not to mention that 🤔.... insanely ignorant and egotistical take of hers, but I'm glad you did. Made me chuckle. When I first heard that Miss Lawrence was our first female action lead, I had Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton in my head... both looking a tad angry.
1) Burke only sent the colonists to investigate the area, AFTER Ripley had told people about it during her interrogation. Before that the colonists lived there oblivious to the alien ship with xenomorph eggs. Essentially it only happened because of Ripley accidentally telling him before she knew about the "Shake and Bake's" colony existence. 2) It is about 9 weeks between Newt's father being facehugged and the arrival of Ripley and the marines on LV-426 (although the "final stand of the colonists" takes place only a few days before they arrive... which is why there are still colonists alive with chest bursters unhatched). However, this is how the Xenomorphs had time to create the massive "secreted resin" hive under the cooling tower that the marines first get slaughtered in. 3) The photo of Ripley's daughter at the beginning of the movie is actually her real life mother. The sound of the xenomorphs "screams" is the sound of an elephant trumpeting but reversed (and with the pitch slightly tweaked). Sigourney Weaver was adamant not to have Ripley ever use or fire a gun in this movie (she greatly dislikes guns in real life), however Cameron finally managed to convince her to do it for the final sequence... the rest is history. 4) Hudson's character breaks the typical "jock soldier trope" of horror movies by actually having a full character arc. At first he is a super cocky braggart. Then when faced with a real enemy he becomes the complete coward he truly always was. Gradually he flip flops between trying to be a good soldier genuinely trying to help and giving into the hopelessness of the situation. But finally at the end when the chips are fully down he finally becomes the "ultimate badass" he used to believe he was but for real... fearless right on the frontline facing down the enemy and dying a heroic soldiers death for his teammates. 5) Aliens is the peak of this ,movie franchise as none of the following movies manage to reach the same heights unfortunately. But Alien 3 I think is still underrated. Lots of fans hated it but it had some really good new ideas in it that does expand the alien lore in some good ways. However, WARNING SEMI-SPOILERY it does completely ruin the "happy ending" of Aliens 2 almost immediately (which admittedly sucks and is why so many fans got so angry). Aliens 4 has a few "cool for cool's sake scenes" (which a few are not all bad) and 1 actually decent concept idea regarding Ripley which had more potential than unfortunately this move managed to pull off... but it is mostly just mindless "meh". Prometheus and Alien Covenant are... pretentious to say the least. Certainly very pretty to look at, but most of the characters are reliably idiots (making some insanely stupid decisions) and not super likable overall. I would not say these movies were totally garbage... just disappointing. And when analysed too closely, make no sense regarding the timeline of the Ripley movies. Aliens Vs Predator 1 is ok (because it ripped off a lot of its best ideas from a decent comic book) but they messed up badly regarding the xenomorph established lore. AVP 2 is just completely awful plot wise (Iike a tacky teen horror flick with xenomorphs and predators) but does have one of my personal favorite Predator character even if it is utilised terribly in a terrible movie. 6) The "Alien Isolation" game which came out a few years back... is about Ripley's 11 year old daughter Amanda (but as a young adult) and her trying to find out what happened to her mother following the disappearance of the Nostromo (Ellen is obviously in stasis floating out in space during this time). In doing so she encounters the Xenomorphs just like her mother did. This game is a genuinely great "sequel" and even manages to fill in a few plot holes (like for example, why the alien ship on LV-426 no longer has the signal activated that the Nostromo first picked up and therefore why when the colonists arrived there they didn't hear it... as Ripley's crew never actually turned this signal off in the Alien 1 movie). It is actually a really great game with a lot of effort and thought put into its plot by the game designers.
The part of the queen’s body used to lay the eggs is called an ovipositor. It’s what egg laying amphibians such as newts, and insects like wasps use to deposit eggs in a nest. The tarantula hawk wasp actually has a life cycle similar to that of the xenomorph depicted in the film. They actually capture tarantulas and impregnate them with an egg, which then bursts out of the tarantula and feeds on its remains.
Aliens is one of those very rare occasions when a sequel is as good as if not a little bit better than the first and people like to crap on Alien 3, but its still worth a watch, and if you can get the "assembly cut" its a much better version
That one had so much potential ruined mostly by studio decisions. To the point the main person at the helm abandoned it in post and almost refused to ever speak of it again. haha. The assembly cut is more along the right lines at least
Cubed was OK. I quite like #4… It was so close the Dark Horse comics setup for Earth Hive, sad they never explored the concept of a world wide Alien infection.
@@johankaewberg8162a 100% the whole Earth war concept has been missed by Terminator, Aliens and (maybe not so much) Predator. All 3 should have gone the way of an Earth invasion, especially the Xenomorphs with their planet- ending ways about them.
@@donsimpsonshead8809 The Godfather Part 2 is a great movie, no doubt about it. But James Cameron is a master filmmaker and Ridley Scott... he made Robin Hood....
@@donsimpsonshead8809 Yes. That was made when he should know better. He has proven to have great skill like David Lean. But they're not master filmmakers
I feel like Xenomoprh attacks aren't as graphic in this because they actually want to keep the people alive for the nest, whereas in the first movie it feels like the Xenomorph just kills because it's trapped on the ship with them.
Ridley Scott says the original theatrical cut of Alien is exactly what he wanted it to be, and is already the definitive version. He calls the director's cut a new look at the film, but it's meant for people who've already seen Alien. It is actually shorter, too. For Aliens, James Cameron has always said the special edition is the definitive version. That's why people told you to watch the theatrical version of Alien and this version of Aliens.
Most of the extra scenes are good, and add more greatness to a great movie. With one glaring exception: the entire sequence showing the colonists encountering the aliens. That was a mistake. It lessens the suspense of the marines searching for the colonists, and their shock at stumbling onto Newt, and then the dead colonists.
@@GK-yi4xv I actually like that because it's actually says some higher-up wanted to actually go to where the ship actually was. So if wasn't for Burke then the whole thing wouldn't have happened but yeah I know some people don't like that because it of what you wrote
The only thing I think the director's cut of Alien adds is an explanation as to why Ripley's nose is bleeding. Other than that, I don't think anything else was necessary to include.
You're correct. Switching to the colonists violates the POV, which is from Ripley & the Marines' perspective, and it works better if you discover the colony with them. And I mean, does anyone *really* need to see exactly how the colonists discovered the xenomorphs? You might as well film their entire story right up until the marines arrive, at that point.
A few bits of trivia - Al Matthews (the cigar-chomping Sgt Apone) was the first black Marine to be meritoriously promoted in Vietnam. ----- Carrie Henn enjoyed the "slide" (3 stories) so much she kept deliberately flubbing her lines. Cameron asked her for one good take, then she would be allowed to play for the rest of the day. ----- Jeanette Goldstein, (Vasquez) thought the movie was about migrant workers. This is the origin of Hudson's "alien/illegal alien" comment. ----- Bill Paxton (Hudson) ad-libbed many of his more memorable lines. ----- There were 25 f-bombs dropped in the movie... 18 from Hudson. He also says "man" 35 times. ----- In the knife scene, Bill Paxton was the only one who didn't know they would put his hand under Lance Henriksen's. ----- In the original script, Burke was captured and cocooned. Ripley subsequently finds him and gives him a grenade. That is the cause of the explosion that forces Ripley and Newt into the egg chamber.
And: Michael Biehn wasn't the original Hicks. That was James Remar. There are actually two scenes still in the movie where it's Remar, not Biehn (you don't see his face, so they didn't need to re-shoot). Ironically, Remar was best known before this for his role in The Warriors, where one of his co-stars was fired mid-production for being way too full of himself and demanding to 'be the star' of the movie. Then, Remar got himself fired from this movie by Cameron for being way too full of himself, and expecting to be allowed to party, take drugs, etc, during the production. Also, this was filmed in England, and apparently the tension between the 'loud, arrogant Yank director' (though he's actually Canadian), and the very set-in-their-British-ways production crew got so extreme, Cameron assembled them all together at the end to tell him 'this is the best day of my life. We're finished, so today I get to drive out those gates and never have to see any of you assholes ever again'. Also, four actors in this also appear in the Terminator series (Cameron did seem to have a thing for re-cycling a small group of not-very-well-known actors in several of his movies)
About ALIEN 3 -- many fans hate it, for obvious reasons that I can understand. If you choose to see it, avoid its chopped-up theatrical cut, but watch, instead, the Assembly Cut, which is much more coherent in its plot, in its portrayal of the characters. On its own terms, the Assembly Cut is an interesting film, even if it might not be, for many viewers, a good Alien film. As for ALIEN RESURRECTION... why bother? It has a good performance by Weaver; it has Brad Dourif (at least for a while) and a few interesting sub-plots, but otherwise, not much to offer.
You are the most levelheaded Alien series fan I’ve seen in a LONG time. I completely agree with your points. As someone whose first exposure to this universe was the “Alien 3” video game (amazing), and then the film, but later went on to understand and watch the first two films (and appreciate that they ARE far better, but in no way detract from my nostalgic love of 3) I VERY much appreciated your comment and opinion.
I think Alien Resurrection is a fun movie. It's just not a good "Alien" movie. If it hadn't use the alien it almost would have been better for the movie, be its own thing. But I also do like campy movies so.... I think for the camp and action and that version of ripley its worth a watch! but I also very much see why its not liked as part of the franchise.
@@miller-joel -- Any film can function on its own terms, if we look beyond its context and study its methods. Plot, pacing, structure, depiction of character, expression of mood, all of these things can work well as techniques, and they can be appraised independently for their own effectiveness. But when we do take into account the context of a film beyond any technical merits, good methods can be overshadowed... which is why I said that, for many people, ALIEN 3 might not work well as an Alien film. That's especially true in the context of ALIENS and its ending.
Two minor details about the film. When Ripley is shown a picture of her daughter, it is actually a picture of Sigourney Weavers mother. Still keeping it in the family, so to speak. Second, the transporter that the Marines and Ripley got into on the Sulaco, was actually an old decommissioned airport plane tug, so from the outside it looked good at least. The interior was a studio set.
I love how Vasquez gets overlooked. Jennette Goldstein. Her gun says "Adidos" and goes out like a boss, just like Bill Paxton "Hudson" This movie has so many quotable lines. This generation says "Lets Go" i puke because it is worn out. Back then "Lets Rock" while shooting Aliens. "Game over man game over" Even almost 40 years later, the movie looks amazing, sorry J Lawerence.. There is no Hunger in your Hunger games, that is why you starve, just a footnote and 40 years later, you will be barbie compared to real bad a$$ women in cinema. Also when it says 15 minutes, time it.. It is exactly 15 minutes. Amazing film making
The other overlooked character is that bad-ass pilot woman with the shades. She only has a small part, but she absolutely exudes total cool and totally nails the character type.
Actually its not so much an android-redemption arc as it is one of many arcs that Ripley goes through. She learns to accept, tolerate and even trust androids, specifically Bishop. That shows how good of a person Ripley is
@@patronus5855 Right? And that's one reason why I think Aliens is a better movie than Alien. The characters in Alien are so wooden and simple. They exist to look good, say a few good lines and then die. They're like higher grade victims in slasher films.
Dallas I liked. He was a Captain that did things and took the risks to lead and not cowardly have some one else take the risks. Parker came around too, instead of running he tried to save Lambert even though they both died. @@LukeLovesRose
@@patronus5855 They're likable but Dallas doesnt exactly have a character arc to watch the movie for. Parker grows to understand the gravity of the situation. That's not much of an arc. It was never suggested that either of these admirable men were going to p***y out. Hudson on the other hand has three arcs you can watch Aliens to enjoy. He goes from being the biggest wisea** on the team to being the biggest coward on the team to redeeming himself in the most bad**s way... before he dies unfortunately
Never skip movies because that's the stupidest thing you can do, always watch them according to their release date and never be influenced by movie ratings, because it's best to watch them yourself and draw your own conclusions and opinions. 😊
Also, I think you only need to watch Alien & Aliens (just like Terminator 1 & 2) I don't think any of the other films really add anything/are as good in either franchise.
@@brigidtheirish I liked the third movie upon getting over the gut punch story aspects and rewatching later. It wasn't the movie we wanted, but I don't think it's bad. The fourth one, however, is a train wreck.
@@eskarina1000 They made a *fourth?* Admittedly, the story, acting, and even the effects are passable, if it were a standalone movie. I've certainly enjoyed movies with *worse.* The problem is that it *isn't* a standalone movie. It's a sequel to two of the best sci-fi movies of all time. A hard act to follow, yes, but the movie feels like they didn't even *try.*
Better than T2. Cameron is actually more faithful to the source material here than he is with his own story. T2 has an awfully large elephant in it's room.
I'll never forget the dawning realisation to the "roof" scene, the tracker seemingly malfunctioning, watching it at 2am one random summer night on TV, never have I felt so transported in a film, peerless.
I loved how they attempted to make it seem as though Burke was a good guy in the beginning, yet ended up being the bad guy - then reversed this with the android Bishop’s character. A masterful double misdirect.😊
Not really. I know there are women (reactors), who though he was a nice guy, but especially guys sees him as a sleazy, untrustworthy guy,from the get go.
There's more to a lot of the characters. Burke turns out to be a sleazebag, Gorman turns out to be a stand up Marine, Hudson is a panicky mess, but ends up being good under fire, etc.
For some context, the theatrical does not have any mention of Ripleys daughter. The scenes with Ripley talking about the daughter with Burke and Newt are edited around it. Also, any scenes of the colonists and Newts family before the aliens do not exist, so the first time you see Newt is the first time Ripley sees her. Any scene that contains the sentry guns are also edited out of the theatrical. I think also the hamster fake out scene and the crew speculating on the queen "ant hive" are also extra. This is one of the rare instances where I feel like every additional scene would've been good for the story.
The scene where Hudson is strutting about in the APC bragging about how bad-ass they all are was an extra scene. And they cut a scene where Ripley encounters Burke again (he's stuck to a wall when she's searching for Newt, and begs Ripley to kill him, but she gives him a grenade instead and leaves. You can still see the explosion from off screen.) I like all the extras, because the movie's so great, with the big exception of the sequence where the colonists encounter the aliens. That was a mistake. It lessens the incredible tension of the Marines' search, and our shock at encountering Newt, and the dead colonists.
A lot of stuff was cut from the beginning. The fact that Ripley had a daughter and that whole scene with Newt's parents were cut in the theatrical release. We didn't see the planet at all until they got there. Yes, this one is definitely more of a action movie, but if you think about it, they are very similar. The countdown at the end, the alien surviving the explosion, the airlock...both movies ends the same.
As a 33yr Vet & Movie lover, I have always said this is my favorite, AS well most accurate to military style movie i've ever seen. Best watched alone in silence.
"most accurate" Why wouldn't the Lt trust the Sgt to command in the field instead of giving detaied instructions? Or is that the difference between a good and bad officer?
Aliens (1986) is in the Top 3 Best Sequels ever made. The other two are Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991). Which is #1, is hard to answer...
I had the chance to see it in a pack theater when it came out (I'm old) without any idea of the plot except the "s" at the end of Aliens. It was one of the most enjoyable ride ever. The gasps of the crowd when the walls started to move full of xenomorphs and the breathtaking confusion of the fight was amazing. Some scenes were quite rare at the time but we take it for granted now, like when the shuttle crash and keeps going towards them in pieces. When Burke buys it, in the elevator, the crowd actually clapped and cheer, also with the "get away from her, you bitch!" It was great and we came out of the theater like electrified. Plus it was the theater version, the first cut, which is like non stops action. I now appreciate the long version, but in the theater, the pace made it hard to breathe ! Great movie. Don't ask me if i like 1 or 2 better, they're both 10 in different moods.
MU-TH-UR was simply the ship's operating system. The company behind everything is Weyland-Yutani. However, "The Company" didn't even believe Ripley. Burke took it upon himself to investigate the colony. It wasnt a company decision. He was running an "off the books" operation, and likely calling in favors. ....One can infer that the events in Alien were a similar scenario: Some suit heard about the signal and re-routed an expendable asset to investigate. When the Nostromo disappeared, they covered their tracks and 57 years later, nobody has a clue.
There isn't anything at all telling us who is behind special order 937. However, it's just that. The 937th special order that MU-TH-UR has received. It's common practice for a Captain to receive special orders. In this case, they are classified "Science Officer eyes only." (That the Captain can easily access with a few keystrokes) And a crew change. These are one step above clerical adjustments. The work of a suit, operating off the books. He covered his tracks. The Nostromo was classified as a lost ship. If Weyland-Yutani wanted an Alien and knew they were there, they had 57 years to get one. But they were amazed and in disbelief at Ripley's mere existence. Burke sent the colony a message to check out a grid reference. (From the colony's perspective, an order from "The Company ") That's all he had. An X on a map. Because Ripley (being a flight officer) was able to tell the I.C.C. Inquiry board exactly where it was. ... I can go on and on. There is nothing to suggest Weyland-Yutani as a corporate entity is behind the events of the (first 2) films. There is a fair bit of circumstantial evidence to suggest it is not.
0:44 You didn't "miss" anything. The so-called director's cut of Alien is just a different version for commercial purposes. Nothing to do with Ridley Scott's vision or whatever. Aliens is the opposite case. The "special edition" is the one Cameron wrote, filmed, and intended the audience to see, but cut it for time and eventually restored it. So you picked the right versions.
Ridley Scott said everything he cut for the theatrical release of Alien was for good reason. And the theatrical cut is exactly what he wanted to put out. For the anniversary one year the studio asked for a directors cut. Ridley didn’t have much material cause they shot Alien on a shoestring budget. So not a lot was cut. But he does maintain the theatrical was his original product and the best version to watch
@@mrdavman13 Exactly. The studio wanted to add a "director's cut" label for one of the anniversary re-issues. In Cameron's case, he was restoring the original version.
This is my favorite movie series. Yes, the first two films are the best but I really love all Alien films. Each one adds something new and fresh to the lore. Hudson & Vasquez are my favorite characters here (after Ripley of course). Also, the Cocoon scene from the first film (Director's Cut version) is a canon. It shows and proves why xenomorphs are "perfect organisms".
No it isn't Ridley Scott has said that original that come out in 1979 is the director's cut. He just put the cocoon scene and for few other things because people want to see those things
@@irina1296 no is has not been in countless novels it's be in only one a that alien was a mutation all the other have just been in documentays and deleted secens. Also because that wasn't in the first one James Cameron was able to make that the eggs come from a queen.
@@mystique666 James Cameron actually ruined the "perfect organism" theory. In Aliens xenomorphs are dependent on their Queen while in the Cocoon scene they really look like perfect organisms! It was already discussed in countless forums
@@irina1296 listen I don't care all I told you was that Ridley Scott said the original 1979 is the true version. So you then tell me that there have been countless novels which have some sort of cocoon sense but there has only been one. Now you tell me there are countless forms which believe James Cameron ruined the alien. Now I bet there are countless forums were people like how James Cameron introduced the queen and they believed flesh out the alien. Now we could go forever with this and let's just agree to disagree and let just finish it how does that sound
In a deleted scene, When rescuing Newt. Ripley encounters Burke in the alien nest, who already has an Alien inside him. Ripley hands him a grenade before continuing her search for Newt. This originally the explosion that forces them to detour in to the Queen's lair. It was cut because not enough time had passed for Burke to be impregnated and fully conscious.
The xenomorphs are, in fact, a cross between humans in several movies. They take on some characteristics of the host. In these, there is a human skull under a translucent dome, hard to see but visible in the suits the actors wore and the models that were sold. Geiger's (Gee-ger) original artwork shows it.
I know it's in the costume for the first film which Geiger made himself, it's not in the costumes used in this film I think since they made so many and they had to be constructed to a hardier design for shooting the more active scenes.
I think the reason this sequel worked so well was James Cameron took it in a completely new direction, while still honouring the original idea: The first movie is sci-fi horror. This one is sci-fi action with horror elements. Or as someone said, I forget who: The first one is a metaphor for rape, and the second is a metaphor for war. I mean, imagine they made a sequel in the exact same style as the first one. It would probably have been a poor and boring carbon copy with a silly plot - like most sequels are. In other words, it’s the difference between making a sequel because you have a good idea for it, and making it because you want to make a lot of money. Because this was back in the day when a hit movie didn't necessarily have to be followed by shitty sequels - and most weren't.
No the third one was fuck right from the start because David Finch wasn't even working with a script it went through so many script changes and 20th Century kept changing things to what they wanted.
If you happen to watch Alien 3, don't watch anything but the Assembly Cut. I'm no fan of A3, but at least the Assembly Cut was friggin' watchable as a story that made some kind of sense.
@1:02:50 *"That's the most fun slide ever... for about 10 seconds."* Fun fact; that's exactly what Carrie Henn, who played Newt, thought as well. She kept deliberately messing up the scene, so that she could get to go down the slide again and again. Finally, Cameron had to promise her that if she got the scene right, she could then play on it as much as she liked.
It's funny you mentioned Ripley looks like Snow White since Sigourney actually plays the Evil Queen in Snow White: A Tale of Terror. And you said the airduct where Newt slid down looked funny. Actually, the little girl liked sliding it so much she kept messing that scene on purpose just to try it again. Jim Cameron picked up on that and told her she could play there anytime she wanted after the scene ended. Burke's actor took his mom to watch the movie and she cheered when he died. 😅😅😅
This movie actually makes those scenes uncannonical - and while I preferred the way the alien worked in the original, this movie is a fantastic example of what you can do when you're willing to change genres for your sequel movie.
There are pictures of Michael Biehn (Hicks) recreating the scene of showing Ripley how to use the rifle with a tween girl in Ripley cosplay at a convention. It is so cute and wholesome.
Alien is for those who appreciate the ''art'' of the original . 'Aliens' is for the people who like non-stop action , a very well done 'popcorn' adventure sci fi movie . Personally I prefer 'ALIEN'
I cant stand how people look at Alien as an artistic horror film while they treat Aliens like a mindless popcorn movie. It's so ignorant. So pompous, and arrogant. Filmmakers like James Cameron are consistently making art of the popcorn action film. It's a shame that so many people still cant see it or appreciate it.
Bill Paxton is perfect as Hudson :P In old-school Starsiege Tribes multiplayer matches, we used action .wav sound clips (a mod) from Aliens and I used that "Game Over Man!! Game Over!!" as my death sound.
Carter Burke sent a team to go explore for the ship after Ripley talked about it. The colonists just never found the alien ship. It was just there, dormant, while they built the terraforming facility. Once Ripley returned with the info, Burke sent newt's family out on a scouting mission to see if they could find it and they did. That's why this is Burke's fault. Also... Who thought it would be a good idea to do a cinnamon challenge in the middle of the century gun battle scene? Like why completely throw a wrench into the works in the middle of one of the cool scenes that was cut from the other versions? I'm not sure who's calculus it was that thought that that would be a good idea to get more numbers... but what it really did was completely derail the vibe at that moment. Other otherwise great reaction thanks guys. Also I recommend not watching any of the sequels. The two prequels are okay but nothing compares to the first and second movie. Not even close
There are no more Alien movies. The Alien/Aliens duology is amazing sci-fi cinema, and thankfully 20th Century Fox let the series end there on the high note, and didn't milk it with weak-to-outright-bad sequels and prequels. Yep, that's Alien series done - Alien/Aliens - nothing else. I mean, can you imagine if they'd greenlit a 3rd Alien movie that was so poorly recieved the director disowned it? Or a 4th Alien movie where the director gave the aliens clearly visable sex organs, and the studio had to order them removed via cgi in post production? Or what about two prequels where Ridey Scott came back but dumped years worth of established lore from Aliens and the actually good sequel books/games to make it a generic sci-fi move about andriods? And its a real pity, they never made an Alien vs Predator movie. The early 90s had some really good books crossing the two franchises, and would have been amazing to see on the big screen. Probably for the best, if they'd made an AvP movie (or god forbid two), they'd probably hand them over to inexperienced first time directors who'd do something stupid like film entirely in the dark decades before Game of Thrones tried that to great success. Yep, we'll just have to imagine it, because thankfully they left it at Alien/Aliens.
No spoils follow up; Alien 3 and then Resurrection is set after this movie in timeline..I like them. Prometheus followed by Alien Covenant are acutally set before Alien (1979), they are great imo. I really love that you have concept art/images from the movies you react to surrounding you guys - makes it much more immersive to watch along with you! :)
1:00:05 ""what will the pistol do!?" The short answer is the same as the pulse rifles. the pistol used by Gorman fires the same ammunition. as the pulse rifles. Worth making it clear that the Aliens are not immune to being shot. They don't have armour that protects them from gunfire
"Aliens": Third Officer Ripley has been found and taken to Gateway station with a Xenomorph-size case of PTSD. What will The Weyland-Yutani Suits make of her blowing up the "Nostromo"? 18:17 Actor Jenette Goldstein is/was a bodybuilder, so pullups were par for her routine. 22:30 Ripley has just shown Hicks and Apone that she's not a "front office paper shuffler," but a "working class dog" like themselves. 23:00 You saw the "Bug Stompers" nose art on the Drop Ship! There's a further "We Endanger Species" phrase on the "badge." 23:12 That "Batmobile" is a dressed up aircraft towing vehicle. 28:07 Hamsters, like Jones the Cat are too small to be hosts. 33:12 In 1986, I noticed that Ripley was able to "get close, quickly" to Rebecca, unlike the other female Marines. A reviewer at the time said: "Sisterhood!" When I bought the Special Edition Laserdisc(!), I conformed that Ripley had been a parent, as I suspected. 54:50 The Manual of Arms. 1:02:25 They went out like Klingon warriors! 1:05:53 The "Dwayne and Ellen" exchange was cut by studio!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I find 3 is an excellent horror flick. Most don’t like it because there is a real emotional downer right at the start. If you can get past that it is excellent, dark, horror flick. It lacks the go go go and action of Aliens and I think the much slower pace was very hard for many to watch. You are missing out if you don’t watch it, though. 4 is good campy fun and a nice change-up from the first 3 films. It’s got some pretty weird moments but it’s a fun ride nonetheless. I think it helps going in to know it is more humorous and intentionally campy. There is a lot made about a ton of production problems on these movies but the reality is, how does that matter if the final product is entertaining? 1 and 2 definitely are a few cuts above (probably a lot of cuts above) 3 and 4, but 3 and 4 are still well above par when it comes to horror and/or sci-fi. The Prometheus series is serious and for thinkers. Excellent movies but probably voted down by teenage audiences.
Alien and Aliens are masterpieces. Alien 3 is utter garbage but it does explore some lore. It could just be explained in 15mins instead of a whole movie though lol. Then Alien Resurrection has a pretty cool sci-fi concept but just doesn't compare to the first two. Watching the whole saga is a good experience if you can push through Alien 3 lol.
Difference between ripley and todays female action stars is. Ripley is an underdog, no one believes her or in her. She is willing to make the hard decisions. She is a survivor. Never at any moment is she on top or has an advantage. She is fighting to live, her story is one of struggle, perseverence and winning through sheer grit. Todays female action heroines are top dogs from the start, everyone believes in them. When they face a difficult choice they struggle to make one where everyone wins and usualy thats what happens. They are just there, no real danger. The moment they become underdogs they suddenly find some inner power they always had and didnt realize it, yet somehow everyone else always knew. They fight knowing they can win, their story is one of telling the audience that yay women are powerful and not only powerful but more powerful than everyone yay. This is why female action heroines today suck a$#. They basically took superman, turned him into a woman and their only kryptonite is their self doubt... uwu. Female action movies today feel like when you were in school and the teacher brought in the t.v. and everyone got excited. Then she popped in the VHS and it was some person with a monotone voice trying to teach you about the statistical data expressing the slight variations of different rock types found across mid west America during the french revolution.
Yes, watch them all. And once that’s done, watch predator one and two, and that will get you ready for the crossover franchise of alien versus predator and without tossing any spoilers in the mix, you’ll get some of what you were saying you wanted. I am going to have to burst everybody’s bubble. No, alien three is not as good as one and two, none of the rest of these movies are as good as possibly the best science-fiction horror movie of all time, or as good as possibly the best sequel of all time. Alien three is like godfather three. :-) But number four is a lot of fun.
I can't recommend the other Alien sequels. Just watch these first two and stop... the others will depress you and are not as good as these. I hate ALIEN3 the most, and I treat them as bad hyper-sleep dreams... ☹
When the actor playing Burke took his mother to the Premiere, she cheered when he was killed off and said he deserved it 😂 Also he’s in stranger things.
Alien 3 Special Edition, Alien Resurrection Special Edition, and Prometheus are worth watching/reacting to. They are not as bad as a lot of people say they are.
This is in my top 3 films with Terminator 2 and the first Matrix ... the fact this was made in the 80s.. with a budget of $7m and what is essentially 6 or 7 guys in rubber wetsuits, an airplane towing vehicle, some set models and pretty much all practical fx is just ...i have no words. Definitely check out Carpenters The THING 1980s movie with Kurt Russell... it'll melt your minds!
Everyone gives Hudson grief because he's reacting like most of us would in the circumstances. However, he was extremely competent at his job (electronics and computers). He's also not so cowardly as his panicky demeanor suggests; he's a seasoned Marine, a combat veteran. He's just up against something he's not prepared for. He's also the one who rescues Newt in the lab, and he buys everybody else time when they fall out of the ceiling. He went out a badass; give him his propers.
This movie had been on my Top Favorite Movies for years. Happy to share it with you guys. Glad you picked the Directors Cut. Also Guys... when you watch Alien 3 and 4 remember this... they are just nightmares Ripley has in her cryotube on the way home. lol Prometheus was ok. Alien Covenant was ok. AVP 1 and 2 were good for different reasons. But NONE of them matched Alien and Aliens. I do hope the new one coming is good.
You mentioned liking the waist-mounted heavy machine gun. It was actually made by putting a gun directly on a Steadicam Stabilizer. The power loader that Ripley drives isn't actually fully mechanical. In fact, only the grips on the ends of the arms are. The entire rest of the loader is actually a hollow suit with stuntman John Lees inside. Sigourney Weaver just stands in front of him while he walks around and moves his arms. The two antennas on the top of the loader are the anchor points for the suspension cables that hold the suit upright.
According to legend, after the movie released a bunch of construction and haulage companies started calling Fox, asking where they could buy a Power Loader, thinking maybe it was some kind of prototype that the studio had borrowed for the movie.
The visual design to this is all 80’s tech utilized really well by James Cameron, the directors cut of this movie has no enhancements only added scenes and subplots.
The actress who played newt said she kept messing up the scene where she fell through the fan from the grenade blast when Gorman and Vasquez sacrificed themselves so she could keep sliding down the slide over and over. James Cameron finally caught on and told her to get it together 😊
As new fans of Aliens, i recommend you avoid Alien 3 all together. There is an obsession with the pee-colored cinematography. But its not worth subjecting yourselves to the awful content
