ALIENS (1986) WAS FREAKING EPIC! ~ First Time Watching 

"The resemblance is striking" - Yep, that's a picture of Sigourney's mom.

Fun fact about when Newt falls and slides down the chute. The child actor enjoyed the slide so much she kept messing up the take so she could go again. James Cameron wised up to it and told her “If we get this shot done I will let you ride it the rest of the day”. So the kid did it right and Cameron kept his word.

Paul Reiser (Burke) attended the "Aliens" premier with his mother, when his character DIED she cheered and told him "He deserved it". He played the villain so well that his OWN MOTHER wouldn't sympathize with him.

"If we don't see Ripley in a mech, I will, in fact, riot!" You're up for a treat! :D

And then Ripley, Hicks and Newt went back to Earth and lived on a farm and they all lived happily ever after!

Bill Paxton (Hudson) actually had a nervous breakdown after filming this movie. He thought that he would never work in film again, he thought that he had done so poorly that his career was over. He died a couple years ago, and to this day I am saddened that I never managed to meet him at a con to tell him that Hudson's death was the only one that pissed me off in this movie. I was rooting so hard for Hudson, dangit....

I went to a comic-con about six months before this came out, and there was a panel about this movie…the moderator said, “The sequel to ALIEN is called ALIENS…and it’s not because there’s just two.”

I'm glad you saw this version of the film. The scene where Ripley finds out her daughter died was cut from the theatrical release, but it really adds so much context to the relationship she develops with Newt. Miranda: "Maybe they should blow the entire place up." Literally everyone watching: "IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO BE SURE." 😄

Bishop getting a reverse of Ash's role, where he starts cold and somewhat menacing to become the rescuer of our heroes, is A+ sequel writing. Lance does a great job with Bishop. The evolution of the artificial people of the WYV (Weyland-Yutani-Verse) has become one of my favorite parts of the series over the years.

"Don't know that name. Don't know that name either." Me: "Ugh, I'm old."

Newt's "mommy" line gets me every time.

I saw ALIENS opening night in 1986 in England where I live. To this day, its the best movie I have ever seen with an audience. It was an old theater converted into a cinema that could hold a thousand people on three tiers. So when the laughs and screaming from the audience started, it vibrated right through the building. It was amazing, to be on such a roller-coaster ride of a movie with such a big audience.

Actor Al Matthews who played Gunnery Sgt Apone, was a real life soldier and Vietnam Veteran. In an interview he once said "I spent six years in the United States Marine Corps; I hold thirteen combat awards and decorations, including two purple hearts. I was the first black Marine in the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam to be meritoriously promoted to the rank of sergeant; I served with Kilo Battery, Fourth Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division, of that I am very proud."

Even back when Aliens was released there was often an inverse relation between scores given by critics and audiences: high critic scores matched with low audience scores and vice versa. This movie got a 9/10 with critics and a 90+% from audiences. It's a very special movie.

"We've got knives, sharp sticks..." I love Hudson's brag in the dropship and the way it winds down is so funny to me. The special edition really gives Hudson a full arc from bold braggart to "Game over man!" cowardice to heroic last stand. RIP to Bill Paxton and his particular brand of loveable obnoxious A-hole 😇

"Why are there sparkles everywhere?" Aliens: Friendship is Magic

As a person with incredibly curly Italian hair, I can confirm that we do hide all of our lies up there.

"Ducts. Why is it always ducts?" (Gwen DeMarco)

"Assholes and elbows" = working on a task expeditiously. It's what you see from behind when someone is busily doing something.

With all due respect to Arnold, Sly, Clint, Chuck, Bogie, the Duke, Jesse "The Body", Mel... Ripley's "Get away from her you BITCH!" is THE most badass line ever uttered in movie history.

One of the greatest sequels of all time. Ellen Ripley is such a badass.

Aliens ... or "Everyone dies, because they don't listen to Ripley Part 2" Amazing reaction, Miranda!

The definition when the audience knows something when the characters don’t is called ‘dramatic irony’.

Alien and Aliens are both among the greatest of all time in their respective genre, sci-fi horror and sci-fi action (with some horror). Just iconic both of them.

I took an intro acting class during my junior year of high school. Our instructor asked us to name a movie or TV character we idolized most. I said Ripley. I'm a guy, and I got some "but that's a woman" feedback from my classmates. My response: "Yeah, so? She's strong, calm in the face of fear, and kicks a lot of butt." Shut them right up.

You hit the nail on the head with the mother theme, the reason the studio made them cut the scenes was for more theatre run time (more showings) Sigourney should have won an Oscar for this performance.

"Game over, man!" When Sigourney Weaver hosted SNL in 1986, they did a fun sketch titled "Alienses." Dana Carvey did a great Hudson: "We're shredded wheat, man!"

Miranda's IMMEDIATE distrust of Burke is LEGENDARY! 🤣❤

The scene where the alien rises above Newt is one of the most iconic in the entire series.

"Since it's AlienS, that must mean there's two. If there's more than two..." Oh dear.

0:35 Apparently adding the 'S' was how James Cameron pitched the idea for the sequel. He walked in to the meeting with the studio execs and wrote the word "ALIENS" on the board but replaced the 'S' with a $ symbol!

The phrase "assholes and elbows" is a military saying, leadership saying "all I want to see is assholes and elbows" is saying I don't want you standing around or looking at me, move and be ahead of me.

BTW - The original theatrical release did not have the initial scenes with Newt and her parents and the discovery of the Alien. And, the scenes where Ripley finds out her daughter was dead and her scene in the "park" were also not included until the director's cut release years later. So, Ripley's maternal instincts were developed with Newt and not because she had lost a child. Shows how editing influences a storyline.

Michael Biehn gets to play opposite Sarah Connor AND Ripley. Epic.

Burke was played by actor Paul Reiser, and if I recall correctly when his mother watched the movie, she enjoyed it when his character was killed.😂

This is not just a 1:12 "James Cameron film", no, this is the "James Cameron masterpiece"

I believe the term is "dramatic irony."

The android didn't malfunction in the first movie, it was following company orders, orders that superseded those of the crew. It's the same side plot issue in this movie with Burke.

You actually play as Amanda (Ripley's daughter) in the game 'Alien: Isolation'. It's set between the first and this movie. I highly recommend playing it.

Congrats on finishing the entire Alien set. The ENTIRE set. JUST THESE TWO.

Now that you've done the only 2 'Alien' movies ever made, you should do the only two 'Terminator' films to ever be made.

"Are there any more Alien movies I should check out?" NOOOO!! No matter what anyone says, there is no Alien 3. DO NOT LOOK INTO IT ANY FURTHER!!!

"Why am I finding joy in this?" ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

All I can say about Alien 3 is that I've never left a cinema feeling more depressed.

Ricco Ross ("Frost") only had a few lines in there, being the first to die... but goddamn if just about every line he did have was a banger. My favorite is still "What the hell are we supposed to use, man, harsh language?"

Glad you're enjoying this movie. Now do yourself a favor: Do Not, I repeat NOT see the third film, or any Alien movies. As far as you're concerned, Ripley adopted Newt, Hicks got a medical discharge, Bishop got himself fixed,and they all lived happily ever after. my story and in sticking to it.

Now Miranda gets to play Alien Isolation for her gaming channel!

god, the sets and atmosphere of movies from around the mid 80s is just something else

The woman who plays Pvt Vasquez is Jeanette Goldstein. Despite appearances, she isn’t hispanic but jewish American. In fact, she has a very freckly face; it was hell for the makeup crew to cover that up.

What I always loved about this movie is that you end up knowing all the Marine's names and personalities from sometimes just a few lines. They are not just cannon fodder like in a lot of movies. A masterclass in how to handle a cast. Not to.mention that every single one of them was well acted.

There is a companion book that explains the missing 57 years. The actress who played Newt is now a teacher and stays in contact with Sigourney. See a new side of "Ripley" in Galaxy Quest.

Made the mistake of taking a first date to this in the 80s. She was so traumatized she never spoke to me again.

"What's that called, where the audience knows and the characters don't?" Dramatic irony 🧐

It's always the little things. When Newt finally calls Ripley "mommy" after the Queen goes out the airlock just starts the waterworks.

The hive sequence was shot in the decommissioned Acton power station. A friend of mine was involved in asbestos surveying the site a few years later. He said that the alien hive set-dressing was still in situ. He said it was actually fairly creepy working down there on his own.... 😳

No one ever recognizes Michael Biehn, the most famous unrecognized actor. Hicks in Aliens? Johnny Ringo in Tombstone? Kyle Reese in The Terminator? Lt Coffey in The Abyss? Etc, etc.

53:50 Just as Miranda was getting attached.... Bishop was getting very much detached! 😮🫣 Thanks for the awesome entertaining watch along, Miranda! 😊

Here's a fun fact I've heard: in the scenes with the Alien Queen, Sigourney Weaver made a point of not going on set until the puppeteers were out of sight and they had the Queen in character so that her fear would be authentic.

This is the extended cut. In the original theatrical release, we never saw the colonists and Newt was a surprise to the audience.

Glad you're watching the Extended Cut. The Theatrical Cut removed all of the mentions of her daughter, removed the scenes from Hadley's hope and Newt when her parents went to the ship and the exchange of first names between Hicks and Ripley (we've never heard her first name in the first movie) amongst other things, like actually _naming_ the Company (Weyland-Yutani) which wasn't mentioned in the first movie. Many of those things resonate with the theme of Motherhood throughout this movie, and the Theatrical Cut removed much of that theme's scenes. Also, the only reference to her having a daughter in the first movie is when she was in the escape shuttle when she was chanting 'You are my lucky star', which is something that you might sing to your children. Cameron noticed that and built a movie around that idea, resulting in the theme. He also kept the theme 'gaslighting' from the first movie. Both in the first and second one, nobody believes Ripley and they all play it down until they get confronted by the creature. The striking resemblance of the photo of her old daughter is because it's a picture of Sigourney Weaver's mother ;) So now the question is ... are you going to watch Alien 3 (a rather frustrating and boring movie, but with interesting concepts) and Alien: Ressurrection (rather hated, but a pretty _entertaining_ movie that builds upon Alien 3) or are you willing to play the game _Alien: Isolation_ ? That one actually bridges the gap between _Alien_ and _Aliens_ and it's just as terrifying (and immersive) as the first two movies. The best part of it is that the game's actually canon to the franchise, because it still features Ripley. Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley. This family has such bad luck, having to encounter the aliens for two generations. Also, in case you want more sci-fi horror, why don't you check out _Event Horizon_ , _Pandorum_ and _Pitch Black_ ?

And after this, no more films in the Alien franchise were made.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest sequels of all time. I saw this in the theater. When she says "Get away from her, you Bitch!" there was a thunderous cheer from the audience. The first two movies in the series are fantastic. Both of them are 5 star movies, but for different reasons.

39:10 "Get him some cheese to go with that whine" wow, what an epic quip!

James Cameron still knew how to use low-budget tricks to make a mid-budget movie look epic. He only had six Alien costumes for the whole movie; and I think the most you ever see in one shot is when Hicks goes up into the ceiling. But between the editing, the use of the motion trackers, and the storytelling, you constantly believe that there's 100 of them out there.

Knowing something before the characters is called dramatic irony.

Interestingly, the set actually WAS used as a haunted house like experience! Much of the filming was done at Pinewood Studios in the UK. After filming, they used the set and props to create Alien War, an interactive experience attraction which started in Glasgow but eventually found a permanent home at the Trocadero in Piccadilly, London. I was actually living in London at the time and was lucky enough to go - I thought it was absolutely amazing :) There are a few videos here on RU-vid that go into detail about it and definitely worth a look.

That last shot of the 3 of them, Hicks, Ripley, and Newt is awesome. I like to pretend the other movies didn't happen, and they got rescued and lived as a family. But, if you want that whole idea destroyed, keep watching the rest of them.

Seems now I have to recommend "The Terminator". It's made by the same guy who directed this: James Cameron (He made a lot of iconic 80s/90s movies).To quote Hudson, "If you liked that, you're gonna love this!".

Wow what a great ending. I'm glad there are no more Alien movies after this one!

The best female hero character ever... and that in the eighties! ;)

One of the best Sci-fi Action Horror movies ever made! Nominated for 7 Oscars: Best Actress,Sigourney Weaver Best Original Score, James Horner Best Film Editing, Ray Lovejoy Best Sound Editing Best Sound Mixing Best Production Design, Peter Lamont Best Visual Effects, Stan Winston, John Richardson, Robert Skotak. It won for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Mixing. It was a box office and critical success, making $190 million dollars against an $18 million dollar budget.

"If only Batman was here" - Funnily enough, there is a book about Batman and the Aliens !

You should totally play Alien Isolation.

One of the best movies ever made

Deleted scenes make more sense of how Ripley is attached to Newt

I case you're interested Amanda Ripley has a story of her own, the game Alien Isolation. On another note I'm glad you watched the extended version of this movie, so much better.

Great reaction like always, i love this movie and there are some fun-facts about it. Some of the movie’s most memorable sequences are when we meet the team of marines after they awake from hypersleep. Despite them coming early on in the film, Cameron shot all of these scenes last because he wanted there to be a lot of camaraderie between the marines, and thought this would come across more strongly if the cast had spent the last 14 weeks working together. The cast were also trained by SAS professionals and learned drills, how to handle weapons, and work as a platoon. In the first act, loudmouth marine Hudons (Bill Paxton) asks tough Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), “Vasquez have you ever been mistaken for a man?” and she replies “No, have you?” A funny line, and Cameron took it from a classic Hollywood story about Talulah Bankhead, the 1930s acting icon. A newspaper columnist said to her in an interview, “Have you ever been mistaken for a man?” and she replied, “No, darling. Have you?” One of the most memorable parts of the movie is when android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) performs a trick by moving a sharp knife between the fingers of Hudson’s hand. Lance Henriksen as Bishop performed it at a slow speed, and the footage was sped up. You can tell because if you take notice of Apone, who’s next to Hudson, he’s laughing and his head is moving far more quickly than looks normal. The knife trick scene was actually not in the original script. Cameron had the idea on the set. He discussed it with everybody except Bill Paxton (who plays Hudson) as he wanted to get real surprise and shock from Paxton. Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley is the lynchpin and main lead character from the whole Alien series, but she might not have appeared in Aliens as Weaver was very hesitant about returning at first. She’d already rejected offers from Fox to do Alien sequels, thinking Ripley would be poorly written, and she was rightly proud of Alien and didn’t want to harm its legacy. There is an interesting deleted scene around Burke, Carter Burke is killed towards the end of the movie when he sneaks away during a gunfight, and comes across a lone alien. That’s the last we see of him in the movie but Cameron did shoot a scene (later removed) that tells us what happened to Burke. The scene takes place during the sequence where Ripley visits the alien nest to rescue Newt. She comes across a cocooned Burke and, having been fertilised by a facehugger, he says to her, “I can feel it inside me.” Ripley gives leaves Burke with a grenade and moves on. And the only two actors to be killed by a Predator, Terminator & Xenomorph. Are Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen (Bishop) They are the only actors to have faced off against all three of these iconic sci-fi killing machines. Keep up the good work.

Ripley is the "strong female character" done RIGHT. She isn't some emotionless, masculine Mary Sue character we see so often in newer movies. Most of the time Ripley is completely terrified, but she conquers her fear to save her adopted daughter. This is feminine strength at its finest. It's powerful, it's believable and it just works.

The guy who plays Sergeant Apone. Al Matthews. I swear they modeled that character after my Platoon Sergeant. 82nd Airborne infantry '85-'89. My Platoon Sergeant was named "Smiley." No kidding. Toughest SOB I ever met. Edit: And Matthews was a Vietnam era vet as well. Marines.

Fun Fact: Sigourney Weaver played the Wicked Stepmother in a live action adaptation of Snow White in the late 90’s. Sam Neill was also in it as Snow White’s father.

Batman would be proud of that detective work on display during that intro there Miranda!! 🤣🤣🤣

15:38 - "I already know who my favorite character is" Yeah, about that...

I Like the Fact that 15 Minutes in and Miranda has called out a few things that're going to happen later. Can't wait to see her expressions when they do. XD

If you haven't played it, "Alien Isolation" follows Ripleys daughter. Phenonimal game!

Saw this at the now-demolished Indian Hills theater in Omaha the night it opened, July 18, 1986. I was 15. We got to sit in the balcony, which the theater only opened when the crowd was huge. When it ended, I was so amped my hands were shaking. I went on to see it in theaters that summer and fall _nine_ times. We bought the Beta cassette at rental pricing, over $90 in February 1987. Then I watched it four times that weekend.

52:52 "I love perfect timing" you're goddamn right My favorite fun fact about this movie: The final sequence with 15 minutes countdown - takes up exactly 15 minutes of real time.

Miranda: "I hope there is just two aliens. I don't think I can handle more..." Prepare to have your expectations shattered...there are much more than two. 😮 Paul Reiser was in the sitcom Mad About You with Helen Hunt for seven seasons. Lance Hendrikson and Michael Biehn both appeared in James Cameron's Terminator; Lance as a cop and Michael Biehn as future resistance fighter Kyle Reese. Bill Paxton also appeared in Terminator as one of the three punks at Griffith Park.

The series mostly peaked with the first two films, but I understand the desire for more after these, both remain iconic all these decades later.

53:34 queen takes bishop lol

Ripley's hearing gave the company reason to open old company records. Once contact was lost with the colony, Ripley became a liability to the company while able to communicate her knowledge of the reasons in opposition to a company cover-up, so was kindly invited to go along.

Reaction to The Terminator needs to be next

I'm really glad you watched the director's cut. It really is better than the original theatrical release.

"Game over man! Game over!" - ICONIC 80's line from the legendary Bill Pullman (RIP)

The first two movies are the real stars of the series.

Do not watch the next Alien movie if you want to not be depressed. Just take the happy ending and smile it gave you.

Miranda: "If we don't see Ripley in a mech, I will riot" Aliens: "Gotcha covered"

The most interesting thing for me about this movie is that except for two deaths, all were offscreen. The R-rating was sheer language. If you haven't seen Terminator, you will see Vasquez again as John Connor's foster mother, and you will see a lot of this crew again. One thing that pains me about this movie is that there is no Alien 3 and Alien 4 if Ripley had simply left once she killed the last adult alien. She emptied her weapons on eggs and even undeveloped eggs, and not the queen, and she sealed her fate. If she had saved that belt of bombs for the elevator, she would have gotten to die of old age.

This is definitely one of the best sequels to a movie ever made. It's so well crafted in so many different ways. Every trick in the book is used to perfection.

Great Reation...... Legend has it, Paul Reiser took his mom to the Premiere, She Cheered when Burke Died...... This is the only movie Carrie Henn (Newt) ever acted in she became a teacher (Middle School, I think)..... James Cameron does have actors he likes to work with..... Michael Beihn, Lance Hendricksen, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstien, are in sevceral of his films..... Jenette Goldstien, I like calling her the "sequel queen" has roles in various sequels, ..... She rarely appears physically the same in movies............ She plays Vasquez in "Aliens," she is a cop in "Lethal Weapon 2," She plays John's Foster Mom in "Terminator 2", She was also in "Titanic" as an Irish lady with 2 kids in Hallway/Elevator, She was in the Beginning of "The Presido"......

Alien Resurrection (the 4th installment) really hits hard with the whole maternal aspect of these movies. It has one of the most heartbreaking scenes of all time in it. You have to watch it for sure even if you don't like the third movie.