The 2nd Science Fiction Hall of Fame

But Aliens isn't trying to be a full on action flick. It has lots of heart & fun entertainment, with it's colorfully over the top characters...and it's sentimental with it's treatment of Ridley and Newt. Heck it's even gentle as nothing is really gory, even Ridley's cat is treated gently as it isn't taken to the colony, so it's never in danger. I like the way Cameron handled the film. I could see others wouldn't like it for the same reason that I do.

It appears so, sound & picture were crystal clear / balanced on my copy (bluray)

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That's what I expected and would've loved. Soldiers trapped in a planet filled with aliens? I better see some blood! Oh well...

And for a movie that's titled Aliens, their multitude wasn't noticeable at all. However, James Cameron did include a smart detail that helped hide that: The troops' use of the scanner that showcases in its screen how many and how close are the aliens. It not only helped elevate the tension, but it also immensely aided at making it feel that they're really outnumbered, without ever actually showing them.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

Me not being able to see what was happening had nothing to do with the quality of the picture though, but rather due to the rapid cuts throughout the action sequences.

Now that's impressive.

Seconds
Nora: What kind of man is he? There's grace in the line and color, but it doesn't emerge pure. It pushes at the edge of something still tentative, unresolved - as if somewhere in the man there is still a key unturned.
Tony: That's quite an analysis.
Nora: Not really. When you come to think of it - it sort of fits everybody, doesn't it?

Ahh, the halcyon days when directors were tripping balls when they made their films. . .

Which was what I was thinking for the majority of this film, in a very good way. Especially with that train depot opening. The camerawork putting us deep within the claustrophobic paranoia at full tilt. And that same camera effect stayed with many of the intriguing points of the film as our middle aged character is not allowed a choice to turn back or change his mind once he's agreed to sit in the back of the meat van.
Speaking of,

"The Used Cow Dealer" cracked me up. Had to pause and show my room mate who laughed as well when she read it.

Like others, the grape scene did seem overly long. Not so much unnecessary, taking the "freedom" that has been gifted by the shrouded company and expressing it a poetic fantasy. It just seemed to go on a little too long and made me feel i was watching a different kind of movie before it finally came back around.

Which, in the end, is my one and only complaint.
This was quite the existential warning about the pitfalls of being given a second chance. Especially by some corporate enigma.

Impressive and strange.

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

I can't believe I forgot about that already. Yeah, I definitely chuckled at that as well haha.

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I think Alien / Aliens is the rare combo where the films compliment each other.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

I can't believe I didn't notice that.

They do and yet totally different styles as others have noted. What about Alien 3? I haven't seen that in such a long time I can't remember what tone the film took? Of if it was any good? I guess we need a Sci Fi HoF III to find out

It gets a lot of hate for disregarding the characters from Cameron's and the weird CGI alien hybrid. It's hard to follow a one-two punch from Scott and Cameron. I think it went for a darker tone, which is Fincher's style.

It's not TERRIBLE, but not great either. Fincher has disowned it and the one thing I like about it is the ending. The behind the scenes stuff is pretty interesting though. The original story involved her ship crashing on a planet of Monks and it's made entirely out of wood. They kept the bald characters as prisoners but abandoned everything else. But the sets were already built, so money down the drain.

Thanks. I kind of remembered it being darker, but that's all I can remember of Alien 3.

I think the cardinal rule for directors doing a sequel of someone else's movie, is that they try to put their own style stamp on it and do something different than the previous director. For that reason alone I should watch Alien 3. And I've never seen the last one either with Winona Ryder, Alien Resurrection.

I keep getting Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection mixed together in my mind, so I can't remember which one I like the least. I guess I'll just have to go through the entire series when I rewatch Aliens for the HoF haha.

Is Aliens 3 the one where Ripley has her head shaved?

It is, though I just had to double check to make sure haha.

Yeah and Resurrection is when she is a clone and has Winona Ryder and that dumb Alien/Human hybrid.

when Alien 3 first came out, I didn't care too much for it. But I think that had to do more with the complete switch in tone than the movie itself. I rewatched it about a decade ago and while I didn't love it, I did appreciate what it had to offer more.

Alien Resurrection was very graphic novel/comic book-esque in style. Which, I think, at the time, there was a comic book about Alien making it down to Earth and they were following that storyline. Not a great film, but an enjoyable popcorn fodder with some fun rogue characters and situations. Had some good actors, including Brad Dourif, Dan Hadaya, Michael Wincott, Ron Perlman, and Dominque Pinon backing up Weaver and Ryder.

Alien 3 is also a film where you need to watch it a couple times to get the characters down. It just ended up looking like garbage because the CGI wasn't there yet.


Alien Resurrection looked good (and still does) but it was missing any scenes of tension though I did think they did a pretty good job with the characters.


Prometheus if you saw it in 3-D on an IMAX screen it was amazing doesn't really translate on a home system.


Alien Covenant I liked it, it was a solid return to form and it fixed a number of issues that the previous three Alien films had.

I think I've only seen one of the newer films, can't remember which. Pretty decent from what I remember of it.

and yeah, @Siddon, I agree about the characters in Resurrection.

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Seconds



I should have probably written this one up sooner as a lot of the film has honestly already faded from my memory. For me, it just wasn't that memorable. Not a bad film, but it's talked about pretty highly and I don't get the overall praise for it.

One thing I will say is that I thought the performances were really good. Rock Hudson was the best performance for me and really he did a good job of carrying the film. I also liked the directors choice of using black and white as it seemed to add to the vibe of the film for me.

I think my biggest issue was the pacing of the film and I couldn't help feel like there were lulls that took me out of caring about what was happening.

Sorry that this is really lazily written, but I think this may be a film down the road that even I will forget that I saw, so I will need to see it again. I seem to have that issue sometimes with films.