Aliens Again

Ms. S wanted to see Aliens (1986) again after we rewatched Alien. It was even better than we remembered it.

It starts right where Alien left off, with Sigourny Weaver and Ripley in the escape pod. They get picked up and Weaver discovers that she’s been drifting for decades. A nice man from Weyland-Yutani, Paul Reiser, tries to help her re-integrate into society. But nobody believes her story about the alien, and she is suspended for blowing up the ship. But when the colony on the alien planet stops communicating, they start to wonder.

So they bundle Reiser and Weaver onto a ship with a Marine squad, who are a fun and muscular bunch. Take Vasquez, Jenette Goldstein, who does chin-ups and busts the chops of her fellow Marines. Also, Bill Paxton (“Game over, man”, “It’s a bughunt”) as Hudson, and Lance Henrikson as Bishop, the android.

On the planet, they find nothing alive - except Newt (Carrie Henn), a little girl who is hiding from the aliens. She doesn’t want to trust the Marines, but Weaver brings her out. Now they just have to deal with the many, many aliens at different parts of their lifecycle and get the hell off the planet.

The main thing I took away on this watch is how suspenseful the movie is - more than Alien, I think. Once they get to the planet, the tension doesn’t let up for a second. Last time, I think I was disappointed by how survivable a planet full of aliens was. The team lasted for days, and the little girl for months. Whereas on the Nostromo, one alien was all it took.

Next, Alien 3. What do you think, are we going to like it?