Review of Aliens (1986) by Martin R — 08 Aug 2015

A few years ago, I was a subscriber to Netflix and I wasn't keen on the whole 'watching TV shows online'--I was in it for the DVD deliveries but when the prices went up, we were done with it.

One of the many movies that I had rented was 1986's "Aliens," which I'd never seen before, and--I don't know what drugs I was on--but I disliked the film. Actually, I didn't even watch the whole thing, I guess the first act wasn't compelling enough for me.

But shortly before Christmas '13, at around midnight, "Aliens" was being aired and I thought I'd give it another try. To keep things short, I saw the action-filled second half of the film and I was just blown away.

Then, Christmas comes around, my mom had gotten me a copy of the collector's edition of James Cameron's masterpiece for about $6 bones, and, what was my third viewing of the film, had also been the first time I had watched "Aliens" in its entirety.

Holy shit. It was like being eight years old again and watching what I have to call one of the most influential films on my childhood, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It was the exact same feeling again. I admire the tension, the eerie atmosphere, the score during the action scenes, the characters (particularly Vasquez, Hicks, and Ripley), and the action-violence.

"Aliens" is truly exemplary; a precedent among science-fiction action films and cinema in general. I've seen a great number of movies; what separates "Aliens" from the countless other action-thrillers is the variety of emotions that realistically displayed.

A great example is Hudson's character, because he really captures the essence of fear just by his facial expression. Most action films tend to be one-dimensional with the sole purpose of being explosive and firing as many bullets as possible.

"Aliens" doesn't sacrifice its kill-count to maintain its tense atmosphere, if anything, "Aliens" is a satisfying experience because it isn't afraid to "humanize" its characters instead of all of them being heartless killing-machines.

Right now, [1/24/14] I just wish "Aliens 3" hadn't gone and fucked everything up and no, I haven't seen it, nor do I plan to. But I will say this; I really do hope that someone will attempt to add another installment to the franchise--I'd really want to see an "Aliens 5" instead of some stupid "clash of the monsters" type of scenario *cough* AvP: Requiem.

Overall, "Aliens" is an excellent film, it's something that ought to be met with nothing but the most respect, this a film that ought to be inspiring the young mind of a science-fiction writer, and it's a film that gets nothing but love from me.

What shocks me even more is that I'm showering a film with praise that was released almost a decade before I was born instead of some spectacle from 2013 or something. Oh wait, that's right, we have remakes because Hollywood just.

..they have so much originality that they're running ever increasingly low. .