Review of Aliens (1986) by Amanda C — 15 Oct 2018

I have the say, the "Alien" series is not my favorite. I know so many people adore it and think it's one of the best film series. However, when I saw "Alien", I felt indifferent about it and subsequently felt the same about "Aliens".

It's just not my cup of tea. I felt nothing. Maybe it's that each iteration had a different director rather than being the sole vision of one director? I'm not sure. That being said, I do appreciate "Aliens" for the direction in which James Cameron has taken it.

On the filmmaking side of things, I think that he did an incredible job and really furthered the genre in his venture. The sound design was incredible and definitely affected my viewing for the better (despite still not being a big fan).

I enjoyed the moments of silence, as well as the swells of sound. I liked that whenever an alien was about to appear, or a moment of tension was building - there was seemingly so much silence. In watching the film, it felt like you could hear a pin drop from miles and miles away.

When Cameron would then have the alien appear it was like this cascade of sound hit you all at once and I couldn't help but jump a little in my seat. It is moments like that that make the film so iconic and make me enjoy it maybe just a little bit.

Having seen "Alien" and then having this be my first time seeing "Aliens", it was very cool to see the progression in sound design this go around!