 |
| Sigourney Weaver as Ripley is cemented as the capable action heroine of the franchise on this multiplex-feeding poster for James Cameron's Aliens |
Ellen Ripley, sole survivor of the alien drama of the first Alien (1979), is saved in space after 57 years of stasis. When contact is lost with the current colony on the moon of the first alien contact, Ripley is convinced to go there and defeat the aliens with a group pf marines.
Canadian master writer-director James Cameron's (Titanic (1997)) Aliens recycles somewhat over-zealously from its great predecessor. It comes up with a very long plot that is a bit too knotty and characters-overpopulated, SPOILER like Ripley's 66-year old daughter and some of the Marine Corps members. - The film is 20 minutes longer than Alien, without any real justification.
But it is a very action-packed film nonetheless, extremely entertaining and also filled with good ideas, SPOILER like the sewer scene, the girl Newt, the mother alien, the yellow robots, and Lance Henriksen (Justice Served (2015)) as an android. A fun trivia aside is that Henriksen was originally chosen to play the the terminator in Cameron's same-titled great hit from 1984, until a certain Austrian bodybuilder entered the room ... Henriksen got a smaller part in the movie, and Michael Biehn (Tombstone (1993)) and Bill Paxton (Vertical Limit (2000)), - who is a lot of fun in Aliens, rivaling his manliness with the group's female alpha, Vasquez (Jeanette Goldstein (It Is What It Is (2001))), - are also enjoyable, reappearing Terminator stars here.
Related posts:
The Alien Franchise: AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004) or, Everyone Loses
Alien: Resurrection (1997) or, Queen of the Goo Massacre!
Alien 3 (1992) or, The Monsters Go to Jail!
Alien (1979) or, Space Eggs Are Bad News
James Cameron: Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best adventure films reviewed by Film Excess to date
Avatar (2009) - The Colorful Adventure Epic That Won the World (also with Sigourney Weaver)
Watch a 2016 58-minute panel with Cameron, Weaver, Paxton and others at the San Diego Comic Con on the occasion of the film's 30th anniversary
Cost: 17 - 18.5 mil. $
Box office: 130.8 mil. - 183.3 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned at least 7.07 times its cost)
[Aliens premiered 14 July (Los Angeles, California) and runs 137 minutes. Development of the sequel was prolonged due to Fox executives' unwillingness to proceed with it for years. Only after the success of Terminator did they believe in the Cameron script, and production began with Gale Anne Hurd (Raising Cain (1992)), Cameron's then wife, serving as producer. Fox wanted another lead, refusing Weaver her 1 mil. $ salary (30 times what she was paid for Alien), until Cameron insisted on her participation. Main inspirations for the film were the Vietnam War and Robert A. Heinlein's (Red Planet (1949)) novel Starship Troopers (1959). After an unsuccessful audition of reportedly 3,000 British actors, Americans were chosen. Filming took place in England at the abandoned Acton Lane Power Station and at Pinewood Studios from September 1985 - February 1986. The film's original cinematographer Dick Bush (Little Monsters (1985)) had to be fired due to creative differences with Cameron about lighting during filming, and was replaced by Adrian Biddle (V for Vendetta (2005)). Post production, including James Horner's (The Karate Kid (2010)) score, was completed under severe time pressure. The film opened #1 to a 10 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it was #1 for 4 consecutive weeks and remained in the top 5 for 10 weeks, grossing 85.1 mil. $ (65 % of the total gross, if going by the 130.8 mil. $ total gross figure). It was the year's 7th highest-grossing film in North America. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 9.3 mil. $ (7.1 %) and France with 7 mil. $ (5.4 %). The rumored 183.3 mil. $ gross may be including home video sales. Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5/4 stars, equal to a notch higher than this review. The film was nominated for 7 Oscars: Best Actress (Weaver, in a major highpoint for the recognition of sci-fi and action at the Oscars), lost to Marlee Matlin (Some Kind of Beautiful (2014)) for Children of a Lesser God, Art Direction/Set Decoration, lost to A Room with a View, Sound, lost to Platoon, Editing, also lost to Platoon, Score, lost to Herbie Hancock for 'Round Midnight, and Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects, both of which it won. Weaver was also nominated for a Golden Globe, the film's only nomination there. It was nominated for 4 BAFTA's, winning one, and is today #64 on IMDb's user-generated Top 250, between American Beauty (1999) and Princess Mononoke/Mononoke-Hime (1997). Cameron returned with The Abyss (1989). Weaver returned in Half Moon Street (1986). Aliens is certified fresh at 98 % with a 9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Aliens?
No comments:
Post a Comment