ALIENS: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT / 5 out of 5 stars
By John Ulmer
"They mostly come at night...mostly."
The vessel drifts eerily through the vacant outer reaches of space.
There is total silence as the opening credits begin to spread across
the screen, and then the words JAMES CAMERON ignite with an
overwhelming sense of joy. Yes, this is a James Cameron film, perhaps
the way he originally envisioned "Alien" (1979), or at least thought
he could improve upon it.
Ridley Scott's iconic sci-fi masterpiece sparked a generation of cheap
knock-offs and not-so-scary imitators. The film itself borrowed from
Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" and George Lucas' "Star
Wars," but in the process implemented its own revolutionary ideas --
as all great films do. Scott's film ultimately took the premise of a
haunted house and sent it into space--the film was not as much about
aliens as it was about a group of unarmed civilians trapped in a
desolate, grotesque space station drifting...nowhere. "In space, no
one can hear you scream," perhaps one of the most fitting taglines
ever associated with a motion picture.
"Alien" ultimately became one of the biggest surprise-hits of
1979--people lined up outside the theaters to witness the new film
everyone was talking about, people threw up in the theater after being
exposed to the infamous "chest burster" scene. It's only logical that
this craze would have begun in the first place. The limitless
possibilities of space travel on the big screen were just starting to
become explored in a way no one had ever dreamed possible; Kubrick's
film, released in 1968, revolutionized everything there was to
revolutionize about space travel. Audiences were fascinated with outer
space, the unexplored domain that lay directly outside of the earth's
own realm.
Many critics and moviegoers often consider Cameron's film, released in
1986, superior to the first film. Because the two films are quite
different in approach to the entire concept of aliens, it's hard to
compare them. Instead it's quite easy to say that they share a deep
chemistry of sorts, whereas each entry compliments the other's own
flaws. "Alien" was a rather slow, brooding, dark study of humans
abandoned in an unnatural, man-made environment, faced with a deadly
foe; mother nature's crème de le crème of big bad monsters. There was
only one alien in the first film, and it stalked them mercilessly,
unseen. Even by the end of the film there was much mystery surrounding
the alien itself. In short, "Alien" was a horror film. "Aliens" is
not.
"Aliens" is a cold-blooded, terrifying action movie, pumped full of
Cameron's own ever-present unique blend of adrenaline, machoism and
suspense. Its lead hero is actually a heroine, the only returning
character from the first film, Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney
Weaver as one of the most reluctant screen characters of all time. The
company that owned the Nostromo space ****p she blew up at the end of
"Alien" saves her. It's over 50 years later, her daughter is dead, and
everything she has come to know and recognize in her life disappears
in a matter of minutes when she is awoken from a deep sleep and
informed of all this by Burke (Paul Reiser). Chairmen of the company
who take away her pilot's license, believing she is crazy and
delusional, mentally disturbed by whatever happened on the Nostromo,
debrief her. Days go by until activity is recorded on the planet from
the first film -- which is now colonized. The planet where Ripley's
crew originally discovered the alien that made its way onto the ****p
and murdered everyone...except her.
Burke offers Ripley an enticing deal: If she goes to the planet with a
group of marines, they will give her back the freedom she desires.
Cautiously, she agrees, and is ****pped out with a group of Colonel
Marines, including Cor****al Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn), Private
Hudson (Bill Paxton), Lt. Gorman (William Hope), Private Vasquez
(Jenette Goldstein), and Sgt. Apone (Al Matthews). After arriving at
their destination the crew soon realizes that the activity is indeed
related to the extra-terrestrial. There are no civilians in sight --
it seems everyone has disappeared. The single survivor is Newt (Carrie
Henn), a brave young girl who has been hiding in the ventilation
shafts of the colony for, apparently, quite some time.
The action soon begins as the aliens wake up from their slumber within
the walls of the colony and attack their new guests. Ripley, relying
upon her own experiences with one of the creatures, leads the crew as
the casualties soon amount and revelations are made about the species.
James Cameron is one of the most visionary directors of all time, a
man whose idea for "The Terminator" was sparked by the single image of
an endoskeleton rising from fiery flames. His "Terminator" is arguably
his finest masterpiece. Even to this day, with "T2," "The Abyss," and
"Titanic" under his belt, it is rivaled but not surpassed.
To be fair most people seem to think "Aliens" is a super-fast roller
coaster-ride of a movie, when in fact it is also a very long film --
the director's cut roughly two and a half hours long, longer than the
first film. Then why does it seem so short to so many viewers? Because
of its direction. Cameron's dark atmosphere retains the vision of the
original "Alien" but the scope and ideas are entirely different; this
is a film about shooting, yelling, running, and lots of blood and
guts, which isn't to say it's a stupid film...just a very fun one.
Cameron has commented on the film's Vietnam-related themes, although
they're rather outlandish. To be sure, the film does indeed use war as
a backdrop. The film's tagline was "This Time It's War!" -- something
Cameron claims he made up after deciding to promote his movie as a war
picture, not a slow-moving epic in the vein of the original.
Both films are amazing in their own right, and about equal in
comparison in many different ways, but what Cameron does is improve
upon the first film's action, acting and aliens in general. The first
movie, aptly titled "Alien" (as it was not about any more than one of
the species), has far better landscapes, and although both directors
are wonderful Scott is generally better at evoking the paranoia of
space. Cameron doesn't do that because he doesn't need to. The acting
by all involved is top-notch, with Paxton especially stealing the
scenes as the whiny and constantly worried (but never quite annoying)
marine. The writing is fairly good, given the material, and the action
is some of the best you'll ever see.
Everything Cameron set out to do with "Aliens" he does, successfully.
This is one of the greatest thrill rides ever conceived, only
complimented by the director's cut, which was released back in the
'90s. It's the superior version of an already near-perfect film, with
deleted scenes that give extra insight into the actual story and
humanity about it all, such as Ripley finding out that her daughter
has passed away. (The photo of her "daughter" is actually Weaver's own
mother.) The director's cut is now available on DVD, along with the
theatrical cut, but most fans are in agreement that the Cameron's
original vision -- before it was chopped down due to time length -- is
the superior version.
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X-RAMR-ID: 38166
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1157906
X-RT-TitleID: 1000617
X-RT-SourceID: 1382
X-RT-AuthorID: 6769
X-RT-RatingText: 5/5
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