Review – Aliens

What Ridley Scott first conceived as a sci-fi/horror blend Jim Cameron has here developed into a sci-fi/horror/action movie. It keeps moving fairly well, which is a good thing because it’s more than two hours long and if it didn’t keep moving it would drive the audience to distraction in fairly short order. As it is, however, it’s engaging to watch the squad of ultra-macho space marines fall apart in the face of superior force, and Cameron does a good job of developing the characters as they try to cope with the alien threat. The effects are good, though not as original as the original. Extra added bonus: Paul Reiser (at least presumably) getting his brains poked out by an alien. There’s also a long version that surfaces on cable every once in awhile. The characters are a bit better developed, as are the spatial relationships between the sets. Otherwise all you get from the extra footage is just a bit more drama. For an even longer version, check out the DVD. It’s got the extra footage plus even more edited-out-of-the-theatrical-release scenes. It’s mostly minor character development, but the revelation that Ripley had a daughter who grew up, grew old and died while mom was stuck in hyper-sleep does help explain her character’s motivation a bit. Worth seeing