General Discussion

I am so frustrated by this I just have to let my heart out, I don't mean to troll but I just have to write it, put it out there, the sequel to Alien, I'm speaking of course of AlienS, is DUMB, I realized this having just watched Alien and Aliens back to back. I saw the films when I was a kid and sort of mixed them together, today I watched them back to back and was still impressed by the first one but god the sequel is just the dumbest thing, I can't believe it is so revered, the action emphasis, there is no tension at all, there are many plot holes, contrived moments, dull and boring over all, only sigourney saves it really. God the whole army cast is so irritating, the guns are so grotesque and useless, it's so self indulgent. overall it's a boring movie, it's just dumb and boring.

Seriously, I got so frustrated I assumed this must have been some kind of director's cut but no, I checked and this is the version everyone loves. I always try to look at a movie in the context of its era but honestly in the case of Aliens? I just see an overly long, super dumb, badly paced movie, it's just a mess, god.

I just had to say this. Good day.

I saw it for the first time recently and also had a problem with a couple of things:
1. Pvt. Vasquez. This might be only because this character has been played so many times by Michelle Rodriguez in recent years, but I found this character to be so corny and unlikable that I didn't care about her and also found her a bit annoying.
2. Carter Burke. My problem with Burke is that his motivations were pretty much the same as Ash's, the android from Alien. I can't believe that a person in that situation would act the way he did, no matter what sum of money would be coming his way.
3. Bishop. Just kidding, Bishop is awesome.

I still liked it though, a bit dated, but good nonetheless.

It pains my eyes to see you write such hurtful word.

First of all, I must object to your claim that there is no tension. The invension of the motion tracker is perhaps one of the greatest inovations in tension-enhancing technology in human history. I don't want to spoil the movie (which I think is fantastic, in case there was any doubt) but can you honestly tell me that Ripley waking up next to Newt and seeing the empty vats was not a tense scene? In that case, I think that the problem is more that you perhaps are a bit jaded, and not the film. For an action-movie, which is clearly is, it is one of the tensest outings I've seen.

I'll partially agree that the cast, seen in a contemporary light might seem a bit, well dumb. But they've got personality. Personality goes a long way. There are plot-holes, but no more an any other movie you can care to compare it to.

You claim you found it boring? To this, I can only say that I strongly disagree, and I simply can't see where you're coming from. To each his own, I suppose. But... you're just wrong... :P

All though I agree that Aliens is dumb and Alien is the superior film I will not argue that Aliens is a bad film. In fact it's James Cameron's best film he has ever made, and that's saying a lot coming from me. Aliens is a great film it just pisses on the corpse of Alien at that same time. I'm sure if you want to watch a bad space marines movie all you have to do is watch Doom.

They're definitely two very different movies, but I don't think that means that Aliens is bad. It's one of the more influential movies to come out of the 80s. You'd be hard-pressed to look at any modern sci-fi and not see some Aliens references.

All I can say is that I disagree, could you point out the plot-holes you noticed though? I've seen that film quite a few times and don't remember noticing any.

They're different TYPES of movies. Aliens is as good an action flick as Alien is a horror flick. A straight-up Alien sequel wouldn't have been nearly as good, it took an army of Xenomorphs to raise the bar.

Everything you just said is wrong. I'd love to go into this, but since you bid me a good day I guess I'll have to wait.

I honestly didn't mean to say that it was a bad film, it's well made technically, but it doesn't engage on the level that alien did, and sure it's an action flick but I think Terminator 2 was way better and way more relevant technically. the main problem in aliens is that the military scenes take so fucking long, it's too much, i'd give it a 6.5 maybe 7out of 10. that's far from bad. i was just taking a back a bit you know? last time I saw this I was a kid, James cameron really is a pioneer, it's just a shame his movies aren't that engaging.

I disagree that Aliens is a bad movie. Its not an amazing movie by any means. It has a lot of issues, but it is extremely quotable and massively entertaining. Keep in mind, the masses don't like smart movies, they like dumb fun. Even the greatest movie snob likes a movie to turn the brain off to provided it does what its suppose to do.

I feel it's the perfect evolution of the genre, and something many sequels should take a look at. As for Alien 3...

Alien is definitely the better film because of Ridley Scott's attention to detail. In terms of action films though, Aliens is so damn quotable, and full of memorable moments like the turrets and the motion tracker. Seeing Marines or other macho heroes get their ass handed to them is as fun to watch as Predator was.