Aliens [1986] | ![Aliens [1986]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4155BQ56YBL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: James Cameron
Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £17.99
Buy New: £0.99
You Save: £17.00 (94%)
New (29) Used (29) from £0.79
Rating:  75 reviews
Sales Rank: 13008
Format: Anamorphic, Pal, Special Edition, Widescreen
Languages: Czech (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), Hebrew (Subtitled), Hungarian (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 148 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5039036001205
ASIN: B0001HHRVM
Theatrical Release Date: July 18, 1986
Release Date: May 15, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New & Sealed, Shipped From The UK
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Amazon.co.uk Review
James Cameron's Aliens digests all the virtues of Alien and regurgitates them bigger, louder and brasher than before. By the simple expedient of turning the singular beast of the original into a plural, Cameron transforms the franchise's focus from horror to all-out action. Sigourney Weaver's Ripley--one of the strongest roles for a female lead in mainstream cinema--is centre-stage throughout, more than able to hold her own either among the butch Marines and insectoid aliens. Although the director later revealed that there were only ever six alien costumes in any one shot, rapid-fire editing makes it seem like hundreds. Aliens is one of the most dynamic, viscerally exciting movies of the decade and, as a bug-fest, remained unsurpassed until the glorious Starship Troopers in 1997. On the DVD: The Director's Cut reinstates 17 crucial minutes of footage deleted from the theatrical release. It reveals how the colony on LV-426 encountered the aliens, and more importantly why Ripley's maternal bond with Newt is so strong, which adds an extra dimension to the film's climax. Also included is a short, fairly bland interview with James Cameron, recorded at the time of the cinema release, as well as some background explanation on how specific special effects were created. Unlike the Alien disc, there is no directorial commentary. --Mark Walker
Amazon.co.uk Review
Aliens is one of the few cases of a sequel that far surpassed the original. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, who awakens on Earth only to discover that she has been hibernating in space so long that everyone she knows is dead. Then she is talked into travelling (along with a squad of Marines) to a planet under assault by the same aliens that nearly killed her. Once she gets there, she finds a lost little girl who triggers her maternal instincts--and she discovers that the company has once again double-crossed her, in hopes of capturing one of the aliens to study as a military weapon. Directed and written by James Cameron, this is one of the most intensely exciting (not to mention intensely frightening) action films ever, with a large ensemble cast that includes Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Michael Biehn. Weaver defined the action woman in this film and walked away with an Oscar nomination for her trouble. --Marshall Fine
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| Customer Reviews: Read 70 more reviews...
 A masterpiece sci-fi/action/war movie August 19, 2008
SnakePlissken
Aliens is probably my favorite film of all time. It is one of the finest examples of a sequel surpassing the original. Not that Alien is bad, far from it, Alien is a fantastic film and a benchmark in cinema history. It set a very high standard, but is a very different type of film.
Aliens has everything, intense action/suspense, good story, characters you care about that have very individual personalities, excellent pacing, detail and subtlety when needed, stunning special effects and a great musical score. Despite being set in the future it is believable, mostly due to the quality acting by the cast and the non-CGI special effects. The character interplay is pheonominal and there is a lot of believable emotion throughout.
It is without doubt the best of the Alien films and one of the best sci-fi action movies ever made. Probably James Cameron's best movie although Terminator 2 is right up there too. Many films have tried to do similar things in this genre but nothing comes close. It doesn't get any better than this!
 A slow beginning, but a fast end August 14, 2008
Vampyr (in the rain)
Just finishing Aliens, I can see that it is a film that has inspired many others, just like its prequel, and I can also see some influences of Thunderbirds, in the way the space ships are built.
This sequel is set years after Alien.
It has an extremely slow beginning - quite a lot of the film shown did not need to be there. But, with some new loveable, and some non-loveable, characters, the pace soon quickens, making this film a match for its prequel. However, I still think that this film tops it.
Arguably best movie ever July 14, 2008
M. Dommett (London, UK)
First of all great review Lee Madden, i echo everything you say.
You know when you watch a films deleted scenes or you watch a directors cut with them included and you think "yes i can see why they left them out"? Well this is not one of those movies.
Every new scene from the colonists at the start to the sentry guns just adds to the quality of the film. This is the best extended version of a film ever.
You can read what everyone else says, legendary characters and the dialogue is so good you could quote it all day. This film is a masterpiece, pure and simple.
One of the Greatest Movies.... July 10, 2008
Lee (Ireland)
Rather than just describe what happens in Alien's, I thought I'd write a review that explains why it is such a great film. Well...for me anyway...
Firs and foremost, the structure of the film is excellent. The film takes time to set the scene, not rushing the disposal of the characters from Alien, but all the time maintaining a sense of tension. The film is set, very comfortably after the first, showing how the world has moved on and describing over a number of scenes Ripley's struggle to re-integrate. This is juxtaposed with the developing of the plot for the bigger picture, each early scene containing several elements of plot and character. As the film progress's this structure is maintained, with each scene, though being driven by the central characters, often offering time to the minor characters.
For Example, even in the scene where Hicks is teaching Ripley how to use an Assault Rifle we are made very aware of Ripley's motivations for doing so - to protect Newt. Aliens takes the time to develop these relationships and, though ultimately a science fiction movie, it allows characters the screen time to develop and not just be 2-d caricatures. In Bishop, we have a very complicated Robot. He is a robot who understands, not only his status as a robot, but also the problems of being an "artificial person". While not necessary to the plot, this adds depth to the supporting cast, and indeed, makes Bishops acts of heroism more believable and interesting.
While the story is relatively simple, it is unrelenting. The plot has always struck me as being character driven, given that the soldiers have a mission, and it is what happens to the characters that is important, not the outcome of the mission. By this I mean, we realise very early on the mission is a disaster and there can only be one outcome (ie escape), but it is the survivors we are interested in. Having given even the most minor characters enough time to develop a personality and presence, their deaths are important. This is something that allows the film not only to have depth, but also emotional importance. Everything from the personalised helmets to the Over the Top manliness of Vasquez allows for engaging characters, and even if you don't empathise with one character, there are bound to be characteristics of multiple characters that one finds engaging.
Ultimately, what I am trying to say is that Aliens is, pun intended, a rare breed. It is an action film with emotional depth. It is a sci-fi movie that relies more on characters than outlandish plot. And best of all, is the enemy. The fact that the enemy is not directly explained, not empathised with (save for one wonderful remark by Ripley) means that we have a film for all times. The enemy could be an metaphor for all manner of evils in the world, then again, it can be a metaphor for the struggle against what is evil in humanity. Perhaps it is just an unstoppable killing machine....bit what it ultimately makes for is one hell of a film.
Truly, one of the greats.
Kindest,
DD
Aliens 2 - This time it's warriors (grooved heads) July 8, 2008
Jokuo (A bit to the left of the right)
Being such a huge fan of this film, I had to start with this. Wow... such an incredible feature from start to finish. For the uninitiated, I'll offer up a brief overview, here, right now.
From the rip-roaring finale of Aliens 1; directed by Bladerunner author Phillip K Dick, Fighter Pilot Elaine Ridley is found by a huge robot on the moon sleeping on the job. She is brought back to Earth and once they find out what really happened she is commended for her bravery in killing the Aliens in Aliens 1. Then things take a turn for the worst. She finds out her daughter died of quick-aging (a little more explanation I felt would have been useful; a futuristic disease perhaps) & that the crew she left on the moon had stopped emailing Earth (so she didn't kill 'all' of the Aliens, did she?) In the special edition it shows you why; a Predator ship had crash-landed there all of a sudden with eggs even though the ship from Alien Versus Predator crash-landed back on Earth in Requiem - continuity error methinks; tut-tut. Petty issues aside, it is found by some backpackers in a futuristic moon-buggy & the family take it back to base & contaminate everyone without even knowing.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Berk Carter (fantastically portrayed by 'Joey' from 'Blossom') is a sleazy holiday rep. who funds the moon colony & he has a hidden agenda. He decides to send the Navy Seals to there & find the Aliens for a Zinomorf (posh word for Aliens) zoo he plans on his moon-lodge holiday compound. Due to her skill at fighting Aliens, Berk Carter asks Ridley to go & capture some, an opportunity she jumps at after losing her cat to a chest-buster (more on these hand-shaped little devils later).
Ridley meets the Navy Seals & hits it off instantly with them all, especially a robot with liquid parts called Priest. They get to the moon after lots of frankly OTT bravado & macho garbage (that I found did not contribute anything to the flick except an unnecessary drenching in testosterone).
What ensues is a rip-roaring roller-coaster of a thriller packed with comedy (listen to Jeremy Paxtons 'wild-man'; the dubiously titled Spunkmire & his wacky, outrageous retorts 'No, have you?' in response to question 'Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?'), war (plenty of gung-ho action), love... all sorts. Without ruining it for anyone (no need for spoiler warnings here) Ridley falls head-over-heels in love with a grunt called Hutson (moodily acted by the young Jon Connor of Terminator fame - another Jim Cameroon film incidentally), she rescues then adopts an annoying orphan girl-child called Nuit (who hugely distracts from the tautness of the plot). The Aliens lair is ultimately infiltrated & the boss Alien (who manufactures the chest busters in a bio-factory) runs after Ridley; leading to the grand finale. Luckily, Priest does turn up & rescues them, leading to quite the happy ending.
Now, with the plot examined, we are left with the production value. An all over excellent effort & from what I understand; a pleasure to work on, especially for the UK crew in our very own Pine-Needle Studios. The Aliens are a land-mark in CGI (Computer General Imaging for the uninitiated) programmed expertly by SFX whiz-kid Winston Zeddmore of Ghostbusters SFX team. The conceptual generation of Aliens 2 has to lie within the creative mind of J.R Giler; an ex-porn photographer who left behind his seedy work in Berlin to develop the kind of porn-free monster required for such a film. The Alien was apparently based on an acid trip he had regarding a sinister PEZ dispenser/ hoover tube/ pipe-cleaner cyborg hybrid... oh and a cougar. The birth of the alien is a masterstroke. These spidery chest-busters that the boss alien builds, stick to people to get around, then jump off & hide to grow into fully-fledged monsters. If they don't like you or feel threatened or trapped, they crap cyanide into your mouth. Genius.
My only criticisms on the film is that it draws heavy influences from 'Troll', 'Xtro II', 'Highlander' & HT Wells' classic 'I am Robot'. It's truly fun for all the family, your 80 year old gran can sit down & watch it alongside those three year old monsters of your own & each will walk away with a unique, but equally refreshing experience. In all honesty I prefer Critters, but in its absence, this will easily fit the bill. If you like this, you're gonna love its follow-up; Species.
BTW; What's that La Pensive guy on about? Helen? Noot? Utter rubbish. You'd be forgiven for thinking that his review was in fact a sarcastic jab at morons who claim mastery over such terrain, created at work whilst he was bored.
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