why aliens is so great

yup i totaly agree! aliens was my favorite of the series!

mine as well hands down

Sorry...can't agree with that. 'Alien' is a cinematic masterpiece.....'Aliens' is about how many things we can blow up and look here Ripley...."I'm ready, man, check it out. I am the ultimate badass! State of the badass art! You do NOT wanna fuck with me. Check it out! Hey Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate badasses will protect you! Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx. Vwap! Fry half a city with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, phase-plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks..."..............................................................................................................................................................................about as intelligent as the rest of this jarhead driven popcorn piece.

hahaha i think he was being sarcastic because he knew Ripley was scared

Really?...Does any of us really think Ripley looked scared in that scene?

aliens is the more popular film, but for the true sci-fi fan, Alien is the better film. It really surprised me when I watched the triple bill in the cinema - aliens looked out of place and alien3 made much more sense (even though individually I'd rate them 1st,alien,2nd:aliens, 3rd alien3.) individually, Alien & Aliens are both "best in class" films, enjoyable for different reasons.

Good point centaurian_slug....while I can enjoy those sequels (I'll give them that), I just can't put them anywhere near the same class as 'Alien'...They just don't measure up and no amount of rhetorical apology will change that.

she dosnt have to look scared to be scared... and i dont think that guy was trying to make himself look like a idiot. hew proboubly knew ripley was scared or just wanted to make fun of her, cause in the begining, after they all wake up he has a conversation with another marine like this: Who is she? they say she saw a alien. Well woop-dey dooo! see? he was just messin with her

i think what made "Aliens" so um " great " is that is basically a dumbed down, xeroxed version of ALIEN. the stories may have different characters, but if you line up both the plot points side by side, "Aliens" is a reductive version of ALIEN instead of "truckers" in space, you've got "soldiers" in space, instead of Ripley saving Jones the cat, she saves Newt the terra-formers daughter instead of Ripley suiting up in a clean pressure suit at the end of the film, Ripley suits up into a dirty power-loader, alien clinging to the airlock doorway and all (rolls eyes) if you want to see "what makes Aliens so great" - - you need only watch ALIEN, ALL the answers are there, and ALL told on such a better / slicker / artistic / enigmatic / cinematic story not to say the actors who played the roles in "Aliens" didn't do a great job, nor to say that Cameron didn't do a great duplicate plot, in the from of a "kick-ass action flick" ALIEN is the sole key to "Aliens" success, not the other way around,

As a kid, I LOVED ALIENS and still love it. For the obvious reasons, action weapons marines and fighting. Alien was good but could not great. NOW that I am older, I see the brilliance of Alien. Dark, scary, cold, harsh, your inner most fear of being alone, by yourself and defenseless. To me, they are both great movies for different reasons and enjoy them every time I see them.

God Bless ya shardy....

I LOVE every film in the series Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. I will never truly know why people hate on Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. I know reasons as to why but I will never know TRULY why they hate these films through their own eyes. Alien 3 to me was a very powerful film. Charles S. Dutton's character Dylon I felt was one of the most emotionally exhausting, inspiring and bold characters in the entire series. Charles Dance was fucking awesome as Clemons and Sigourney Weaver was incredible as always. David Fincher was able to pull out deep and penetrating character moments from the film. I think the film itself is overwhelmingly powerful. It was Ripley's dark epic journey into the pits of hell. She's lost everyone and now she has to make a fighting stand. You really felt for Ripley because she had been through so much and you knew she was going to have to face her demise but she wanted to leave her last mark on humanity. She wants to rid the universe of the evil that has been haunting her all her life. And that I think was such a powerful and emotional concept David was able to pull out of the film. The acting was fantastic and it was about the humans coming to terms with death. It was darker and more gritty. The story was powerful and intense and Ripley was a heroine. Her death was internally shocking yet awesome. Alien Resurrection was epic on a whole other level. We knew and trusted Ripley in the last 3 films but now in Alien Resurrection we see Ripley as a darker, evil and more unpredictable character which I thought added more mystery to the series. She was THE Alien in the story. It was awesome to see after hundreds of years have gone by that she was now accepted as part of the "family" to the Aliens. She had bonded with them. Ripley was strange and untrustworthy, she had the liking of Ripley but had the persona of an Alien. That I think gave her character a depth that added so much to the series. Her coming back I think served justice because she was able to show how her nightmare was no different in the past than it was in the dark distant future. The military was willing to retrieve the Alien in any way shape or form just like Weyland-Yutani. When Ripley faced her aborted clones it sickened you and made you feel that what the scientist were doing was clearly wrong. They weren't simply gags but they were emotionally charged. When I saw that scene when Ripley was in the nest it symbolically shows her sinking down into the world of the Aliens. Alien Resurrection was completely different. Ripley was different, the setting was different and the Aliens had conceived a whole new Alien, the newborn. The genetic fuck ups were terrifying, dark, creepy and melodic. And ultimately I felt Alien Resurrection really did leave a deep dark terrifying groove into the series.

alien and aliens are two entirely different films regardng their tone...i dont know how aliens is dumbed down in any way...sigourney weaver won an oscar for her role as ripley. i guess elitest snobs see action in a movie and declare it to be dumbed down. the special effects were amazing, the setting was just as terrifying as alien, but they are two very different flms. alien is all horror and giger's influence predominates the film..whereas aliens is a thrill ride and a horror flm

i will agree with you that ALIEN and "Aliens" are entirely different films in their tone, but if i need to re-explain myself regarding the similarities and plot points that Cameron xeroxed with his own brand of plagiarist' cheap ink - - then you didn't really understand my point, and repeating it would only be redundant (which seems to have just happened) Sigourney Weaver was nominated for "Aliens", but sadly she did not win, so your fact checking in that regard leaves something to be desired. Wiki her. "elitist snob" is a title i'm perfectly happy to own, and it's accurate ESPECIALLY when it comes to appreciating ALIEN - - and critiquing "Aliens" there is nothing wrong with a great shoot-em-up action flick, i just wish that Cameron would have at least tried to be original in his story telling but ALL the lawsuits that have followed him, and continue to follow him validate my point effortlessly @craigamore: you're welcome, anytime =)

Aliens was great and I really like the film mostly for nostalgic reasons as my older sister totally took me as a little kid to an R rated movie without my parents knowing lol, and since that time my sister has been the coolest in my eyes. But upon eventually watching Alien as an adult, I discovered that Ridley's film was and still is a classic and given the true test of time, now does stand above Aliens IMO. Some of my examples of why Aliens isn't as strong a film as Alien I've discussed in the "Am I the Only One" thread. Some of the design choices made in Aliens I feel don't have as much impact as Alien. And when considering how powerful and intelligent Ridley portrays the first xeno in Alien, it sort of makes me disappointed that the xenos in Alien including the Queen weren't nearly as cunning as the first xeno. Especially taking into consideration that the first xeno was only a day or so old and was smart enough to sneak into the shuttle craft! Yet the xenos in Aliens had been thriving for at least weeks or how ever long Newt had been hiding. Again I really like Aliens and it was a great film, but just not as powerful overall as Alien IMO.

@centaurian_slug ALIENS is not the more popular film. Look at this data from boxofficemojo.com, a list of Sigourney Weaver's films. Adjusted for inflation, the original ALIEN sold more tickets. [IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/2sizt.png[/IMG] As far as the notion that Ripley only get to conquer her fear in the sequel, let's be reminded that in one early treatment of ALIEN screenplay every character is supposed to be killed off. In the final draft, Ripley survives, kicks ass & conquers her fear by blasting the Xeno off the airlock. While ALIEN is more contemplative, ALIENS has a more gung-ho Marine attitude: "Let's nuke these bastards!!!" OT: Look at AVATAR's box office number, this movie is freaking huge! More than 3 times ALIEN's take. But rest assured, I am always a big fan of Scott's ALIEN.

As Oscar Wilde said: People who drink wine prefer Alien People who drink beer prefer Aliens I drink both

I agree with the T/S. I was scared shitless. I felt helpless for myself and crew. Then when Aliens came out with bad ass marines to boot, I thought (foolishly) we were going to take it to them. Only to see every one just about wiped out. Ironically, Newt was better trained than those marines... Nevertheless, I have enjoyed the series and still watch them. Even though I didn't like the last couple of outings too well, I still have them in my collection. My love for the series overrides my previous sentiments about the films and now I watch them with my enjoyment. Poor human hybrid alien clone...how it sucked to be sucked through a tiny hole into space until all your guts are pulled out of you. Terrible.

lol And I like what you said @Enderwiggin I indeed drink both myself...

@Shardy cannot agree with you about Aliens being a reductive version of ALIEN. ALIEN was about making first contact with that species and they did not know a thing about it before. Aliens is a hommage of the US-Vietnam war where the US troops lost to a technical inferior enemy. It is about arrogance of the USMC in the movie where they did not take the Xenomorph serious enough when they went in.

Aliens had the worst casting I have ever seen in the franchise... Mrs Weaver must have felt very lonely on the set for she was the only professional actress in that movie. The charactor of Carter Burke was the worst of them all. Man... such bad acting but understandable since he was a stand-up comic...) Long Live Alien (not the director's cut) !

agreed shabou and the way he was dressed in the film pins it down to the eighties in an instant,.... he's wearing a ben elton suit for christ sake. The other thing is the marines acting was bad i guess Discipline is a free for all in the future and its not enforced in the marines very well. Also there was an over use of back projection that looks poor today . ties it again to the eighties. The film was entertaining but the original was a masterpiece .

i got to say i'm sick to death of sc fi films resorting to the military in almost everything these days that joke isn't funny anymore and its tired and lazy as i said in an earlier post the marines/army could of saved themselves a lot of bother if they were armed to the teeth with a few gallons of cockroach killer lol.

@Shardy I never saw it that way, but it does make sense to me. Alien 3 - It was just okay to me. I felt it ended way to slowly and the visuals of Ripley going into the fire below was just too dorky for me. Alien Resurrection - well, ugh! I was not a fan of the comic remarks through the movie. They should have been scared out of their minds, but instead, they seemed more like they were on a journey instead of trying to fight for their lives. The character Call - YAWN! The new alien at the end - double YYAAWWNN! That is what ultimately ruined it for me - and having it sucked out through that window - and the blood bubbles. OMG!!! :(

the best part is that the alien is so adapted at killing and its so vicious and fast and strong..but homo sapien can go toe to toe with it..thats the coolest part,,that humanity doesnt actually have to spend all its time running from the thngs but can lock stock and kick their asses...its strikes a deep chord...like when as a tribe we used to be able to hunt lions. homo sapien is a bad ass..we have spears...bows...pulse rifles

that and the queen is perhaps one of the most amazingly lifelike animatronic puppets ive ever seen