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Aliens (film)

May 04, 2023

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction horror film Alien, and the second film in the Alien franchise. Set in the far future, it stars Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship. When communications are lost with a human colony on the moon where her crew first saw the alien creatures, Ripley agrees to return to the site with a unit of Colonial Marines to investigate. Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen and Carrie Henn are featured in supporting roles.

Aliens
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Cameron
Screenplay byJames Cameron
Story by
Based on
Produced byGale Anne Hurd
StarringSigourney Weaver
CinematographyAdrian Biddle
Edited byRay Lovejoy
Music byJames Horner
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 18, 1986 (1986-07-18)
Running time
137 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18.5 million
Box office$131.1–183.3 million

Despite the success of Alien, its sequel took years to develop due to lawsuits, a lack of enthusiasm from 20th Century Fox, and repeated management changes. Although relatively inexperienced, Cameron was hired to write a story for Aliens in 1983 on the strength of his scripts for The Terminator (1984) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). The project stalled again until new Fox executive Lawrence Gordon pursued a sequel. On an approximately $18.5 million budget, Aliens began principal photography in September 1985 and concluded in January 1986. Like its development, filming was tumultuous and rife with conflicts between Cameron and the British crew at Pinewood Studios. The difficult shoot affected the composer, James Horner, who was given little time to record the music.

Aliens was released on July 18, 1986 to critical acclaim. Reviewers praised its action, but some criticized the intensity of some scenes. Weaver's performance garnered consistent praise along with those of Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein. The film received several awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Weaver at a time when the science-fiction genre was generally overlooked. It earned $131.1–183.3 million during its theatrical run, making it one of the highest-grossing films of 1986 worldwide.

Aliens is now considered among the greatest films of the 1980s, and among the best science fiction, action, and sequel films ever made, arguably equal to or better than Alien. It is credited with expanding the franchise's scope with additions to the series' backstory and factions such as the Colonial Marines. It inspired a variety of merchandise, including video games, comic books and toys. It was followed by two sequels: Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997), neither of which were as successful; and the prequels Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017).

Plot

Ellen Ripley has been in stasis for 57 years aboard an escape shuttle after destroying her ship, the Nostromo, to escape an alien creature that slaughtered the rest of the crew. She is rescued and debriefed by her employers at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, who are skeptical about her claim of alien eggs in a derelict ship on the exomoon LV-426,[a] since it is now the site of a terraforming colony.

After contact is lost with the colony, Weyland-Yutani representative Carter Burke and Colonial Marine Lieutenant Gorman ask Ripley to accompany them to investigate. Still traumatized by her alien encounter, she agrees on the condition that they exterminate the creatures. Ripley is introduced to the Colonial Marines on the spaceship Sulaco but is distrustful of their android, Bishop, because the android aboard the Nostromo betrayed its crew to protect the alien on company orders.

A dropship delivers the expedition to the surface of LV-426, where they find the battle-ravaged colony and two live alien facehuggers in containment tanks, but no bodies or colonists except for a traumatized young girl, nicknamed Newt. The team locates the colonists beneath the fusion-powered atmosphere processing station and heads to their location, descending into corridors covered in alien secretions. At the station center, the Marines find opened eggs and dead facehuggers alongside the cocooned colonists now serving as incubators for the creatures' offspring. The Marines kill an infant alien after it bursts from a colonist's chest, rousing several adult aliens who ambush the Marines and kill or capture many of them. When the inexperienced Gorman panics, Ripley assumes command, takes control of their armored personnel carrier, and rams the nest to rescue Corporal Dwayne Hicks and Privates Hudson and Vasquez. Hicks orders the dropship to recover the survivors, but a stowaway alien kills the pilots, and it crashes into the station. Almost out of ammunition and resources, the survivors barricade themselves inside the colony.

Ripley discovers that Burke ordered the colonists to investigate the derelict spaceship containing the alien eggs, intending to profit by recovering them for biological weapon research. Before she can expose him, Bishop informs the group that the dropship crash damaged the power-plant cooling system and the plant will soon overheat and explode, destroying the colony. He volunteers to travel to the colony transmitter and remotely pilot the Sulaco's remaining dropship to the surface.

After falling asleep in the medical laboratory, Ripley and Newt awaken to find themselves trapped with the two released facehuggers. Ripley triggers a fire alarm to alert the Marines, who rescue them and kill the creatures. She accuses Burke of releasing the facehuggers to implant her and Newt with alien embryos, allowing him to smuggle them through Earth's quarantine. The power is suddenly cut, and aliens attack through the ceiling. In the ensuing firefight, the aliens kill Burke, subdue Hudson, and injure Hicks; the cornered Gorman and Vasquez sacrifice themselves to avoid capture. Newt is separated from Ripley and taken by the creatures. Ripley brings Hicks to Bishop in the second dropship, but she refuses to abandon Newt and arms herself before descending into the processing station hive alone to rescue her. During their escape, they encounter the alien queen surrounded by dozens of eggs, and when one begins to open, Ripley uses her weapons to destroy them all and the queen's ovipositor. Pursued by the enraged queen, Ripley and Newt join Bishop and Hicks on the dropship and escape moments before the station explodes, consuming the colony in a nuclear blast.

Aboard the Sulaco, the group is ambushed by the queen, who stowed away in the dropship's landing gear. The queen tears Bishop in half and advances on Newt, but Ripley fights the creature with an exosuit cargo loader and expels it through an airlock into space while the damaged Bishop keeps Newt safe. Ripley, Newt, Hicks, and Bishop enter hypersleep for their return trip to Earth.

Cast

See also: List of Alien film series characters
 
 
 
(Left to right) Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn (both pictured in 2016), and Paul Reiser (2010)

The Colonial Marine cast includes privates Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), Drake (Mark Rolston), Spunkmeyer (Daniel Kash),[6] Crowe (Tip Tipping), and Wierzbowski (Trevor Steedman),[1] and corporals Dietrich (Cynthia Dale Scott) and Ferro (Colette Hiller). In addition to the main cast, Aliens features Paul Maxwell as Van Leuwen (a member of the board reviewing Ripley's competence) and Barbara Coles as the cocooned colonist killed when an alien bursts from her chest.[1][11] Carl Toop and Eddie Powell portray alien warriors.[1][12]

Some scenes removed from Aliens's theatrical version were restored in subsequent releases.[13] Additional credits for these scenes include Newt's father, Russ Jorden (Jay Benedict),[14][15] and her mother Anne (Holly de Jong).[16][17] Henn's brother, Christopher, plays her brother Timmy,[18][19] Mac McDonald portrays colony administrator Al Simpson,[20][21] and Weaver's mother, Elizabeth Inglis, makes a cameo appearance as Ripley's daughter Amanda.[22]

Development

Early development

The success of Alien (1979) led to immediate discussions of a sequel, but the production company Brandywine Productions struggled to convince 20th Century Fox to make it. Studio president Alan Ladd Jr. was supportive of the project but left Fox to found the Ladd Company, and his replacement, Norman Levy, was concerned about the cost of producing an Alien II.[23][24][25] Brandywine co-founder David Giler said Levy believed a sequel would be a "disaster".[25] Fox executives believed Alien's success was a fluke, and that it had not generated enough profit or audience interest to warrant a sequel.[25] Box-office returns for horror films were also declining.[26] Progress was further slowed when Giler and Brandywine co-founders Walter Hill and Gordon Carroll sued Fox for unpaid profits from Alien. Using Hollywood accounting methods, Fox had declared Alien a financial loss despite its earnings of over $100 million against a $9–$11 million budget. Brandywine's lawsuit was settled by early 1983, the result being that Fox would finance the development of Alien II, but was not required to distribute the film.[25][27]

Levy's eventual replacement, Joe Wizan, was receptive to a sequel, and although other executives remained noncommittal, Giler's development executive, Larry Wilson, began looking for a scriptwriter by mid-1983.[24][25] Wilson came across the script for the in-development science fiction film, The Terminator (1984), written by James Cameron. With Cameron's collaborative scriptwriting efforts alongside Sylvester Stallone on Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Wilson was convinced to show the script for The Terminator to Giler, Hill, and Carroll.[28][29] In November 1983, Cameron submitted a 42-page film treatment for Alien II—written in three days—based on Giler and Hill's suggestion of "Ripley and soldiers".[24][25][30] The studio had a mixed reaction, one executive calling it a constant stream of horror without character development.[24][25] Negotiations to sell the sequel rights to Rambo's developers Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna failed and the project stalled again.[25]

Revival

 
 
(Left to right) Director James Cameron and producer Gale Ann Hurd (pictured in 2016)

By July 1984, Lawrence Gordon had replaced Wizan. With few projects in development, Gordon looked at sequels to Fox's existing properties and came across the Alien II treatment; he said he was surprised no one had pursued it.[25] Production of The Terminator was delayed for nine months because Arnold Schwarzenegger was contractually obligated to film Conan the Destroyer (1984). Cameron used the time to develop his treatment, expanding it to ninety pages.[24][29] He drew ideas from "Mother", one of his story concepts about an alien on a space station involving a power-loader suit.[31] Because of his low expectations for The Terminator, Cameron had spent much of his free time during its production developing and trying out ideas for Alien II.[28][29]

This script was better received by Fox executives and Gordon, but Cameron also wanted to direct the project.[24][29][32] Cameron was a relatively new director, his only directing credit being Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), a low-budget, independent horror film, and the studio was reluctant to grant his request. His credibility was elevated following the surprise financial and critical success of The Terminator in late 1984, and Gordon gave him the job.[25][29][32] Cameron's associates tried to persuade him to reject the offer, believing anything good about the film would be attributed to Alien director Ridley Scott and anything negative to Cameron.[33] Scott said he was never offered the chance to direct the sequel, possibly because he was difficult to work with on the original.[34] The title Aliens reportedly came from Cameron writing "Alien" on a whiteboard during a pitch meeting and adding a "$" suffix.[35][36] Cameron also wanted his collaborative partner and girlfriend, Gale Anne Hurd, to serve as the producer, but Fox did not take the request seriously, believing she could not stand up to Cameron, who believed she was the only person who would.[31][32] Hurd had several industry associates contact Fox executives to convince them she was a legitimate producer.[32]

Cameron turned in the finished script in February 1985, hours before a Hollywood writer's strike.[25] Cameron recalled the audience reactions while seeing Alien in the theater and believed it would be difficult to recreate the emotion and novelty of the original. He and Hurd agreed to combine the horror of Alien with the action of The Terminator. According to Hill, Cameron said if the first film could be compared to a haunted attraction, Aliens should be like a roller coaster.[29] Cameron believed in having a strong female heroine to distinguish his films from typical Hollywood action fare and wrote the script with a picture of Weaver on his desk.[32] He referred to The Terminator, and how he removed the normal protective forces from Sarah Connor so she had to fend for herself.[28] Cameron had also always wanted to make a film about space infantry.[29]

The final script was well received, but Fox executives (including chairman Barry Diller) were concerned about the budget. Fox estimated the cost as close to $35 million, but Hurd said it would be closer to $15.5 million. Diller offered $12 million, prompting Cameron and Hurd to quit. Gordon negotiated with Diller until he relented, and Cameron and Hurd returned.[25] In April 1985, conflict turned to the cast; Fox did not want Weaver to return because they expected her to demand a high salary.[25][32] Cameron and Hurd were insistent Weaver return as the solo star; Fox refused, saying they would damage the studio's negotiating power with Weaver's agent. Cameron and Hurd again left the project, marrying and going on a honeymoon. When they returned, the Aliens project was ready to move forward. Cameron credited Gordon with Aliens' being greenlit.[25]

Casting

 
 
(Left to right) Bill Paxton (pictured in 2014) and Lance Henriksen (2016) portrayed Colonial Marine Private Hudson and the android Bishop, respectively

Weaver rejected initial offers to return and despite being interested after reading Cameron's script, she had to be convinced Aliens was not being made exclusively for financial reasons.[24][32][33] Weaver received a $1 million (equivalent to $2.47 million in 2021) salary and a percentage of the box-office profits, the highest salary of her career at the time.[25] Negotiations were so lengthy that Cameron and Hurd told Schwarzenegger's agent they intended to write Ripley out of the movie (knowing Weaver's agent would be told); terms were reached shortly afterward.[24]

Cameron wanted an unknown actor to portray Newt. Agents scouted Henn while she was at school in Lakenheath, England, and though she lacked acting experience, Cameron said she had a "great face and expressive eyes".[37] Stephen Lang auditioned for the role of Hicks, but James Remar secured the role on the recommendation of Hill, his close friend. Remar left shortly into filming, ostensibly due to urgent family matters or creative differences with Cameron, but he later admitted he was fired after being arrested for drug possession.[4][38][39] Hurd hired Michael Biehn the following Friday.[4][39] Paxton credited his casting as Hudson to a chance encounter with Cameron at Los Angeles International Airport, during which he mentioned he would be interested in a role. Fox supported Paxton's casting because of positive feedback for his performance in Weird Science (1985).[40][41] Paxton was worried the character would annoy audiences until he realized he was comic relief for the tense scenes.[40] Henriksen was concerned about portraying Bishop after other recent successful portrayals of android characters, such as Ian Holm in Alien and Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner (1982). He played Bishop as an innocent child who pities the short-lived humans. He suggested wearing distinctive contact lenses to convey when Bishop was alerted to danger, but Cameron believed they would make the character appear more frightening than the aliens.[5] Biehn, Paxton, and Henriksen had worked with Cameron on The Terminator.[5][40]

Aliens was Reiser's first major theatrical role, following small parts in films like Beverly Hills Cop (1984).[4] The Colonial Marines cast features a mix of British and American actors who underwent three weeks of intensive training with the British Special Air Service (SAS).[b] Vietnam War veteran Al Matthews (Apone) helped to train the actors, teaching them not to point their weapons at people because their blanks were still hazardous.[40][42] Before he left, Remar accidentally shot a hole through the set of Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors on an adjacent stage.[4][40] The training was intended to help the marine cast develop camaraderie and treat the other actors (Weaver, Reiser, and Hope) as outsiders.[43][44] Biehn's late casting caused him to miss the training, and he said he regretted being unable to customize his armor like the other actors (since he inherited Remar's).[4][39] Cameron created a backstory for each marine and instructed the actors to read Starship Troopers.[45][46][47]

Vasquez was Goldstein's first feature-film role. She credited her physique to being out of work and going to the gym, gaining 10 pounds (4.5 kg) at Cameron's request.[5][48][49] Goldstein wore dark contact lenses and underwent an hour of makeup to cover her freckles and darken her white skin to portray a "Chicano" character; she studied Mexican-American gang interviews to develop her demeanor and accent.[49] Ricco Ross (Frost) was committed to Full Metal Jacket (1987), whose filming schedule overlapped for a week with Aliens'. Although Cameron offered to let Ross join the filming later, Ross was concerned that Stanley Kubrick's projects often overran, and opted for Aliens instead.[5] Rolston misled the filmmakers to get his part; he had finished filming Revolution (1985), and implied he was its most prominent actor after Al Pacino.[8] William Hope (Gorman) was cast as Hudson before Cameron and Hurd decided to take the character in a different direction.[8]

Cynthia Dale Scott (Dietrich) was an aspiring singer when she was cast.[4] Colette Hiller (Ferro) was upset she had to cut her hair short for the role because she was getting married shortly afterward, and made the filmmakers buy her a long, blonde wig.[8] Trevor Steedman (Wierzbowski) was a stuntman rather than an actor,[5] and Aliens was Daniel Kash's (Spunkmeyer) debut film role. He offered Cameron his coat if he got the part and also auditioned for Hudson.[50] The actors stayed at the Holiday Inn in Langley, Berkshire, during filming. Paxton described the actors' time outside work positively: "God, we had the best time ... We all hung very hard together. That's where I first met [Henriksen], who I fell in love with. [Matthews] ... was a really good spirit to have around, with a great voice. And all these hilarious British characters, like [Steedman], the stuntman, who used to grab my bicep and go, 'Blimey, more meat on a cat's cock!'"[40]

Filming

 
Aliens was filmed almost entirely at Pinewood Studios in England (pictured in 2013).

Principal photography began in September 1985, on a 75-day schedule, and an $18.5 million budget,[c] not including film prints and marketing.[25][28][51] Filming took place mainly at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire near London, because of its large sets and the relatively lower cost of filming in England.[d] Filming was tumultuous as Cameron, a Canadian, was unfamiliar with British film-industry traditions such as tea breaks, which interrupted production for up to an hour each weekday, and was frustrated at losing hours of filming every week.[24][32][40] In his book The Making of Aliens, J. W. Rinzler described Cameron as aggressive and certain of what he wanted, which irked the crew. The situation was exacerbated by Cameron's hands-on approach, often modifying setups such as lighting himself to fit his vision without involving the unionized crew.[32]

The crew was dismissive of Cameron for his relative inexperience, thinking he had not done enough to earn such a prominent position, and that Hurd had her job only because she was his partner.[24][51][54] Cinematographer Dick Bush insisted on lighting the alien hive brightly (counter to Cameron's request), and was eventually replaced with Adrian Biddle.[3] First assistant director Derek Cracknell also ignored Cameron's requests.[32][54] Gale described the situation: "[Cameron] would ask him to set up a shot one way and [Cracknell] would say, 'Oh no no no, I know what you want,' ... Then he'd do it wrong and the whole set would have to be broken down."[54] The situation deteriorated until Cameron and Hurd fired Cracknell and the Pinewood crew walked out in the middle of the day.[54]

Cameron called Fox for advice and was determined to move the production out of England until Hurd convinced him otherwise. The situation was difficult because the number of films simultaneously in production meant the crew could not be easily replaced. Cameron and Hurd gathered the crew to discuss their grievances; Cameron explained the importance of the production, and that any member of the crew who could not support it should volunteer to be replaced. The crew agreed to support Cameron if he supported their scheduled working hours.[54] The relationship between filmmakers and crew remained cool; when filming concluded at Pinewood, Cameron told the crew: "This has been a long and difficult shoot, fraught by many problems ... but the one thing that kept me going, through it all, was the certain knowledge that one day I would drive out the gate of Pinewood and never come back, and that you sorry bastards would still be here".[54] He described most of the crew as "lazy, insolent, and arrogant".[54] Paxton called the crew's work impeccable, but their attitude more relaxed than the American crews to which he was accustomed.[33]

The alien nest was filmed in the decommissioned Acton Lane Power Station in London, and the set was left in place until the filming of the 1989 film Batman.[43][55] While filming the dropship descent from the Sulaco, shaking collapsed the set roof onto the cast and crew. Most of the cast were unharmed, but a large piece of debris cut Cameron's head.[31][56] Because of the tight budget, Hurd made Cameron pay for an early scene of a laser cutting Ripley free from her hypersleep chamber.[31][57] According to Henriksen, Paxton was unaware he would be involved in the knife-trick scene until it was filmed; Henriksen nicked Paxton's finger during the reshoot.[31] Some of the early establishing scenes were filmed near the end of principal photography to capture the bond that had developed between cast and characters.[44]

Some improvisation was encouraged.[58] Weaver discussed tweaks to her character with Cameron on set, believing she understood how Ripley would act.[33] Her line "Get away from her, you bitch!" had to be filmed in one take due to the tight schedule remaining, and the actress thought she had messed it up.[59] Paxton believed he was not good at improvisation and discussed ideas with Cameron before filming. One of his signature lines, "Game over man, game over", originated from Paxton developing a backstory for Hudson in which he was trained on simulators.[60] Henn found it hard to act afraid of the aliens (since she was fond of the actors in the suits) and imagined a dog was chasing her.[37] Other cast members spent time with Henn between scenes, including Weaver and Paxton (who would color or craft things with her).[37][48] Biehn said he and Paxton spent much of their free time together.[4] Despite the difficulties, Fox was satisfied with the daily footage, and principal photography concluded in January 1986, on time and on budget.[25][61]

Post-production

Post-production began in late April 1986.[25] Several scenes were removed from Aliens' theatrical release, including Ripley learning about her daughter's death and a cocooned Burke begging her for death.[13] Fox and Hurd suggested removing a long opening scene detailing the lives of the colonists, Newt's family discovering the derelict alien ship, and her father being attacked by a facehugger, because it ruined the pacing and sense of mystery.[31][62] Two scenes with James Remar as Hicks (shown from the back) were used in the film.[4]

Ray Lovejoy was responsible for editing the final two hours, 17 minutes cut of Aliens.[63] Fox wanted the film to be under two hours so it could be shown more times per day in theaters, increasing its revenue potential. Fox production president Scott Rudin flew to England to ask Cameron and Hurd if they could cut another 12 minutes, but Cameron was concerned further cuts would make it nonsensical, and Rudin relented.[25][63]

Music

Main article: Aliens (soundtrack)
 
James Horner – Futile Escape
James Horner was given six weeks to score Aliens but, because filming and editing were behind schedule, he had to compose it in only three.[64][65]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

James Horner met Cameron early in their careers, when they worked for director Roger Corman. Aliens was Horner and Cameron's first collaboration; Horner called it a "nightmare".[66][67] He arrived in London to compose, expecting a six-week schedule. There was nothing for him to score, as Cameron was still filming and editing, and Horner had only three weeks to compose.[24][67][65] The producers were unwilling to give him any more time, and he was booked to begin scoring The Name of the Rose (1986) shortly afterwards.[65]

Horner recorded the score at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra.[67][68] His schedule was so tight that the music for the climactic battle between Ripley and the queen was written overnight. Cameron first heard the score while it was being recorded by the orchestra and did not like it, but it was too late to make changes. Brad Fiedel's synth-inspired tracks for The Terminator had allowed changes to be made quickly based on feedback, but Cameron had no experience managing orchestral music.[65] Cameron cut the score up, using pieces where he believed they fit best, and inserted pieces of Jerry Goldsmith's Alien score and hired unknown composers to fill gaps.[65][68] The director said in a later interview he thought the music was good, but did not fit the scenes he had filmed.[65] Horner's "alien sting" sound was initially only used once, during the scene with the cocooned woman, as Cameron disliked it, but he eventually used it throughout the film.[31] Unused portions of Horner's Aliens score were repurposed for Die Hard (1988).[69][70]

Special effects and design

Development of the special effects for Aliens began in May 1985, with John Richardson supervising a 40-person team at Stan Winston Studio.[33][71][72] L.A. Effects Group created miniatures and optical effects. Cameron lacked contacts at the more established special effects studios and avoided using them because he believed his hands-on approach would not be welcomed.[73] He also did not rehire many Alien crew members because he did not want to be restricted by their loyalties to the first film. Those who returned were often given a higher status (such as Crispian Sallis, Alien focus puller and Aliens set decorator).[52][74] Cameron had enjoyed returning artist Ron Cobb's work on Alien,[75] and conceptual artist Syd Mead was recruited because Cameron was a fan of his work on films such as 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984).[53]

Sets and technology

Mead designed the Sulaco, the marines' spaceship. He conceived it as a large sphere with antennae, but Cameron wanted it to be flatter; the full craft had to pass the camera, and a sphere would not work with the aspect ratio.[33] Mead designed the craft as a commercial freighter carrying a military unit. Its exterior was designed with a row of loading doors, a crane, and large gun fixtures to defend against threats.[76] Mirrors were used as a cost-cutting measure to increase the number of sleeping pods and add a power loader.[50] Cobb designed the dropship, the armored personnel carrier (APC), and exteriors of the colony and its vehicles.[77][78][79] The Sulaco's dropship was designed to be life-size, for use on the Sulaco set,[53] but a smaller replica was used for some shots.[76] The APC was a disguised pushback tug for a Boeing 747.[76] The derelict alien spacecraft used in Aliens had been in historian Bob Burns III's driveway since its appearance in Alien.[31]

Most of the colony, apart from the main entrance used by the marines, was constructed in scale miniature form. The set was about 80-foot (24 m) long to accommodate the sixth-scale APC replica. The set was so large it had to be laid out diagonally across the stage, and forced perspective was used to add in buildings that would otherwise not fit.[80] Cobb used a stylized design for the colony, resembling a western frontier town. It featured a makeshift construction from cargo containers, broken filming equipment, and beer crates.[81] The alien nest scene was one of the earliest filmed; Weaver's participation was delayed by three weeks because of production issues on her previous film Half Moon Street (1986), and the scene was one of the few not involving her. The Acton Power Station location was filled with decaying asbestos and three weeks were spent having it professionally cleaned, during which time the alien hive was fabricated in clay spawning hundreds of fiberglass and vacuum-formed castings that were installed at the station over a further three weeks.[82] Cameron wanted to vertically pan as the marines entered the hive, but disguising the area above the marines would be time-intensive. A hanging miniature, about 12-foot (3.7 m) square, was made from plywood and styrofoam, hung just above the actors' heads, and carefully blended into the larger set. After Remar was replaced, Cameron wanted to reshoot the scene, but the miniature had been destroyed; he was able to edit the scene to conceal Remar.[83]

The marines' smart guns weighed 65 to 70 pounds (29 to 32 kg), and were constructed from German MG 42 machine guns attached to a steadicam and augmented with motorcycle parts.[84][85] Since getting in and out of the smart-gun rig was difficult, the actors kept them on when not filming.[5] The pulse rifle was made from a Thompson submachine gun and a Franchi SPAS-12 pump-action shotgun in a futuristic shell.[86] Weaver was opposed to weapons in general, but Cameron explained weapons were secondary to the core narrative of Ripley bonding with and protecting Newt.[32][33][86] Weaver found using the weapons strange and difficult, due to their weight and her concern about pulling the wrong trigger.[33][86] Automated sentry guns were also constructed for Aliens, although they do not appear in the theatrical cut. Real machine guns were positioned atop remote-controlled hydraulic tripods that allowed them to pivot horizontally or vertically. The guns were capable of firing up to 600 wooden-blank rounds per minute that were shattered into small splinters by baffles in the muzzle and incinerated by the heat generated in the barrel.[87]

A cast was made of Henn's upper body and her stunt double's legs to construct a lightweight dummy for Weaver to hold when carrying a gun; Henn's weight plus a gun would have been too heavy.[33] Goldstein had never handled a gun, and held her weapon incorrectly in closeups, so Hurd stood in for her.[31] The flamethrowers were functional. The art department had covered the sets in an unspecified substance to artificially age them; the flamethrowers vaporized it, causing fire and heavy smoke. Goldstein struggled to breathe and, since improvisation was encouraged, Paxton thought she was acting until he also became breathless.[31][58]

The nuclear explosion of the colony in the finale was created by shining a light bulb through cotton.[31] Reebok designer Taun Le was commissioned to design custom sneakers for Weaver to wear in the film. The only mandate was that they be laceless so one could easily slide off of Weaver's foot during the finale.[40][88]

Creature effects

See also: Alien creature

H. R. Giger, who designed the Alien creature, was reportedly disappointed that he could not be involved in Aliens.[89] According to Hurd, Giger was contractually obligated to Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) and Fox was not allowed to negotiate with him.[90] Giger was replaced by special-effects creator Stan Winston. Cameron also contributed to designs, but was not as concerned with the warrior aliens because they were on screen only briefly.[89] In redesigning the alien warriors, Cameron remained faithful to Giger's work while building on it. Conscious that the creatures would be seen by audiences as people in costumes, he enhanced the designs by extending their arms and often filmed them hung from wires or from atypical positions to make them appear more inhuman.[52] The aliens were played by dancers and stuntmen in lightweight costumes that allowed them to move quickly. Several 8-foot (2.4 m) mannequins were used for aliens that were contorted into inhuman poses.[33] Although hordes of alien creatures appear to be in the film, there were only 12 alien suits: simple black leotards covered in molded foam were used for faster-moving shots, and detailed models with articulated upper bodies and mouths for closeups.[91] When the aliens were shot and destroyed, puppets were hung up and detonated. The aliens' acidic blood was a combination of titanium tetrachloride, cyclohexylamine, acetic acid and yellow dye.[33]

The facehugger design remained faithful to the original Alien design, but the overall appearance was made to appear more organic, and its eight legs were made more finger-like, enhancing the detail on the knuckles and adding fingernails.[92] Unlike in Alien, which only involved one substantial jumping scene, the facehugger models used in Aliens featured full articulation for their tongue, legs, and tail, allowing for more action set pieces. The tail was also lengthened about 6 in (15 cm) to give it more functions such as a whip-like action.[92] Nine operators were rerequire for the fully articulated facehugger; other less-detailed variants were used for simple actions such as scurrying across the floor. The design team struggled with making it scuttle believably while moving the appendages; they eventually developing a control wire along the floor that activated a gear inside it, causing the appendages to move as it was pulled along. Several rubber facehuggers were made to be thrown or blown up.[93] Manipulating the facehugger inside a water tank was also difficult as the tank had to be watertight, limiting the use of control cables. A method was developed that required fewer cables to move the facehugger around the tank; the tail was fitted with a spring that caused it to snap back and forth.[92] Winston added arms to the chestburster alien form (since the adult form had arms), explaining how it could drag itself out of a host's chest. Two chestburster puppets were used: a reinforced one, and an articulated one for movement. A puppeteer punched the former through a fabricated latex-foam chest; the scene took several takes to film because it could not pierce the clothing.[11][94]

A deleted scene in Alien established a life cycle for the alien creatures in which a lifeform would be cocooned and transformed into an egg that birthed a facehugger.[52][95] Inspired by a beehive-like hierarchy, Cameron believed the vast field of eggs on the derelict alien craft would come from a much larger creature, the queen, with the other alien creatures serving as her drones.[52] Winston described Cameron's initial queen design as a combination of a praying mantis and Tyrannosaurus rex influenced by the alien warrior design.[89][96] Cameron said dinosaur influences were unintentional as he considered them "boring"; his goal was to extrapolate on Giger's warrior designs to create a large and powerful creature that was also swift and overtly female, describing it as "hideous and beautiful at the same time, like a black widow spider". The queen has elongated, large forelimbs, with smaller secondary ones underneath, but Winston redesigned the legs by adding a double joint to make it more inhuman.[96] Cameron and Winston worked on several concepts to vivify the queen, including large puppets, miniatures, and costumes with several people inside. A frame was built large enough to hold two people, covered in black polythene bags, and hung on a crane. The prototype was a success, and Cameron wrote the alien-queen scene.[31][97] The final alien queen was a 14-foot (4.3 m) puppet made of lightweight polyurethane foam.[85] Two people sat inside to control the arms; the legs were controlled by rods connected at the ankles, and a separate person whipped the tail around with fishing line. The head was manipulated with a combination of servomotors and hydraulics controlled by up to four people. The effect was hidden by lighting, steam, slime, and smoke.[31][97] The Stan Winston Studio had not used hydraulics and considered them a learning experience. They were essential for moving larger parts of the queen puppet, including the head, and a foot pedal in the body could hydraulically move the tail up and down.[71] Shane Mahan took several weeks to sculpt the head by sight, based on a maquette; computer technology to scale up the model's design did not yet exist.[98] Two heads were built: a lightweight, fragile one; and another that could survive some damage. Each was articulated with hydraulics and cables to control the queen's mouth and lips.[71]

To create the effect of the queen piercing Bishop's chest with her tail, Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis constructed a chestplate for Henriksen with a rubber segment of the queen's tail flattened against it. The tail was pulled forward by wire, apparently exploding through Bishop's torso. A rigid piece of tail, attached to a body harness, was used to show more of the tail moving through Bishop, and Henriksen was levered upward as if he was being lifted by the tail. To complete the effect, a dummy of Bishop was constructed with a spring-loaded mechanism that forcibly separated his upper and lower body, as if the queen had ripped him in half. Once separated, Henriksen's upper body was below the set and a fake torso attached up to his shoulders. The android blood was milk, and after several days of filming, it was sour and foul-smelling.[99]

John Richardson designed the mechanical power loader exosuit, with input from Mead. As with the queen, a prototype was built out of wood and polythene bags stuffed with newspaper to see how the movement would work.[33][53][97] The finished design was so cumbersome that stuntman John Lees, in a black skinsuit, operated it from behind.[33][97] The battle between the queen and power loader was extensively choreographed, as Weaver risked serious injury battling a large, unwieldy animatronic.[97] The camera was sometimes moved to simulate subjects moving faster. The scene of the queen running at Ripley was one of the more difficult shots; the wires and rods had to be concealed, since they could not be removed in post-production.[97] Miniatures were used for parts of the scene with go motion, a version of stop motion with motion blur added.[97]

Release

Context

See also: 1986 in film
 
Cameron and Hurd holding a theatrical poster for Aliens in 1986

The 1986 summer film season began in mid-May. The season had been starting earlier each year as studios attempted to beat each other with their biggest films. Fifty-five films were scheduled for release between May and September, including the action drama Top Gun and the comedic Sweet Liberty, but the season was not expected to break financial records due to fewer sequels, anticipated blockbusters, and films by Steven Spielberg or starring popular comedians that had dominated the earlier half of the decade. Some industry experts also blamed the burgeoning home-video market, which had grown from 7 million rentals in 1983 to 58 million by 1985.[100][101] Films expected to do well were aimed at younger audiences and featured comedy or horror, such as Back to School, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and SpaceCamp.[101] Some films targeted at adults were also seen as potential successes, including Legal Eagles, Ruthless People, and Cobra.[101]

Aliens was seen by industry professionals as a potential sleeper hit based on positive industry word-of-mouth during filming, enthusiastic industry screenings, and favorable pre-release reviews.[25][29][86] The film's success was considered dependent on its ability to attract audiences outside the young males and blue-collar workers typical for the genre.[102] The tagline was, "This time, it's war".[85]

Box office

Aliens began a wide release in the United States (U.S.) and Canada on July 18, 1986.[3] During its opening weekend, the film earned $10.1 million from 1,437 theaters—an average of $6,995 per theater. It was the weekend's number-one film, ahead of the martial-arts drama The Karate Kid Part II ($5.6 million in its fifth weekend) and the black comedy Ruthless People ($4.5 million in its fourth weekend).[103] Based on its opening-five-day total ($13.4 million), Aliens exceeded Fox's expectations and was anticipated to become the summer's top film, surpassing The Karate Kid Part II, Back to School, and Top Gun.[25][102] The Los Angeles Times reported long lines to see Aliens, even on weekday afternoons.[25]

The film retained the number-one position in its second weekend with an additional gross of $8.6 million, ahead of the debuting comedy-drama Heartburn ($5.8 million) and The Karate Kid Part II ($5 million).[104] Aliens remained the number-one film of its third weekend with a gross of $7.1 million, ahead of the debuts of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives ($6.8 million) and the comedy Howard the Duck ($5.1 million).[105][106] The film fell to third place in its fifth weekend with a gross of $4.30 million, behind the debuts of the science-fiction horror film The Fly ($7 million) and the comedy Armed and Dangerous ($4.33 million).[107] Aliens was one of the top ten highest-grossing films for 11 weeks.[108]

By the end of its theatrical run, Aliens had grossed about $85.1 million.[108][109][e] This figure made it the year's seventh highest-grossing film, behind Back to School ($91.3 million), science-fiction film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ($109.6 million), The Karate Kid Part II ($115.1 million), war film Platoon (138.5 million), action comedy Crocodile Dundee ($174.8 million) and Top Gun ($176.8 million).[110][111] Aliens' box-office returns to the studio, minus the theaters' share, was $42.5 million.[112]

Box office figures outside the U.S. and Canada are inconsistent and not available for all 1986 films. According to the box-office tracking websites Box Office Mojo and the Numbers, Aliens earned from $45.9 million to $98.1 million.[f] This gives Aliens a worldwide gross of $131.1 million to $183.3 million, making it the year's fourth-highest-grossing film, behind Platoon ($138 million), Crocodile Dundee ($328.2 million), and Top Gun ($356.8 million), or the third-highest-grossing film behind Crocodile Dundee and Top Gun.[113][114] According to Fox's 1992 estimate, Aliens had earned $157 million worldwide.[115][g] The New York Times described the film as "extremely successful."[112]

Reception

Critical response

 
Critics were divided about Aliens' intense action and horror, but consistent in their praise for Weaver's (pictured in 2016) performance.

Aliens opened to generally positive reviews.[102] It appeared on the cover of the July 28, 1986, edition of Time magazine, which called it "The Summer's Scariest Movie".[116] Audience polls by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[117]

Most reviewers agreed Aliens was a worthy successor to Alien.[118][119] Variety and Walter Goodman said it could not replicate the novelty of the first film, but Aliens compensated with special effects, technique, and a constant stream of set-piece thrills and scary scenes.[3][118] Variety added Aliens was made by an expert craftsman, suggesting its predecessor was a more artistic endeavor.[118] Sheila Benson said Aliens was clever and ironically funny, but lacked Alien's pure horror. Benson attributed this to an overabundance of creature effects in the intervening years, particularly the 1982 science-fiction horror film The Thing (which, Benson said, took alien monstrosities to an extreme).[120]

According to Rick Kogan, Aliens demonstrated that science-fiction horror could still be entertaining after many poorly received Alien-derived films.[121] Dave Kehr and Richard Schickel called it a rare sequel which surpassed the original, and Kehr appreciated the action used to develop the characters. Schickel wrote that the film had evolved from Alien, giving Weaver new emotional depths.[119][122] Jay Scott said Cameron had redefined the war film, combining Rambo with Star Wars.[123] Kogan agreed Cameron possessed a knack for action pacing and excitement, but Kehr believed Cameron pushed some elements beyond believability.[121][122]

Roger Ebert called the last hour "painfully, unremittingly intense" in horror and action, leaving him emotionally drained and unhappy. Ebert believed it could not be defined as entertainment, despite his admiration of the filmmaking craft on display.[124] Dennis Fischer wrote for The Hollywood Reporter that the unrelenting scenes of action and suspense worked for Aliens as they had in The Terminator; tension was created by placing the characters in successive, increasingly difficult situations.[125] Gene Siskel described the film as "one extremely violent, protracted attack on the senses".[126] In the Orlando Sentinel, Jay Boyar called it the Jaws of the 1980s: the most "intensely shocking" film in years.[127]

Reviewers consistently praised Weaver's performance.[118][124] Benson called her the "white-hot core" around whose "defiant intelligence" and "sensual athleticism" Aliens was built, and Ripley returned not for vengeance but out of compassion.[120] Ebert credited Weaver's sympathetic performance with holding Aliens together.[124] Kogan compared her to a more attractive John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone's action character).[121] Scott agreed, saying Weaver made action stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger look like male pin-up models. He described her as the ultimate adventure heroine, balancing action with femininity and maternal instincts.[123] Pauline Kael was critical of the film overall as too "mechanical", but praised Weaver's physical presence and performance, writing that, without her, Aliens was a subpar B picture.[128]

Most of the cast was also praised, particularly Biehn, Goldstein, Henriksen, Henn and Reiser[118][120][124] but Benson noted that less time was spent exploring the new characters than in Alien.[120] Schickel said Henn played her character as endearingly brave and clever, without self-pity.[129] Benson praised Horner's "ruminative, intelligent" music,[120] but Fischer criticized it for borrowing too much from Goldsmith's score and Horner's work on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).[125]

Accolades

Further information: List of accolades received by the Alien film series
 
Weaver's (pictured in 1989) Academy Award nomination for Best Actress was considered a milestone when the Academy paid little attention to science fiction.

Aliens received two awards at the 1987 Academy Awards: Best Sound Effects Editing (Don Sharpe) and Best Visual Effects (Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, Suzanne Benson). Weaver was nominated for Best Actress, losing to Marlee Matlin for the romantic drama Children of a Lesser God.[130] Weaver's was the first Best Actress nomination given for a science-fiction film, at a time when the genre was given little respect, and it remained a rarity for the action or science-fiction genres.[131][132][133] The film garnered four other nominations: Best Original Score for Horner; Best Art Director for Peter Lamont and Crispian Sallis; Best Editing for Ray Lovejoy, and Best Sound for Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier, Michael A. Carter, and Roy Charman.[130] At the 44th Golden Globe Awards, Weaver was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama.[134]

At the 40th British Academy Film Awards, Aliens won the award for Best Special Visual Effects and three other nominations: Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hair for Peter Robb King, and Best Sound.[135] At the 14th Saturn Awards, Aliens received eight awards: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actress (Weaver), Best Performance by a Young Actor (Henn), Best Supporting Actress (Goldstein), Best Supporting Actor (Paxton), Best Special Effects (Winston and the L.A. Effects Group) and Best Director and Best Writing (both for Cameron).[136] It received a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[137]

Post-release

Home media

Aliens was released on VHS in February 1987.[138][139] A modified cut, including scenes deleted from the theatrical release, was broadcast on CBS in 1989, and a further extended edition with more deleted scenes, including the opening scene of Newt's family investigating the derelict spacecraft, was released on LaserDisc in 1991. The extended cut is 157 minutes long, 20 minutes longer than the theatrical cut, and Cameron has stated it is his preferred version.[19][140][141]

The extended edition was released on VHS and DVD in 1999 as part of the Alien Legacy box set with the other three available Alien films: Alien, Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997).[140] The DVD version was also sold separately, and both versions included additional behind-the-scenes footage.[142] The 2003 Alien Quadrilogy nine-DVD box set included all four films and an additional disc for each film with behind-the-scenes footage and featurettes (including a three-hour documentary, Superior Firepower: The Making of Aliens), and theatrical and extended cuts of each film. The Aliens disc included commentary by cast and crew members, including Cameron; Weaver did not participate. Each film was sold separately (including its bonus disc) in 2004.[19][143]

Aliens was released on Blu-ray in 2010 as part of the Alien Anthology box set with remastered footage, theatrical and extended versions, and featurettes found in earlier releases. The film was released separately on Blu-ray in 2011.[144][145] For its 30th anniversary in 2016, Aliens was released on Blu-ray and digital download, featuring a new interview with Cameron about his inspirations for the film. In addition to the theatrical and extended versions, the release contained a limited-edition lithograph of Ripley in battle with the alien queen, an art book focused on the Aliens comic books by Dark Horse Comics, and collectible cards with concept art by Cameron.[146] A limited-edition, 75-copy vinyl soundtrack was also released that year.[147]

Other media

See also: Aliens franchise, Aliens video games, and Aliens comic books

Toy company Kenner Products attempted to release figures based on Alien in 1979, but only an alien action figure was released, which was quickly withdrawn when it was deemed too frightening for children. Aliens was considered a different prospect (despite its adult-oriented content), since it focused on action and featured marines (instead of ordinary workers) fighting a large number of aliens. The toys were intended to tie into Operation Aliens (a children's cartoon scheduled for release in 1992, alongside Alien 3) and a series of mini-comics by Dark Horse Comics.[148][149] Since its release, Aliens has appeared across a variety of merchandise, including action figures,[149] punching bags,[147] clothing,[147] and board games.[150] McFarlane Toys released figures for Hicks, the alien, and the alien queen in the early 2000s.[151][152][153] In the late 2010s, National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) released figures based on the film, including Newt,[17] Burke, and Cameron dressed as a Colonial Marine.[154][155] NECA also revived the original Kenner designs in 2019, releasing better-quality models.[156][157]

Aliens has had several video-game adaptations, beginning with Aliens: The Computer Game (1986), which was followed by a separate game, also called Aliens: The Computer Game, in 1987. A side-scroller, Aliens (1987), was released in Japan for the MSX,[158] and a 1990 arcade game, Aliens, allowed players to play as Ripley or Hicks against alien variants; some levels required the player to control Newt.[158][159] Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure, an adventure game focusing on puzzles, was released in 1995.[158][160] A first-person shooter, Alien Trilogy (1996), is based on Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3.[158][161] Aliens Online (1998) was an online game which allowed players to play as Colonial Marines or aliens.[158] Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013) is a first-person shooter and a canonical sequel of Aliens, focusing on the marines sent to search for Ripley's expedition.[158][160] Several other games have the Aliens brand or are side stories or sequels to the film's events,[158][161][162] and the Aliens vs. Predator game series.[162]

A novelization by Alan Dean Foster was released alongside the film.[163][164] Comic books based on (and continuing) the story of Aliens have been published (primarily by Dark Horse Comics) since 1988, including crossovers of the titular aliens with popular franchises, such as Predator (creating a derivative Alien vs. Predator franchise), Terminator, and Superman.[h] Reebok's boots designed for Ripley became available to the public in 2016; other versions included boots based on the power loader, Bishop, the Colonial Marines and the alien queen.[88][147] Rinzler published The Making of Aliens, a 300-page behind-the-scenes book with cast and crew interviews and previously unseen photographs, in 2020.[89] Operation Aliens, a board game, was released in 1992. Players are cast as a Colonial Marine or Ripley and tasked with finding a self-destruct code to destroy an infested spaceship.[150][174]

Themes

Motherhood

A central theme of Aliens is motherhood.[32][175] Alien can be seen as a metaphor for childbirth, but Aliens focuses on Ripley's maternal feelings for Newt. A scene cut from the theatrical release depicts Ripley learning her child died while she was in stasis, helping explain Ripley's motherly attention for Newt. Newt has also lost everything of value, and they form a new family from the remnants of their old ones.[129][175] This relationship is mirrored by the alien queen, mother of the alien creatures.[175][176] There are no paternal figures; both are single mothers, defending their young. The alien queen seeks revenge against Ripley, who destroyed her brood and her means of reproduction.[119][175] According to Richard Schickel, Alien is about survival; Aliens is about fighting to ensure someone else's survival.[129]

Authors Tammy Ostrander and Susan Yunis believed Newt's capture by the aliens forces Ripley to realize she is willing to die to save her, demonstrating a selfless motherhood, unlike the queen's selfish motherhood.[177] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Nancy Weber wrote that as a mother, she saw in Aliens the constant vigilance required to protect her child from predators, sexism, and threats to childhood innocence.[178] Leilani Nishime believed despite the focus on motherhood, the nuclear family is represented in Aliens with a mother (Ripley), father (Hicks), daughter (Newt), and a loyal, self-sacrificing dog (Bishop).[179]

According to Charles Berg, the depictions of aliens in science fiction that became more popular during the 1980s represented American fears of immigrants (the "other"). In Aliens, this can be seen in the white-skinned single mother (Ripley) confronting the dark-skinned alien queen with an endless brood.[180] Ostrander and Yunis also identified fears of overcrowding, dwindling resources, and pollution, suggesting the alien queen demonizes motherhood and makes it less attractive. She represents mindless, unchecked maternal instinct spawning armies of children, regardless of the lives which must be sacrificed to ensure their survival. Despite imminent destruction by the colony exploding, the queen continues to reproduce.[181] The aliens' life cycle taints the reproductive cycle. Creation involves rape, and birth involves a violent death.[182] In destroying the aliens and their queen, Ripley rejects the unchecked proliferation of their species and sets an example for her own.[183]

Masculinity and femininity

 
Ripley was often compared to the era's masculine heroes, including Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo.

Ripley has been compared to John Rambo and dubbed Ramboette, Rambette, Fembo, Ramboline; Weaver called herself Rambolina.[33][184][185] Mary Lee Settle said females in television and film had evolved from escapist fantasy to more accurately reflect their audiences. A gun, which can be seen as a phallic symbol, has a different meaning when wielded by Weaver.[184] Schickel described Ripley as transcending the customary boundaries imposed on her gender, where females serve the male hero. In Aliens, the male characters are neutralized by the climax and Ripley faces the queen alone.[26] Cameron said he does not like cowardly female characters and removes their expected protectors to force them to fend for themselves. He called the overuse of male heroes "commercially shortsighted" in an industry whose audience is 50-percent female, and where "80 percent of the time, it's women who decide which film to see".[26][28]

The growth of female-led action films after the success of Aliens reflects the change in women's roles and the divide between professional critics (who perceive a masculinization of the heroine) and audiences that—regardless of gender—embrace, emulate, and quote Ripley.[186] The hyper-masculine heroes played by Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme were replaced by independent women capable of defending themselves and defeating villains in films such as The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).[187] These female characters often perform stereotypical male actions, and have muscular physiques rather than feminine "soft" bodies.[188] When Ripley has seized command of the marines and is no longer a passive outsider in Aliens, the traditional male hero (Hicks) instructs her in the use of their weapons.[189] The comparison of Ripley to Rambo conflates her with the male, musclebound, gun-wielding action hero.[190] To balance her masculine traits, Cameron gives Ripley maternal instincts; this counters homophobic audiences, who might see a masculinized female as lesbian or butch.[191] These traits are further offset by the more openly masculine Vasquez, a minor character. Vasquez (who has short hair and bigger muscles) is introduced to the audience by working out, and is asked if she has ever been mistaken for a man.[192] Weber appreciated the change in female characters between the films, contrasting Alien's hysterical Lambert with the tough Vasquez (who sacrifices herself for her team, not only for the protagonist).[178]

War and trauma

Aliens has been described as an allegory for the Vietnam War; the marines (like the United States) have superior weaponry and technology that proves largely ineffective against an unseen, local enemy.[28][85] Like some Vietnam veterans, Ripley developed post-traumatic stress disorder after the events of Alien.[193] Writer Joe Abbott contrasted the depiction of the military in Aliens to the 1954 science-fiction film Them! In both films, humans are beset by a monstrous invasion; in Them!, the military is the hero despite its responsibility for the infestation. Abbott said its post-World War II American setting depicts a competent military and a state authority that demands (and receives) the compliance of its citizens. The image of the post-Vietnam military is tarnished and scrutinized; in Aliens, it is ill-equipped, bumbling, and incapable of combating the threat posed by the alien creatures. Citizen cooperation can no longer be demanded or expected, and it is Ripley, an independent contractor from outside the state and military infrastructures, who saves the day.[194] Unlike Them!, the military is not at fault for creating the problem in Aliens; it is the Weyland-Yutani corporation. The power of the state has been superseded by the corporation, which also demands conformity for rewards and advancement and reflects a growing mistrust of corporatism; the company is represented by Burke, a self-interested opportunist.[195] Ripley is elevated throughout Aliens as she benefits the community, and Burke works to undermine it for the company.[196]

According to Weaver, Aliens is about confronting trauma to obtain closure.[197] This may be seen as a reflection of Ronald Reagan's United States presidency and a conservatism that believed the hero must return to confront their fears with ethics and morality on their side.[198][199] Comparing Alien with Aliens, Roger Luckhurst said: "Even if Alien was a piece of leftist science fiction, the core of [its] myth could be inflected the other way. [Cameron's] Aliens would be a defiantly Reaganite version of the story—pumped, militarized, libertarian driven by a staunch defense of the nuclear family."[200] Abbott said Aliens adheres to a radical ideology and condemns centrism; similar films were popular because they represented audience dissatisfaction with the social status quo.[194] The film places power in the individual (Ripley), instead of institutions like the military, corporations, or the government.[201] The Bishop character also allows Ripley to confront her distrust of androids that resulted from the deception of Ash (portrayed by Ian Holm) in Alien. Unlike Ash, Bishop is openly an android and conveys both a similarly unassuming personality and a fascination with the alien creatures. Aliens imbues Bishop with a degree of humanity as he volunteers for a potentially suicidal mission. Although the other characters assume he is artificial and thus unafraid, Bishop affirms, "Believe me, I'd prefer not to, I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid."[202]

Legacy

Cultural influence

 
Carrie Henn (pictured in 2016) chose not to pursue acting after appearing in Aliens

A cinematic touchstone, Aliens has had an enduring influence on filmmaking.[i] Elements such as a team of soldiers being dismantled by a villain have been repeated to the point of cliché.[85] The same is true of Horner's oft-imitated score,[64][85] which regularly appeared in action-film trailers for the following decade.[66][65] The film's influence can also be seen in video games' (particularly science-fiction games') ships, armor, and weapons,[206][207] as well as the 1989 Italian film Shocking Dark, a remake of Aliens that relocates much of the plot and scenes to a Venetian setting and incorporates elements of The Terminator; outside Italy, it was released as Terminator II.[208]

Although The Terminator was a success for Cameron, the critical and commercial success of Aliens made him a blockbuster director. It also expanded the Alien series into a franchise, spanning video games, comic books, and toys; although Ripley and the alien creature originated in Alien, Cameron elaborated on the creature's life cycle, added new characters and factions (such as the Colonial Marines), and extended the films' universe.[85] Ripley became a post-feminist icon, a proactive hero who retained feminine traits.[85] Aliens features popular quotes, including Paxton's "Game over, man, game over",[205][209] and Weaver's "Get away from her, you bitch," which is considered one of Aliens's most memorable lines and has often been repeated in other media.[85][210] Aliens was named by director Roland Emmerich as one of his top ten science-fiction films, alongside Alien.[211]

Many cast and crew members reunited at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con to celebrate the film's 30th anniversary, including Weaver, Biehn, Paxton, Henriksen, Reiser, Henn, Cameron and Hurd. Cameron said he normally would not participate (and did not do so for The Terminator's anniversary) but he considered Aliens special because of its impact on his career.[146][205] Asked why he thought Aliens' popularity had endured, Cameron said:

I have to take my filmmaker hat off and look at it as a fan and think, "Well, I really like those characters ..." There's certain lines, moments, you remember moments. It's satisfying, it ends in a satisfying way ... But I actually think it's those characters. We can all relate to Hudson running around "What the hell are we gonna do now man? What the fuck we gonna do?" We all know that guy.

Hurd believed that it was the experience itself:

"It's a great midnight screening movie because you can talk back to the screen and you can have this group experience. It not only makes you feel something, it makes you cheer, it makes you jump. When you think of all the things that something can do, which is projected on a screen, it ticks all those boxes and it makes you laugh."[212]

The ensemble cast's popularity led to many members appearing together in later films, including Henriksen, Goldstein, and Paxton in Near Dark (1987) as well as Goldstein and Rolston in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989).[44] Biehn lost a role in Cameron's Avatar (2009) because Weaver had been cast, and the director did not want to create an obvious association with Aliens.[4] Paxton is also remembered as one of only two actors, along with Lance Henriksen, to play characters killed by an alien, a Terminator (in The Terminator), and a Predator (in 1990's Predator 2).[48] Despite her sudden fame, Henn decided not to pursue acting, so that she could remain close to her family. She said some people resented her fame and was uncertain whether people liked her for being in Aliens or for herself. Henn became a teacher; she maintains a relationship with Weaver and kept a framed picture of her and Weaver that the actress had given her after filming was complete.[37]

Critical reassessment

Aliens is considered one of the greatest science-fiction films ever made,[j] as well as being among the best films of the 1980s,[k] and one of the greatest action films of all time.[l] The British Film Institute called Aliens one of the 10 greatest action films, saying: "A matriarchal masterpiece of God-bothering structural engineering, there's really little that Aliens doesn't get right; from its slow-burn exemplification of character and world-building through to its jab-jab-hook-pause-uppercut series of sustained climaxes, Cameron delivers a masterclass in action direction."[238]

The film is also considered one of the best sequels of all time, and equal to (or better than) Alien.[m] According to Slant Magazine, it exceeded Alien in every way.[239] In 2009, Den of Geek called it the best blockbuster sequel ever made, and remarkable even as a standalone film.[240] In 2017, the website ranked it the second-best film in the series (behind Alien).[243] In 2011, Empire called it the greatest movie sequel ever.[244] Empire also listed Aliens as the 30th-best film ever made on the magazine's "500 Greatest Movies Of All Time" list; its readers ranked it the 17th-best.[245][246] The film is listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.[247] Aliens has a 98% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes from 81 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. Its critical consensus reads, "While Alien was a marvel of slow-building, atmospheric tension, Aliens packs a much more visceral punch, and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver."[248] The film has a score of 84 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[249]

The Ellen Ripley character has also been recognized; the American Film Institute ranked her the eighth-most-heroic character on its 2003 100 Years ... 100 Heroes and Villains list,[250] and she was ninth on Empire's 2006 "100 Greatest Movie Characters" list.[251] Despite her character's popularity, the casting of Jenette Goldstein (a Jewish actress of Russian, Moroccan, and Brazilian descent) as the Hispanic Vasquez has been considered odd. Goldstein has said she considers herself unrecognizable as Vasquez on film, but a muscular actress was required, and the filmmakers could not find anyone else with her physique.[252]

Sequels

Main article: Alien franchise

Aliens' success resulted in immediate discussion of a sequel.[25] Alien 3 was released in 1992, after a tumultuous development involving several writers and directors; Cameron did not return.[253][254][255] The film was financially successful, but "generally panned" by critics, and its director, David Fincher, disowned it after the release, citing studio interference.[253] The film was also derided by fans because it killed the Hicks and Newt characters off-screen. Biehn called it one of his greatest disappointments and refused permission for the use of his likeness in Alien 3.[4][256] Regarding the treatment of his characters, Cameron said:

I thought [the decision to eliminate Newt, Hicks, and Bishop] was dumb ... I thought it was a huge slap in the face to the fans ... I think it was a big mistake. Certainly, had we been involved we would not have done that, because we felt we earned something with the audience for those characters.[31][257]

An early script for Alien 3, by William Gibson, was adapted as a 2019 audio drama, focusing on Hicks as the protagonist, with Biehn and Henriksen voicing their respective roles.[255][258] A five-hour 2017 audio drama, River of Pain, takes place between Alien and Aliens and covers the early days of the LV-426 colony and its downfall to the aliens. Actors returning to voice their characters included William Hope, Mac MacDonald, Stuart Milligan, and Alibe Parsons.[21] A third sequel, Alien Resurrection, was released in 1997.[259] Instead of a fourth sequel, Fox began development of a crossover film pitting the series' aliens against the titular alien race of its science-fiction property, Predator;[260][261] the film was poorly received.[262][263] It was followed by a sequel, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), the least financially-successful and worst-reviewed film in either franchise.[264]

Ridley Scott returned to the series for Prometheus (2012) (a prequel to Alien) and its sequel, Alien: Covenant (2017).[265][266] A fifth sequel in the main Alien series was in development in 2020, but was canceled by the Walt Disney Company following its acquisition of 20th Century Fox.[267][268] An original, stand-alone film in the Alien franchise was announced in 2022, to be written and directed by Fede Álvarez.[269][270]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ The exomoon known as LV-426 is also referred to as Acheron.[2]
  2. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[4][39][40][42]
  3. ^ Aliens' 1986 budget of $18.5 million is equivalent to $45.7 million in 2021.
  4. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[28][32][51][52][53]
  5. ^ Aliens' 1986 United States and Canada box office gross of $85.1 million is equivalent to $210 million in 2021.
  6. ^ According to different sources, Aliens' 1986 box office gross outside of the U.S. and Canada of $45.9 million to $98.1 million is equivalent to $113 million to $243 million in 2021.
  7. ^ Based on available figures, Aliens' 1986 worldwide box office gross of $131.1 million to $183.3 million is equivalent to $324 million to $453 million in 2021.
  8. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172][173]
  9. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[133][203][204][205]
  10. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[213][214][215][216][217][218][219][220][221][222]
  11. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[223][224][225][226][227][228][229][230][231]
  12. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[232][233][234][235][236][237]
  13. ^ Attributed to multiple references:[60][238][239][240][241][242]

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Works cited

May 04, 2023
aliens, film, aliens, 1986, science, fiction, action, film, written, directed, james, cameron, sequel, 1979, science, fiction, horror, film, alien, second, film, alien, franchise, future, stars, sigourney, weaver, ellen, ripley, sole, survivor, alien, attack, . Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron It is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction horror film Alien and the second film in the Alien franchise Set in the far future it stars Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship When communications are lost with a human colony on the moon where her crew first saw the alien creatures Ripley agrees to return to the site with a unit of Colonial Marines to investigate Michael Biehn Paul Reiser Lance Henriksen and Carrie Henn are featured in supporting roles AliensTheatrical release posterDirected byJames CameronScreenplay byJames CameronStory byJames Cameron David Giler Walter HillBased onCharactersby Dan O BannonRonald ShusettProduced byGale Anne HurdStarringSigourney WeaverCinematographyAdrian BiddleEdited byRay LovejoyMusic byJames HornerProductioncompanyBrandywine ProductionsDistributed by20th Century FoxRelease dateJuly 18 1986 1986 07 18 Running time137 minutesCountriesUnited StatesUnited Kingdom 1 LanguageEnglishBudget 18 5 millionBox office 131 1 183 3 millionDespite the success of Alien its sequel took years to develop due to lawsuits a lack of enthusiasm from 20th Century Fox and repeated management changes Although relatively inexperienced Cameron was hired to write a story for Aliens in 1983 on the strength of his scripts for The Terminator 1984 and Rambo First Blood Part II 1985 The project stalled again until new Fox executive Lawrence Gordon pursued a sequel On an approximately 18 5 million budget Aliens began principal photography in September 1985 and concluded in January 1986 Like its development filming was tumultuous and rife with conflicts between Cameron and the British crew at Pinewood Studios The difficult shoot affected the composer James Horner who was given little time to record the music Aliens was released on July 18 1986 to critical acclaim Reviewers praised its action but some criticized the intensity of some scenes Weaver s performance garnered consistent praise along with those of Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein The film received several awards and nominations including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Weaver at a time when the science fiction genre was generally overlooked It earned 131 1 183 3 million during its theatrical run making it one of the highest grossing films of 1986 worldwide Aliens is now considered among the greatest films of the 1980s and among the best science fiction action and sequel films ever made arguably equal to or better than Alien It is credited with expanding the franchise s scope with additions to the series backstory and factions such as the Colonial Marines It inspired a variety of merchandise including video games comic books and toys It was followed by two sequels Alien 3 1992 and Alien Resurrection 1997 neither of which were as successful and the prequels Prometheus 2012 and Alien Covenant 2017 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Development 3 1 Early development 3 2 Revival 3 3 Casting 3 4 Filming 3 5 Post production 3 6 Music 4 Special effects and design 4 1 Sets and technology 4 2 Creature effects 5 Release 5 1 Context 5 2 Box office 6 Reception 6 1 Critical response 6 2 Accolades 7 Post release 7 1 Home media 7 2 Other media 8 Themes 8 1 Motherhood 8 2 Masculinity and femininity 8 3 War and trauma 9 Legacy 9 1 Cultural influence 9 2 Critical reassessment 10 Sequels 11 See also 12 References 12 1 Notes 12 2 Citations 12 3 Works cited 13 External linksPlot EditEllen Ripley has been in stasis for 57 years aboard an escape shuttle after destroying her ship the Nostromo to escape an alien creature that slaughtered the rest of the crew She is rescued and debriefed by her employers at the Weyland Yutani Corporation who are skeptical about her claim of alien eggs in a derelict ship on the exomoon LV 426 a since it is now the site of a terraforming colony After contact is lost with the colony Weyland Yutani representative Carter Burke and Colonial Marine Lieutenant Gorman ask Ripley to accompany them to investigate Still traumatized by her alien encounter she agrees on the condition that they exterminate the creatures Ripley is introduced to the Colonial Marines on the spaceship Sulaco but is distrustful of their android Bishop because the android aboard the Nostromo betrayed its crew to protect the alien on company orders A dropship delivers the expedition to the surface of LV 426 where they find the battle ravaged colony and two live alien facehuggers in containment tanks but no bodies or colonists except for a traumatized young girl nicknamed Newt The team locates the colonists beneath the fusion powered atmosphere processing station and heads to their location descending into corridors covered in alien secretions At the station center the Marines find opened eggs and dead facehuggers alongside the cocooned colonists now serving as incubators for the creatures offspring The Marines kill an infant alien after it bursts from a colonist s chest rousing several adult aliens who ambush the Marines and kill or capture many of them When the inexperienced Gorman panics Ripley assumes command takes control of their armored personnel carrier and rams the nest to rescue Corporal Dwayne Hicks and Privates Hudson and Vasquez Hicks orders the dropship to recover the survivors but a stowaway alien kills the pilots and it crashes into the station Almost out of ammunition and resources the survivors barricade themselves inside the colony Ripley discovers that Burke ordered the colonists to investigate the derelict spaceship containing the alien eggs intending to profit by recovering them for biological weapon research Before she can expose him Bishop informs the group that the dropship crash damaged the power plant cooling system and the plant will soon overheat and explode destroying the colony He volunteers to travel to the colony transmitter and remotely pilot the Sulaco s remaining dropship to the surface After falling asleep in the medical laboratory Ripley and Newt awaken to find themselves trapped with the two released facehuggers Ripley triggers a fire alarm to alert the Marines who rescue them and kill the creatures She accuses Burke of releasing the facehuggers to implant her and Newt with alien embryos allowing him to smuggle them through Earth s quarantine The power is suddenly cut and aliens attack through the ceiling In the ensuing firefight the aliens kill Burke subdue Hudson and injure Hicks the cornered Gorman and Vasquez sacrifice themselves to avoid capture Newt is separated from Ripley and taken by the creatures Ripley brings Hicks to Bishop in the second dropship but she refuses to abandon Newt and arms herself before descending into the processing station hive alone to rescue her During their escape they encounter the alien queen surrounded by dozens of eggs and when one begins to open Ripley uses her weapons to destroy them all and the queen s ovipositor Pursued by the enraged queen Ripley and Newt join Bishop and Hicks on the dropship and escape moments before the station explodes consuming the colony in a nuclear blast Aboard the Sulaco the group is ambushed by the queen who stowed away in the dropship s landing gear The queen tears Bishop in half and advances on Newt but Ripley fights the creature with an exosuit cargo loader and expels it through an airlock into space while the damaged Bishop keeps Newt safe Ripley Newt Hicks and Bishop enter hypersleep for their return trip to Earth Cast EditSee also List ofAlien film series characters Left to right Sigourney Weaver Michael Biehn both pictured in 2016 and Paul Reiser 2010 Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship the Nostromo 3 Michael Biehn as Corporal Dwayne Hicks a corporal in the Colonial Marines 4 Paul Reiser as Carter J Burke a Weyland Yutani Corporation representative 4 Lance Henriksen as Bishop an android aboard the Sulaco 5 Carrie Henn as Rebecca Newt Jorden a young girl in the colony on LV 426 2 Bill Paxton as Hudson a boastful but panicky Colonial Marine private 6 7 William Hope as Gorman the Marines inexperienced commanding officer 6 8 Ricco Ross as Frost a private in the Colonial Marines 6 Al Matthews as Apone the Marines cool headed Sergeant 9 10 The Colonial Marine cast includes privates Vasquez Jenette Goldstein Drake Mark Rolston Spunkmeyer Daniel Kash 6 Crowe Tip Tipping and Wierzbowski Trevor Steedman 1 and corporals Dietrich Cynthia Dale Scott and Ferro Colette Hiller In addition to the main cast Aliens features Paul Maxwell as Van Leuwen a member of the board reviewing Ripley s competence and Barbara Coles as the cocooned colonist killed when an alien bursts from her chest 1 11 Carl Toop and Eddie Powell portray alien warriors 1 12 Some scenes removed from Aliens s theatrical version were restored in subsequent releases 13 Additional credits for these scenes include Newt s father Russ Jorden Jay Benedict 14 15 and her mother Anne Holly de Jong 16 17 Henn s brother Christopher plays her brother Timmy 18 19 Mac McDonald portrays colony administrator Al Simpson 20 21 and Weaver s mother Elizabeth Inglis makes a cameo appearance as Ripley s daughter Amanda 22 Development EditEarly development Edit The success of Alien 1979 led to immediate discussions of a sequel but the production company Brandywine Productions struggled to convince 20th Century Fox to make it Studio president Alan Ladd Jr was supportive of the project but left Fox to found the Ladd Company and his replacement Norman Levy was concerned about the cost of producing an Alien II 23 24 25 Brandywine co founder David Giler said Levy believed a sequel would be a disaster 25 Fox executives believed Alien s success was a fluke and that it had not generated enough profit or audience interest to warrant a sequel 25 Box office returns for horror films were also declining 26 Progress was further slowed when Giler and Brandywine co founders Walter Hill and Gordon Carroll sued Fox for unpaid profits from Alien Using Hollywood accounting methods Fox had declared Alien a financial loss despite its earnings of over 100 million against a 9 11 million budget Brandywine s lawsuit was settled by early 1983 the result being that Fox would finance the development of Alien II but was not required to distribute the film 25 27 Levy s eventual replacement Joe Wizan was receptive to a sequel and although other executives remained noncommittal Giler s development executive Larry Wilson began looking for a scriptwriter by mid 1983 24 25 Wilson came across the script for the in development science fiction film The Terminator 1984 written by James Cameron With Cameron s collaborative scriptwriting efforts alongside Sylvester Stallone on Rambo First Blood Part II 1985 Wilson was convinced to show the script for The Terminator to Giler Hill and Carroll 28 29 In November 1983 Cameron submitted a 42 page film treatment for Alien II written in three days based on Giler and Hill s suggestion of Ripley and soldiers 24 25 30 The studio had a mixed reaction one executive calling it a constant stream of horror without character development 24 25 Negotiations to sell the sequel rights to Rambo s developers Mario Kassar and Andrew G Vajna failed and the project stalled again 25 Revival Edit Left to right Director James Cameron and producer Gale Ann Hurd pictured in 2016 By July 1984 Lawrence Gordon had replaced Wizan With few projects in development Gordon looked at sequels to Fox s existing properties and came across the Alien II treatment he said he was surprised no one had pursued it 25 Production of The Terminator was delayed for nine months because Arnold Schwarzenegger was contractually obligated to film Conan the Destroyer 1984 Cameron used the time to develop his treatment expanding it to ninety pages 24 29 He drew ideas from Mother one of his story concepts about an alien on a space station involving a power loader suit 31 Because of his low expectations for The Terminator Cameron had spent much of his free time during its production developing and trying out ideas for Alien II 28 29 This script was better received by Fox executives and Gordon but Cameron also wanted to direct the project 24 29 32 Cameron was a relatively new director his only directing credit being Piranha II The Spawning 1982 a low budget independent horror film and the studio was reluctant to grant his request His credibility was elevated following the surprise financial and critical success of The Terminator in late 1984 and Gordon gave him the job 25 29 32 Cameron s associates tried to persuade him to reject the offer believing anything good about the film would be attributed to Alien director Ridley Scott and anything negative to Cameron 33 Scott said he was never offered the chance to direct the sequel possibly because he was difficult to work with on the original 34 The title Aliens reportedly came from Cameron writing Alien on a whiteboard during a pitch meeting and adding a suffix 35 36 Cameron also wanted his collaborative partner and girlfriend Gale Anne Hurd to serve as the producer but Fox did not take the request seriously believing she could not stand up to Cameron who believed she was the only person who would 31 32 Hurd had several industry associates contact Fox executives to convince them she was a legitimate producer 32 Cameron turned in the finished script in February 1985 hours before a Hollywood writer s strike 25 Cameron recalled the audience reactions while seeing Alien in the theater and believed it would be difficult to recreate the emotion and novelty of the original He and Hurd agreed to combine the horror of Alien with the action of The Terminator According to Hill Cameron said if the first film could be compared to a haunted attraction Aliens should be like a roller coaster 29 Cameron believed in having a strong female heroine to distinguish his films from typical Hollywood action fare and wrote the script with a picture of Weaver on his desk 32 He referred to The Terminator and how he removed the normal protective forces from Sarah Connor so she had to fend for herself 28 Cameron had also always wanted to make a film about space infantry 29 The final script was well received but Fox executives including chairman Barry Diller were concerned about the budget Fox estimated the cost as close to 35 million but Hurd said it would be closer to 15 5 million Diller offered 12 million prompting Cameron and Hurd to quit Gordon negotiated with Diller until he relented and Cameron and Hurd returned 25 In April 1985 conflict turned to the cast Fox did not want Weaver to return because they expected her to demand a high salary 25 32 Cameron and Hurd were insistent Weaver return as the solo star Fox refused saying they would damage the studio s negotiating power with Weaver s agent Cameron and Hurd again left the project marrying and going on a honeymoon When they returned the Aliens project was ready to move forward Cameron credited Gordon with Aliens being greenlit 25 Casting Edit Left to right Bill Paxton pictured in 2014 and Lance Henriksen 2016 portrayed Colonial Marine Private Hudson and the android Bishop respectively Weaver rejected initial offers to return and despite being interested after reading Cameron s script she had to be convinced Aliens was not being made exclusively for financial reasons 24 32 33 Weaver received a 1 million equivalent to 2 47 million in 2021 salary and a percentage of the box office profits the highest salary of her career at the time 25 Negotiations were so lengthy that Cameron and Hurd told Schwarzenegger s agent they intended to write Ripley out of the movie knowing Weaver s agent would be told terms were reached shortly afterward 24 Cameron wanted an unknown actor to portray Newt Agents scouted Henn while she was at school in Lakenheath England and though she lacked acting experience Cameron said she had a great face and expressive eyes 37 Stephen Lang auditioned for the role of Hicks but James Remar secured the role on the recommendation of Hill his close friend Remar left shortly into filming ostensibly due to urgent family matters or creative differences with Cameron but he later admitted he was fired after being arrested for drug possession 4 38 39 Hurd hired Michael Biehn the following Friday 4 39 Paxton credited his casting as Hudson to a chance encounter with Cameron at Los Angeles International Airport during which he mentioned he would be interested in a role Fox supported Paxton s casting because of positive feedback for his performance in Weird Science 1985 40 41 Paxton was worried the character would annoy audiences until he realized he was comic relief for the tense scenes 40 Henriksen was concerned about portraying Bishop after other recent successful portrayals of android characters such as Ian Holm in Alien and Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner 1982 He played Bishop as an innocent child who pities the short lived humans He suggested wearing distinctive contact lenses to convey when Bishop was alerted to danger but Cameron believed they would make the character appear more frightening than the aliens 5 Biehn Paxton and Henriksen had worked with Cameron on The Terminator 5 40 Aliens was Reiser s first major theatrical role following small parts in films like Beverly Hills Cop 1984 4 The Colonial Marines cast features a mix of British and American actors who underwent three weeks of intensive training with the British Special Air Service SAS b Vietnam War veteran Al Matthews Apone helped to train the actors teaching them not to point their weapons at people because their blanks were still hazardous 40 42 Before he left Remar accidentally shot a hole through the set of Frank Oz s Little Shop of Horrors on an adjacent stage 4 40 The training was intended to help the marine cast develop camaraderie and treat the other actors Weaver Reiser and Hope as outsiders 43 44 Biehn s late casting caused him to miss the training and he said he regretted being unable to customize his armor like the other actors since he inherited Remar s 4 39 Cameron created a backstory for each marine and instructed the actors to read Starship Troopers 45 46 47 Vasquez was Goldstein s first feature film role She credited her physique to being out of work and going to the gym gaining 10 pounds 4 5 kg at Cameron s request 5 48 49 Goldstein wore dark contact lenses and underwent an hour of makeup to cover her freckles and darken her white skin to portray a Chicano character she studied Mexican American gang interviews to develop her demeanor and accent 49 Ricco Ross Frost was committed to Full Metal Jacket 1987 whose filming schedule overlapped for a week with Aliens Although Cameron offered to let Ross join the filming later Ross was concerned that Stanley Kubrick s projects often overran and opted for Aliens instead 5 Rolston misled the filmmakers to get his part he had finished filming Revolution 1985 and implied he was its most prominent actor after Al Pacino 8 William Hope Gorman was cast as Hudson before Cameron and Hurd decided to take the character in a different direction 8 Cynthia Dale Scott Dietrich was an aspiring singer when she was cast 4 Colette Hiller Ferro was upset she had to cut her hair short for the role because she was getting married shortly afterward and made the filmmakers buy her a long blonde wig 8 Trevor Steedman Wierzbowski was a stuntman rather than an actor 5 and Aliens was Daniel Kash s Spunkmeyer debut film role He offered Cameron his coat if he got the part and also auditioned for Hudson 50 The actors stayed at the Holiday Inn in Langley Berkshire during filming Paxton described the actors time outside work positively God we had the best time We all hung very hard together That s where I first met Henriksen who I fell in love with Matthews was a really good spirit to have around with a great voice And all these hilarious British characters like Steedman the stuntman who used to grab my bicep and go Blimey more meat on a cat s cock 40 Filming Edit Aliens was filmed almost entirely at Pinewood Studios in England pictured in 2013 Principal photography began in September 1985 on a 75 day schedule and an 18 5 million budget c not including film prints and marketing 25 28 51 Filming took place mainly at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire near London because of its large sets and the relatively lower cost of filming in England d Filming was tumultuous as Cameron a Canadian was unfamiliar with British film industry traditions such as tea breaks which interrupted production for up to an hour each weekday and was frustrated at losing hours of filming every week 24 32 40 In his book The Making of Aliens J W Rinzler described Cameron as aggressive and certain of what he wanted which irked the crew The situation was exacerbated by Cameron s hands on approach often modifying setups such as lighting himself to fit his vision without involving the unionized crew 32 The crew was dismissive of Cameron for his relative inexperience thinking he had not done enough to earn such a prominent position and that Hurd had her job only because she was his partner 24 51 54 Cinematographer Dick Bush insisted on lighting the alien hive brightly counter to Cameron s request and was eventually replaced with Adrian Biddle 3 First assistant director Derek Cracknell also ignored Cameron s requests 32 54 Gale described the situation Cameron would ask him to set up a shot one way and Cracknell would say Oh no no no I know what you want Then he d do it wrong and the whole set would have to be broken down 54 The situation deteriorated until Cameron and Hurd fired Cracknell and the Pinewood crew walked out in the middle of the day 54 Cameron called Fox for advice and was determined to move the production out of England until Hurd convinced him otherwise The situation was difficult because the number of films simultaneously in production meant the crew could not be easily replaced Cameron and Hurd gathered the crew to discuss their grievances Cameron explained the importance of the production and that any member of the crew who could not support it should volunteer to be replaced The crew agreed to support Cameron if he supported their scheduled working hours 54 The relationship between filmmakers and crew remained cool when filming concluded at Pinewood Cameron told the crew This has been a long and difficult shoot fraught by many problems but the one thing that kept me going through it all was the certain knowledge that one day I would drive out the gate of Pinewood and never come back and that you sorry bastards would still be here 54 He described most of the crew as lazy insolent and arrogant 54 Paxton called the crew s work impeccable but their attitude more relaxed than the American crews to which he was accustomed 33 The alien nest was filmed in the decommissioned Acton Lane Power Station in London and the set was left in place until the filming of the 1989 film Batman 43 55 While filming the dropship descent from the Sulaco shaking collapsed the set roof onto the cast and crew Most of the cast were unharmed but a large piece of debris cut Cameron s head 31 56 Because of the tight budget Hurd made Cameron pay for an early scene of a laser cutting Ripley free from her hypersleep chamber 31 57 According to Henriksen Paxton was unaware he would be involved in the knife trick scene until it was filmed Henriksen nicked Paxton s finger during the reshoot 31 Some of the early establishing scenes were filmed near the end of principal photography to capture the bond that had developed between cast and characters 44 Some improvisation was encouraged 58 Weaver discussed tweaks to her character with Cameron on set believing she understood how Ripley would act 33 Her line Get away from her you bitch had to be filmed in one take due to the tight schedule remaining and the actress thought she had messed it up 59 Paxton believed he was not good at improvisation and discussed ideas with Cameron before filming One of his signature lines Game over man game over originated from Paxton developing a backstory for Hudson in which he was trained on simulators 60 Henn found it hard to act afraid of the aliens since she was fond of the actors in the suits and imagined a dog was chasing her 37 Other cast members spent time with Henn between scenes including Weaver and Paxton who would color or craft things with her 37 48 Biehn said he and Paxton spent much of their free time together 4 Despite the difficulties Fox was satisfied with the daily footage and principal photography concluded in January 1986 on time and on budget 25 61 Post production Edit Post production began in late April 1986 25 Several scenes were removed from Aliens theatrical release including Ripley learning about her daughter s death and a cocooned Burke begging her for death 13 Fox and Hurd suggested removing a long opening scene detailing the lives of the colonists Newt s family discovering the derelict alien ship and her father being attacked by a facehugger because it ruined the pacing and sense of mystery 31 62 Two scenes with James Remar as Hicks shown from the back were used in the film 4 Ray Lovejoy was responsible for editing the final two hours 17 minutes cut of Aliens 63 Fox wanted the film to be under two hours so it could be shown more times per day in theaters increasing its revenue potential Fox production president Scott Rudin flew to England to ask Cameron and Hurd if they could cut another 12 minutes but Cameron was concerned further cuts would make it nonsensical and Rudin relented 25 63 Music Edit Main article Aliens soundtrack James Horner Futile Escape source source James Horner was given six weeks to score Aliens but because filming and editing were behind schedule he had to compose it in only three 64 65 Problems playing this file See media help James Horner met Cameron early in their careers when they worked for director Roger Corman Aliens was Horner and Cameron s first collaboration Horner called it a nightmare 66 67 He arrived in London to compose expecting a six week schedule There was nothing for him to score as Cameron was still filming and editing and Horner had only three weeks to compose 24 67 65 The producers were unwilling to give him any more time and he was booked to begin scoring The Name of the Rose 1986 shortly afterwards 65 Horner recorded the score at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra 67 68 His schedule was so tight that the music for the climactic battle between Ripley and the queen was written overnight Cameron first heard the score while it was being recorded by the orchestra and did not like it but it was too late to make changes Brad Fiedel s synth inspired tracks for The Terminator had allowed changes to be made quickly based on feedback but Cameron had no experience managing orchestral music 65 Cameron cut the score up using pieces where he believed they fit best and inserted pieces of Jerry Goldsmith s Alien score and hired unknown composers to fill gaps 65 68 The director said in a later interview he thought the music was good but did not fit the scenes he had filmed 65 Horner s alien sting sound was initially only used once during the scene with the cocooned woman as Cameron disliked it but he eventually used it throughout the film 31 Unused portions of Horner s Aliens score were repurposed for Die Hard 1988 69 70 Special effects and design EditDevelopment of the special effects for Aliens began in May 1985 with John Richardson supervising a 40 person team at Stan Winston Studio 33 71 72 L A Effects Group created miniatures and optical effects Cameron lacked contacts at the more established special effects studios and avoided using them because he believed his hands on approach would not be welcomed 73 He also did not rehire many Alien crew members because he did not want to be restricted by their loyalties to the first film Those who returned were often given a higher status such as Crispian Sallis Alien focus puller and Aliens set decorator 52 74 Cameron had enjoyed returning artist Ron Cobb s work on Alien 75 and conceptual artist Syd Mead was recruited because Cameron was a fan of his work on films such as 2010 The Year We Make Contact 1984 53 Sets and technology Edit Mead designed the Sulaco the marines spaceship He conceived it as a large sphere with antennae but Cameron wanted it to be flatter the full craft had to pass the camera and a sphere would not work with the aspect ratio 33 Mead designed the craft as a commercial freighter carrying a military unit Its exterior was designed with a row of loading doors a crane and large gun fixtures to defend against threats 76 Mirrors were used as a cost cutting measure to increase the number of sleeping pods and add a power loader 50 Cobb designed the dropship the armored personnel carrier APC and exteriors of the colony and its vehicles 77 78 79 The Sulaco s dropship was designed to be life size for use on the Sulaco set 53 but a smaller replica was used for some shots 76 The APC was a disguised pushback tug for a Boeing 747 76 The derelict alien spacecraft used in Aliens had been in historian Bob Burns III s driveway since its appearance in Alien 31 Most of the colony apart from the main entrance used by the marines was constructed in scale miniature form The set was about 80 foot 24 m long to accommodate the sixth scale APC replica The set was so large it had to be laid out diagonally across the stage and forced perspective was used to add in buildings that would otherwise not fit 80 Cobb used a stylized design for the colony resembling a western frontier town It featured a makeshift construction from cargo containers broken filming equipment and beer crates 81 The alien nest scene was one of the earliest filmed Weaver s participation was delayed by three weeks because of production issues on her previous film Half Moon Street 1986 and the scene was one of the few not involving her The Acton Power Station location was filled with decaying asbestos and three weeks were spent having it professionally cleaned during which time the alien hive was fabricated in clay spawning hundreds of fiberglass and vacuum formed castings that were installed at the station over a further three weeks 82 Cameron wanted to vertically pan as the marines entered the hive but disguising the area above the marines would be time intensive A hanging miniature about 12 foot 3 7 m square was made from plywood and styrofoam hung just above the actors heads and carefully blended into the larger set After Remar was replaced Cameron wanted to reshoot the scene but the miniature had been destroyed he was able to edit the scene to conceal Remar 83 The marines smart guns weighed 65 to 70 pounds 29 to 32 kg and were constructed from German MG 42 machine guns attached to a steadicam and augmented with motorcycle parts 84 85 Since getting in and out of the smart gun rig was difficult the actors kept them on when not filming 5 The pulse rifle was made from a Thompson submachine gun and a Franchi SPAS 12 pump action shotgun in a futuristic shell 86 Weaver was opposed to weapons in general but Cameron explained weapons were secondary to the core narrative of Ripley bonding with and protecting Newt 32 33 86 Weaver found using the weapons strange and difficult due to their weight and her concern about pulling the wrong trigger 33 86 Automated sentry guns were also constructed for Aliens although they do not appear in the theatrical cut Real machine guns were positioned atop remote controlled hydraulic tripods that allowed them to pivot horizontally or vertically The guns were capable of firing up to 600 wooden blank rounds per minute that were shattered into small splinters by baffles in the muzzle and incinerated by the heat generated in the barrel 87 A cast was made of Henn s upper body and her stunt double s legs to construct a lightweight dummy for Weaver to hold when carrying a gun Henn s weight plus a gun would have been too heavy 33 Goldstein had never handled a gun and held her weapon incorrectly in closeups so Hurd stood in for her 31 The flamethrowers were functional The art department had covered the sets in an unspecified substance to artificially age them the flamethrowers vaporized it causing fire and heavy smoke Goldstein struggled to breathe and since improvisation was encouraged Paxton thought she was acting until he also became breathless 31 58 The nuclear explosion of the colony in the finale was created by shining a light bulb through cotton 31 Reebok designer Taun Le was commissioned to design custom sneakers for Weaver to wear in the film The only mandate was that they be laceless so one could easily slide off of Weaver s foot during the finale 40 88 Creature effects Edit See also Alien creature H R Giger who designed the Alien creature was reportedly disappointed that he could not be involved in Aliens 89 According to Hurd Giger was contractually obligated to Poltergeist II The Other Side 1986 and Fox was not allowed to negotiate with him 90 Giger was replaced by special effects creator Stan Winston Cameron also contributed to designs but was not as concerned with the warrior aliens because they were on screen only briefly 89 In redesigning the alien warriors Cameron remained faithful to Giger s work while building on it Conscious that the creatures would be seen by audiences as people in costumes he enhanced the designs by extending their arms and often filmed them hung from wires or from atypical positions to make them appear more inhuman 52 The aliens were played by dancers and stuntmen in lightweight costumes that allowed them to move quickly Several 8 foot 2 4 m mannequins were used for aliens that were contorted into inhuman poses 33 Although hordes of alien creatures appear to be in the film there were only 12 alien suits simple black leotards covered in molded foam were used for faster moving shots and detailed models with articulated upper bodies and mouths for closeups 91 When the aliens were shot and destroyed puppets were hung up and detonated The aliens acidic blood was a combination of titanium tetrachloride cyclohexylamine acetic acid and yellow dye 33 The facehugger design remained faithful to the original Alien design but the overall appearance was made to appear more organic and its eight legs were made more finger like enhancing the detail on the knuckles and adding fingernails 92 Unlike in Alien which only involved one substantial jumping scene the facehugger models used in Aliens featured full articulation for their tongue legs and tail allowing for more action set pieces The tail was also lengthened about 6 in 15 cm to give it more functions such as a whip like action 92 Nine operators were rerequire for the fully articulated facehugger other less detailed variants were used for simple actions such as scurrying across the floor The design team struggled with making it scuttle believably while moving the appendages they eventually developing a control wire along the floor that activated a gear inside it causing the appendages to move as it was pulled along Several rubber facehuggers were made to be thrown or blown up 93 Manipulating the facehugger inside a water tank was also difficult as the tank had to be watertight limiting the use of control cables A method was developed that required fewer cables to move the facehugger around the tank the tail was fitted with a spring that caused it to snap back and forth 92 Winston added arms to the chestburster alien form since the adult form had arms explaining how it could drag itself out of a host s chest Two chestburster puppets were used a reinforced one and an articulated one for movement A puppeteer punched the former through a fabricated latex foam chest the scene took several takes to film because it could not pierce the clothing 11 94 A deleted scene in Alien established a life cycle for the alien creatures in which a lifeform would be cocooned and transformed into an egg that birthed a facehugger 52 95 Inspired by a beehive like hierarchy Cameron believed the vast field of eggs on the derelict alien craft would come from a much larger creature the queen with the other alien creatures serving as her drones 52 Winston described Cameron s initial queen design as a combination of a praying mantis and Tyrannosaurus rex influenced by the alien warrior design 89 96 Cameron said dinosaur influences were unintentional as he considered them boring his goal was to extrapolate on Giger s warrior designs to create a large and powerful creature that was also swift and overtly female describing it as hideous and beautiful at the same time like a black widow spider The queen has elongated large forelimbs with smaller secondary ones underneath but Winston redesigned the legs by adding a double joint to make it more inhuman 96 Cameron and Winston worked on several concepts to vivify the queen including large puppets miniatures and costumes with several people inside A frame was built large enough to hold two people covered in black polythene bags and hung on a crane The prototype was a success and Cameron wrote the alien queen scene 31 97 The final alien queen was a 14 foot 4 3 m puppet made of lightweight polyurethane foam 85 Two people sat inside to control the arms the legs were controlled by rods connected at the ankles and a separate person whipped the tail around with fishing line The head was manipulated with a combination of servomotors and hydraulics controlled by up to four people The effect was hidden by lighting steam slime and smoke 31 97 The Stan Winston Studio had not used hydraulics and considered them a learning experience They were essential for moving larger parts of the queen puppet including the head and a foot pedal in the body could hydraulically move the tail up and down 71 Shane Mahan took several weeks to sculpt the head by sight based on a maquette computer technology to scale up the model s design did not yet exist 98 Two heads were built a lightweight fragile one and another that could survive some damage Each was articulated with hydraulics and cables to control the queen s mouth and lips 71 To create the effect of the queen piercing Bishop s chest with her tail Tom Woodruff Jr and Alec Gillis constructed a chestplate for Henriksen with a rubber segment of the queen s tail flattened against it The tail was pulled forward by wire apparently exploding through Bishop s torso A rigid piece of tail attached to a body harness was used to show more of the tail moving through Bishop and Henriksen was levered upward as if he was being lifted by the tail To complete the effect a dummy of Bishop was constructed with a spring loaded mechanism that forcibly separated his upper and lower body as if the queen had ripped him in half Once separated Henriksen s upper body was below the set and a fake torso attached up to his shoulders The android blood was milk and after several days of filming it was sour and foul smelling 99 John Richardson designed the mechanical power loader exosuit with input from Mead As with the queen a prototype was built out of wood and polythene bags stuffed with newspaper to see how the movement would work 33 53 97 The finished design was so cumbersome that stuntman John Lees in a black skinsuit operated it from behind 33 97 The battle between the queen and power loader was extensively choreographed as Weaver risked serious injury battling a large unwieldy animatronic 97 The camera was sometimes moved to simulate subjects moving faster The scene of the queen running at Ripley was one of the more difficult shots the wires and rods had to be concealed since they could not be removed in post production 97 Miniatures were used for parts of the scene with go motion a version of stop motion with motion blur added 97 Release EditContext Edit See also 1986 in film Cameron and Hurd holding a theatrical poster for Aliens in 1986 The 1986 summer film season began in mid May The season had been starting earlier each year as studios attempted to beat each other with their biggest films Fifty five films were scheduled for release between May and September including the action drama Top Gun and the comedic Sweet Liberty but the season was not expected to break financial records due to fewer sequels anticipated blockbusters and films by Steven Spielberg or starring popular comedians that had dominated the earlier half of the decade Some industry experts also blamed the burgeoning home video market which had grown from 7 million rentals in 1983 to 58 million by 1985 100 101 Films expected to do well were aimed at younger audiences and featured comedy or horror such as Back to School Ferris Bueller s Day Off and SpaceCamp 101 Some films targeted at adults were also seen as potential successes including Legal Eagles Ruthless People and Cobra 101 Aliens was seen by industry professionals as a potential sleeper hit based on positive industry word of mouth during filming enthusiastic industry screenings and favorable pre release reviews 25 29 86 The film s success was considered dependent on its ability to attract audiences outside the young males and blue collar workers typical for the genre 102 The tagline was This time it s war 85 Box office Edit Aliens began a wide release in the United States U S and Canada on July 18 1986 3 During its opening weekend the film earned 10 1 million from 1 437 theaters an average of 6 995 per theater It was the weekend s number one film ahead of the martial arts drama The Karate Kid Part II 5 6 million in its fifth weekend and the black comedy Ruthless People 4 5 million in its fourth weekend 103 Based on its opening five day total 13 4 million Aliens exceeded Fox s expectations and was anticipated to become the summer s top film surpassing The Karate Kid Part II Back to School and Top Gun 25 102 The Los Angeles Times reported long lines to see Aliens even on weekday afternoons 25 The film retained the number one position in its second weekend with an additional gross of 8 6 million ahead of the debuting comedy drama Heartburn 5 8 million and The Karate Kid Part II 5 million 104 Aliens remained the number one film of its third weekend with a gross of 7 1 million ahead of the debuts of Friday the 13th Part VI Jason Lives 6 8 million and the comedy Howard the Duck 5 1 million 105 106 The film fell to third place in its fifth weekend with a gross of 4 30 million behind the debuts of the science fiction horror film The Fly 7 million and the comedy Armed and Dangerous 4 33 million 107 Aliens was one of the top ten highest grossing films for 11 weeks 108 By the end of its theatrical run Aliens had grossed about 85 1 million 108 109 e This figure made it the year s seventh highest grossing film behind Back to School 91 3 million science fiction film Star Trek IV The Voyage Home 109 6 million The Karate Kid Part II 115 1 million war film Platoon 138 5 million action comedy Crocodile Dundee 174 8 million and Top Gun 176 8 million 110 111 Aliens box office returns to the studio minus the theaters share was 42 5 million 112 Box office figures outside the U S and Canada are inconsistent and not available for all 1986 films According to the box office tracking websites Box Office Mojo and the Numbers Aliens earned from 45 9 million to 98 1 million f This gives Aliens a worldwide gross of 131 1 million to 183 3 million making it the year s fourth highest grossing film behind Platoon 138 million Crocodile Dundee 328 2 million and Top Gun 356 8 million or the third highest grossing film behind Crocodile Dundee and Top Gun 113 114 According to Fox s 1992 estimate Aliens had earned 157 million worldwide 115 g The New York Times described the film as extremely successful 112 Reception EditCritical response Edit Critics were divided about Aliens intense action and horror but consistent in their praise for Weaver s pictured in 2016 performance Aliens opened to generally positive reviews 102 It appeared on the cover of the July 28 1986 edition of Time magazine which called it The Summer s Scariest Movie 116 Audience polls by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of A on an A to F scale 117 Most reviewers agreed Aliens was a worthy successor to Alien 118 119 Variety and Walter Goodman said it could not replicate the novelty of the first film but Aliens compensated with special effects technique and a constant stream of set piece thrills and scary scenes 3 118 Variety added Aliens was made by an expert craftsman suggesting its predecessor was a more artistic endeavor 118 Sheila Benson said Aliens was clever and ironically funny but lacked Alien s pure horror Benson attributed this to an overabundance of creature effects in the intervening years particularly the 1982 science fiction horror film The Thing which Benson said took alien monstrosities to an extreme 120 According to Rick Kogan Aliens demonstrated that science fiction horror could still be entertaining after many poorly received Alien derived films 121 Dave Kehr and Richard Schickel called it a rare sequel which surpassed the original and Kehr appreciated the action used to develop the characters Schickel wrote that the film had evolved from Alien giving Weaver new emotional depths 119 122 Jay Scott said Cameron had redefined the war film combining Rambo with Star Wars 123 Kogan agreed Cameron possessed a knack for action pacing and excitement but Kehr believed Cameron pushed some elements beyond believability 121 122 Roger Ebert called the last hour painfully unremittingly intense in horror and action leaving him emotionally drained and unhappy Ebert believed it could not be defined as entertainment despite his admiration of the filmmaking craft on display 124 Dennis Fischer wrote for The Hollywood Reporter that the unrelenting scenes of action and suspense worked for Aliens as they had in The Terminator tension was created by placing the characters in successive increasingly difficult situations 125 Gene Siskel described the film as one extremely violent protracted attack on the senses 126 In the Orlando Sentinel Jay Boyar called it the Jaws of the 1980s the most intensely shocking film in years 127 Reviewers consistently praised Weaver s performance 118 124 Benson called her the white hot core around whose defiant intelligence and sensual athleticism Aliens was built and Ripley returned not for vengeance but out of compassion 120 Ebert credited Weaver s sympathetic performance with holding Aliens together 124 Kogan compared her to a more attractive John Rambo Sylvester Stallone s action character 121 Scott agreed saying Weaver made action stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger look like male pin up models He described her as the ultimate adventure heroine balancing action with femininity and maternal instincts 123 Pauline Kael was critical of the film overall as too mechanical but praised Weaver s physical presence and performance writing that without her Aliens was a subpar B picture 128 Most of the cast was also praised particularly Biehn Goldstein Henriksen Henn and Reiser 118 120 124 but Benson noted that less time was spent exploring the new characters than in Alien 120 Schickel said Henn played her character as endearingly brave and clever without self pity 129 Benson praised Horner s ruminative intelligent music 120 but Fischer criticized it for borrowing too much from Goldsmith s score and Horner s work on Star Trek III The Search for Spock 1984 125 Accolades Edit Further information List of accolades received by the Alien film series Weaver s pictured in 1989 Academy Award nomination for Best Actress was considered a milestone when the Academy paid little attention to science fiction Aliens received two awards at the 1987 Academy Awards Best Sound Effects Editing Don Sharpe and Best Visual Effects Robert Skotak Stan Winston John Richardson Suzanne Benson Weaver was nominated for Best Actress losing to Marlee Matlin for the romantic drama Children of a Lesser God 130 Weaver s was the first Best Actress nomination given for a science fiction film at a time when the genre was given little respect and it remained a rarity for the action or science fiction genres 131 132 133 The film garnered four other nominations Best Original Score for Horner Best Art Director for Peter Lamont and Crispian Sallis Best Editing for Ray Lovejoy and Best Sound for Graham V Hartstone Nicolas Le Messurier Michael A Carter and Roy Charman 130 At the 44th Golden Globe Awards Weaver was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama 134 At the 40th British Academy Film Awards Aliens won the award for Best Special Visual Effects and three other nominations Best Production Design Best Makeup and Hair for Peter Robb King and Best Sound 135 At the 14th Saturn Awards Aliens received eight awards Best Science Fiction Film Best Actress Weaver Best Performance by a Young Actor Henn Best Supporting Actress Goldstein Best Supporting Actor Paxton Best Special Effects Winston and the L A Effects Group and Best Director and Best Writing both for Cameron 136 It received a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation 137 Post release EditHome media Edit Aliens was released on VHS in February 1987 138 139 A modified cut including scenes deleted from the theatrical release was broadcast on CBS in 1989 and a further extended edition with more deleted scenes including the opening scene of Newt s family investigating the derelict spacecraft was released on LaserDisc in 1991 The extended cut is 157 minutes long 20 minutes longer than the theatrical cut and Cameron has stated it is his preferred version 19 140 141 The extended edition was released on VHS and DVD in 1999 as part of the Alien Legacy box set with the other three available Alien films Alien Alien 3 1992 and Alien Resurrection 1997 140 The DVD version was also sold separately and both versions included additional behind the scenes footage 142 The 2003 Alien Quadrilogy nine DVD box set included all four films and an additional disc for each film with behind the scenes footage and featurettes including a three hour documentary Superior Firepower The Making of Aliens and theatrical and extended cuts of each film The Aliens disc included commentary by cast and crew members including Cameron Weaver did not participate Each film was sold separately including its bonus disc in 2004 19 143 Aliens was released on Blu ray in 2010 as part of the Alien Anthology box set with remastered footage theatrical and extended versions and featurettes found in earlier releases The film was released separately on Blu ray in 2011 144 145 For its 30th anniversary in 2016 Aliens was released on Blu ray and digital download featuring a new interview with Cameron about his inspirations for the film In addition to the theatrical and extended versions the release contained a limited edition lithograph of Ripley in battle with the alien queen an art book focused on the Aliens comic books by Dark Horse Comics and collectible cards with concept art by Cameron 146 A limited edition 75 copy vinyl soundtrack was also released that year 147 Other media Edit See also Aliens franchise Aliens video games and Aliens comic books Toy company Kenner Products attempted to release figures based on Alien in 1979 but only an alien action figure was released which was quickly withdrawn when it was deemed too frightening for children Aliens was considered a different prospect despite its adult oriented content since it focused on action and featured marines instead of ordinary workers fighting a large number of aliens The toys were intended to tie into Operation Aliens a children s cartoon scheduled for release in 1992 alongside Alien 3 and a series of mini comics by Dark Horse Comics 148 149 Since its release Aliens has appeared across a variety of merchandise including action figures 149 punching bags 147 clothing 147 and board games 150 McFarlane Toys released figures for Hicks the alien and the alien queen in the early 2000s 151 152 153 In the late 2010s National Entertainment Collectibles Association NECA released figures based on the film including Newt 17 Burke and Cameron dressed as a Colonial Marine 154 155 NECA also revived the original Kenner designs in 2019 releasing better quality models 156 157 Aliens has had several video game adaptations beginning withAliens The Computer Game 1986 which was followed by a separate game also called Aliens The Computer Game in 1987 A side scroller Aliens 1987 was released in Japan for the MSX 158 and a 1990 arcade game Aliens allowed players to play as Ripley or Hicks against alien variants some levels required the player to control Newt 158 159 Aliens A Comic Book Adventure an adventure game focusing on puzzles was released in 1995 158 160 A first person shooter Alien Trilogy 1996 is based on Alien Aliens and Alien 3 158 161 Aliens Online 1998 was an online game which allowed players to play as Colonial Marines or aliens 158 Aliens Colonial Marines 2013 is a first person shooter and a canonical sequel of Aliens focusing on the marines sent to search for Ripley s expedition 158 160 Several other games have the Aliens brand or are side stories or sequels to the film s events 158 161 162 and the Aliens vs Predator game series 162 A novelization by Alan Dean Foster was released alongside the film 163 164 Comic books based on and continuing the story of Aliens have been published primarily by Dark Horse Comics since 1988 including crossovers of the titular aliens with popular franchises such as Predator creating a derivative Alien vs Predator franchise Terminator and Superman h Reebok s boots designed for Ripley became available to the public in 2016 other versions included boots based on the power loader Bishop the Colonial Marines and the alien queen 88 147 Rinzler published The Making of Aliens a 300 page behind the scenes book with cast and crew interviews and previously unseen photographs in 2020 89 Operation Aliens a board game was released in 1992 Players are cast as a Colonial Marine or Ripley and tasked with finding a self destruct code to destroy an infested spaceship 150 174 Themes EditMotherhood Edit A central theme of Aliens is motherhood 32 175 Alien can be seen as a metaphor for childbirth but Aliens focuses on Ripley s maternal feelings for Newt A scene cut from the theatrical release depicts Ripley learning her child died while she was in stasis helping explain Ripley s motherly attention for Newt Newt has also lost everything of value and they form a new family from the remnants of their old ones 129 175 This relationship is mirrored by the alien queen mother of the alien creatures 175 176 There are no paternal figures both are single mothers defending their young The alien queen seeks revenge against Ripley who destroyed her brood and her means of reproduction 119 175 According to Richard Schickel Alien is about survival Aliens is about fighting to ensure someone else s survival 129 Authors Tammy Ostrander and Susan Yunis believed Newt s capture by the aliens forces Ripley to realize she is willing to die to save her demonstrating a selfless motherhood unlike the queen s selfish motherhood 177 Writing for the Los Angeles Times Nancy Weber wrote that as a mother she saw in Aliens the constant vigilance required to protect her child from predators sexism and threats to childhood innocence 178 Leilani Nishime believed despite the focus on motherhood the nuclear family is represented in Aliens with a mother Ripley father Hicks daughter Newt and a loyal self sacrificing dog Bishop 179 According to Charles Berg the depictions of aliens in science fiction that became more popular during the 1980s represented American fears of immigrants the other In Aliens this can be seen in the white skinned single mother Ripley confronting the dark skinned alien queen with an endless brood 180 Ostrander and Yunis also identified fears of overcrowding dwindling resources and pollution suggesting the alien queen demonizes motherhood and makes it less attractive She represents mindless unchecked maternal instinct spawning armies of children regardless of the lives which must be sacrificed to ensure their survival Despite imminent destruction by the colony exploding the queen continues to reproduce 181 The aliens life cycle taints the reproductive cycle Creation involves rape and birth involves a violent death 182 In destroying the aliens and their queen Ripley rejects the unchecked proliferation of their species and sets an example for her own 183 Masculinity and femininity Edit Ripley was often compared to the era s masculine heroes including Sylvester Stallone s John Rambo Ripley has been compared to John Rambo and dubbed Ramboette Rambette Fembo Ramboline Weaver called herself Rambolina 33 184 185 Mary Lee Settle said females in television and film had evolved from escapist fantasy to more accurately reflect their audiences A gun which can be seen as a phallic symbol has a different meaning when wielded by Weaver 184 Schickel described Ripley as transcending the customary boundaries imposed on her gender where females serve the male hero In Aliens the male characters are neutralized by the climax and Ripley faces the queen alone 26 Cameron said he does not like cowardly female characters and removes their expected protectors to force them to fend for themselves He called the overuse of male heroes commercially shortsighted in an industry whose audience is 50 percent female and where 80 percent of the time it s women who decide which film to see 26 28 The growth of female led action films after the success of Aliens reflects the change in women s roles and the divide between professional critics who perceive a masculinization of the heroine and audiences that regardless of gender embrace emulate and quote Ripley 186 The hyper masculine heroes played by Schwarzenegger Stallone and Jean Claude Van Damme were replaced by independent women capable of defending themselves and defeating villains in films such as The Silence of the Lambs 1991 and Cameron s Terminator 2 Judgment Day 1991 187 These female characters often perform stereotypical male actions and have muscular physiques rather than feminine soft bodies 188 When Ripley has seized command of the marines and is no longer a passive outsider in Aliens the traditional male hero Hicks instructs her in the use of their weapons 189 The comparison of Ripley to Rambo conflates her with the male musclebound gun wielding action hero 190 To balance her masculine traits Cameron gives Ripley maternal instincts this counters homophobic audiences who might see a masculinized female as lesbian or butch 191 These traits are further offset by the more openly masculine Vasquez a minor character Vasquez who has short hair and bigger muscles is introduced to the audience by working out and is asked if she has ever been mistaken for a man 192 Weber appreciated the change in female characters between the films contrasting Alien s hysterical Lambert with the tough Vasquez who sacrifices herself for her team not only for the protagonist 178 War and trauma Edit Aliens has been described as an allegory for the Vietnam War the marines like the United States have superior weaponry and technology that proves largely ineffective against an unseen local enemy 28 85 Like some Vietnam veterans Ripley developed post traumatic stress disorder after the events of Alien 193 Writer Joe Abbott contrasted the depiction of the military in Aliens to the 1954 science fiction film Them In both films humans are beset by a monstrous invasion in Them the military is the hero despite its responsibility for the infestation Abbott said its post World War II American setting depicts a competent military and a state authority that demands and receives the compliance of its citizens The image of the post Vietnam military is tarnished and scrutinized in Aliens it is ill equipped bumbling and incapable of combating the threat posed by the alien creatures Citizen cooperation can no longer be demanded or expected and it is Ripley an independent contractor from outside the state and military infrastructures who saves the day 194 Unlike Them the military is not at fault for creating the problem in Aliens it is the Weyland Yutani corporation The power of the state has been superseded by the corporation which also demands conformity for rewards and advancement and reflects a growing mistrust of corporatism the company is represented by Burke a self interested opportunist 195 Ripley is elevated throughout Aliens as she benefits the community and Burke works to undermine it for the company 196 According to Weaver Aliens is about confronting trauma to obtain closure 197 This may be seen as a reflection of Ronald Reagan s United States presidency and a conservatism that believed the hero must return to confront their fears with ethics and morality on their side 198 199 Comparing Alien with Aliens Roger Luckhurst said Even if Alien was a piece of leftist science fiction the core of its myth could be inflected the other way Cameron s Aliens would be a defiantly Reaganite version of the story pumped militarized libertarian driven by a staunch defense of the nuclear family 200 Abbott said Aliens adheres to a radical ideology and condemns centrism similar films were popular because they represented audience dissatisfaction with the social status quo 194 The film places power in the individual Ripley instead of institutions like the military corporations or the government 201 The Bishop character also allows Ripley to confront her distrust of androids that resulted from the deception of Ash portrayed by Ian Holm in Alien Unlike Ash Bishop is openly an android and conveys both a similarly unassuming personality and a fascination with the alien creatures Aliens imbues Bishop with a degree of humanity as he volunteers for a potentially suicidal mission Although the other characters assume he is artificial and thus unafraid Bishop affirms Believe me I d prefer not to I may be synthetic but I m not stupid 202 Legacy EditCultural influence Edit Carrie Henn pictured in 2016 chose not to pursue acting after appearing in Aliens A cinematic touchstone Aliens has had an enduring influence on filmmaking i Elements such as a team of soldiers being dismantled by a villain have been repeated to the point of cliche 85 The same is true of Horner s oft imitated score 64 85 which regularly appeared in action film trailers for the following decade 66 65 The film s influence can also be seen in video games particularly science fiction games ships armor and weapons 206 207 as well as the 1989 Italian film Shocking Dark a remake of Aliens that relocates much of the plot and scenes to a Venetian setting and incorporates elements of The Terminator outside Italy it was released as Terminator II 208 Although The Terminator was a success for Cameron the critical and commercial success of Aliens made him a blockbuster director It also expanded the Alien series into a franchise spanning video games comic books and toys although Ripley and the alien creature originated in Alien Cameron elaborated on the creature s life cycle added new characters and factions such as the Colonial Marines and extended the films universe 85 Ripley became a post feminist icon a proactive hero who retained feminine traits 85 Aliens features popular quotes including Paxton s Game over man game over 205 209 and Weaver s Get away from her you bitch which is considered one of Aliens s most memorable lines and has often been repeated in other media 85 210 Aliens was named by director Roland Emmerich as one of his top ten science fiction films alongside Alien 211 Many cast and crew members reunited at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con to celebrate the film s 30th anniversary including Weaver Biehn Paxton Henriksen Reiser Henn Cameron and Hurd Cameron said he normally would not participate and did not do so for The Terminator s anniversary but he considered Aliens special because of its impact on his career 146 205 Asked why he thought Aliens popularity had endured Cameron said I have to take my filmmaker hat off and look at it as a fan and think Well I really like those characters There s certain lines moments you remember moments It s satisfying it ends in a satisfying way But I actually think it s those characters We can all relate to Hudson running around What the hell are we gonna do now man What the fuck we gonna do We all know that guy Hurd believed that it was the experience itself It s a great midnight screening movie because you can talk back to the screen and you can have this group experience It not only makes you feel something it makes you cheer it makes you jump When you think of all the things that something can do which is projected on a screen it ticks all those boxes and it makes you laugh 212 The ensemble cast s popularity led to many members appearing together in later films including Henriksen Goldstein and Paxton in Near Dark 1987 as well as Goldstein and Rolston in Lethal Weapon 2 1989 44 Biehn lost a role in Cameron s Avatar 2009 because Weaver had been cast and the director did not want to create an obvious association with Aliens 4 Paxton is also remembered as one of only two actors along with Lance Henriksen to play characters killed by an alien a Terminator in The Terminator and a Predator in 1990 s Predator 2 48 Despite her sudden fame Henn decided not to pursue acting so that she could remain close to her family She said some people resented her fame and was uncertain whether people liked her for being in Aliens or for herself Henn became a teacher she maintains a relationship with Weaver and kept a framed picture of her and Weaver that the actress had given her after filming was complete 37 Critical reassessment Edit Aliens is considered one of the greatest science fiction films ever made j as well as being among the best films of the 1980s k and one of the greatest action films of all time l The British Film Institute called Aliens one of the 10 greatest action films saying A matriarchal masterpiece of God bothering structural engineering there s really little that Aliens doesn t get right from its slow burn exemplification of character and world building through to its jab jab hook pause uppercut series of sustained climaxes Cameron delivers a masterclass in action direction 238 The film is also considered one of the best sequels of all time and equal to or better than Alien m According to Slant Magazine it exceeded Alien in every way 239 In 2009 Den of Geek called it the best blockbuster sequel ever made and remarkable even as a standalone film 240 In 2017 the website ranked it the second best film in the series behind Alien 243 In 2011 Empire called it the greatest movie sequel ever 244 Empire also listed Aliens as the 30th best film ever made on the magazine s 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time list its readers ranked it the 17th best 245 246 The film is listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die 247 Aliens has a 98 approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes from 81 reviews with an average rating of 9 10 Its critical consensus reads While Alien was a marvel of slow building atmospheric tension Aliens packs a much more visceral punch and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver 248 The film has a score of 84 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 22 critics indicating universal acclaim 249 The Ellen Ripley character has also been recognized the American Film Institute ranked her the eighth most heroic character on its 2003 100 Years 100 Heroes and Villains list 250 and she was ninth on Empire s 2006 100 Greatest Movie Characters list 251 Despite her character s popularity the casting of Jenette Goldstein a Jewish actress of Russian Moroccan and Brazilian descent as the Hispanic Vasquez has been considered odd Goldstein has said she considers herself unrecognizable as Vasquez on film but a muscular actress was required and the filmmakers could not find anyone else with her physique 252 Sequels EditMain article Alien franchise Aliens success resulted in immediate discussion of a sequel 25 Alien 3 was released in 1992 after a tumultuous development involving several writers and directors Cameron did not return 253 254 255 The film was financially successful but generally panned by critics and its director David Fincher disowned it after the release citing studio interference 253 The film was also derided by fans because it killed the Hicks and Newt characters off screen Biehn called it one of his greatest disappointments and refused permission for the use of his likeness in Alien 3 4 256 Regarding the treatment of his characters Cameron said I thought the decision to eliminate Newt Hicks and Bishop was dumb I thought it was a huge slap in the face to the fans I think it was a big mistake Certainly had we been involved we would not have done that because we felt we earned something with the audience for those characters 31 257 An early script for Alien 3 by William Gibson was adapted as a 2019 audio drama focusing on Hicks as the protagonist with Biehn and Henriksen voicing their respective roles 255 258 A five hour 2017 audio drama River of Pain takes place between Alien and Aliens and covers the early days of the LV 426 colony and its downfall to the aliens Actors returning to voice their characters included William Hope Mac MacDonald Stuart Milligan and Alibe Parsons 21 A third sequel Alien Resurrection was released in 1997 259 Instead of a fourth sequel Fox began development of a crossover film pitting the series aliens against the titular alien race of its science fiction property Predator 260 261 the film was poorly received 262 263 It was followed by a sequel Aliens vs Predator Requiem 2007 the least financially successful and worst reviewed film in either franchise 264 Ridley Scott returned to the series for Prometheus 2012 a prequel to Alien and its sequel Alien Covenant 2017 265 266 A fifth sequel in the main Alien series was in development in 2020 but was canceled by the Walt Disney Company following its acquisition of 20th Century Fox 267 268 An original stand alone film in the Alien franchise was announced in 2022 to be written and directed by Fede Alvarez 269 270 See also EditList of films featuring extraterrestrials List of films featuring powered exoskeletons List of films featuring space stationsReferences EditNotes Edit The exomoon known as LV 426 is also referred to as Acheron 2 Attributed to multiple references 4 39 40 42 Aliens 1986 budget of 18 5 million is equivalent to 45 7 million in 2021 Attributed 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