Aliens [Collector's Edition] [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Big-budget special effects, swiftly paced action, and a distinct feminist subtext from writer/director James Cameron turned what should have been a by-the-numbers sci-fi sequel into both a blockbuster and a seven-time Oscar nominee. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ellen Ripley, the last surviving crew member of a corporate spaceship destroyed after an attack by a vicious, virtually unbeatable alien life form. Adrift in space for half a century, Ripley grapples with depression until she's informed by her company's representative, Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) that the planet where her crew discovered the alien has since been settled by colonists. Contact with the colony has suddenly been lost, and a detachment of colonial marines is being sent to investigate. Invited along as an advisor, Ripley predicts disaster, and sure enough, the aliens have infested the colony, leaving a sole survivor, the young girl Newt (Carrie Henn). With the soldiers picked off one by one, a final all-female showdown brews between the alien queen and Ripley, who's become a surrogate mother to Newt. Several future stars made early career appearances in Aliens (1986), including Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Reiser. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: THX
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • cc
  • [None specified]

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Sound Effects - 1986 (Don Sharpe)
•     Won Best Visual Effects - 1986 (John Richardson, Bob Skotak, Suzanne Benson, Stan Winston)
•     Nominated Best Actress - 1986 (Sigourney Weaver)
•     Nominated Best Art Direction - 1986 (Crispian Sallis, Peter Lamont)
•     Nominated Best Editing - 1986 (Ray Lovejoy)
•     Nominated Best Score - 1986 (James Horner)
•     Nominated Best Sound - 1986 (Roy Charman, Graham Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier, Michael Carter)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Nominated Best Production Design - 1986 (Peter Lamont)
•     Nominated Makeup Award - 1986 (Peter Robb-King)
•     Nominated Sound Award - 1986
•     Nominated Visual Effects Award - 1986

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - 1986 (Sigourney Weaver)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Sigourney Weaver - Ellen Ripley
       Carrie Henn - Newt
       Michael Biehn - Cpl. Dwayne Hicks
       Lance Henriksen - Bishop
       Paul Reiser - Carter Burke
       Bill Paxton - Pvt. Hudson
       William Hope - Lt. Gorman
       Al Matthews - Sgt. Apone

• Director:

  James Cameron

• Producer:

  Gale Anne Hurd

• Screenwriter:

  James Cameron, David Giler, Walter Hill, Ronald Shusett

• Cinematographer:

  Adrian Biddle

• Composer (Music Score):

  James Horner

• Editor:

  Ray Lovejoy

• Production Designer:

  Terry Ackland-Snow, Peter Lamont

• Art Director:

  Ken Court, Bert Davey, Fred Hole, Michael Lamont

• Executive Producer:

  Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill

• Set Designer:

  Crispian Sallis

• Costume Designer:

  Emma Porteous

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Michael Carter, Roy Charman, Nicolas Le Messurier, Graham Hartstone

• Makeup:

  Peter Robb-King

• Special Effects:

  Norman Baillie, L.A. Effects Group, Stan Winston, John Richardson

• Camera Operator:

  David Worley

• Stunts:

  Eddie Powell, Stuart St. Paul, Paul Weston, Jason White, Jazzer Jeyes, Chris Webb, Malcolm Weaver, Simon Crane

• Casting:

  Judy Taylor, Mary Selway, Mike Fenton, Jane Feinberg

• Visual Consultant:

  Syd Mead

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Bob Skotak, Dennis Skotak

• Special Effects Editor:

  Don Sharpe

• Music Editor:

  Robin Clarke

• Visual Effects:

  Suzanne Benson

REVIEW:

• For big-budget, high-octane showmanship, Aliens (the sequel to Alien, directed by Ridley Scott) is hard to beat. While not as deliberate or interesting as the first in the series, Aliens is a wide-open visual-effects bonanza, with enough intensity and thrill for three standard action movies. Director James Cameron again proves himself more than capable when it comes to making the genre pay off. Sigourney Weaver reprises her role as Ripley, but this time she's no mere survivor, she's ready to lay waste to those ultra-nasty creatures from the first movie. She's like Wonder Woman without the skimpy clothes. The female heroine in this series has always been fascinating because of her complete ignorance of her sexuality. This is given an interesting spin at the end of this film when Ripley's goal becomes to destroy the alien eggs in their nest. A slap in the face to traditional motherhood? Anyway, too much shouldn't be read into the proceedings here. The dialogue is often horrendous, and the characters other than Ripley are little more than fodder for some impressive scenes of carnage, but this remains one of the most enjoyable action movies of the mid-'80s. ~ Brendon Hanley, Rovi