Aliens

Directed by	James Cameron
Written by	Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett
Starring	Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser
Produced by	Gale Anne Hurd, Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	July 18, 1986
Runtime	137 min. ; 154 min. (director's cut)
Language	English
Budget	$18,500,000
IMDb page

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction movie starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton and Paul Reiser. It is a sequel to Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien. A film poster for Aliens, contended as fair use. ... James Cameron from Ghosts of the Abyss James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian film director noted for his American action/science fiction films, which are often completed behind schedule and over budget but compensate by being extremely successful financially. ... Dan OBannon (born Daniel Thomas OBannon on September 30, 1946 in St. ... Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra Sigourney Weaver (born October 8, 1949 in New York, New York) is an American actress perhaps best known for her portrayal of Ripley in Alien (1979) and its sequels. ... Michael Biehn in The Terminator Michael Biehn (born Tuesday, July 31, 1956) is an American actor who starred in several movies including The Terminator (1984) as well as Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Tombstone (1993), and The Rock (1996). ... Lance Henriksen is an American actor and potter [1]. He was born May 5, 1940 in New York City. ... Carrie Henn at age 10 in Aliens (1986). ... Bill Paxton (born May 17, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is a notable American actor. ... Paul Reiser (born March 30, 1957) is an American actor. ... Walter Hill Walter Hill (born California 1942) is a prominent American film director. ... Fox Plaza, the company headquarters. ... July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra Sigourney Weaver (born October 8, 1949 in New York, New York) is an American actress perhaps best known for her portrayal of Ripley in Alien (1979) and its sequels. ... Michael Biehn in The Terminator Michael Biehn (born Tuesday, July 31, 1956) is an American actor who starred in several movies including The Terminator (1984) as well as Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Tombstone (1993), and The Rock (1996). ... Lance Henriksen is an American actor and potter [1]. He was born May 5, 1940 in New York City. ... Carrie Henn at age 10 in Aliens (1986). ... Bill Paxton (born May 17, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is a notable American actor. ... Paul Reiser (born March 30, 1957) is an American actor. ... Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born November 30, 1937 in South Shields) is an influential British film director and producer. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott, is an extremely popular and influential science fiction/horror film that spawned several sequels and imitators. ...

Overview

Directed by James Cameron from a story written by Cameron, David Giler, and Walter Hill, the film is more of a high-paced, action adventure film than the atmospheric sci-fi horror of the first film. It was tremendously successful, following Cameron's The Terminator in helping to establish him as a major action director. The film, like its predecessor, was shot in England on a budget of only about $18 million. The production was somewhat problematic, marred by several disputes between Cameron and the film crew, which eventually led to an all-out strike late in the production. James Cameron from Ghosts of the Abyss James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian film director noted for his American action/science fiction films, which are often completed behind schedule and over budget but compensate by being extremely successful financially. ... Walter Hill Walter Hill (born California 1942) is a prominent American film director. ... The Terminator is a 1984 sci-fi action film which became the break-through role for former body-builder Arnold Schwarzenegger. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

Plot

At the opening of the film, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the only human survivor of the Nostromo, is rescued from space and revived after fifty-seven years in hypersleep. As she recovers, she is gradually informed of the changes that have occurred during her absence, and is dismayed to learn that a terraforming colony called Hadley's Hope has been founded on Planet LV-426 (where the Nostromo crew had its fatal first encounter with the alien). Ripley immediately fears the worst when she learns that contact with the colony has recently been lost. With her friends and family long dead, Ripley (now promoted to Lieutenant) reluctantly agrees to accompany a rescue mission sent by the all-powerful Company, acting as advisor to a squad of gung-ho Colonial Marines sent to rescue the colonists. They travel aboard the vessel Sulaco (like The Nostromo, the name is a nod to Joseph Conrad). The fictional character Ellen Ripley is the protagonist in the Alien movie series. ... Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra Sigourney Weaver (born October 8, 1949 in New York, New York) is an American actress perhaps best known for her portrayal of Ripley in Alien (1979) and its sequels. ... Artists conception of a terraformed Mars in three stages of development. ... LV-426, also known as Acheron, is the name of the planet where the Alien was first encountered by humans in the movie Alien (1979) of the Alien Series. ... The xenomorph is a hostile fictional extraterrestrial monster of unknown origin from the Alien universe, designed by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger. ... The Weyland-Yutani corporate logo. ... Gung-ho is a phrase borrowed from Chinese, frequently used in English as an adjective meaning enthusiastic. ... The United States Colonial Marines (USCM) are a group of fictional space marines first introduced in the movie Aliens. ... The Sulaco was a fictional spaceship shown in the movie Aliens. ... The USCSS Nostromo is a fictional starship, featured in the 1979 film Alien. ... Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (December 3, 1857 – August 3, 1924) was a Polish-born British novelist. ...

Arriving at LV-426, Ripley and her companions soon discover that the aliens have overrun the colony and that all the settlers are apparently dead. The rescue team soon find themselves trapped in the settlement, where they are hunted by swarming armies of aliens under the direction of their queen. Ripley eventually finds a single survivor, a young girl nicknamed "Newt", who has miraculously survived the massacre. Their mission is further complicated by Ripley's discovery that Burke (Paul Reiser), the Company representative along on the trip, is plotting to bring one of the aliens back to Earth at any cost. When Newt is captured by the aliens, Ripley must risk her own life to try and rescue the child and escape from the planet before the colony is "sterilized" by a nuclear explosion. The xenomorph is a hostile fictional extraterrestrial monster of unknown origin from the Alien universe, designed by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger. ... Paul Reiser (born March 30, 1957) is an American actor. ...

The story adds much to the overall mythos of the series, including Cameron's introduction of an insect-like social structure and life cycle, is notable for its portrayal of women in action roles, and also re-introduces the concept of an android character, however this time in a sympathetic role. This character, Bishop, is also the only character except Ripley (and her cat, Jones) to appear in more than one film in the series. Mythos can mean: A collection of myths A web-based comic and video game series created by Variant Interactive; see Mythos: the Demon Hunters A brand of Greek beer; see Mythos (beer) An Origins Award-winning card game released in 1996 by Chaosium; see Mythos (card game). ... Bishop 341-B is a fictional character from the Alien series of films, an android created by the Weyland-Yutani corporation and played by Lance Henriksen. ...

Analysis

It has been pointed out by some critics that Aliens works as an allegory of the Vietnam War, in that an overly confident US military finds itself in a quagmire battling an unseen opponent they cannot comprehend. Certainly the squad sent to carry out the mission is modelled on a Vietnam-era unit in terms of appearance, hierarchy and dialog. Interestingly, in real life Al Matthews, who plays Sergeant Apone, was the first black marine to be promoted to the rank of gunnery sergeant while serving in the Vietnam War. An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. ... The Vietnam War was fought from 1957 to 1975 between Soviet and Chinese-supported Vietnamese nationalist and Communist forces and an array of Western and pro-Western forces, most notably the United States. ... Al Matthews (September 2, 1944, Detroit, Michigan – October 6, 2002, American actor. ... Gunnery Sergeant insignia (U.S. Marine Corps) Gunnery Sergeant is the seventh enlisted rank in the U.S. Marine Corps, just above Staff Sergeant and below Master Sergeant, and is a non-commissioned officer. ... The Vietnam War was fought from 1957 to 1975 between Soviet and Chinese-supported Vietnamese nationalist and Communist forces and an array of Western and pro-Western forces, most notably the United States. ...

Sigourney Weaver, who holds strong views on gun control, has stated that she was deeply uncomfortable with the amount of gun violence in the movie, and that Ripley would be required to strap on heavy artillery herself. But she admitted she ended up enjoying the role and that the gunplay held a seductive appeal. The phrase Gun politics refers to the views of different people within a particular country as to what degree of control (increased gun rights vs. ...

The film added an additional level of depth to Ripley's character by establishing a daughter who grew old and died while Ripley was lost in space (this scene was not included in the theatrical version but was seen in extended versions on TV and DVD). When Ripley discovers a little girl, Newt (Carrie Henn), hiding in the ruins of the colony, Newt becomes a surrogate daughter for Ripley, allowing Ripley to overcome her feelings of guilt and achieve closure. Carrie Henn at age 10 in Aliens (1986). ...

Accolades

Aliens was nominated for seven Academy Awards and ended up winning two (Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects). Sigourney Weaver received her first Academy Award nomination (Best Actress) for this film. Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... This is a list of films that have won or been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects (1963-1967, 1975), Sound Effects Editing (1977, 1981-1999), or Sound Editing (1979, 2000-present). ... This is a list of films that have received an Oscar for best visual effects. ... The Academy Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ...

Another actor whose career benefited from Aliens was Bill Paxton; he plays the reluctant grunt, Hudson, who later defiantly battles to the death when swarmed by the aliens. Paxton also benefited from being given many of the film's most memorable one-liners. School of juvenile herring - many fish have the opercula wide open for ram feeding and you can see the red gills The term swarm (schooling or swarming) is applied to fish, birds and insects and describes a behavior of an aggregation (school) of animals of similar size and body orientation...

Impact

The depiction of the female characters, especially Ripley and the ultra-macho Private Vasquez, as fearless warriors made a considerable impression in the North American perception of women in action films, particularly in futuristic science fiction. Since Aliens, it grew to be expected in futuristic stories that the female characters be as ready to bear arms and do battle on an equal basis with the male characters. World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west... Action movies usually involve a fairly straightforward story of good guys versus bad guys, where most disputes are resolved by using physical force. ...

The film also continues a suggestion in the film that in the future sexual orientation and gender identity would be non-issues. The onscreen biographical reports on the missing crewmembers from the first film all include information on whether or not they have had a sex change operation. Later on while the marines are eating in the mess hall, two of the marines joke about having sex with an alien being that might have been transgender, although the joke is obscure, referring to "had some Acturian Poontang". It may reference many things, such as eating an Acturian creaure. The word "Poontang" may have taken on other slang meanings in the future that we are unaware of. Sexual orientation is the focus of a persons amorous or erotic desires, fantasies, and feelings, the gender(s) one is primarily oriented towards. ... In sociology, gender identity describes the gender with which a person identifies (i. ...

Versions

The theatrical running time of Aliens was 137 minutes. Later, Cameron cut together a 154 minute Director's Cut that contained the daughter subplot as well as scenes of the colony before the alien infestation and extra battle scenes involving the marines' robot sentries.

The original theatrical cut introduces an element of uncertainty into the proceedings - the backstory about Newt's parents is not shown, and the audience is (at least for first time viewers), unaware of what has transpired there beforehand. The scenes with Ripley's daughter and the robot sentries provide subplots in themselves.

This Director's Cut was first released on laserdisc and VHS in 1992 and in The Alien Legacy in 2001. Both versions of the film were released together for the first time in the 2003 Alien Quadrilogy DVD box set. Pioneers LaserDisc Logo The Laserdisc (LD) was the first commercial optical disc storage medium, and was used primarily for the presentation of movies. ... Top view VHS cassette with US Quarter for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Alien Legacy is the first boxed set of the Alien series: Alien Aliens Alien³ Alien: Resurrection The collection was released on August 21, 2001. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four (numerical prefix tetra-) distinct works. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for storing data, including movies with high video and sound quality. ...

Prequel

• 2004: Alien Vs. Predator

2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alien vs. ...

Alien Quadrilogy

• 1979: Alien, directed by Ridley Scott
• 1986: Aliens, directed by James Cameron
• 1992: Alien³, directed by David Fincher
• 1997: Alien: Resurrection, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Events March 5 - Production begins on The Empire Strikes Back, the sequel to Star Wars. ... Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott, is an extremely popular and influential science fiction/horror film that spawned several sequels and imitators. ... Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born November 30, 1937 in South Shields) is an influential British film director and producer. ... See also: 1985 in film, other events of 1986, 1987 in film, list of years in film. Events April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Gos Belinda Carlisle Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver. ... James Cameron from Ghosts of the Abyss James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian film director noted for his American action/science fiction films, which are often completed behind schedule and over budget but compensate by being extremely successful financially. ... See also: 1991 in film, other events of 1992, 1993 in film, list of years in film. Events January 12 - HAL 9000 is activated, the computer in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (fictional event: date taken from the film) Top grossing films Aladdin Home Alone 2: Lost in New... Alien³ is a science fiction/horror movie that opened May 22, 1992. ... David Fincher (born May 10, 1962) is an American film director. ... This is a list of film-related events in 1997. ... Film poster Alien: Resurrection Alien: Resurrection (1997) is the fourth movie in the Alien series, preceded by Alien, Aliens and Alien³. Synopsis Spoiler warning: Alien: Resurrection takes place 200 years after the events of Alien³. Ellen Ripley has been cloned using blood samples from Fiorina 161, on ice so that... Jean-Pierre Jeunet Jean-Pierre Jeunet (born 3 September 1953, Roanne, Loire - France) is a French film director. ...

Cast

Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra Sigourney Weaver (born October 8, 1949 in New York, New York) is an American actress perhaps best known for her portrayal of Ripley in Alien (1979) and its sequels. ... Carrie Henn at age 10 in Aliens (1986). ... Michael Biehn in The Terminator Michael Biehn (born Tuesday, July 31, 1956) is an American actor who starred in several movies including The Terminator (1984) as well as Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Tombstone (1993), and The Rock (1996). ... Lance Henriksen is an American actor and potter [1]. He was born May 5, 1940 in New York City. ... Paul Reiser (born March 30, 1957) is an American actor. ... Bill Paxton (born May 17, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is a notable American actor. ... William Hope is a Canadian movie actor, born in 1949 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... Jenette Goldstein, born in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, February 4, 1960, is an American actress. ... Al Matthews (September 2, 1944, Detroit, Michigan – October 6, 2002, American actor. ... Mark Rolston is the American actor, born on Friday, December 7, 1956 in Baltimore, Maryland. ... Tip Tipping was born in 1958. ... Trevor Steedman is a stunt actor. ... Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (June 25, 1900 – August 27, 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... Barbara Coles played Cocooned Woman in Aliens. ...

Crew

James Cameron from Ghosts of the Abyss James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian film director noted for his American action/science fiction films, which are often completed behind schedule and over budget but compensate by being extremely successful financially. ... Walter Hill Walter Hill (born California 1942) is a prominent American film director. ... Stan Winston (born April 7, 1946), is a special effects and makeup artist. ... James Horner (born 14 August 1953 in Los Angeles, California) is an American composer of film scores. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about:

Aliens (1986 movie)

• Aliens at the Internet Movie Database
• Harry Harris, owner of the largest collection of screen used props as seen in Aliens.
• Aliens first draft script
• Classicscifi.com, in-depth review.

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