The year is 1986, I'm blisfully playing in my very alien-free elementary schoolyard (darn it), while those who are old enough to be seeing this movie are getting great enjoyment from watching people melting, being severed, having their yummy, delicious brains eaten or being used for alien reproduction (Borat says: "sexy time!"). Lucky b@$#@&>$!!
James Cameron has already said "yoohoo, I'm here" by making his first attempt to terminate our species in 1984's "The Terminator". He continues his cinematic killing spree in this film, too. I think that deep down, he hates humanity. If he could, he would probably make a movie with machines and aliens trying to slaughter everyone on a sinking ship. Oh, the horror and the beauty of it all..."Aliens" was conceived as an idea before "The Terminator" had even been released in cinemas and Cameron didn't have much clout as an artist yet. He was actually offered the chance to write a script for a sequel to "Alien" only after ALL of his own ideas for movies had already been turned down and was basically given the chance on good faith, because what he had finished of "The Terminator" by that point looked promising. He gave it his best shot and here we are 23 years later, me writing the 1 billionth review of this movie and you reading it. But you know you love it, dontcha?
Let's make one point clear to avoid confusion. "Alien" is the original 1979 Ridley Scott movie. This one, the sequel by James Cameron, is called "AlienS". Quite an original way of naming a sequel, I know. Or just a damn literal one if you ask me, considering the number of extraterrestrial beasts appearing in this film. The original film only had one, remember? (lonely, poor thing...I just made myself laugh again). This movie is a very different beast to Ridley Scott's intimate original. The first one was a nightmarish, dark, claustrophobic horror movie. This one is a bona fide space action / adventure with horror elements thrown in for good measure. Cameron is about as discrete in his movie making as I am in reviewing movies. He does small and intimate (and understands the meaning of "less is more") as well as I can do back flips. But he is hell-a-good (as Cartman would say) at what he does and a true master of his craft, even if it means that he has to e.g. almost literally rebuild the whole Titanic to get what he has in his head on film. He is like an overfilled, mouthwatering, super-sized burger. Not as elegant as, say, a summer strawberry salad, but deeply satisfying nevertheless. In keeping this food metaphor going for just one moment longer, Lucas' movies would probably be like the cake your kids tried to bake for you as a surprise. Things got messy and the ingredients, some of which were tasty, now need to be scraped off the floor and ceiling. I heart you, George. (Aliens in a Mayan temple which is really Atlantis, George?? REALLY?!??!?!!11)
James Cameron is an inspired script writer and it's truly noble how much this film stays true to the original "Alien" material, although it didn't have to. It would have probably made tons of cash even if it didn't. Watching the original and this sequel back to back, I was surprised by how absolutely flawless the transition from "Alien" to "Aliens" was. Cutting off the end credits of "Alien" and starting this film immediately in their place would look totally seamless, with no one being the wiser that a movie made 7 years later had just started. It feels like we are in the same universe as "Alien", albeit a greatly expanded version of it. Ultimately though, as much as Cameron bases his film on the original story and visuals, his stylistic choices are very different to Scott's and that produces a beautiful movie, but with some questionable results here and there.
OK, let's tear this movie apart in some more detail, although I will try not to be my evil self and start with some of the positive changes made by Cameron to the "Alien" universe. Everything in this movie looks bigger, and in some cases it really needed this boost. For example, the space scenes in the original with the "Nostromo" were not particularly well done in my opinion, even by that time's standards. You could tell it was a model, which didn't help the audience's suspension of disbelief in those scenes. Here, space looks gorgeous and more detailed and the new ship in this movie, the "Sulaco", looks very large, as it should. All of the places visited in the original movie are re-done with much higher detail and a whole load more is added to the mix. This is where Cameron's craftsmanship really shines through.
Being a total nerd that will gladly watch a movie a second time with the commentary on and then will go on to watch all the special features with religious fervour, only to finally proceed to go online to research a film's making even further (yeaps, I'm so popular with da ladiez!), I believe I generally understand the technological limitations of special effects at the time this film was made pretty well. If you wanted to show something huge, it would have to be a miniature model filmed up close, hoping that your audience wouldn't realise that most of what you are showing them is the size of large toys. And everything that was life sized and didn't exist in real life, sets / props / costumes etc., would have to be meticulously created from scratch, often by scavenging parts of real-life tools and products and disguising them as something more futuristic. A combination of the large and small in more multi-layered, effect-heavy scenes would include matte paintings in the background, huge background screens on set with stuff projected on them or even hectic copy pasting of film onto film, by hand. Welcome to the many joys of pre-CG film making.
Cameron-san proves that he is a sensei of combining all the aforementioned elements in a way that many consider the benchmark that future science fiction action films would have to meet, before he would proceed to raise the bar even higher with the digital effects of "Terminator 2". All the pre-CG cinematic techniques have reached their peak here and are smoothly integrated into a breathtaking final visual result. The way Cameron cuts between actors, miniatures, life-sized sets and multiple combinations of the above is done with such precision that, even today, you would be hard-pressed to visually falter the movie and any failings would probably have to be seen in slow motion to be revealed. That is not to say, however, that the film doesn't have its fair share of miss fires in Cameron's hungry little overactive hands and mind.
If the original film was the old pervert in a dark alley that tried to get your attention with a candy, only to give you nightmares with his evil intentions later, this film is Willy Wonka who tries to get your attention by offering rivers of chocolate and although you will feel slightly mentally abused at the end, no nightmares are to be had after this sugar high. The film has way too much eye candy to show and it makes sure you can see ALL of it. The darkness of the original movie is all but gone here, with the film being too well lit for its own good most of the time. I appreciate being able to see all the cool effects clearly, but it comes at the price of losing some of that soil-your-panties atmosphere of the original. That, however, doesn't mean that this movie lacks its fair share of good scares.
This very logically brings us to the aliens in this movie. It's the name of the movie, so they are going to be SO good and scary, right?? Let's not forget that the sparkling jewel of the first film was this magnificently fear-inducing biological machine of death, designed and filmed with an almost perverted sense of respect towards the viewers. They were showing you something that would awaken that childish fear about what's hiding in your closet inside you and they knew it. Well, what Cameron does is equivalent to taking a very special, handcrafted, unique product and mass-producing a shitty factory version of it. First of all, he changed the design of the alien. I'm certain the aliens in this movie looked slightly different, especially after watching both movies back to back. James, did you hear ANYONE complain about the way the alien looked in the original??? Did it really need jet fighter-like aerodynamic additions to its head to look cooler?? Additionally, the aliens look much more like people in rubber suits than in the first film. I understand that he had to produce a lot of them on screen, unlike the single one of the first film, so some kind of cutbacks would have to be made, but at some points these dudes in black tights (seriously) and a rubber suit being propelled forward by wires don't cut it.
The way the aliens are used is also questionable as far as I'm concerned. The fact that their acid-for-blood seems to be corrosive only when the plot calls for it is a little insulting. The fact that dozens of them look much less menacing than one in the first movie and that they are being gunned down like stormtroopers in Star Wars at certain points showcase this film's departure from the original material and into mindless spectacle-land. I also didn't care much for the one, bigger alien appearing in the movie (I know I sound like I'm reviewing a movie that just came out, but I am honestly trying not to include spoilers for those who might have not watched this film yet. Excuse my occasional vagueness). It looked like a half-finished prop and needed more work. Cool and scary nevertheless. This movie is cool and scary in general, I don't want to be a hater, but did it really need an alien using an elevator??? Wtf?? Did it like, hum and whistle to elevator music while waiting to reach the upper level and eat people?? Would it be even physically possible for these aliens to whistle?? Better stop that trail of thought now before my mind gets lost in a vicious circle of fake xenobiology. Anyway, these kinds of really "doh!" moments I mentioned stick out like thorns from what is essentially a, more often than not, flawlessly executed film.
James Cameron has already said "yoohoo, I'm here" by making his first attempt to terminate our species in 1984's "The Terminator". He continues his cinematic killing spree in this film, too. I think that deep down, he hates humanity. If he could, he would probably make a movie with machines and aliens trying to slaughter everyone on a sinking ship. Oh, the horror and the beauty of it all..."Aliens" was conceived as an idea before "The Terminator" had even been released in cinemas and Cameron didn't have much clout as an artist yet. He was actually offered the chance to write a script for a sequel to "Alien" only after ALL of his own ideas for movies had already been turned down and was basically given the chance on good faith, because what he had finished of "The Terminator" by that point looked promising. He gave it his best shot and here we are 23 years later, me writing the 1 billionth review of this movie and you reading it. But you know you love it, dontcha?
Let's make one point clear to avoid confusion. "Alien" is the original 1979 Ridley Scott movie. This one, the sequel by James Cameron, is called "AlienS". Quite an original way of naming a sequel, I know. Or just a damn literal one if you ask me, considering the number of extraterrestrial beasts appearing in this film. The original film only had one, remember? (lonely, poor thing...I just made myself laugh again). This movie is a very different beast to Ridley Scott's intimate original. The first one was a nightmarish, dark, claustrophobic horror movie. This one is a bona fide space action / adventure with horror elements thrown in for good measure. Cameron is about as discrete in his movie making as I am in reviewing movies. He does small and intimate (and understands the meaning of "less is more") as well as I can do back flips. But he is hell-a-good (as Cartman would say) at what he does and a true master of his craft, even if it means that he has to e.g. almost literally rebuild the whole Titanic to get what he has in his head on film. He is like an overfilled, mouthwatering, super-sized burger. Not as elegant as, say, a summer strawberry salad, but deeply satisfying nevertheless. In keeping this food metaphor going for just one moment longer, Lucas' movies would probably be like the cake your kids tried to bake for you as a surprise. Things got messy and the ingredients, some of which were tasty, now need to be scraped off the floor and ceiling. I heart you, George. (Aliens in a Mayan temple which is really Atlantis, George?? REALLY?!??!?!!11)
James Cameron is an inspired script writer and it's truly noble how much this film stays true to the original "Alien" material, although it didn't have to. It would have probably made tons of cash even if it didn't. Watching the original and this sequel back to back, I was surprised by how absolutely flawless the transition from "Alien" to "Aliens" was. Cutting off the end credits of "Alien" and starting this film immediately in their place would look totally seamless, with no one being the wiser that a movie made 7 years later had just started. It feels like we are in the same universe as "Alien", albeit a greatly expanded version of it. Ultimately though, as much as Cameron bases his film on the original story and visuals, his stylistic choices are very different to Scott's and that produces a beautiful movie, but with some questionable results here and there.
OK, let's tear this movie apart in some more detail, although I will try not to be my evil self and start with some of the positive changes made by Cameron to the "Alien" universe. Everything in this movie looks bigger, and in some cases it really needed this boost. For example, the space scenes in the original with the "Nostromo" were not particularly well done in my opinion, even by that time's standards. You could tell it was a model, which didn't help the audience's suspension of disbelief in those scenes. Here, space looks gorgeous and more detailed and the new ship in this movie, the "Sulaco", looks very large, as it should. All of the places visited in the original movie are re-done with much higher detail and a whole load more is added to the mix. This is where Cameron's craftsmanship really shines through.
Being a total nerd that will gladly watch a movie a second time with the commentary on and then will go on to watch all the special features with religious fervour, only to finally proceed to go online to research a film's making even further (yeaps, I'm so popular with da ladiez!), I believe I generally understand the technological limitations of special effects at the time this film was made pretty well. If you wanted to show something huge, it would have to be a miniature model filmed up close, hoping that your audience wouldn't realise that most of what you are showing them is the size of large toys. And everything that was life sized and didn't exist in real life, sets / props / costumes etc., would have to be meticulously created from scratch, often by scavenging parts of real-life tools and products and disguising them as something more futuristic. A combination of the large and small in more multi-layered, effect-heavy scenes would include matte paintings in the background, huge background screens on set with stuff projected on them or even hectic copy pasting of film onto film, by hand. Welcome to the many joys of pre-CG film making.
Cameron-san proves that he is a sensei of combining all the aforementioned elements in a way that many consider the benchmark that future science fiction action films would have to meet, before he would proceed to raise the bar even higher with the digital effects of "Terminator 2". All the pre-CG cinematic techniques have reached their peak here and are smoothly integrated into a breathtaking final visual result. The way Cameron cuts between actors, miniatures, life-sized sets and multiple combinations of the above is done with such precision that, even today, you would be hard-pressed to visually falter the movie and any failings would probably have to be seen in slow motion to be revealed. That is not to say, however, that the film doesn't have its fair share of miss fires in Cameron's hungry little overactive hands and mind.
If the original film was the old pervert in a dark alley that tried to get your attention with a candy, only to give you nightmares with his evil intentions later, this film is Willy Wonka who tries to get your attention by offering rivers of chocolate and although you will feel slightly mentally abused at the end, no nightmares are to be had after this sugar high. The film has way too much eye candy to show and it makes sure you can see ALL of it. The darkness of the original movie is all but gone here, with the film being too well lit for its own good most of the time. I appreciate being able to see all the cool effects clearly, but it comes at the price of losing some of that soil-your-panties atmosphere of the original. That, however, doesn't mean that this movie lacks its fair share of good scares.
This very logically brings us to the aliens in this movie. It's the name of the movie, so they are going to be SO good and scary, right?? Let's not forget that the sparkling jewel of the first film was this magnificently fear-inducing biological machine of death, designed and filmed with an almost perverted sense of respect towards the viewers. They were showing you something that would awaken that childish fear about what's hiding in your closet inside you and they knew it. Well, what Cameron does is equivalent to taking a very special, handcrafted, unique product and mass-producing a shitty factory version of it. First of all, he changed the design of the alien. I'm certain the aliens in this movie looked slightly different, especially after watching both movies back to back. James, did you hear ANYONE complain about the way the alien looked in the original??? Did it really need jet fighter-like aerodynamic additions to its head to look cooler?? Additionally, the aliens look much more like people in rubber suits than in the first film. I understand that he had to produce a lot of them on screen, unlike the single one of the first film, so some kind of cutbacks would have to be made, but at some points these dudes in black tights (seriously) and a rubber suit being propelled forward by wires don't cut it.
The way the aliens are used is also questionable as far as I'm concerned. The fact that their acid-for-blood seems to be corrosive only when the plot calls for it is a little insulting. The fact that dozens of them look much less menacing than one in the first movie and that they are being gunned down like stormtroopers in Star Wars at certain points showcase this film's departure from the original material and into mindless spectacle-land. I also didn't care much for the one, bigger alien appearing in the movie (I know I sound like I'm reviewing a movie that just came out, but I am honestly trying not to include spoilers for those who might have not watched this film yet. Excuse my occasional vagueness). It looked like a half-finished prop and needed more work. Cool and scary nevertheless. This movie is cool and scary in general, I don't want to be a hater, but did it really need an alien using an elevator??? Wtf?? Did it like, hum and whistle to elevator music while waiting to reach the upper level and eat people?? Would it be even physically possible for these aliens to whistle?? Better stop that trail of thought now before my mind gets lost in a vicious circle of fake xenobiology. Anyway, these kinds of really "doh!" moments I mentioned stick out like thorns from what is essentially a, more often than not, flawlessly executed film.
