I don't remember the first time I watched Aliens, but I remember watching it with my mom one night. It was when she was pregnant with my youngest brother, and we still had the wood-stove upstairs. We sat close by the stove to keep warm, eating pickles, and watching Aliens. I believe it to be one of my earliest movie related memories. I look back upon it fondly, as well as the movie I watched that night. While re-watching Aliens today, I realized it is still one of my favorite films.
Science fiction films are at a disadvantage when aging; they have two major hurdles to overcome. If you watch a drama from twenty years ago, it is often quite similar when compared to a drama from last year. The same can be said of comedies. All movies face certain problems, like a change in dialogue or fashion that shows their age, but science fiction has two practical problems that date them far worse than clothes and lingo.
The first problem a science fiction film faces when getting older is advancement in special effects. As more effective techniques are discovered, the effects become more realistic. The game changed with the advent of CGI, and I have frequently argued that practical effects are a better choice when possible. Aliens is a prime example of the successful use of practical effects. While there are some blue screen effects that are noticeable, the film's special effects are largely unnoticed. If you notice the effect, it's not working, which is often the downfall of CGI.
The second problem that often brings down an older science fiction film is the subject matter/setting. A good example of this would be the Terminator series or the second Back to the Future film. In the Terminator setting, Skynet becomes self aware on August 29, 1997. I don't know if you noticed, but we are not currently being exterminated by the machines. In three years, we'll be caught up with the part of Back to the Future II where Marty goes to the future to save his kids. I doubt we'll have hoverboards on the shelves by then. The point is that, while these films are still enjoyable, they seem a tad dated because we have caught up to the future they promised and it is nothing like they showed us. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just that is dates the movie. Because Aliens is set so far in the future, 2179, we have plenty of time to create far reaching space ships before catching up to that projected future. Setting aside Ripley's 80's hair style, Aliens has stood the test of time incredibly well.
Further bolstering Aliens is an incredible cast. Sigourney Weaver reprises her role from Alien and continues to effectively portray Ellen Ripley. The casting for all the new characters is wonderful as well. I couldn't imagine anyone else portraying those characters. Paul Reiser will forever be the sleazy company man, while Lance Henriksen will always be Bishop to me. Toss Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton into the mix and you've got a recipe for awesome.
It helps that the movie is well written, with enough signature lines to keep my family going for months. As they're big into movie quotes, Aliens is a treasure trove for them. Well, it would be if it was my dad's kind of movie.*
A film can be completely ruined by the wrong score. Aliens, once again, does this right too. The sound effects and music are perfectly suited to the film. If I hear the music out of context, the film immediately comes to mind. It is just as vital to Aliens as the creature design.
Speaking of the xenomorphs, they are wonderfully fleshed out in Aliens. While the first movie focuses on a single creature wreaking havoc and destroying the crew, the second movie goes bigger and features masses of the creatures. As they've ratcheted up the number of creatures, they've upped the abilities and resources of the characters. Instead of a few miners trying to fend off one creature, you have freaking space marines holding off hundreds of aliens. While the first film is more of a thriller, the second plays more like an action movie. Sequels don't always work, but Cameron puts it all together in a way that makes sense. He expands our knowledge of the aliens without really telling us anything. We see a bit more of how the creatures act and operate in an organic manner.
It's pretty apparent now that Cameron has never really shied away from anything. While he keeps the majority of the regular aliens lowly lit or only revealed in flashes, he doesn't shy away from showing the most important alien in full. The best part is that he pulls it off! It looked good then, and it still looks convincing today.
Before watching Aliens, Alien Resurrection was on TV. While watching Aliens, I kept noticing how much better it looked than Alien Resurrection. It's a weird thing to fixate on, but the aliens' hands looked more realistic in the film that was made eleven years earlier. Cameron making sure little things like that were done properly and realistically gives Aliens the ability to stand the test of time.
If you've never seen Aliens, shame on you. Go watch it. It's a well cast movie with great lines and effective special effects. If you have seen Aliens, good on you. We can be friends. You should probably go watch it again. It's definitely worth your time.
*Early in my parents relationship, they went to see the original Alien in theaters. They took one or two of my dad's younger brothers along to see it. One of the brothers left the theater crying. This is not pertinent to the review, but I think it is hilarious.
Aliens was a much better movie than Resurrection but I can't help but think a little Ron Pearlman would have made it that much better. In fact that's probably the only real reason I enjoyed Resurrection.
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