Aliens (Two Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [1986]

James Cameron’s sequel to the highly successful ‘Alien’. Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the sole survivor of the alien attack on the ‘Nostromo’, awakes after 57 years in suspended animation when she is picked up by a salvage ship. She is put to work by the Company, but is horrified to discover that the planet where her ship picked up the original alien has now been colonized. When contact with the colony is lost, the Company send Ripley on an investigative mission with a team of hardened Space Marines.
James Cameron’s Aliens digests all the virtues of Alien and regurgitates them bigger, louder and brasher than before. By the simple expedient of turning the singular beast of the original into a plural, Cameron transforms the franchise’s focus from horror to all-out action. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley–one of the strongest roles for a female lead in mainstream cinema–is centre-stage throughout, more than able to hold her own either among the butch Marines and insectoid aliens. Although the director later revealed that there were only ever six alien costumes in any one shot, rapid-fire editing makes it seem like hundreds. Aliens is one of the most dynamic, viscerally exciting movies of the decade and, as a bug-fest, remained unsurpassed until the glorious Starship Troopers in 1997.
On the DVD: The Director’s Cut reinstates 17 crucial minutes of footage deleted from the theatrical release. It reveals how the colony on LV-426 encountered the aliens, and more importantly why Ripley’s maternal bond with Newt is so strong, which adds an extra dimension to the film’s climax. Also included is a short, fairly bland interview with James Cameron, recorded at the time of the cinema release, as well as some background explanation on how specific special effects were created. Unlike the Alien disc, there is no directorial commentary. –Mark Walker