Movie Description
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the sole survivor from the original ALIEN, is awakened after 57 years of drifting through space, her stories disbelieved by Company executives who tell her that the alien's planet is now inhabited and colonized. When contact is suddenly lost with the colonists, Ripley returns to the planet with a squad of marines, an android (Lance Henriksen), and a Company executive (Paul Reiser) with a mission of his own. Once on the planet, no survivors can be found except for Newt, a little girl who awakens motherly instincts in Ripley just in time for the acid-blooded aliens to attack in what quickly becomes a one-sided battle for sheer survival. Considered by many to be the best of the series, ALIENS is a fast-paced, high-intensity thrill ride that set a new standard for action films and cemented director James Cameron's status as one of Hollywood's leading directors following the success of THE TERMINATOR. Weaver received an Academy Award nomination and became a feminist hero for her strong, sensitive performance as the survivor Ripley, while costars Reiser, Henriksen, and Bill Paxton all give career-making performances in this landmark sci-fi extravaganza.
| Credits | | Producer: | Gale Anne Hurd | | Cast: | Jenette Goldstein, Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Ricco Ross |
| Details | | Edition: | Special Edition Widescreen: 20 Extra Minutes |
Notes
Budget estimate $24.5 million.
Began shooting September 30, 1985, completed February 1986. Released in USA July 18, 1986. Broadcast over CBS Television March 14, 1989 with footage not seen in the original theatrical release.
Original running time of "Aliens" was 154 minutes. The deleted footage has turned up on television and on a Special Edition laserdisc. Some of this footage established that Ripley had a daughter who died while Ripley was gone.
Shot at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath and London, England, in Rank and Eastmancolor and Panavision. Original aspect ratio was 2.35:1.
Stan Winston was the Alien effects creator.
Rated BBFC 15 by the British Board of Film Classification.
Editorial Reviews
"...A flaming, flashing, crashing, crackling blow-em-up show that keeps you popping from your seat....[Weaver] is a one-woman army..."
New York Times - Walter Goodman (07/18/1986)
"...Gripping..." -- Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly - Ira Robbins (10/04/1996)
"...Technically, [the] film is superior in all respects. Special effects are varied and always convincing..."
Variety - Cart. (07/09/1986)
"...Canny, ironically funny and certainly successful when Weaver's around....ALIENS is a perfectly honorable sequel, taut, inexorably paced..."
Los Angeles Times - Sheila Benson (07/18/1986)
"...[A] top-drawer sequel..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (01/03/1992)
Awards
1986Academy AwardsBest Sound Effects Editing, 1986Academy AwardsBest Visual Effects, 1986Academy AwardsBest Visual EffectsStan Winston
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