Alien: Resurrection

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and screenplay by Joss Whedon, Alien: Resurrection is the fourth and final film of the original Alien franchise in which a newly-cloned Ellen Ripley returns to fight a new species of aliens with a group of mercenaries after an experiment had gone wrong. With Sigourney Weaver playing the role of Ripley once again. The film also stars Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon, Brad Dourif, Michael Wincott, Dan Hedaya, Gary Dourdan, and Leland Orser. Alien: Resurrection is a stylish yet engaging thriller from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

200 years after the events that led to the death of Ellen Ripley, a military experiment that featured remnants of her DNA sample has finally succeed in cloning Ripley where her body contained a baby queen alien. With the newly-cloned Ripley still in containment as she contains alien blood in her body, the experiment led by General Perez (Dan Hedaya), his subordinate Dr. Wren (J.E. Freeman) and Dr. Gediman study the aliens as they wait for a ship to arrive. The ship features a team of mercenaries who had captured a group of people unaware of the motives the military has for them. While the band of mercenaries that includes Call (Winona Ryder) who recognizes Ripley as she secretly enters her cell in an attempt to kill her where Call reveals why she and the mercenaries are really here.

Instead, things go wrong when the alien experiment have the aliens break out of their containment area and kill most of the crew leaving Ripley, Call, the rest of the mercenaries, Dr. Wren, and a marine in DiStefano (Raymond Cruz) to deal with the aliens. Realizing that the only option is to destroy the ship and board on the mercenaries ship to escape, Ripley and the gang try to deal with the aliens as they kill a few while Ripley makes a discovery about the experiment that was done to her. While trying to escape the aliens, the group finds a man named Purvis (Leland Orser) who had survived the experiment as he learns he has an alien inside him that’s going to burst soon. Things become more complicated where another discovery is made where Ripley and Call realize what the queen alien is doing as Ripley realizes that new breed of alien is being made and it has to be stopped.

Throughout the entirety of the series, there is always a subplot that relates to a corporation wanting to take the sample of an alien in order to use it for bio-weapons. In this film, the military finally gets a hold of an alien for their experiment and everything goes wrong. Once again, Ellen Ripley and everything she had faced in the past reveal that everything she didn‘t want to happen has finally come true. Resurrected from the dead in order to fight the aliens one more time, she goes all out while having a new advantage that would help her fight off the aliens as she also has alien blood in her.

Joss Whedon creates a script that does reveal a lot into how Ripley was finally able to be successfully cloned yet also shows a woman who is trying to get in touch with her humanity while becoming aware of what she’s facing. There is a new conflict that she’s facing as she is a bit of an alien where she is quite reluctant to kill them since they’re really her children. It’s one of the interesting aspects of the screenplay as well as the mercenaries themselves who definitely have a motive to board the U.S. science ship as one of them in Call knows a lot about Ripley and her history with the aliens. While the script does play to formula a bit and carries lots of exposition that does go a bit overboard, Whedon is able to create a script that is very faithful to its predecessors.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s direction is definitely stylish in the way he presents the film in a visual scale as well as the fact that he was able to keep things more simple. With some unique framing from camera shots shown from above and under to create an air of suspense while emphasizing that it’s more than just a film as it’s often led by an ensemble. While Jeunet is aware that there’s a formula that’s to be played where characters do get killed off and such. Jeunet does manage to give some characters moments where they can stand out and actually give the audience something to care about. Jeunet also keeps the action exciting without delving too much into fast-paced action or shaky camera work. While the film definitely has flaws in some parts of the script as well as moments where some of the action and visual effects don’t mesh up. Jeunet does create a solid and thrilling film that lives up to some of the brilliance of the franchise.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji does excellent work with the film‘s lush yet evocative photography to play up the mood of the film with its emphasis for a bit of grain in the look as well as low-lights for many of the scenes to play up the sense of style. Editor Herve Schneid does nice work with the editing in the way the action is given a rhythm that isn‘t too fast while slowing things down for the suspense and low-key moments. Production designer Nigel Phelps, along with set decorator John W. Dwyer and art director Steve Cooper, does terrific work with the sets from the look of the labs and hallways in the spaceship to the designs of the nests where the alien eggs are to be hatched.

Costume designer Bob Ringwood does some good work with the costumes to create some nice mercenary suits for the mercenaries as well as the clothes that Ripley wears when she fights off the aliens. Visual effects supervisors Erik Henry and Pitof do wonderful work with the visual effects such as the way the aliens move and how some of the exteriors are made though there‘s some bits that doesn‘t entirely work. Sound designer Leslie Shatz and sound editor John A. Larsen do superb work with the sound to create an atmosphere that occurs as well as setting a mood for some of the film‘s suspenseful moments. The film’s music by John Frizzell is quite good for its orchestral bombast to play out the drama and action that occurs in the film.

The casting by Richard Pagano is brilliant for the ensemble that is created for the film as it includes some notable small roles from Carolyn Campbell and David St. James as a couple of scientists doing research on the aliens, Dan Hedaya as the big ship’s head General Perez, Leland Orser as a lab rat who has to deal with an alien inside of him, J.E. Freeman as the distrustful Dr. Wren, Raymond Cruz as the marine DiStephano, and Brad Dourif as the main scientist Dr. Gediman who is fascinated by the aliens. For the roles of the mercenaries, there’s Kim Flowers as the pilot Hillard, Gary Dourdan as the skilled shooter Christie, and Michael Wincott as the mercenaries leader Frank Elgyn. Jeunet regulars Ron Perlman and Dominique Pinon are great in their respective roles as the humorous shooter Johner and the paraplegic yet resourceful mechanic Vriess.

Winona Ryder is excellent as the mercenary Call who knows a lot more than her other mercenaries seem to know about the situation as she also carries a secret that would help everyone. Finally, there’s Sigourney Weaver in her fourth outing as Ellen Ripley. Weaver brings a new dark element to the character as a woman who is really a shell of what she used to be as she deals with her new alien blood as well as the fact that she’s the aliens’ mother where Weaver brings another fantastic performance as the famed character.

Alien: Resurrection is a stellar though flawed film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet that features a superb performance from Sigourney Weaver. Along with amazing visuals and top-notch supporting work from Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, and Dominique Pinon. While it may not love to the brilliance of the first two films, it does manage to be entertaining enough for fans of the franchise. In the end, Alien: Resurrection is a superb film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet Films: Delicatessen - The City of Lost Children - Amelie - A Very Long Engagement - Micmacs - (The Young and Prodigious Spivet) - The Auteurs #20: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Alien Films: Alien - Aliens - Alien 3

© thevoid99 2012

Alien 3

Directed by David Fincher and screenplay by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson from a story by Vincent Ward, Alien 3 is the story of Ellen Ripley waking up after crash-landing on a refinery planet near a prison. There, she deals with her new surroundings as well as the fact that an alien had boarded her escape pod as she and various prisoners try to fight off the alien. With Sigourney Weaver playing the role of Ellen Ripley once again. The film also stars Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Brian Glover, Ralph Brown, Paul McGann, Danny Webb, Pete Postlethwaite, and Lance Henriksen. Alien 3 is a thrilling yet messy film from David Fincher.

After crash-landing into a refinery planet that includes a maximum security prison nearby, Ellen Ripley wakes up to learn that she is the only survivor of the crash leaving everyone else dead while the android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) is damaged beyond repair. In the care of the prison’s doctor Clemens (Charles Dance), Ripley learns what has happened as she looks at the crashed pod where she believes something was on board. Ripley convinces Clemens to perform an autopsy on one of the bodies as Ripley realize nothing is there as she is given permission by the prison’s superintendent Harold Andrews (Brian Glover) to hold a funeral. After shaving her head and accepting the fact that she’s in a prison full of men who hadn’t seen a women in years, Ripley deals with her new surroundings only for something bad to happen when one of the prisoners is found dead.

Andrews leads the inspection as the outcast prisoner Golic (Paul McGann) returns feeling deranged as Ripley believes something isn’t right. Taking what was left of the android Bishop as well as the flight log, she learns that an alien did board the pod though Andrews doesn’t believe so but the prisoner Dillon (Charles S. Dutton) believes that Ripley is right. More incidents emerge as Dillon, Ripley, and the other prisoners realize that there is an alien in the prison that is killing everyone but Ripley. With Andrews’ assistant Aaron (Ralph Brown) reluctantly taking command and no weapons available, the situation becomes dire as everyone tries to make plans to trap the alien and kill it with toxic waste. Yet, more problems emerge where Ripley makes an unsettling discovery that would only bring more trouble. With Ripley, Dillon, Aaron, and the remaining survivors left to deal with the alien as a rescue team from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation is coming. Ripley and the prisoners do whatever it takes to kill the alien.

The film is essentially a continuation of Ellen Ripley’s story and her encounter with an alien where she finds herself in an all-men’s maximum security prison where she’s surrounded by murders, rapists, and all sorts of things yet they’re not her problem. The problem is that there’s an alien that got attached to her pod and ended up getting its way into the prison. With no weapons on board and a bunch of scared prisoners who have also embraced a form of Christianity, it looks like there’s no sense of hope. Yet, there’s Ripley who has faced these aliens before yet she finds herself dealing with other problems that would make her a bigger liability.

The screenplay definitely plays to the element of suspense as well as its sense of horror and the stakes that these prisoners have to encounter. Yet, it plays too much into the formula of what happens where there isn’t a lot of surprises that occur while there’s very few characters that the audiences seem to care about. While the script’s lack of surprises in the way many characters are killed off is too as well as the involvement of the corporation that comes in late in the film. There is still something that is engaging in the way Ripley deals with the situation but there’s new stakes that emerges for her. Even as she makes a discovery in the film’s second half where it adds to the problems that emerge as she is aware that she is becoming more of a liability.

David Fincher’s direction is very stylish in terms of the presentation that is created with very fast and fluid camera work for the chase scenes along with more intimate moments involving the characters. Yet, there’s moments in the film where it definitely shows that Fincher definitely didn’t have a lot of control due to some very dodgy visual effects scenes and other moments that makes the film a bit silly. It’s also a major step-down from its predecessors considering that there’s not a lot of surprises and the suspense doesn’t carry much weight. Things get more clumsier in the third act not just in the final battle but the arrival of the corporation where it plays to things that are quite obvious as well as something that could’ve been a fitting finale. Overall, Fincher does a decent job with the film but it is hampered by the fact that the studio interfered too much to let him really give the story more bite.

Cinematographer Alex Thomson, with additional work by Jordan Cronenweth, does nice work with the film‘s photography with its sepia-drenched look to convey the dreary look of the prison. Editor Terry Rawlings does some excellent work with the editing to maintain the air of suspense as well as using dissolves and jump-cuts to help create some intense moments in the film. Production designers Norman Reynolds and Michael White, along with set decorator Belinda Edwards and supervising art director Fred Hole, does superb work with the look of the prison as well as the hallways and boiler rooms where it often takes place.

Costume designers David Perry and Bob Ringwood do fine work with the costumes as it‘s mostly ragged prison clothes and coats that the prisoners wear. Special effects supervisor George Gibbs and the visual effects of Philip Sharpe do some terrific work with some of the visual effects though some of the animation including the movement of the alien looks just downright silly. Sound editor Gary S. Gerlich and sound designer Harry E. Snodgrass do some excellent work with the sound to maintain that sense of terror that occurs throughout the film. The film’s music by Elliot Goldenthal is wonderful for the way it plays out the drama and the suspense with its orchestral bombast.

The film’s ensemble cast is brilliant as it does feature some nice small performances from Paul McGann, Pete Postlethwaite, Holt McCallany, and Danny Webb as prisoners who help out Ripley fight the alien as well as Ralph Brown as Andrews’ assistant Aaron and Lance Henriksen making a cameo as the damaged android Bishop and its creator. Brian Glover is terrific as the prison’s warden Harold Andrews who gets to chew up the scenery while Charles Dance is excellent in a more low-key yet subtle performance as Dr. Clemens who befriends Ripley. Charles S. Dutton is superb as the prisoner Dillon who helps Ripley out in fighting the alien while making sure that all of the prisoners know what they have to do in order to survive.

Finally, there’s Sigourney Weaver in a brilliant performance as Ellen Ripley where Weaver gets to display more leadership as well as internal conflict as a woman having to fight another alien while dealing with something that she realize that would impact everything else.

Alien 3 is a good though underwhelming film from David Fincher. While it features an excellent performance from Sigourney Weaver, the film is definitely among one of the weakest entries of the franchise due to its lack of surprises as well as some incomprehensive moments. For fans of David Fincher, this film isn’t the great debut that it wants to be as it doesn’t feature a lot of the visual traits that he’s known for in later films. In the end, Alien 3 is an engaging but somewhat lackluster film.

David Fincher Films: Se7en - The Game - Fight Club - Panic Room - Zodiac - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - The Social Network - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Gone Girl

The 15 Essential Videos of David Fincher - The Auteurs #61: David Fincher

Alien Films: Alien - Aliens - Alien: Resurrection

© thevoid99 2012

Alien

Directed by Ridley Scott, Alien is the story of a crew from outer space who encounter an alien that’s trying to kill its crew as they’re trying to return to Earth. From an original story by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett with a screenplay by O’Bannon and additional work from David Giler and Walter Hill. The film is a sci-fi horror film where a space crew tries to fight a mysterious creature. Starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ian Holm. Alien is a chilling yet engrossing sci-fi horror film from Ridley Scott.

On their way home to Earth, the commercial ship Nostromo is carrying 20 million tones of mineral ore and refinery with a crew of seven led by Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt). With a crew that includes executive officer Kane (John Hurt), navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), senior science officer Ash (Ian Holm), engineers Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) and Parker (Yaphet Kotto), and warrant officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). The crew receive a transmission to discover a nearby planet as the crew board a shuttle though not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. Dallas, Kane, and Lambert investigate the planet where they find a ship while Brett and Parker try to repair the shuttle due to its shaky landing where Ripley decodes the transmission message realize that something isn’t right.

When Dallas, Kane, and Lambert go inside the ship, Kane discovers eggs inside a chamber where a creature becomes attached to his helmet. After recovering Kane from the chamber, Dallas and Lambert try to re-enter the shuttle but Ripley refuses due to quarantine protocol until Ash opens the door against Ripley’s word. With the creature attached to Kane’s head, Ash tries to dissect the thing only to realize that its blood is filled with acid bringing more problems to everyone. Though the creature was eventually detached and dead, Ash still wants to dissect as Kane seems to have recovered only for something to go wrong. With an alien creature now on the loose and there’s no conventional weapons on board the main ship, Dallas and the crew decides to go after and kill the alien. Eventually, things get worse where Ripley makes a discovery that challenges everything that’s happening as she and remaining survivors decide to flee and fight off the alien.

The film is essentially a sci-fi horror story where a crew answer a distress call only to discover something wrong as an alien is on board their ship as they have to kill the damn thing. That’s pretty much it in the schematics of a horror-suspense film set in space where characters are eventually killed off one-by-one. Still, it’s a film that is about a crew that is very diverse as they would do things that would threaten their livelihood. Leading all of this is Ellen Ripley, a protagonist that is not many others before her as she is this headstrong woman that knows what to do and is willing to follow rules but knows that they can be broken if necessary.

Though she isn’t the head of this commercial ship, she is the film’s conscience of sorts following the events where they land on this planet after she decodes the warning. When one of its member is attacked by some alien life form early in the film, she knows that decision is made since she fears that bringing something alien would risk everything. Yet, it would the Ash character that would drive everything that would happen afterwards. Ash is a very complex character who is driven more by science though his motives become much more mysterious as the film progress. Notably as his actions would eventually cost the lives of the crew who are trying to kill the alien.

Dan O’Bannon’s screenplay definitely creates a lot of chilling suspense and stakes that occur throughout the film. Notably as it would involve individuals who are all quite flawed as they’re facing an alien that is going to kill them. All they want to do by the film’s second half is to just kill this alien and go home. In the schematics of horror, it becomes more complicated due to the actions of one character as well as a computer that would further raise the stakes. O’Bannon’s script is truly amazing for the way it plays things out that would lead to a climatic battle between the alien and whoever is left.

Ridley Scott’s direction is truly mesmerizing from the way he films the scenes in outer space with the stars and planets to the intensity of the suspense in these claustrophobic vents and hallways inside the space station. With these engaging compositions of the way he opens the film to introduce the characters with this simple yet wide shot of the pods opening. He lets the audience soak up the world they live inside this space station with amazing rooms including this one room where the mother computer runs everything as Captain Dallas tries to figure out the destination and such where he would find this distress call. By the time the film goes into this mysterious planet where crew members enter this very strange spaceship.

The way the art direction helps set the mood as well as the creature effects that would reveal the alien, that is designed by H.R. Giger, to help move the story forward from this entrancing sci-fi suspense into a horror film where the characters are trying to kill this alien. The horror isn’t as gory as one would expect but the way the alien would pick off a character and why things go out of their control adds to the stakes of survival. What Scott creates in the end is a masterfully-crafted and entrancing film that definitely adds a lot of nuance and ideas to what a sci-fi film should be.

Cinematographer Derek Vanlit does excellent work with the film‘s evocative cinematography that is filled with dark colors and lighting shades to play up the brooding tone of the film in its many interior scenes. Editors Terry Rawlings and Peter Weatherly, with additional work by David Crowther for its 2003 director’s cut, do fantastic work with the editing by utilizing rhythmic cuts to play up the suspense as well as stylish dissolves for the film‘s sleeping pod scenes to introduce the characters. Production designers Michael Seymour and Roger Christian, with set decorator Ian Whittaker and art director Leslie Dilley, do brilliant work with the amazing set pieces created such as the interior of the alien ship as well as the look of the Nostromo space ship in its exterior along with its interior sets including the mother room.

Costume designer John Mollo does nice work with the costumes from the underwear the crew wear in the sleeping pods to the different array of uniforms and casual clothing that expresses each character along with the look of the astronaut suits. Special effects supervisors Nick Allder and Brian Johnson do amazing work with the special effects such as the Nostromo miniature look as well as the exterior look of outer space and the movement of the alien and creature design. Sound editor Jim Shields and mixer (for its 2003 director’s cut) Andrew I. King do superb work with the sound from the way the alien creature screams to the noises of computers and engines inside the space station. The music score of Jerry Goldsmith is wonderful for its orchestral flourishes to play out the drama and suspense that occurs throughout the film.

The casting by Mary Goldberg and Mary Selway is phenomenal for the ensemble that is created as it includes some small work from Helen Horton as the voice of the mother computer and Bolaji Badejo as the alien. Notable performances include Yaphet Kotto as the cynical yet humorous Parker and Harry Dean Stanton as the witty Brett. Veronica Cartwright is very good as the highly-emotional Lambert who is overwhelmed by the situation that is happening though is more in control as a navigator. John Hurt is excellent as the executive officer Kane whose discovery of the alien eggs would have awful repercussions for him. Tom Skerritt is superb as Nostromo captain Dallas who tries to maintain control of everything while dealing with the alien creature.

Ian Holm is great as the science officer Ash whose desire to explore the alien as well as undermining protocol for mysterious reasons adds to a very complex performance to his character. Finally, there’s Sigourney Weaver in her breakthrough performance as Ellen Ripley. In the first of four films where she would play the character, Weaver brings a real sense of control as a woman that is trying to make sure things don’t go wrong while having to deal with the implications of all that is happened. It’s a truly spectacular performance for the actress as it’s also one of the greatest female protagonists ever played on film.

Alien is an outstanding and intensely-mesmerizing sci-fi horror film from Ridley Scott led by an incredible performance from Sigourney Weaver. The film is definitely not just one of Ridley Scott’s great films but also one of the definitive films of the sci-fi genre in terms of its ambition and suspense. Notably as it’s a film that creates tension and chills where a space crew tries to fight off an alien where everything is on the line. In the end, Alien is a stunning yet ravishing film from Ridley Scott.

Ridley Scott Films: (The Duellists) - Blade Runner - (Legend) - (Someone to Watch Over Me) - (Black Rain) - (Thelma & Louise) - (1492: Conquest of Discovery) - (White Squall) - (G.I. Jane) - (Gladiator (2000 film)) - (Hannibal) - (Matchstick Men) - (Kingdom of Heaven) - (A Good Year) - (American Gangster) - (Body of Lies) - (Robin Hood (2010 film)) - Prometheus - (The Counselor) - (Exodus) - The Martian - (Alien: Covenant) - All the Money in the World

Alien Films: Aliens - Alien 3 - Alien Resurrection

© thevoid99 2012

Aliens

Written and directed by James Cameron from a story by Cameron, David Giler, and Walter Hill, Aliens is the sequel to 1979’s Alien in which Ellen Ripley returns to the planet fifty-seven years after the event where she encountered the alien as she’s joined by Marines and a corporate officer to go after the alien creatures. With Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ripley, the film also stars Michael Biehn, Lance Henrikson, Bill Paxton, Carrie Henn, William Hope, Jenette Goldstein, Al Matthews, and Paul Reiser. Aliens is a remarkable yet chilling action-suspense film from James Cameron.

Fifty-seven years after encounter with an alien that left her crew dead, Ellen Ripley wakes up from a cryogenic sleep as she’s been rescued by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation who interrogate her about what happened. After learning that the planet she visited has now become a terraforming colony, Ripley loses her space license as she meets a corporate representative in Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) who offers to get her job back by taking part of a mission to return the planet over the loss contact in that planet. Ripley reluctantly takes part as she and Burke are joined by a group of Marines led by Lieutenant Gorman (William Hope) to see if Ripley’s claims about aliens are true. On board the Sulaco, Ripley meets the team that consists Sergeant Apone (Al Matthews), Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), Private Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), Private Hudson (Bill Paxton), and an android named Bishop (Lance Henrikson).

Arriving at the planet where Ripley serves as a consultant, the Marines enter the building where all they could find were two living facehuggers in containment tanks in a lab. Also there is a survivor in a young girl named Newt (Carrie Henn) who has been traumatized by the aliens as the Marines continue to search throughout the locations that included a nuclear-powered processing plant. There, the Marines make a drastic discovery about what they found as they’re suddenly attacked by the aliens leaving many of them dead until Ripley drives the Marine vehicle to save Hicks, Vasquez, and Hudson while Gorman becomes unconscious during the rescue. When their drop ship has been destroyed and unable to have access to the other one, Bishop volunteers to get to the building’s transmitter to get the other drop ship.

After an encounter with the facehuggers where Ripley and Newt are saved by Hicks, the group starts to realize what Burke is up to. With the aliens ready to attack, Ripley and the group struggle to survive as it leads to an all-out battle between the humans and aliens led by their queen.

The film is essentially the story of where Ellen Ripley returns to the planet where her crew discovered an alien life form that would eventually destroy her crew and leaving her as its sole survivor. Upon her return as she accompanies a group of Marines, an android she’s wary about, and a corporate representative. All hell breaks loose when they all had to encounter a group of aliens forcing Ripley to fight back. It’s a very simple premise that has all of the makings of a compelling sci-fi film with elements of suspense, horror, and action. Yet, there’s a lot more to the story in what James Cameron brings that makes the film far much better than it needed to be.

The first is in the way Ripley is portrayed as she returns home after being asleep for fifty-seven years while having nightmares about everything she had encountered in the past. Here’s this woman who had just lost a lot as she’s forced to report to a bunch of corporate honchos who could care less about what happened while caring more about the cargo that was lost. When she’s offered to get her job back by returning the planet, she immediately says no but changes her mind as she just wants to see these aliens dead. Once arriving to the planet where she would find a survivor in a young girl, her maternal instincts come in as she becomes this great protector for this young girl by fighting off the aliens any way she can.

It’s not just Cameron’s approach to the Ripley character that makes the script succeed, he also creates a small group of supporting characters that provide enough substance for the audience to care about. While Hudson may be a loudmouth moron, he is a comic relief who is able to do his job and kick ass while Corporal Hicks becomes the unexpected leader knows about what he should do as a soldier but prefers to ensure the safety of his team and the people he’s protecting. Then there’s the android Bishop who seems like a liability based on Ripley’s own issues with them as he ends up becoming the most helpful person on the team where he would gain the trust of everyone. Finally, there’s the Burke character who is this corporate representative who is just there to oversee things as he becomes the one person everyone else distrust because of his own agenda.

Cameron’s script not only works in creating characters that are interesting but also manages to do a lot with a premise that could’ve failed in terms of the schematics that is expected in a horror film. What Cameron does is create a unique structure to the story where the first half is about Ripley returning to the world and getting ready to take part on this mission. It’s in the second half where the element of suspense and horror comes in where it becomes a film where a group of people struggle to survive and get out of a planet that no one should’ve encountered in the first place.

Cameron’s direction is truly a marvel to watch in terms of the ambition he sets out to make as well as the intimacy that he brings to the film. From the visual-effects driven exterior space shots he creates to the tense meetings that occur between Ripley and the Marines as they all try to figure out how to survive. There’s also a sense of claustrophobia in the direction as the camera is always moving to see these places as a lot of is enclosed and very small. Even in a scene where Bishop goes inside a pipe to get the transmitter, Cameron does manage to find a way to keep things engaging without needing to over-explain things.

Cameron also knows when to give the action a break in order for the characters to figure out what to do or to reveal the motives of a few like Burke. Even as he creates moments such as Ripley’s time with Newt that shows that allows the audience to be intrigued by this relationship that has the audience rooting for Ripley to be this protector. Even in the film’s climatic battle against the Alien Queen where Ripley delivers one of the great lines in film. When it comes time for Ripley and the Marines to kick some ass, Cameron creates some striking compositions to capture the element of suspense and then goes for the kill where invests a lot of time to establish what is going on and what are they trying to kill. Overall, Cameron creates a truly mesmerizing and thrilling film that bends all sorts of genre while giving audiences a film that entertains its audience.

Cinematographer Adrian Biddle does superb work with the photography from the bright look of some scenes in the spaceships to the more brooding look of the scenes in the colony buildings filled with startling lighting schemes and other moments to maintain that sense terror. Editor Ray Lovejoy does brilliant work with the editing to play up the suspense with slow, methodical cuts along with more fast-pace rhythms for the film‘s action scenes. Production designer Peter Lamont, with set decorator Crispian Sallis and supervising art director Terry Ackland-Snow, does great work with the set pieces from the look of the spaceships to the building halls filled with lots of alien material including the queen’s nest.

Costume designer Emma Porteus does nice work with the costumes from the uniforms the Marines wear to the more casual clothing the other characters wear. Visual effects supervisors Robert and Dennis Skotak and Alan G. Markowitz do amazing work with the visual effects for many of the film‘s exterior space ship scenes along with some of design of the scenes involving the aliens. Sound editor Don Sharpe does terrific work with the sound by playing up the suspense in some scenes that leads to the Marines fighting off the aliens as it enhances the atmosphere. The film’s music by James Horner is wonderful for its low-key yet suspenseful-driven score to play up the sense of terror as well as a cadence drum theme for the Marines to arrive and get ready.

The film’s incredible ensemble cast features some notable small performances from Paul Maxwell as corporate head Van Leuwen, Mark Rolston as smart gunner Private Drake, Al Matthews as Sgt. Apone, and Cynthia Dale as Corporal Dietrich. William Hope is very good as the Marines’ commanding officer Lt. Gorman while Jenette Goldstein is excellent as the tough Private Vasquez. Bill Paxton is very funny as the cocky Private Hudson who ends up being scared about what is happening as he has some of the film’s best lines. Lance Henrikson is superb as the android Bishop who helps everyone out while revealing the flaws of being human and being an android.

Paul Reiser is terrific as the slimy Burke who pretends to be all cool only to have ulterior motives about his own agenda as Reiser makes Burke a guy everyone loves to hate. Michael Biehn is amazing as Corporal Hicks who leads the Marines into battle while being the guy who is willing to help out everyone when things get troubling. Carrie Henn is wonderful as the young girl Newt as she displays an innocence of a girl traumatized by what she saw as she also helps out the Marines into surviving the aliens. Finally, there’s Sigourney Weaver in an outstanding performance as Ellen Ripley by making her a far more complex and determined character. Weaver brings a sense of weariness as a woman reluctant to take part in a mission while becoming maternal in protecting Newt as she later becomes this full-blown badass who is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with the aliens as it is truly one of Weaver’s best performances.

Aliens is a magnificent film from James Cameron that features a towering performance from Sigourney Weaver. The film is definitely not just one of the great sci-fi horror films of that genre but also one of the key films that makes the Alien franchise so interesting. Filled with great technical work and memorable supporting performances from Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Lance Henrikson, Paul Reiser, and Bill Paxton. It’s a film that has a lot of substance in terms of its story and presentation as well as a lot of action and suspense to be entertained by. In the end, Aliens is a triumphant film from James Cameron.

James Cameron Films: (Xenogenesis) - (Piranha II: The Spawning) - (The Terminator) - (The Abyss) - (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) - (True Lies) - (Titanic) - (Expedition: Bismarck) - (Ghosts of the Abyss) - (Aliens of the Deep) - Avatar

Alien Films: Alien - Alien 3 - Alien: Resurrection

© thevoid99 2012