Rating: R
Genre:
Science Fiction
Theatrical Release: 07/18/1986(USA)
Release Date: 06/01/1999
Run Time: 117 Minutes
Flags: Not For Children, Profanity, Gore, Sci-Fi Violence, Children in Peril
Distributor/Studio: 20th Century Fox
Big-budget special effects, swiftly paced
action, and a distinct feminist subtext from writer/director
James Cameron turned what should have been a by-the-numbers
sci-fi sequel into both a blockbuster and a seven-time Oscar nominee.
Sigourney Weaver returns as
Ellen Ripley, the last surviving crew member of a corporate spaceship destroyed after an attack by a vicious, virtually unbeatable alien life form. Adrift in space for half a century,
Ripley grapples with depression until she's informed by her company's representative,
Carter Burke (
Paul Reiser) that the planet where her crew discovered the alien has since been settled by colonists. Contact with the colony has suddenly been lost, and a detachment of colonial marines is being sent to investigate. Invited along as an advisor,
Ripley predicts disaster, and sure enough, the aliens have infested the colony, leaving a sole survivor, the young girl
Newt (
Carrie Henn). With the soldiers picked off one by one, a final all-female showdown brews between the alien queen and
Ripley, who's become a surrogate mother to
Newt. Several future stars made early career appearances in
Aliens (1986), including
Lance Henriksen,
Bill Paxton, and
Reiser.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
;)
