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September 1999

Aliens: Special Edition
Reviewed by Ian White
DVD Format

Overall Enjoyment: ****
Picture Quality: ****1/2
Sound Quality: *****
Packaged Extras: *****

Starring Sigourney Weaver, Paul Reiser, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton

Directed by James Cameron

Theatrical Release: 1986
DVD Release: 1999
Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen


Five Sequels That Hollywood Wouldn’t be Stupid Enough to Make:

  1. Son of Red Beard (Kurosawa)
  2. Citizen Kane II…Randolph’s Revenge (Welles)
  3. On the Waterfront…Again! (Kazan)
  4. Raising Potemkin (Eisenstein)
  5. Stalag 17 II: Escape to Navarone (Wilder)

The biggest problem with sequels is that they rarely exceed the originals. Sure, there have been a few exceptional sequels over the years (i.e., The Empire Strikes Back), but a vast majority have been downright awful and were only made to quench the greedy thirst of the studios and because movie-goers have become less than demanding.

The original Alien was an enormous box-office success in 1979, and the demand for a sequel was intense. The only problem was that Ridley Scott had moved on to direct Blade Runner (1982) and was no longer interested in the series. After directing two films (The Spawning, Piranha 2: The Spawning) that nobody in their right mind would have paid money to see, James Cameron struck gold with The Terminator (1984) and became the studio’s fist choice to direct the sequel to Alien. The decision to hire Cameron, who is considered to be one of most demanding directors to work for, was a bit of a gamble, but for once, a sequel actually exceeded the hype and gave 20th Century Fox a winner at the box office.

If you watch both films back-to-back, the contrast in directing styles is fairly evident. Cameron opts for larger sets, fancier-looking ships, explosions, high-tech weaponry, and a lot more action. Scott, spends more time trying to build characters, create tension, and scare the living hell out of the audience. Both formulas work, but after watching the DVD releases of both films (with their improved sound and extra footage), I would have to say that Aliens is the more entertaining film of the two.

Fans of the series will either rejoice or hiss (loudly!) when they discover that the DVD release is the official Director’s Cut of the film. The additional 17 minutes of footage don’t detract from the overall viewing experience, but I don’t feel that they add all that much either. Towards the end of the film, the last of the Colonial Marines break out a collection of sensor-activated mini-guns that do a really thorough job of slowing down the advancing alien hordes. Cameron, in a clever directing move, restricts what we are allowed to see during the alien attack. Instead of watching the aliens die, we only get to hear them die. The scene works really well because Cameron creates the impression that there are hundreds of attacking aliens coming at Ripley and the Marines from all sides, and it is actually what you don’t see that makes the entire sequence so terrifying.

The acting in Aliens is actually quite good, especially for the genre, with Sigourney Weaver (Ripley) really adding some depth to her character as she struggles to deal with her rather prolonged absence, the death of her daughter, her return to LV-426, and her unwillingness to quit during her confrontation with the alien queen. Paul Reiser is also excellent in his role (Carter Burke) as the slimy, corporate stooge whose only interest is the safe return of an alien specimen, presumably hidden inside an unsuspecting Ripley, to the corporation’s biological weapons lab. One of the best aspects of the original Alien, was Ridley Scott’s use of androids. While we always suspect that there is something odd about Ian Holm’s character, we don’t discover that he is an android until the end of the film, when he turns on the surviving crew of the Nostromo. Cameron builds on Scott’s vision of "artificial persons" (which Scott enlarged upon in Blade Runner) through the character of Bishop, in a superb portrayal by Lance Henriksen, who ultimately becomes the unsung hero of Aliens and wins Ripley’s trust.

The DVD is a spectacular example of how the technology can be used to enhance the movie-watching experience at home. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is one of the best, if not the best, that I have heard so far. When you watch this film, turn the volume up to a respectable level and prepare to be immersed in a very rich sound environment. LV-426 comes to life with this DVD, and you do feel like you are part of the action.

Aliens is a fairly dark-looking movie and the DVD does a good job of keeping it that way. A few scenes looked slightly grainy, but I suspect that the effect was intentional and it really doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the video. A lot of DVD transfers have problems with pixelization during scenes with a lot of action or explosions, but this transfer is remarkably noise-free and a real pleasure to watch.

The extra features are numerous and a very welcome addition to the entire package. There is a fascinating and somewhat long-winded commentary from James Cameron that you can listen to while watching the film. It explains a lot about the movie from story and technical points of view. I was very impressed by the production stills that cover just about every aspect of the film, and it is easy to spend more than an hour going through all of them. Model junkies will love the production notes, drawings, and photographs that cover the design of each ship, weapon, uniform, and alien creature. The entire package is well done and it is the definitive version of the film to purchase. If you are looking for a really great reason to get into the whole DVD/home-theater experience, Aliens might just be the film that pushes you over the top.


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