Favourite Alien Movie?

[Nostromo70]

Alien then Aliens, followed by Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection.

[Ulfer]

Alien first, then Aliens and then the rest.

Alien Resurrection is a special case. I like it, maybe because I'm French, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet realized it. More seriously, I like it, but I think of it more as a spin-off than as a sequel, for many reasons of style, tone and story. Alien 3 is to me a valid end to the series, that would thus be a trilogy. The assembly cut makes the movie better, but alas it spoiled its potential, in my humble opinion. As many other fans, I think that Hicks and Newt's deaths were too much. Aliens is a beloved classic now. But Alien... Only the designs by Giger and others, the Derelict, the Space Jockey, the Alien, the Nostromo, are masterpieces. The movie is as cleverly built as its monster is scary and at the same time marvelous and intriguing.
I hope that Prometheus will be at least equal to Aliens in my scale, but if it manages to get on the same level than Alien, I will be pleased...

[Hudson]

I agree that Alien is the only film in the series that has to be objectively be seen as a masterpiece. I think it really did but a cap on the monster movie genre; no film in that genre has surpassed its greatness.

[Valaquen]

I agree that Alien is the only film in the series that has to be objectively be seen as a masterpiece.

Objectively? If so, then Aliens is likewise an Oscar winner with far-ranging influence, an impeccable RT score, heaps of awards and fans in the professional filmmaking arena, yadda yadda... Objectively speaking, it's a cultural milestone and critical and commercial blowaway. What's the criteria for being a masterpiece if not the above?

[Cvalda]

If so, then Aliens is likewise an Oscar winner with far-ranging influence, an impeccable RT score...

Is RT an abbreviation of "retread," because that would be a pretty apt description, actually. Considering how much of the score is Horner recycling his earlier scores and ripping off other composers wholesale

[Hudson]

I agree that Alien is the only film in the series that has to be objectively be seen as a masterpiece.

Objectively? If so, then Aliens is likewise an Oscar winner with far-ranging influence, an impeccable RT score, heaps of awards and fans in the professional filmmaking arena, yadda yadda... Objectively speaking, it's a cultural milestone and critical and commercial blowaway. What's the criteria for being a masterpiece if not the above?

Yeah, well a large chunk of people around here run their mouths about how dated Aliens is. Sure, being successful at the time is all well and good. Alien is probably the only film in the series that has been critically endeared with the same enthusiasm since its release and will probably endure the same response forever.

[Valaquen]

Yeah, well a large chunk of people around here run their mouths about how dated Aliens is.

But we're speaking objectively. The opinions of a few don't really factor. Some run their mouths off about how boring Citizen Kane or The Godfather is, and still...

[Hudson]

Alien is really the only film in the series that revolutionized an entire genre, as Dan O'Bannon said they closed it out, or however he put it. It basically bitch slapped every monster movie before 1979 and since. John Carpenter said otherwise, but he's been more or less useless based on the films I've seen from him other than The Thing. After Star Wars convinced audiences it was okay to go to the movies and have fun again, Alien grabbed them and made them take science fiction seriously.

Aliens isn't really a revolutionary film. There are excellent special effects, but the basic concept is Starship Troopers + Vietnam. It made some steps in the direction of female action heroins, etc. and presented some good feminist themes but that didn't really stop with Aliens like improvements to the monster movie genre stopped with Alien.

[StrangeShape]

but the basic concept is Starship Troopers + Vietnam.

To be fair, its not about the basic concept more so than about the detail and execution. Alien's story is banally simple and was done 4 times before alien with same scenario - ship lands on a planet due distress signal, lifeform gets onboard, they cant kill it and at the end it gets jettisoned into space. But it was the mastercraft of Ridleys vision and feel and Gigers design that made ALL the difference

[Hudson]

but the basic concept is Starship Troopers + Vietnam.

To be fair, its not about the basic concept more so than about the detail and execution. Alien's story is banally simple and was done 4 times before alien with same scenario - ship lands on a planet due distress signal, lifeform gets onboard, they cant kill it and at the end it gets jettisoned into space. But it was the mastercraft of Ridleys vision and feel and Gigers design that made ALL the difference

I agree completely. And I hear arguments that Cameron's vision and feel has lost its flare since 1986, while I've never heard anyone say that any of the gusto of Alien has dissipated since '79.

I'm making a case for Alien as essentially being the classiest and most artistically perfect of the Alien films, but for the record my favorite film ever is Aliens.

[StrangeShape]

but the basic concept is Starship Troopers + Vietnam.

To be fair, its not about the basic concept more so than about the detail and execution. Alien's story is banally simple and was done 4 times before alien with same scenario - ship lands on a planet due distress signal, lifeform gets onboard, they cant kill it and at the end it gets jettisoned into space. But it was the mastercraft of Ridleys vision and feel and Gigers design that made ALL the difference

I agree completely. And I hear arguments that Cameron's vision and feel has lost its flare since 1986, while I've never heard anyone say that any of the gusto of Alien has dissipated since '79.

I'm making a case for Alien as essentially being the classiest and most artistically perfect of the Alien films, but for the record my favorite film ever is Aliens.

I know where youre getting at, the first movie was really something revolutionary with the whole truckers in space approach and unique monster design. As far as critical and fan acclaim tho, first two movies seem to be put on pedestals of the same heights. Example

Rotten Tomatoes

Alien 97%
Aliens 100%

Box Office Mojo

Alien - majority voted A 1,346 58.9%
Aliens - majority voted A 1,639 61.9%

IMDB

Rankings

Alien 8.5/10 (172,582 votes)
Aliens - 8.5/10 (150 000 votes)

Yahoo

Alien - B+ based on 42594 reviews
Aliens - B+ based on 22070 reviews

Metacritic

Alien - 83
Aliens - 87

Also, Entertainment Weekly named Aliens as the second-best action movie of all time, behind Die Hard. Both movies are currently in the top 10 on the Rotten Tomatoes list of the best science fiction movies

I think RT summed it up best

ALIEN
Not only does it represent the dawn of high-concept film pitches (it was billed as "Jaws in space") and the birth of a successful series,but director Ridley Scott's 1979 Alien remains a suspense-filled benchmark for sci-fi thrillers to this day. It isn't so much that the story is original -- screenwriter Dan O'Bannon quipped that he "stole it from everybody" -- but that it's written, filmed, and acted so flawlessly. And to think, the script was originally titled Space Beast, almost sold to Roger Corman rather than Fox

A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.

ALIENS
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 that made the 1986 Time Magazine cover.

Cameron's genius here lies in manipulating the tension, beautifully structuring the switches from build-up, to carnage, to unbearable waiting, to action

[Hudson]

Eh, yeah I guess you're right.

[DoomRulz]

People preferring Aliens over Alien is not surprising considering most movie goers would rather watch a fast paced action flick than a slow and methodical sci-fi horror movie.

[StrangeShape]

People preferring Aliens over Alien is not surprising considering most movie goers would rather watch a fast paced action flick than a slow and methodical sci-fi horror movie.

No its not a fast paced action flick. The climax is, not the movie. Almost entire movie is one slow buildup and all of the critical acclaim talks about how the movie focuses on characters as oppose to most other scifi movies and how the tension and structure is well done. None of them focuses on action. Giger commented in the 80s that he wouldve preferred a regular pace instead of a movie being one buildup towards one big climax, so he recognizes such structure too. And both movies, by directors admission, for stylistic continuity, have the same pacing structure:  Nothing happens throughout almost an entire movie and we dont even get to see an alien untill over an hour, like in original alien. Nothing happens in the first 2/3 of the movie except for one major event (chestbursting/hive attack) that takes the story onto different track (trying to survive alien/s, panic and planning). For the last 1/3 it's a non stop action and fast pace in contrast to the rest of the movie. Both have a false happy ending. In both we know only as much as the characters.

Theres also the same amount of action, with the difference being the scope/scale of it

[OmegaZilla]

Count in length and kind of action.