Quote from: City Hunter Yautja on Jul 23, 2021, 07:23:53 PM
Care to elaborate on what you consider its faults? Constructive criticism is always welcome. It is rare on these boards to meet someone who isn't fond of Aliens. I am honestly curious what you consider its faults. I may be major fan of Aliens myself, but I like hearing why someone isn't as keen on it as I am.
Hi all,
Sure, I'll be happy to talk a little bit about this. So, first: I'm not trying to kill anyone's love of the movie or say "Ew it's terrible." I still like a lot about it and happily acknowledge its much wider cultural influence. This is also not an Alien vs Aliens sort of thing. I'm talking about my own experience with it as audience. In that capacity, there are parts of the movie that bugged me from the start and, for me, haven't aged well. And I can actually sum much of that up in one thought: Too much Ripley. So, I'll just get in trouble here and probably offend everyone. Apologies in advance.
I've thought about it and it's really a combination of Cameron's writing, his direction, and Weaver's performance in the movie. I don't doubt it's a good performance large portions of her performance grate on me. They did from the start. There's inquest, the part where she briefs the marines, the parts with Newt. It's overplayed. It makes more sense witht he deleted scenes; but If I never see it again, it's fine.
This is not "I hate Sigourney Weaver." She's fine in the original, fine in A3, and even creepy-fine in Resurrection. I like Ripley 8 as a character. Also, no problem watching her in other movies. I love her character in Galaxy Quest, for example. But in Aliens, there is way too much of a certain sort of Ripley.
From a story point of view, sure. She's the Human Queen playing chess with the Alien Queen. But keep in mind, in the 80s, there was no extended director's cut. There was not a lot of the background. You just have Ripley doing all the things she did, the way she did in the theatrical cut. And it's kind of disjointed. I suppose I should cut her some slack 'cause she's probably got an awful case of PTSD. I'm sort of surprised they don't have a pill for that in the future, or maybe they do and Cameron didn't show that part. Either way, that's all I can say about it.
Let's move on to the action sequences. Oh, how can I complain about the action sequences? Well, the dropship crash looked bad even in 1986. So did the chestburster, actually. Around our house, we call the chestburster The Sockpuppet of Doom. They all look like fancy sockpuppets. I have a softspot for the original chestburster because there was really nothing like it before that; and I like the way the scene is framed and shot. But let's tell the truth: Spaceballs took the piss out of the chestburster, and John Hurt was there. And after seeing a chestburster dancing cabaret, how can you take the thing seriously ever again?
Then there is the end, and Ripley using her arm to hold back the whole vacuum of space with a 12 ton monster + powerloader hanging for seemingly forever from her foot. Cue the Hishe Aliens video.
So, yeah. But I don't end on a downer. So let's talk about some positive. The facehuggers still look great! The little buggers are strong, fast, and terrifying! The marines going into the hive sequence is great! Very creepy until it all turns deadly. I especially love that one shot where the creatures start unfolding from the walls. They were there the whole time! There is the shot where the Alien kills Ferro. Very well staged! The last stand fight is still excellent. The way it's lit, the way the creatures move, all of it. Good stuff! After the survivors withdraw, Gorman got a surprisingly good death. Burke got what he deserved. Cheers to that! And Ripley vs Alien Queen was a good fight. I'd have liked it better if the queen put her tailspike through Ripley's forehead, but plot armor. Can't always have what you want.
Finally, the extended cut wins for showing life on the colony. The before/after contrast is powerful.
And that's all.
