Would you feel better if Newt and Hicks survived?

[The Old One]

I disagree, if Dwayne Hicks and Rebecca Jorden (Newt)'s alive- Ripley's personal attachment  renders the sacrifice simple, save the family. But dead and the comfort's absent.

Again;

It's difficult to do the right thing when you've something to fight for.
It's more difficult to do the right thing when you've nothing to fight for.

[Huggs]

I'd say it's easy to do either when you've got nothing to lose.

It all just depends on the preferred outcome.

In ripleys case, she had more reason to get revenge than to live.

She gave them the proverbial middle finger and fell.

[lost dragon]

Hell, they could have given each cryotube its own personal escape pod and written the story so that only Ripley's crashed on Fury while the others didn't.

No Hicks.  No Newt.  No pointless deaths.  Ripley gets her solo adventure.  Mission accomplished.

Now that is some damn fine thinking.

I like that line of thought..

I like it a lot.

[Voodoo Magic]

Hell, they could have given each cryotube its own personal escape pod and written the story so that only Ripley's crashed on Fury while the others didn't.

No Hicks.  No Newt.  No pointless deaths.  Ripley gets her solo adventure.  Mission accomplished.

Now that is some damn fine thinking.

I like that line of thought..

I like it a lot.

And it makes a more meaningful sacrifice to boot!

[The Old One]

No, it doesn't. It diminishes the film's narrative and thematic aspiration.

[LastSonofKrypton]

No.  But given a chance of doing it differently, I would have had Newt die in the crash, and Hicks survive alongside Ripley.  It might have been interesting to see them both cope with the grief, then have an ending where Hicks stands up to the Company to protect Ripley, maybe takes out a couple of soldiers before being killed, and as Ripley sees this, she realises that the Company will stop at nothing to get hold of an alien, and falls into the pit.  Just an idea I've always had, and reason #45 why my writing career is in such disrepair

[SM]

Ripley lives as she dreams. Alone.

[Local Trouble]

No, it doesn't. It diminishes the film's narrative and thematic aspiration.

But it makes people feel better.

[The Old One]

^The perfect counter-argument.

&
Ellen Ripley allowing the Company the Alien is revenge. The Company's bioweapon personnel die but countless innocent people withal.

Ellen Ripley's Alien abortion is selfless.

[Local Trouble]

^The perfect counter-argument.

Did it change your mind?

[The Old One]

The reverse.

[Local Trouble]

It strengthened your resolve like Palpatine?

[The Old One]

lol

[Huntsman]

I don't. No replication equals the emotional destruction, of a new family (you together vanquished PTSD's respresentation)  unceremonious, together crushed, you the last survivor.

Bingo. The Old One gets it. Newt and Hicks dying makes everything better, no matter what James Cameron says. Deaths are meant to hurt. Ripley is the last one, always. She ends the first film alone, and she ends her last film alone. Ripley dies KNOWING she's alone. That she has nothing else to live for except herself dying to kill an Alien.

[Voodoo Magic]

Ripley dies KNOWING she's alone. That she has nothing else to live for except herself dying to kill an Alien.

A sacrifice is more meaningful, more of a sacrifice, if one has someone to live for.  I don't think anyone can successfully argue otherwise.