80s Film Review: Aliens

Among its numerous accolades, James Cameron's "Aliens" can also claim to have provided the video game industry with a never ending trend. Games like "Quake," "Gears of War," "Turok," "Dead Space," and the current benchmark "Halo" all feature elements such as grizzled space marines combating hordes of vicious creatures and most of the lesser cast getting killed by said creatures. There is a reason games borrow from "Aliens:" It was a good film and remains a classic today.

After her traumatizing experience in "Alien," Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) finds herself sent back to the planet where she discovered the titular alien thanks to corporate bureaucracy. Joining her is a ragtag platoon of grizzled space marines of various ethnicities and characteristics. After a poorly executed recovery attempt and encounter with the aliens, the survivors band together to defend themselves. The film climaxes when Ripley comes face to face against her biggest fear alone.

While the plot follows the "Keep it simple, stupid" style of storytelling, James Cameron executes the movie very well. First, he has the film live up to its title by including more than one alien in it. Although the production probably only had four alien suits, Cameron edits the alien attacks to convince the viewer there are dozens attacking and a possibly a hundred wandering the colony. To counter the alien ferocity, Cameron introduces the viewer to the platoon of space marines. Although a platoon of macho soldiers with a technological advantage losing to an enemy with less technology but more cunning is cliché in today's standards, "Aliens" was the movie that made them appealing enough to evolve into the cliché today. Those marines were the pioneers of the genre. It was cunning of James to introduce each one and show off how well they bonded together and giving most a scene showing off their character. And just as the viewer began to get acquainted with them, the aliens kill and or capture more than half of them before anyone could say, "Huh?" The survivors shed their macho bravado after the attack as they realize the morale-crushing terror that they must somehow survive. Some keep their cool. Some lose their cool. And some still hope to profit from this encounter.

Sigourney Weaver also helped pilot a new staple of action movies and games: The strong female lead. In "Alien," she played the lucky female lead who survived the horror because most horror films require a female lead to keep the male audience interested. Now in "Aliens," she is a strong woman who takes charge of her life and fate. She will overstep a military chain of command to rescue soldiers. She will angrily confront bureaucratic weasels trying to turn a profit from a really bad business venture. Instead of hiding behind the handsome marine with the big gun when the aliens comes after her, she will stand by the handsome marine holding a big gun of her own and shooting aliens just like one of the marines. Yet she is still a woman with vulnerabilities. She nurtures an orphaned child and is ready to risk her life to keep that child safe. Like anyone who witnessed the deaths of friends due to an alien creature, she is naturally scared to revisit the place that brought the alien into her life. This is unlike today's female leads in action movies and games who may be strong but lack convincing emotional depth that makes them human. Lara Croft is a shining example for both games and movies.

What impresses me most about older 80s sci-fi movies like "Aliens" is the lack of computer special effects. The props, costumes, sets, and aliens were fashioned out of real items or miniature pieces and look very good. People worked hard on those pieces. Nowadays computers can replicate the props, costumes, sets, and aliens. As convincing as those computer effects are, people can still identify them as computer effects. I miss the old days of being able to pick up props used in the movie.

Since "Aliens" is such a classic film, it is easy to find online. It has been released time and time again individually, as part of the Alien trilogy, as part of the Alien Legacy (all four "Alien" movies), and as a special edition with 17 minutes of well-produced yet not really necessary footage. Half and Amazon are easy ways to get "Aliens" cheap. Renting it on Netflix is also possible. Retail stores like Target and Walmart sell "Aliens" individually or as part of the set with the other "Alien" movies. All "Aliens" needs now is a Blu-Ray release, which is scheduled for release later.