Crew Expendable: PH. D. looks back at Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986)

I’ve recently watched the first two films of the Alien “Quadrilogy” (Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), respectively) and I thought I’d share some thoughts. For those who haven’t seen the films, go rent them now before you read spoilers and such. We don’t want your kind here anyway ;)

First, I’d like to mention how remarkably well these films have aged. The effects work in each still holds up and sometimes surpasses the computer effects of the modern age in terms of believability. The miniature work for the towing ship in “Alien” is impressive for its time, a bare two years after the special effects in “Star Wars” made their debut. However, the quality of these effects shouldn’t be surprising, considering they were supervised by the same guys who worked on “2001”. The Space Marine ship and the Terra-forming plant in “Aliens” are equally impressive pre-CGI accomplishments. The creature effects really shine here, especially the face-huggers and the Queen in the sequel. There’s something about seeing a tangible, physical construct, such as the Stan Winston designed Queen, which makes the action in these films more impactful than any other aliens we’ve seen since.

Consider 1997’s Starship Troopers. While I’ll be the first to shout out my appreciation of that ironic-fascist piece of sci-fi action, I’ll also willingly admit that the bugs just didn’t work. Sure they were dangerous, they were a threat, but they weren’t that scary. These aliens though, they’re smart. It’s like they’ve read Sun Tzu’s “Art of War”. This is the best direction Ridley Scott and James Cameron could have gone for, especially in Scott’s Alien, where a half dozen crew members must fight a single organism. It’s the fact that this foreign body can outsmart a bunch of tech-savvy humans on their own turf that is really terrifying. “Aliens” has always been categorized as sci-fi/action in most circles because, sure, in the sequel there are more of the creatures and certainly more action… but I think the film remains a horror movie at heart. Defining these films with genres is kind of stupid though, because they’ve created their own little niche.

Acting wise, both films are anchored by Sigourney Weaver’s strong-willed, yet oddly motherly Ripley. Playing the lead with a great mix of terror and bravery, you could hardly have asked for a better heroine. I guess it also helps that she can kick some major ass when she wants to, as shown in the final loading dock sequence in the second film. I also really enjoyed the performance of Ian Holm as the science officer who turns out to be an android. He’s really creepy when he’s trying to kill Ripley, an act he’s obviously not programmed to perform. His actions get all stiff and he starts to twitch. In “Aliens” we get the cult-classic performance of Bill Paxton, playing the annoyingly distressed private Hudson. This is probably his most quoted role ever, and if you haven’t seen the film I won’t ruin those golden lines for you.

Critics have been heard saying that “Aliens” is one of the only sequels to surpass the original. I certainly agree that “Aliens” is a fine film, but I think overall that each film stands on its own as near-perfect examples of sci-fi horror. I really can’t recommend these enough. The recommendation is kind of wasted though, as you’ve probably seen these films already. Screw you! See ‘em again!

P.S. I hadn’t seen that chest-burster scene in a long while, and heck, I knew it was coming, but it still gave me the willies.