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While the DVD was mailed in an unpadded plastic bag, it somehow managed to arrive unscathed. Aside from the mailing, the DVD case was like new and the disc plays perfectly so far.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is a great follow-up to the wildly successful Alien. While Ridley Scott and Dan O'Bannon didn't return for this sequel, James Cameron took the torch and continued right where the first movie ended. That said: while the original is a darker and more suspenseful film, Aliens has a lot more action and high-tech gadgetry. The Marine Corps of the future has the same camaraderie of the current Corps, but with some whizbang weapons that have virtually every veteran wishing they were real right now. While military language is prone to be "colorful", especially in the heat of battle, much of the profanity in Aliens is gratuitous. Viewers who find the "GD" term particularly offensive need to know that it's used 16 times in this movie. Aliens became the sequel that launched a franchise, turning a great sci-fi horror movie into an entire series of films. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I was watching Alien with my younger brother and reliving the thrill of the first movie while trying to share with him that film's quality when it hit me. I was my brother's age the first time Aliens came out and could relate to what he was thinking while we watched it. I knew then and there I had to get Aliens to finally win him completely over. Alien was scary and a bit artsy, but this sequel is adrenaline packed and pure action after about 22 minutes into the film. Perfect for teenage boys and scare junkies to wrap themselves around and enjoy. It picks up where the first one ended albeit a few decades later than Ripley had planned. She is the lone survivor of a space frieghter assigned to locate and respond to an alien transmission from the first film. Now safe after blowing up her ship and witnessing the death of her crew at the hands of ONE alien, she learns Earth has colonized the planet where potentially HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of the things were found. Soon her parent company who had been shunning her and her claims come calling with a new deal. All contact with the instalation has ceased. If Ripley goes back with a group of marines to investigate the colony they'll reinstate her. Having no real family alive anymore or real choice, she relunctantly agrees. The Marines land and secure the base, but while investigating for the missing colonists disturb the now active alien nest and bring the baddies on after them. Incompetence, treachery and poor planning/luck soon has the group battling an army of the aliens while racing against time to formulate an escape from the overheating power core which when it goes will take the planet along with it. It gets to be pretty intense and taut as you anxiously await to see who if anyone will make it off the planet. Its well written, contains a variety of stock marine characters and situations to get you into the storyline easily and never really lets up. You can take it on its own or watch the first one for a bigger overview of the story. I characterize it as a good popcorn movie and think most will enjoy it. James Cameron did a remarkable job of molding it together and taking a fine first film and making it even better for the sequel.Read full review
CAST: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton, William Hope, Jenette Goldstein, Al Matthews, Mark Rolston, Ricco Ross, Colette Hiller, Daniel Kash, Cynthia Dale Scott, Tip Tipping The ads for "Aliens" claim that this movie will frighten you as few movies have, and, for once, the ads don't lie. The movie is so intense that it creates a problem for me as a reviewer: Do I praise its craftsmanship, or do I tell you it left me feeling wrung out and unhappy? It has been a week since I saw it, so the emotions have faded a little, leaving with me an appreciation of the movie's technical qualities. But when I walked out of the theater, there were knots in my stomach from the film's roller-coaster ride of violence. This is not the kind of movie where it means anything to say you "enjoyed" it. "Aliens" is a sequel to the very effective 1979 film, "Alien," but it tells a self-contained story that begins 57 years after the previous story ended. The first time around, you may recall, Sigourney Weaver and a shipload of her fellow space voyagers were exploring a newly discovered planet when they found an abandoned spaceship. Surviving in the ship was an alien life-form that seemed to consist primarily of teeth. The aliens were pure malevolence; their only function was to attack and eat anything that was warm and moved. And they incubated their young inside the bodies of their victims. Weaver was the only survivor of that first expedition, and after saving her ship by expelling an alien through the air lock into deep space, she put herself into hibernation. She is found 57 years later by a salvage ship, and when she awakes she is still tormented by nightmares. (The script does not provide her, however, with even a single line of regret after she learns that 57 years have passed and everyone she knew is dead.) A new expedition is sent back to the mystery planet. Weaver is on board. She knows what the aliens are like and thinks the only sane solution is to nuke them from outer space. But in the meantime, she learns to her horror that a human colony has been established on the planet and billions of dollars have been invested in it. Now Earth has lost contact with the colony. Has it been attacked by aliens? Are there stars in the sky? The crew is made up of an interesting mixed bag of technicians and military personnel. My favorites were Lance Henrikson as a loyal android, Jenette Goldstein as a muscular marine private and Michael Biehn as the uncertain Cpl. Hicks. Also on board is the slimy Burke (Paul Reiser), who represents the owners of the planet's expensive colony and dreams of making millions by using the aliens as a secret weapon. The movie gives us just enough setup to establish the characters and explain the situation. Then the action starts. The colony has, of course, been overrun by the aliens, all except for one plucky little girl (Carrie Henn) who has somehow survived by hiding in the air ducts. The marines explore the base on foot, which seems a little silly in view of the great speed with which the aliens attack. Nobody seems very interested in listening to Weaver's warnings. After all, she's only the one person who has seen an alien, so what does she know? And then the movie escalates into a nonstop war between human and alien. ALIEN 5 IN PRE-PRODUCTIONRead full review
In an effort to open my mind, I watched the first movie in the "Alien' series, and I was surprised to find that I liked it, and it scared me. Maybe it was the scene where the alien baby burst out of John Hurt's chest (I had a gas attack once that felt just like that, and while it was going on, I thought about the movie because that scene was so gross. Also, since seeing it I always think about the singer, Shakira, who has dance moves that look like she has an alien baby inside her trying to get out and run, screeching, across the stage and into the wings.) Maybe it was the chance to see Yaphet Koto (He did 'Blue Collar' with Richard Pryor years ago, and he also did some t.v. show with cops in it, the name of which escapes me at the moment because I watch very little t.v.) Maybe it was the presence of Tom Skerritt of 'Mash' fame. I've liked both of them for years. Or maybe it was the chance to see Veronica Cartwright, who shows absolute disgust and terror on screen like nobody else I know. Whatever, I found that I liked the movie, even if I didn't fall completely and deeply in love with it. Then came 'Aliens,' the second in the series, and the one of four that was directed by James Cameron, of 'Terminator' and 'Titanic' fame. While I've never been a big sci-fi/action fan, and probably never will be, I have to admit that Sigourney Weaver absolutely rocked in this second installment. Here we find her reluctantly accompanying a troop of marines to a distant planet that has ceased communication with earth. Soon we find out why; murderous aliens have taken over in a big way and only Newt, a young girl played by Carrie Henn, has managed to survive every onslaught they've made, so far. The rest of the movie is about efforts they make just trying to stay alive in the face of aliens who have no plans to give up their murderous activities without a real fight; they just keep coming and coming. The aliens answer to a queen who is both tough as nails and extremely fertile. In one of my all-time favorite scenes, she and Sigourney do battle as Sigourney tries to protect the little girl. Each one gives as good as she gets. Even if the alien queen is supposed to be a creature who acts purely on instinct, she seems to always be thinking, calculating and doing her best to win the battle. And Sigourney does her best to win as well. In one of the most powerful scenes ever recorded on film, they go at each other and the alien queen seems to be saying "if I go down, you're going down with me." I love seeing a strong woman on screen who can take care of herself while saving others in the bargain, even when her opponent has acid for blood, and one who doesn't suddenly trip over some imaginary rock, fall, and wait for a passing hero to come to her rescue. (And who, then, filled with gratitude, takes all of her clothes off. In fact, nobody gets nude in this movie but Sigourney can drive a mean fork lift.) I don't care that some people have tried to characterize Sigourney's performance as 'feminist' like there's something bad about that. I say, 'you go girl.' Kick that alien butt before she kicks yours; you know you better because you know she's going to kick yours if she gets the chance. (My ex-husband used to say that self-preservation is the first law of nature.) Did I love this movie? Newt said it best: "A-ffirmative!" I think all girls, young and not so young, need to see it and memorize its message. (Every 'boy' needs to see it too.)Read full review
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