Aliens (1986)
Sunday, 4:00 pm, Culbreth
Director: James Cameron
Writers: Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett , James Cameron, David Giler, Walter Hill
Cinematographer: Adrian Biddle
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser
Running Time: 154 min
Among the four films depicting the cinematic saga of Ellen Ripley, James Cameron’s Aliens, the second in the series, is often the highest regarded. Cameron’s deft direction, abetted by the superb creature effects of Stan Winston, created an unforgettable experience of sheer white-knuckle suspense and wonderment. Hidden within this science fiction epic, however, are fundamental questions about individual identity within a corporatized, increasingly dehumanized society. The questions boil down to this one: Who are the real aliens?
Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, is, herself, a bit of an alien in this movie, awakening from deep sleep some 57 years after the action in the original film to a society she no longer recognizes. Once again, she is appalled by the willingness of her corporate employers to risk human lives in their reckless pursuit of the lethal aliens. Disconnected from human society at large, she finds camaraderie with an odd group of misfits on her mission to save the colonists of LV-426: a young survivor named “Newt” (Carrie Henn), a stoic android named Bishop (Lance Henriksen), the young Marine corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), and his foul-mouthed colleague Hudson (Bill Paxton). Standing outside of this group is the corporate representative, Carter J. Burke (Paul Reiser), who—as Ripley suggests—may well be more reprehensible than any of the “aliens.”
Further examining the theme of aliens and alienation is the film’s exploration of our technological future. Long after the film ends, we can still hear the echoes of footsteps in the vast, desolate colony of LV-426, and remain awestruck at the massive warship that transports our small party into the unknown. More than 20 years after it first terrified audiences, this visionary and gripping film still offers chilling hints that the further we expand, the emptier our worlds become, and the more vulnerable we may be to the monster lurking in the dark.
