Film Review
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the
Alien franchise is why, when Ridley
Scott's 1979 film (the first in the series) made such an impact it took
seven years for a sequel to
hit the cinema screens. Nowadays, it is not unusual for a sequel
to what promises to be a sure-fire hit to be commissioned before the
first film has started raking in the money. Along with George
Lucas's
Star Wars (1977) and
Scott's subsequent
Blade Runner (1982),
Alien completely redefined the
sci-fi genre in the late 1970s, early 1980s, creating a large audience
for effects-driven adventure spectaculars that remain hugely popular to
this day. James Cameron was to bolster this trend with his
high-adrenalin action-packed sequel to
Alien.
Cameron was keen to make this sequel from the instant he first saw
Alien but had difficulty selling
the idea to Twentieth Century Fox, the studio that made the film.
It was only after the inexperienced young director had proven himself
with his first runaway hit,
The
Terminator (1984), that the executives at Fox began to take him
seriously and gave him the green-light for a big budget sequel to
Ridley Scott's groundbreaking film. Rather than slavishly emulate
the first film, which was essentially an old dark house horror-thriller
(set in space), Cameron envisaged that
Aliens would be an energetic action
war film (set in space). He took as his inspiration the Vietnam
War, a situation in which superior military know-how proved totally
ineffective in a foreign (alien) environment. The characters in
the film are modelled on American troops serving in the Vietnam
conflict - cocksure, overconfident of victory, but ultimately useless
in defeating a more determined adversary. The politics of the
Vietnam War are also alluded to, when it is revealed that the return to
LV-426 is motivated purely by financial gain.
Sigourney Weaver was the only cast member in
Alien to return in the sequel,
although the actress initially had reservations and Twentieth Century
Fox were reluctant to stump up the one million dollar fee that she
demanded (not surprisingly as the entire budget for the film was just
18 million dollars). Cameron's instinct was that Ellen Ripley's
return was pivotal for the success of the film and he was proven
right. Weaver is not only stunning as the action hero (she dubbed
herself Rambolina, not without reason) but she provides the film with
its emotional heart. Her character's determination is driven not
solely by the need for her own survival, but by a cast-iron resolve to
save the life of a darling little girl.
This mother instinct is what propels the film, and is cleverly mirrored
in the aliens' own story. There is a humanity to this film which
gives it a dramatic impetus and realism which every single subsequent
offering in the
Alien series lacks. Prior to Ripley, there
were no strong female roles in sci-fi films, or indeed action films of
any description. Sigourney Weaver changed that forever through
the two
Alien films and
single-handedly brought about a long-overdue sexual revolution in the
cinema.
Aliens isn't
really about guns amd monsters. It's about women showing us how
damn good they are in stress situations.
James Cameron would go on to helm many a crowd-pulling
blockbuster. His subsequent
Terminator
2 (1991) and
True Lies
(1994) would establish him as one of Hollywood's most bankable
moviemakers, whilst his epic
Titanic
(1997) would break box office records across the globe. With
Avatar (2009), he would be in the
vanguard of the IMAX 3D revolution. Yet
Aliens remains his most inspired,
most perfectly constructed and exciting film to date, a rare
masterpiece of its kind.
The pace of
Aliens is
utterly, almost viciously, relentless. Watching it for the first
time is a truly gruelling experience, a bit like being caught up in a
stampede of wild elephants. The shocks just keep coming, right to
the very end, concluding with one of the most nerve-racking action
sequences of any sci-fi film. The special effects may be a little
primitive by today's standards (no CGI in those days folks) but they
hold up remarkably well, and whatever flaws there may be are masked by
some very slick editing. Like the film that preceded it,
Aliens was a major technical
achievement for its day and it remains one of most impressive and
influential films in the sci-fi adventure genre. It's a pity that
the subsequent
Alien films
were unable to maintain this level of excellence...
© James Travers 2010
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
57 years after her encounter with an alien being which wiped out her
crew aboard the space freighter Nostromo, Ellen Ripley is picked up and
taken back to Earth. Revived from hypersleep, she is put before a
panel of Company executives, who listen to her story with
incredulity. Ripley is appalled when Company representative
Carter Burke tells her that a terraforming outfit has been sent to
LV-426, the planet on which the alien eggs were found by her crew, to
establish a colony. When contact is lost with the colony, the
Company decides to send a marine taskforce to investigate, and Ripley
reluctantly agrees to go with them. The party includes Sergeant
Apone, Corporal Hicks, Privates Vasquez, Hudson and Bishop, an
android. Ripley is not surprised to see that the colony base is
practically deserted. The only survivor they find is a young
girl, Newt, who has survived by hiding in the air ducts. Still
sceptical about the nature of the threat they face, the gung-ho marines
explore the base and have a rude awakening when they encounter a large
alien nest in the air processing plant. In the ensuing skirmish,
most of the marines are wiped out. Ripley and the handful of
survivors decide to return to their ship and destroy the planet from a
safe distance, thereby ending the alien menace forever.
Unfortunately, one of the aliens finds its way into the dropship and
forces it to crash-land. Stranded on a hostile planet, the chance
that Ripley and her friends will survive is minimal. Instead of
just one alien, Ripley realises that she is now up against an army of
them...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.