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Aliens

Play trailer 1:55 Poster for Aliens R 1986 2h 17m Sci-Fi Horror Action Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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94% Tomatometer 142 Reviews 94% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
After floating in space for 57 years, Lt. Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) shuttle is found by a deep space salvage team. Upon arriving at LV-426, the marines find only one survivor, a nine year old girl named Newt (Carrie Henn). But even these battle-hardened marines with all the latest weaponry are no match for the hundreds of aliens that have invaded the colony.
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Aliens

Aliens

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Critics Consensus

While Alien was a marvel of slow-building, atmospheric tension, Aliens packs a much more visceral punch, and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver.

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Critics Reviews

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Scott Cain Atlanta Journal-Constitution Let's not mince words: Aliens is the greatest horror movie since Frankenstein. Here is a rare instance in which a sequel is infinitely superior to the original. Alien, the 1979 thriller, now seems like a preliminary sketch. Jul 30, 2024 Full Review Mike McGrady Newsday Cameron is a master of machinery and weaponry, a technical wizard who replaces Scott's refinement with his own kind of muscularity... But with either film, you leave the theater drained, physically exhausted, well-rewarded for all your suffering. Rated: 3.5/4 Jul 30, 2024 Full Review Jay Maeder New York Daily News The long-awaited sequel to Alien proves to be an extraordinary treat, as perfectly realized a thrill-a-second screamer as has ever come along. Rated: 4/4 Jul 30, 2024 Full Review Joe Lipsett Horror Queers Podcast From the small character details to the massive set-pieces, Cameron expands the Alien mythology and switches sub genres seamlessly. It truly is a perfect sequel. Rated: 4.5/5 Aug 16, 2024 Full Review Casey Chong Casey's Movie Mania [James Cameron] takes the franchise in another direction by raising the stakes and turning the sequel into an action-packed, war epic [while] retaining the dread-inducing feel and tone of the first movie. Rated: 5/5 Aug 15, 2024 Full Review Lou Lumenick Bergen Record (New Jersey) What can I say? Aliens is the scariest and most exciting movie I've seen in several years. My adrenalin was still racing an hour later. It's involving. It has well-drawn characters. It has consistency. And Sigourney Weaver gives a dazzling performance. Jul 30, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jonathan F. I need more aliens vs mechs now. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/20/25 Full Review Jorge R Bigger, Boulder and Scarier. Aliens is Perfect down to the last new details. 👽 Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/19/25 Full Review Jack B. One of the best movies I’ve seen in my lifetime. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/19/25 Full Review chris h Perfect horror scifi Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/15/25 Full Review Holdon K. Great and trilling action/horror thriller not quite as good as the original but a amazing film by it’s own Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/14/25 Full Review Ola G Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) has been in stasis for 57 years aboard a shuttlecraft after destroying her spaceship, the Nostromo, to escape an alien creature that slaughtered her crew. Ripley is rescued and debriefed by her Weyland-Yutani Corporation employers who doubt her claim about alien eggs in a derelict ship on the exomoon LV-426, now the site of a terraforming colony. After contact is lost with the colony, Weyland-Yutani representative Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) and Colonial Marine Lieutenant Gorman (William Hope) ask Ripley to accompany them to investigate. Still traumatized by her alien encounter, she agrees on the condition that they exterminate the creatures. Ripley meets the Colonial Marines aboard the spaceship Sulaco but distrusts their android, Bishop (Lance Henriksen), because the Nostromo's android, Ash, had betrayed its crew to protect the alien on company orders. A dropship lands the crew on LV-426, where they find the battle-ravaged colony and two live alien facehuggers in containment tanks. The only colonist found is a traumatized young girl nicknamed Newt. The team locates the other colonists' signals beneath the fusion-powered atmosphere processing station and heads to their location, descending into corridors covered in alien secretions. At the station's center, the marines discover opened eggs, dead facehuggers, and cocooned colonists serving as incubators for the alien embryos. The marines kill a newborn alien after it bursts through a colonist's chest, rousing several adult aliens who ambush the marines, killing or capturing many. When the inexperienced Gorman panics, Ripley assumes command and rams their armored personnel carrier into the nest to rescue Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn), and Privates Hudson (Bill Paxton) and Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein). Hicks orders the dropship to recover the survivors, but a stowaway alien kills the pilots Ferro (Colette Hiller) and Spunkmeyer (Daniel Kash), causing the dropship to crash into the station. Low on ammunition and resources, the survivors barricade themselves inside the colony facility... "Aliens" opened to generally positive reviews. Most reviewers agreed Aliens was a worthy successor to Alien. Variety and Walter Goodman said it could not replicate the novelty of the first film, but Aliens compensated with special effects, technique, and a constant stream of set-piece thrills and scary scenes. Variety added Aliens was made by an expert craftsman, suggesting its predecessor was a more artistic endeavor. Sheila Benson said Aliens was clever and ironically funny, but lacked Alien's pure horror. Benson attributed this to an overabundance of creature effects in the intervening years, particularly the 1982 film The Thing (which, Benson said, took alien monstrosities to an extreme). According to Rick Kogan, Aliens demonstrated that science-fiction horror could still be entertaining after many poorly received Alien-derived films. Dave Kehr and Richard Schickel called it a rare sequel which surpassed the original, and Kehr appreciated the action used to develop the characters. Schickel wrote that the film had evolved from Alien, giving Weaver new emotional depths. Jay Scott said Cameron had redefined the war film, combining Rambo with Star Wars. Kogan agreed Cameron possessed a knack for action pacing and excitement, but Kehr believed Cameron pushed some elements beyond believability. Roger Ebert called the last hour "painfully, unremittingly intense" in horror and action, leaving him emotionally drained and unhappy. Ebert believed it could not be defined as entertainment, despite his admiration of the filmmaking craft on display. Dennis Fischer wrote for The Hollywood Reporter that the unrelenting scenes of action and suspense worked for Aliens as they had in The Terminator; tension was created by placing the characters in successive, increasingly difficult situations. Gene Siskel described the film as "one extremely violent, protracted attack on the senses". In the Orlando Sentinel, Jay Boyar called it the Jaws of the 1980s: the most "intensely shocking" film in years. (Via Wikipedia) Ridley Scott's Ridley Scott's "Alien" left all of us scarred, but I don´t think anyone saw a sequel in this magnificent science fiction horror film. Then enter James Cameron, who presented a solid screenplay that did have a good continuation of the storyline. I just re-saw "Aliens", and I haven't seen it for a few years, and yes it still holds up. Some minor issues with wobbly backdrops and some so so effects that feels outdated today. But, all in all, "Aliens" is still a great science fiction action film with a great ensemble cast led by Sigourney Weaver. I still think that Privates Hudson (Bill Paxton) and Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) steals the show. Great performances from both. "Aliens" is a truly entertaining film, but not as scary as "Alien" to my mind. Trivia: Despite the success of Alien, its sequel took years to develop due to lawsuits, a lack of enthusiasm from 20th Century Fox, and repeated management changes. Although relatively inexperienced, Cameron was hired to write a story for Aliens in 1983 on the strength of his scripts for The Terminator (1984) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). The project stalled again until new Fox executive Lawrence Gordon pursued a sequel. On an approximately $18.5 million budget, Aliens began principal photography in September 1985 and concluded in January 1986. The film's development was tumultuous and rife with conflicts between Cameron and the British crew at Pinewood Studios. (Via Wikipedia) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/10/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Aliens

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Movie Info

Synopsis After floating in space for 57 years, Lt. Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) shuttle is found by a deep space salvage team. Upon arriving at LV-426, the marines find only one survivor, a nine year old girl named Newt (Carrie Henn). But even these battle-hardened marines with all the latest weaponry are no match for the hundreds of aliens that have invaded the colony.
Director
James Cameron
Producer
Gale Anne Hurd
Screenwriter
James Cameron, David Giler
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox, Brandywine Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Sci-Fi, Horror, Action, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 18, 1986, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$77.6M
Runtime
2h 17m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Stereo, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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