Aliens

Play trailer

1:55

Aliens

R

Released Jul 18, 1986

2h 17m

Sci-Fi

Horror

Action

Adventure

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

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.

Read Critics Reviews

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

Martin W

One of the finest action movies ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/05/25

Full Review

Nolan L

Well I find the film kinda boring it is still a good follow up to the story of alien and gives us good action and good creature effects

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/04/25

Full Review

Urs P

destroyed completely the character of Ripley, why make her a mother figure and suddenly a dumb-dumb? oh right so shes palatable to the male audience unlike in the first movie, where shes a lesbian wet dream (thats a good thing)

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/04/25

Full Review

Dani G

One of the best sci-fi sequels of all-time, but I definitely stay with the original as the best one. In terms of action, this is the one, but none like the claustrophobic vision of Ridley Scott

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/03/25

Full Review

Shaun R

Should’ve ended the franchise here.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/03/25

Full Review

M B

Best of the best sci fi horror action movie!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/24/25

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

James Cameron

Director

Sigourney Weaver

Lt. Ellen Ripley

Carrie Henn

Rebecca "Newt" Jorden

Michael Biehn

Corporal Dwayne Hicks

Paul Reiser

Carter J. Burke

Lance Henriksen

Science Officer L. Bishop

Alien 3

44%

46%

Alien 3

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Alien 3

Alien

93%

94%

Alien

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Alien

Alien Resurrection

55%

39%

Alien Resurrection

Watchlist

I Come in Peace

40%

46%

I Come in Peace

Watchlist

Doom

18%

34%

Doom

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

There’s An Alien TV Series in the Works at FX, Created by Fargo‘s Noah Hawley

Know Your Critic: Bilge Ebiri, Movie Critic at Vulture

Terry Crews’ Five Favorite Films

Aliens: Trailer 1

1:55

View more videos

View more photos

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)

Most Popular at Home Now