Year Released: 1986
Directed by; James Cameron
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton
R, 137 min.)
Genre: Horror, Action, Science Fiction

“In revenge and in love woman is more barbaric than man is.” –Friederich Nietzsche

Maybe the best sequel ever, this 1986 acclaimed sci-fi action thriller is the ride of a lifetime. And it’s just as good today as it was the first time Different Drummer saw it on the big screen almost 4 decades ago. Rarely do sequels exceed originals, and rarer still do they pass the test of time as does this masterful, “visceral punch” James Cameron delivered decades ago.

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver reprising her role from the 1979 Alien) is rescued by a deep salvage team after being in hypersleep for 57 years. The moon that her ship, the Nostromo visited has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, colonial marines have impressive firepower, but will that be enough?

Clearly critic Mike Massie is correct when he labels it, “Perhaps the greatest exemplar of science-fiction, action, and horror faultlessly blended together into one film.”

Part of the fun – the creepy kind that lures us to horror houses every Halloween and to the cinema or big screen in our living rooms to scare the heebie-jeebies out of us – is the collection of our favorite tropes from the genre itself.

Many of the best classic horror films such as The Creature from the Black Lagoon, or King Kong, had the good scientist warring with a corrupt one, or perhaps a business man who wants to exploit the monster for financial gain. Of course, in these earlier films, the monster had some redeeming features, such as the fondness for feminine beauty and charm shown by both the lagoon creature and King Kong.

The oozing, slime covered parasites in the Alien franchise, however, are completely repellant, from their telescoping heads of teeth, their corrosive blood, those little habits of cocooning humans to host their eggs, and of course, that most annoying surprise when they burst out of their host’s chest to greet the world.

Despite all that, the xenomorphs in Aliens still have an apologist though; in this case the unctuous Burke (Paul Reiser) who secretly plans on bringing the hideous creatures back to earth to use as bioweapons. And what a deceiving cretin he is, as shown in his his early lying promises to Ripley:

Ripley: Just tell me one thing, Burke. You're going out there to destroy them, right? Not to study, not to bring back, but to wipe them out.

Burke: That's the plan. You have my word on it.

Aliens is also the flipside of those fantastic 1950s invasion horror flicks mirroring our cold war anxiety in such greats as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Thing, The Blob, The Fly, to mention a few. Only here it is the exploration and exploitation of other worlds that brings on catastrophe.

Another trope of the horror genre is the over confidence in our military might, especially their firepower. Even as a teenager, as soon as some general bragged about how many tanks and flamethrowers they had, I knew they were going to fail. The bigger the guns, the more impotent man was against an alien aggressor.

We see that when Burke and Lt. Gorman reassure Weaver about her safety:

Gorman: Ripley, you wouldn't be going in with the troops. I can guarantee your safety.

Burke: These Colonial Marines are very tough hombres. They're packing state-of-the-art firepower. There's nothing they can't handle. Lieutenant, am I right?

Gorman: That's true. We've been trained to deal with situations like this.

Or in Private Hudson’s (Bill Paxton) braggadocio:

I'm ready, man. Check it out! I am the ultimate badass! State of the badass art! You do not want to F with me. Check it out! Hey, Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate badasses will protect you! Check it out. Independently targeting particle-beam phalanx. WHAP! Fry half a city with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, phase plasma pulse rifles, RPGs. We got sonic, electronic ball-breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks...

And of course, the ultimate “badass” and bully is the first to freak out when the slimy creatures come out of the walls. “Game over, Game over, man,” he shrieks, cementing Private Vasquez’s (Jenette Goldstein) initial appraisal of him.

Hudson: Have you ever been mistaken for a man?

Vasquez: No, have you?

But I’ve saved the best for last, Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. She is the real badass, but without Hudson’s braggadocio. We saw that in 1979’s Alien, when she was merely 3rd in command, a lowly warrant officer on the commercial space tug, Nostromo. It was Ripley who unerringly knew not to bring the facehugger on board, even if it meant sacrificing a fellow crewman to keep quarantine. (Of course, we all know that he dies anyway, infecting the whole crew as well.)

Here she is again a reluctant warrior. Not believed when she tells of the creatures she has seen, relegated to working the docks in an exo-suit, and only going on the mission as a consultant once she is told she can get her working rank back again if she goes.

Still subject to sweat-soaked nightmares every night, one of which is used to fool us into believing it right along with the sleeping Ripley, she is anything but an epic hero.

But once back to the creatures’ lair, Ripley rises to the challenge again, especially after she finds Newt (Carrie Henn), a young child who is the lone survivor of the colony there.

When the by-the-book green Lieutenant Gorman (William Hope) freezes at the first sign of trouble, Ripley takes command of the armored vehicle, careening around and through burning debris to rescue the soldiers surrounded by the aliens.

She risks everything to save Newt, going back to retrieve her even as the whole place is about to blow, the countdown to extinction repeated in a calm robot voice being another favorite refrain, especially in our 007 adventures.

But the supreme moment comes at us as an addendum, just when the more naïve audience members begin to relax. Ha. Ha.

If there is anyone who hasn’t seen or doesn’t remember the superb ending, I’ll just tell you Ripley’s greeting to the Mother of all Aliens who confronts Newt:

“Get away from her, you bitch.”

And then her training in the exo-suit comes in pretty handy.

Rambo couldn’t have said it or done it any better.

Time to see this classic all over again. You won’t be disappointed.

–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Aliens is not exactly the kind of film that makes you want to cook something up before or after watching it. And after exploring various creative culinary treats, such as Chest Burster Turkey, Fizzling Alien Facehugger Pudding Cups, Edible Alien Eggs, Different Drummer decided that a good stiff drink was a better alternative.

I will let Mac Beauvais from “Movies and Boozies: Aliens Edition” take it away:

Let’s face it: we adult types sometimes just want to unwind with our favorite film, drink in hand, but the usual beer and wine can get tedious. Or maybe we want to host a geeky gathering and serve something a little more fun. So, gracious person that I am, I’ve decided to devote my liquor cabinet (and my liver) to helping you find the perfect pairing.

Influenced by the terror of alien eggs, I have modified a drink called a Brain Hemorrhage to present to you this recipe.

Enjoy!

Alien Egg Shot

Ingredients

· 1/2 oz Midori

· 1/2 oz Peach Schnapps

· Top with Bailey’s Irish Cream

Directions

This drink is pretty simple to prep. Combine your Midori and Peach Schnapps in a shot glass, leaving a little room at the top. Then pour in Bailey’s Irish Cream until you get a delightfully unsettling curdling effect. If you want to get fancy, you can set it atop a light-up ice cube for dramatic effect.

This drink is insanely sweet and I recommend trying to get it down in one shot as the Bailey’s helps offset the syrupy ichor of the other ingredients. I also wouldn’t drink too many or else it’s: “Game’s over, man. Game over.”

Geeks and Sundry.com