Aliens movies

[saturn5]

I'll rank all the Alien/Predator movies here.

Great
1) Alien
2) Aliens
3) Predator

Average
4) Alien 3
5) Alien Resurrection
6) Predator 2

Trash
7) Alien vs. Predator
8) Alien vs. Predator: Requiem

1) and 2) were the hardest to decide. You can easily switch these two. As a general rule, the director's cuts/special editions are often superior to the theatrical versions. This is especially true in the case of Aliens and Alien 3. I even think Alien 3 isn't that bad of a movie in the SE version.

For me any version of Alien 3 is utterly irredeemable unless they include a throwaway line stating Newt, Hicks and Bishop are all safely on their way to Earth.

For me;
1) Aliens
2) Alien
3) Predator
4) Predator 2
5) Alien 4
6) AvP
7) AvPR
and a llllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggg
way after that Alien3

 

[Anwar]

Alien isn't some happy fuzzy-warm place, there's nothing wrong with killing Newt and Hicks. Especially since they weren't characters to begin with, just cardboard cut-out types.

 

[John Clark]

Depends on my mood at the time. It's either Alien or Aliens. At the moment, I'd say Aliens

 

[Deckerd]

Alien isn't some happy fuzzy-warm place, there's nothing wrong with killing Newt and Hicks. Especially since they weren't characters to begin with, just cardboard cut-out types.

I have to agree. I never understood all the boo-hooing over losing those two at the beginning of the film, considering the overall mood of all the films. Also the ending is still one of my all time favourite pieces of visual imagery on film. That slo-mo, backward crucifix just made my jaw drop. The DVD extended cut is far far better than what appeared in the cinemas and actually makes sense.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I used to like "Aliens", but when I watched the extended version, I felt that it just magnified the movie's flaws. Aside from Ripley, the characters are all annoying, one-dimensional stereotypes like dumbass, loud, impulsive, military jock guy and selfish immoral corporate guy. Also, having so many aliens attacked with so much gunfire wasn't as exciting to me as having just two around, constantly obscured by darkness, only popping up once in awhile. I still think "Aliens" is a well-made movie and I admire the intensity Sigourney Weaver brought to it, but I just don't find it very fun to watch anymore. I actually found the board room scene in the extended cut to be the best scene - it was one of the few that I thought had really strong character-centered drama. Unfortunately, the rest solidified for me the idea that James Cameron is overrated (can't say much he does really impresses me anymore other than the first two Terminator movies).

The first "Alien" movie was much more leisurely placed and more like a classical horror movie than the sequel, which was more of an action movie, and I preferred the slower pace and horror conventions. It made the really action-packed scenes more effective. For example, the reveal of the android. In general, I preferred the characters of the first one more too. The android's speech was just brilliantly menacing, and I loved the comedic black guy and perpetually frightened, freaked out and terrified Veronica Cartwright character (nobody plays freaked out and terrified better than Veronica Cartwright). I admit those characters were kind of stereotypes too, but they were much more entertaining stereotypes than those in the sequel. John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, and Tom Skeritt were also enjoyable for the gritty, 'everyman' qualities they brought to their characters. That whole movie was so superbly cast, whereas "Aliens" and "Alien 3" were just a great Sigourney Weaver surrounded by increasingly less interesting supporting players.

 

[EnsignRicky]

Alien and Aliens. I don't even have the other ones in my collection.

 

[Beagleman]

Alien isn't some happy fuzzy-warm place, there's nothing wrong with killing Newt and Hicks. Especially since they weren't characters to begin with, just cardboard cut-out types.

I have to agree. I never understood all the boo-hooing over losing those two at the beginning of the film, considering the overall mood of all the films. [...]

This! I always liked that about Alien 3, this isn't a universe for happy endings and I thought it was a ballsy and quite fitting move to kill them all of at the beginning.

 

[Mr Light]

1. Aliens (and the SpecEd makes it even better!) 2. Alien 3. Alien Resurrection 4. Alien 3

 

[RoJoHen]

The DVD extended cut is far far better than what appeared in the cinemas and actually makes sense.

Agreed.

I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed Alien 3 when I watched the DVD.

 

[T'Baio]

Alien; best sci-fi horror film ever, only rivalled by The Thing and The Fly

Internet hyperbole is so awesome.

 

[saturn5]

Alien isn't some happy fuzzy-warm place, there's nothing wrong with killing Newt and Hicks. Especially since they weren't characters to begin with, just cardboard cut-out types.

I have to agree. I never understood all the boo-hooing over losing those two at the beginning of the film, considering the overall mood of all the films. [...]

This! I always liked that about Alien 3, this isn't a universe for happy endings and I thought it was a ballsy and quite fitting move to kill them all of at the beginning.

Disagree, I thought the characters in Aliens were great and killing them off so calously was horrendous, makes it impossible to enjoy the finale when you know it's all pointless. No version of Alien 3 is any good, the new characters are unlikeable and virtually indistinguishable, it's just a long, torturous, wretched travesty

 

[Lonemagpie]

Alien: Brilliant low-key horror flick that manages to be more believable than it should
Aliens: Brilliant action movie that takes a different approach
Alien 3: Flawed but worthy attempt to do something new, killed by studio interference.
Alien Resurrection: Money-grubbing rehash of the best bits of the previous three films, albeit entertaining. More entertaining than 3, but artistically the worst as it doesn't try to do anything beyond be a "best of" compilation to rake in the cash. (Also, of the extended director's cuts, AR:SE is the only one *worse* than the theatrical cut)

Predator: Brilliant relatively low-budget macho action flick
Predator 2: Hugely entertaining action trash.

AVP: Disappointing but not as bad as I expected. Does what it says on the tin, but should have broadened the franchises, not narrowed the Aliens side.
AVPR: A better B-movie slasher than most straight-to-video trash, but that's about it. Pisses all over both franchises.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Alien; best sci-fi horror film ever, only rivalled by The Thing and The Fly

Internet hyperbole is so awesome.

Yeah, "The Thing" sucks. Seriously, I do not get why it's so revered on the Internet. The creature effects are marvelous, but otherwise it's just a boring monster movie with paper thin characters. "The Fly" is also most noticeable for top notch special effects (and make-up), but at least it also has genius acting and very clever writing.

 

[Anwar]

I have to agree. I never understood all the boo-hooing over losing those two at the beginning of the film, considering the overall mood of all the films. [...]

This! I always liked that about Alien 3, this isn't a universe for happy endings and I thought it was a ballsy and quite fitting move to kill them all of at the beginning.

Disagree, I thought the characters in Aliens were great and killing them off so calously was horrendous, makes it impossible to enjoy the finale when you know it's all pointless. No version of Alien 3 is any good, the new characters are unlikeable and virtually indistinguishable, it's just a long, torturous, wretched travesty

The entire cast of Aliens, aside from Ripley, were stock stereotypes. The A3 prisoners were nearly on par with the Nostromo crew.

Hell, I found Dillon and Clemens to be the best acted and written supporting characters in the entire series after Captain Dallas from the first movie.

 

[J.T.B.]

I admit those characters were kind of stereotypes too, but they were much more entertaining stereotypes than those in the sequel. John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, and Tom Skeritt were also enjoyable for the gritty, 'everyman' qualities they brought to their characters. That whole movie was so superbly cast, whereas "Aliens" and "Alien 3" were just a great Sigourney Weaver surrounded by increasingly less interesting supporting players.

Agreed, and those performances and the natural, workplace-like dialogue were great innovations in the science fiction genre at the time. George Lucas gave Star Wars a weathered, lived-in look in 1977; Alien took similar design values and added real people.

Aliens was a pretty fun entertainment, not great. The rest I don't bother with.

--Justin

 

[Tulin]

AR:SE

 

[Anwar]

Yeah, we at IMDB had a good laugh about that one.

 

[Candlelight]

The first three are equally as great, although the first one beats the rest.

The last one isn't as good.

 

[DarKush]

My favorite is Aliens. Second, Alien Resurrection. I really enjoyed AR. I can concede that it was a rehash of Aliens to a great extent, but I liked the characters and it was entertaining. I thought the original Alien was a glacially paced but really came together at the end. Alien3 I initially hated, but after buying the Quadrilogy, I rewatched it and it didn't suck as much as I thought it did. It was just a let down as a follow up to Aliens. AVP, the Aliens movie I like least. Such a waste and I can't get over them making it PG-13. I liked AVP: R a lot better.

Rankings:
Aliens
Alien Resurrection
AVP:R
Alien
Alien3
AVP

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I love the characters & the performances in Alien, especially Yaphet Kotto, who is just awesome in everything. But I'm not much of a horror fan, so its appeal to me is limited.

Aliens is a kick ass action movie. It earns a special place in my heart for incorporating James Cameron & Michael Biehn, 2 of my favorite things about my #1 favorite action movie-- The Terminator. Paul Reiser makes a great corporate weasel. Bonus: The guy that runs the colony in the special edition is the same guy that played Captain Hollister on Red Dwarf.

Alien 3: Flawed but worthy attempt to do something new, killed by studio interference.

Mostly agreed, although I'd say that studio interference only diminished the movie. What killed it was how poorly the action scenes were shot & edited, particularly the final chase where they're trying to lure the alien into the furnace. I get no sense of geography during that sequence and it's only exacerbated by the fact that all of the prisoners except for the black guy look too similar. I'm not saying that their characters are indistinguishable but there's no visual shorthand to distinguish them during action scenes. And this was back in 1991, long before indecipherable action scenes became fashionable.

Alien Resurrection was a crappy greatest hits movie that is only notable for examining Joss Whedon's proto-Firefly cast.

Alien vs. Predator. The whole billionaire-sends-team-into-the-middle-of-nowhere-to-get-killed-by-unexpected-monsters set up always reminds me of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The movie delivers on its promise of Aliens fighting Predators but the rest of it is pretty lame. Taming it down to a PG-13 was a big mistake.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem thankfully upped the gore factor from the 1st AVP but everything else is worse. The Anytown, USA setting is lame (and I suspected it was really Canada even before Rainbow Sun Francks showed up). And while the previous movie at least had Lance Henriksen to class up the joint, here we've got a cast brimming with nobodys.

The final ranking:
1. Aliens
2. Alien
3. Alien vs. Predator
4. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
5. Alien Resurrection
6. Alien 3