Review of Aliens: Special Edition

Introduction

"Get away from her you Bitch!"

Back in 1986, when the ultimate in home computing was a ZX Spectrum, I had a game called S.W.I.V. If, as it was loading from tape, you held down a certain combination of keys, instead of the game, you would be presented with a pixellated 16 colour image of Ripley, and the immortal quote sampled from the film playing from the speccy`s tinny speaker. It was my first encounter with an Easter Egg, and little did I know it would presage a future obsession.

It may seem a little odd that in this day of Aliens Legacy and Quadrilogy, I`m reviewing the old vanilla edition of the film. One simple reason is that I wanted to, as I still have a few old discs on my to do list, and I may even get to them before they are deleted. However if you are like me, then your appreciation for all things Alien only stretches to the first two films. Alien Resurrection was enjoyable after a fashion, it had a certain European sensibility that was refreshing, and made a change from the usual Hollywood conventions. But Alien 3 was wrong for so many reasons, and was a step and half back in the franchise. So the boxsets represent an unnecessary expenditure, with half the material liable to remain unappreciated. So for `purists` like me there remains only the vanilla option, the original single disc editions of Alien and Aliens. That is for at least one more month, until the two disc editions of the first two movies from the Quadrilogy set are released.

1979`s Alien was a landmark moment in cinema. Ridley Scott created a film that would be difficult, if not impossible to surpass. Despite the sci-fi conventions and the deep space setting, Alien at its most essential remains one of the most effective and chilling horror movies ever made. Good sequels by their very nature are pretty rare. Good horror sequels are close enough to non-existent as to make no difference. Horror sequels inevitably end up tarnishing the name of the original, or become unstoppable monster franchises like Freddy or Jason, scarier than the film itself. That must have been the dilemma facing James Cameron when it came to making a sequel to the original Alien. It would have been an impossible mountain to climb to make a better horror movie than the first Alien, with audiences always comparing the two. Cameron made the brilliant decision of switching genres completely to a pure action movie. The suspense and the chills are still there, with the menacing Alien design getting away from that instinctive fear would be impossible, but this time the film is filled to the brim with the acid blooded, snaggletooth critters, and the good guys go in armed for bear, to kick ass.

A salvage vessel encounters an escape pod drifting in deep space; it`s sole occupants, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley and a ginger cat, Jonesy. As Ripley recovers, she has to come to terms with the fact that 57 years have passed, and she suffers from the inevitable nightmares after her ordeal. Things aren`t helped by the company refusing to believe her outlandish tale about a rapacious xenomorph rampaging through the Nostromo. When she tries to persuade the company to go to LV-426 to investigate the crashed alien ship, she learns that there has been a colony of terraformers living there for decades, with never a mention of alien creatures. Despite her warnings, she loses her commission and is reduced to working as a loader in the docks.

When contact is lost with the colony, it begins to dawn that Ripley`s story may be true, and she reluctantly agrees to accompany a force of Colonial Marines to re-establish contact as a consultant, in exchange for reinstatement of her rank, and to advise them on how to handle the aliens, if there are any. But the past continues to haunt her, despite the presence of the cocksure and rowdy marines. The presence of an android, Bishop on the mission is hardly reassuring after her experience with Ash, and it seems that the company representative on the mission may have the same ulterior motives that resulted in the loss of the Nostromo 57 years previously.

Video

Aliens comes in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. The image is less than ideal, for reasons that have been discussed on the forums on this site, as well as the commentary of the Quadrilogy edition. Suffice it to say that the biggest problem is the significant grain, although there are a few compression artefacts. The image itself is otherwise clear and colourful, and none of the darker scenes suffer. On the whole, some scenes come out better than others, with occasional print damage, but none of it is at all detrimental to your viewing pleasure.

It`s 1986, and CGI is still a glint in a programmer`s eye, so it`s surprising that many of the effects have still held up after 18 years. The miniature work is seamless, and the aliens are stunningly realised, and as terrifying as always. That said some of the bluescreen work is distinctly creaky, like the drop-ship entering the planet`s atmosphere. Also, James Cameron`s fascination with rear projection makes itself evident, with several two dimensional action scenes almost jarring in their `wrongness` for want of a better word. An excellent aspect is the personal perspective view provided for the marines, as Ripley watches them encounter the rapacious xenomorphs for the first time.

Audio

The sound is a DD 5.1 English track, and it certainly rings all the right sonic bells. The surrounds are put to good use conveying both the atmosphere of the desolate planet and the intense bursts of action when the aliens attack. James Horner provides the score, and it certainly is good in keeping pace with the on screen pulse racing action, and the more reflective quiet moments. Of course, if you happen to be a Star Trek fan like yours truly, you`ll be grinning at the bits that have been recycled from Star Treks II and III. It`s amazing how much a menacing xenomorph`s anthem sounds like Khan`s final battle with Captain Kirk. But still, whatever works, eh? Multilingual subtitles are supplied for no extra charge.

Features

This is where Alien fans will be disappointed. The extras on this four-year-old DVD look positively Spartan compared to the Quadrilogy editions. The animated menus are quite good, following the personal camera views used in the film. Naturally the trailer is there presented in 4:3.

There is a substantial photo gallery divided into 12 categories presented as slide shows. There are hundreds of stills, photos, design sketches and storyboard extracts. For convenience, these are interspersed with descriptive captions, so you also get a context for what you are seeing.

Aliens: Behind The Scenes is just that, 8½ minutes of tests of models and miniatures, which somehow dispel some of that movie magic.

Finally there is a 12-minute interview with James Cameron conducted by Don Shaw in 1986. In it Cameron describes his take on the Alien and how he moved his vision away from the Ridley Scott original. It`s not exactly substantial in terms of running time, but it is certainly informative. It is also subtitled in English.

Conclusion

I`m sure that I have seen the original version of Aliens, but for the life of me I can`t remember when, or what it was like. The special edition of Aliens is brilliant, with footage that expands the story and gives it greater depth seamlessly integrated back in. When it comes to the better cinematic experience, my preference will always be for the original Alien, but it`s a fine line separating the two. James Cameron effortlessly blends the horror and suspense of the original film, with some adrenaline filled action providing plenty of eye-candy.

It`s a great cast, with Sigourney Weaver reprising her most famous role. In Alien, Ripley was a rounded character, faced with the horror on LV-426, and her responses as she fought the alien made for gripping viewing. Yet in many ways, it was the sequel Aliens that made Ripley the iconic screen heroine that still resonates today. Starting the film as a shattered and haunted character after her ordeal, she has to face her demons and win back the control in her life. The Special Edition also adds the notion that while in suspended animation, her daughter aged and died. That feeling of guilt and loss adds to her decision to go with the marines, and makes her motivations deeper and understandable, as well as adds layers to her relationship with the colony survivor Newt. Incidentally, Carrie Henn who makes the role believable plays Newt to perfection. Also in the cast is Cameron stalwart Michael Biehn as Hicks, the marine with a heart of gold. Paul Reiser is impressive as the futuristic yuppie Burke, the company representative whose motives are suspect the moment he uses the patronising phrase `kiddo`. Much need light relief is provided by Jenette Goldstein as the funny-macho Vasquez, and Bill Paxton, another Cameron regular as the hilarious Hudson.

This is definitely a James Cameron film, not least because of the trademark nuclear detonation. It actually parallels quite neatly the two Terminator movies that Cameron helmed, and it`s no coincidence that both Alien and Terminator have given us strong female role models. Like Sarah Connor, in Alien Ripley was faced with an unstoppable force, she spent most of the film reacting to what the alien did as it `terminated` the rest of the crew, and in the final confrontation, Ripley succeeds through the strength of her wits. When Aliens begins, Cameron takes this character to the next logical step, how she would be haunted by her ordeal, how those around her would view her with suspicion, simply because she survived, or disbelieve her completely. Yet when her nemesis returns, she takes the opportunity to confront her demons head on. This parallels quite well with Sarah Connor`s story in Terminator 2. Other common themes include corporate duplicity. As Burke pursues the holy grail of bio weapons, Dyson is building on the remains of the first Terminator. Both films also examine motherhood, in Ripley`s `adoption` of Newt, and of course Sarah`s relationship with her son John, both dysfunctional relationships, with Newt and Sarah both hardened to the outside world. You can certainly see the seed of what would inform Terminator 2 in Aliens, and if the two films share similarities, it`s no bad thing.

Aliens takes a good while to get going, establishing character and building up the suspense inexorably, so that when you finally get to see an alien, enough time has passed for it to be as much of a shock as it was in the original. In crafting his sequel, Cameron has paid attention to the original, keeping with the mythos and sharing enough elements to keep fans of the original hooked, but in creating his own film, he has broadened the focus of the film to make it about issues more far reaching than the simple stalk and slash heart of the original. Yet it all boils down to the final confrontation between Ripley and the source of her nightmares made real. After nearly 4 years, the disc is looking threadbare in terms of extras, and the visuals aren`t too outstanding, though they may be the best that you`ll see them. But the film as an action movie can`t be surpassed. If extras are not your thing, or you simply can`t wait for the release of the two-disc edition in a few weeks, then you should be able to find this disc at dirt-cheap prices; I recently saw a triple pack, with The Abyss and The Fifth Element for a penny shy of 15 quid.

And that for me is where the Alien saga ends, no Alien 3 or Resurrection for this DVD nut.

"Game over man! Game Over!"