ALIENS (1986) // FIRST TIME WATCHING // Sigourney Weaver 4ever

[@WillsonT011]

The reason they're not using space suits is because the planet was getting terraformed by the colonists. Giving it oxygen to breathe, that's why it's also raining there.

[@Markus117d]

Yep It's the big thing that "Mr Business" was talking money about when he said "We manufacture those by the way" Lol..

[@stevieb635]

The line "Game over! Game over, man!" has deep connections to the despair that accompanies failure for those of us who grew up in the 80s and saw that phrase hundreds or thousands of times at the end of playing video arcade games.

[@saltmason]

word

[@daveveautour4886]

And Bill ad-libbed it.

[@tarzangief]

Alien: One of the best Horror movies of all time Aliens: One of the best Action movies of all time

[@parcelohssa2243]

Agreed. Then...Alien 3 and Alien 4, two of the worst films ever made, until Michael Bay started making 'Transformer' "Movies".

[@tarzangief]

@@markvarley2962 One of the worst movies, but with one of the best performances of all time with Raul Julia's Dictator

[@tarzangief]

@@parcelohssa2243 If you think the Transformers movies are bad than you went into them expecting them to be something they clearly weren't. They were designed to be dumb fun and they succeed in that.

[@MrRJPE]

@@markvarley2962 May I introduce you to the 1993 movie Super Mario Bros.

[@Arxane]

Paul Reiser, the actor who played “moneybags” Burke, was apparently so good at playing a detestable, loathsome character that at when he watched the film with his family, his sister punched him for his character’s actions. Also, when his character was killed, he heard his mother whisper, “Good.”

[@havok6280]

Sounds like they were mad about him...

[@davidmarquardt2445]

@@havok6280 It's been a while since I've seen Aliens, but the scene I remember is Ripely telling Burke something like "I think I trust them more than you Burke. At least they wont sell you out for a percentage!".

[@JonJon-wf5yj]

@@davidmarquardt2445 Paul Reiser was in the TV show Mad About You....

[@revengeneutral8164]

@@JonJon-wf5yj And the show My Two Dads. It was weird him not being a scum bag.

[@Malkom1366]

Paul Reiser would (much later) be able to trade on how mistrusted he was in Aliens when they introduced him as a doctor in Stranger Things. It automatically made the audience suspicious of his motives because of the actor's other famous role, and they knew that when they hired him. Brilliant casting.

[@michaeljacyna1973]

I heard Carrie Henn who played Newt on a podcast... she didn't act again and eventually became a teacher. She said when student's parents find out who she is, they'll sneak DVDs or memorabilia into their backpacks for her to autograph. That makes me happy lol

[@paulp9274]

Shanelle: "Why aren't they sending the bot to do everything?" Bishop: "I prefer the term 'artificial person'"

[@kerrissedai6857]

There were a trilogy of books in the Alien universe were they sent a squad of synthetics.

[@claytonkeever2992]

How dare you assume their genetic makeup!

[@josepablolunasanchez1283]

Nowadays in many bad companies, if a computer breaks, it is fixed immediately. But if an employee gets sick, the employee is fired or forced to work sick. It seems today humans treat artificial people better than real ones.

[@JoeFF85]

@@josepablolunasanchez1283 it probably costs a lot more to purchase a new Synth from Cyberdyne than it costs to train, feed, house and bury a Marine noncom

[@dmwalker24]

As a biologist the Alien Queen is my favorite creature design in any movie. Absolutely beautiful. That said, Sigourney Weaver's performance as a mother is way more intimidating. No hesitation to go into the most horrifying place I can imagine to save that girl.

[@Dafmeister1978]

The Queen wants to protect her children in a general sense, but individually the drones are all expendable. She'd never go full Momma Bear over a single egg.

[@dmwalker24]

@@Dafmeister1978 Yeah, and biologically that's a consideration of investment. The Queen has to teach her drones nothing. She doesn't have to provide for them either. On the other hand, humans have comparatively so few offspring, and put so much effort into raising them, that it's a catastrophe to lose even one.

[@PhoenixFit2024]

“I don’t like finger stuff” Filed under: things missing context.

[@tacticalgrace6456]

Adding unrelated context to things missing context program activated!:- “…it’s course, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere.”

[@kennedy6587]

🤣😂

[@wolfinndnclothing]

"Get Mama in the hole." ( =^\

[@SpurrBlack]

Play in the air ducts! Play in the air ducts! I saw this as a kid and it works

[@clarkbarryj]

They mostly come at night...mostly

[@inarar5334]

"why do they need a deck of cards?" To pass the time. 17 days.

[@d3l3tes00n]

I'd rather have a pen & paper.

[@DeliberateContrarian]

@Michael Shaughnessy I think we call it tic-tac-toe.

[@yomahmaful]

While serving I learned a ton of card and dice games. Good times!

[@richardworton4597]

If you haven't seen Terminator or T2 yet that's another great movie and sequel 👌

[@davidbennett1357]

Also it should be noted that Bill Paxton is the only male actor to have been killed by Terminator, a Yautja and a Xenomorph AND The lady who played Vasquez played John Connor’s foster mom in T2, so she holds the distinction of the only actress to have been killed bu a Xenomorph and a Terminator…..TMYK

[@richardworton4597]

@@davidbennett1357 and Michael Bien is in the Terminator. I'll leave it there as to not spoil it for Shan.

[@Xfactories]

@@davidbennett1357 And she was the one putting the kids to bed whilst the ship is sinking in Titanic.

[@michaeljacyna1973]

I feel like the first two Alien movies and the first two Terminator movies are siblings.

[@richardworton4597]

@@michaeljacyna1973 arguably the sequels are just as good if not better 😉

[@johnsample7391]

"Why do they need a deck of cards?" Because they could not expect a rescue for 17 days and space marines hate playing charades.

[@Henrik_Holst]

Except Hudson, he loves the charades.

[@tsogobauggi8721]

There are two women and three men and a android there. They don't need other things to spend time. :)

[@MoMoMyPup10]

Hey, I was a space marine once and I loved playing charades 🥳

[@MikeB12800]

We’ll be keeping an eye out for Terminator and especially T2: Judgement Day

[@JGComments]

Yes pleeeease! Great movies.

[@Woowookins]

Terminator > T2, tbh. In my older age, I can't stand the goofs and comedy.

[@artman2oo3]

YES. I highly suggest she react to both.

[@IdealUser]

One thing I really like about Aliens and Ripley is she uses her natural abilities to fight the Queen instead of some BS reason. It's established early in the film she is rated to operate the mecha-loader, which makes the heavy weight boxing match plausible later on.

[@eliberdinner4808]

Chekhov's power loader

[@KabukiKid]

@@eliberdinner4808 LMAO! No joke! I saw the comment above and was going to make the Chekov joke, as well! lol You beat me to it. :-)

[@tdrewman]

The actress that plays Newt quit acting after this movie. She is now a 4th grade teacher. Every year her students find out she was Newt in Aliens and they bring DVDs for her to sign.

[@DeadpoolTesla]

"If the alien made it on the escape pod, i'm gonna be pissed..." David Fincher: 🤣

[@matsv201]

I guess she is not going to like the next movie

[@Ryotsu2112]

@@matsv201 Well I hope she doesn’t watch it.

[@DeadpoolTesla]

@@matsv201 It has it's moments... I hated the movie when it came out, but it grew on me over the years. It's not a totally bad movie, but it's like the Star Wars sequels - well made but with a crappy story. 😆

[@matsv201]

@@Ryotsu2112 i think it would be funny

[@CruelestChris]

@@DeadpoolTesla It has the same core problem as the (imaginary) Terminator sequels past 2, in that it begins by undoing something great: in those it's that there's no reason for the T-101 to sacrifice itself if Judgement Day happens anyway, here that basically everything Ripley did to protect Newt was pointless.

[@sammylane21]

When Newt calls Ripley "Mommy"-->😭.

[@curtinparloe]

I contend that "Get away from her, you bitch!" is the most badass line ever captured on film.

[@freak5646]

Not a contention. That is a statement of fact.

[@LondonCelt]

“Outstanding”

[@Trapper50cal]

Paxton: "Game Over, Man! Game Over!" ahhh, I miss Bill Paxton.

[@Madbandit77]

We all do.

[@KabukiKid]

That used to be my Windows shutdown sound. Classic line. I miss Bill Paxton too.

[@MrMagic1515]

"why don't you put her in charge!?"...Love that line

[@maxducoudray]

James Cameron at his peak. What makes this and Terminator 2 such amazing movies of his is that they are sequels that continue the story in interesting and logical ways without simply retreading the originals. Aliens feels so distinct from Alien and yet it is a great continuation of the story.

[@tsogobauggi8721]

"feels so distinct and a great continuation" Yes, that is what is fantastic about Alien trilogy. Every film is fantastic but they are very different from each other. That is great. Usually movie trilogies are just more of the same. :)

[@milescoburn1845]

@@tsogobauggi8721 Except, in the case of Alien 3, different doesn't mean better. Or even good.

[@leonefurlan137]

When is Cameron not at his peak?

[@CrowTRobot]

@@leonefurlan137 depends on who you ask. I personally like all of his movies but hyperbolic movie snobs will tell you that Avatar is "garbage". It's not. Some people have never suffered through actual bad movies before.

[@tsogobauggi8721]

@@CrowTRobot You also like Piranha II: The Spawning ;)

[@WOranos]

LV-426 has been undergoing terrorforming operations for years when the the marines get there. The air is now breathable, hence, no need for spacesuits.

[@davidr1050]

The company didn't know about the alien ship until Ripley reported it's location and Burke sent colonists to investigate.

[@ashscott6068]

Yeah, but if you consider the prequels and AVP movies to be canon, everyone except Ripley knew about that ship.

[@sblagg527]

Exactly. And we find that out later in the scene between Ripley and Burke, which is why the added colonist scene in the Director's Cut is the only thing I don't like about it- it's redundant and takes away any suspense from what happened to them. When CBS showed this as their Sunday Night Movie in 1989, they left in all the scenes from the Director's Cut EXCEPT that one , making that version IMO the best.

[@sblagg527]

@@ashscott6068 No self-respecting filmgoer considers that crap canon.

[@Dragon-Believer]

There are all sorts of problems if you start thinking about the science. It's movie logic. They might as well be breathing by magic. It doesn't matter. Just enjoy the story. It's fiction not science.

[@Dragon-Believer]

@@scp_redacted989 true, but it's tradition that science fiction is understood to be magic. In Star Wars they go to light speed. A) Light speed is too slow for space travel. B) Time dilation. No time passes at light speed. It would be impossible to leave light speed. You'd be frozen in time forever. Unless you collided with something and maybe not even then.

[@dylancraven3979]

After Alien set up Ripley as a badass woman, this film was the first movie I watched that introduced me to the concept of a badass female character who was portrayed as motherly and caring. This franchise was responsible for my introduction both to badass female characters, as well as ones that don't have to give up their womanhood and act like men in order to be badass. Thank you Ridley Scott, thank you James Cameron, thank you Sigourney Weaver. Alien and Aliens are both films that use the trope of secondary/surrounding characters that don't believe anything the female protagonist says, who is always making the right/smartest decisions. The frustration that builds up over the course of the film only makes it more satisfying when either someone believes her (Hicks in Aliens), or she's the only one to survive (Ripley in Alien). It is a trope that I particularly enjoy (even if I can only stomach watching one every once in a while, since it pisses me off so much), and these two movies are numbers 1 and 2 in my top examples of it in film. You clearly cottoned on to the usage of this trope early, as you pointed out several examples of it. However, I would like to address something at 12:10 when you said the men were like "Ripley, you're the girl, come up", in context of dealing with a young child. It doesn't quite fit the trope the way the other examples you mentioned do and it's much more reasonable than the misogyny it appears to be on the surface. The squad are in a dangerous situation and can't afford to waste time trying to coax the girl out, and a young girl is significantly more likely to respond positively to a woman in civilian clothes than a man in combat armour. It was a tactical decision by Hicks and it was the right one. Thanks for the vid! I'm glad you enjoyed the film. Regards, Dylan C.

[@-M0LE]

Exactly they try and write a strong female character as anti male and anti testosterone Ripley was just a strong woman that’s it that’s all you need

[@Doutsoldome]

Oh, yes! I have to agree! I grew up watching reruns in the 80s of the TV series _The Six Million Dollar Man_ and _The Bionic Woman,_ that were made in the 70s. Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) had all the powers you could expect of a "bionic" person: superstrength, superspeed, and so on. However, she was feminine, good-humored, kind, generous, and resolved most issues using her wits and being empathetic towards other people, instead of just using brute strength. She used her powers to go through locked doors and things like that, and only rarely to hit other people. She loved her dog, had a good friendship with her male boss (just a real friendship, nothing more) and smiled in appreciation when people gave her good-natured compliments for her looks, reacting annoyed to that only when it was done with second intentions. The character background was of a former tennis player and she wasn't tech savvy, but she was clearly intelligent, determined, and more than capable of figuring things out and making important decisions -- sometimes with personal sacrifice. An adventurous, corageous, compassionate, and -- abovel all -- believable human being. The idea that "strong female characters" have to be carbon copies of brutish men is stupid from all perspectives and all levels of analysis. And insisting that this "girl power" has to be framed by constantly bashing men adds an extra layer of stupidity. Ellen Ripley is awesome. I offer to you, also, Jamie Sommers as a different example.

[@christiankalk4668]

It's also cool that this movie contains both types of "strong female characters": Vasquez is the more common "one of the boys" type, whereas Ripley as mentioned above is simply a smart, competent character, who is also a well-rounded female character.

[@Jekyll_Island_Creatures]

@@-M0LE Precisely! Today's films simplistically think to have a strong female character that they have to be obnoxiously anti male while simultaneously embodying the worst characteristics of men.

[@zacharyberridge7239]

Bill Paxton has the dubious distinction of being killed by a Terminator, a xenomorph, and a Predator.

[@pickmeasinner]

And Michael Biehn seems to have tasty hands since they get bitten here, on terminator, and In the abyss too i think!

[@zairac2564]

Yes, Ripley and Hicks get together. They adopt Newt, and Newt loves playing with Jonesy. Since they never made any movies after this one, it seems clear that this is how the story ends. Yup, no other movies. I'm fine with that if that's what it takes to have a happy ending and not just constantly make a box office cash grab with questionable scripts and fan-catering crossovers.

[@yomahmaful]

Ssshhhhhhhhhhh! 😆

[@asdfasdf7199]

😂

[@topperformanceify]

I dunno, for a universe as cynical and dark as this one, that seems like too idyllic of an ending. This seems like the perfect franchise for a budding director to work on, though. Might not be a great movie but I bet it'd still have its charm. Almost definitely shouldn't do any more after that, though.

[@LinNoOne]

PREACH

[@Nico6th]

That's how it should have been. I read somewhere that the original idea for the third one was to have the aliens on earth like having them stalk through corn fields - yes, that idea became "Signs". I can totally see Ripley, Hicks, and a sightly older Newt making a stand in their farmhouse and defending their new home. Could have been great.

[@kermitlacock5930]

This was the only movie for the girl who played Newt. She became a teacher later in life. I only learned of this movie about 45 minutes before I saw it. I was reading the newspaper during lunch. The lead story in the entertainment section was about Aliens release. Saw the show times listed and walked over to the theater.

[@MrRezRising]

What's a newspaper? 😁

[@chefskiss6179]

I was scrolling uber-eats while working remotely the other day, then a banner popped up for Aliens, I clicked on it as I walked over to my couch and started streaming it. Woah, it was so good. ;)

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

I remember me & a friend were hanging out, being bored & looking for something to do. My friend’s sister said she was going to see the new Alien movie & we thought, “Hey, why don’t we do that.”🤣 I’d hadn’t seen Alien at that point, but I’d talked to people who had seen it & had the gist. Needless to say, this film left me pretty impressed.

[@wolfinndnclothing]

@@MrRezRising Paper Facebook..

[@OgreProgrammer]

@@MrRezRising an oldspaper is a like a giant kindle for old people that doesn't scroll. It also isn't backlit.

[@moviemaestro800]

It blows my mind to this day how impressively careful they were with the shot setup for whenever the Queen appeared, so that you can never see the strings or rigs on the puppet. It really does the trick in making you think it's a real living creature, and not a team of about 14 people operating a puppet. Stan Winston and his team delivered one of the best practical creature effects of all time. As impressive as plenty of CGI can still be, it truly is amazing looking at what some filmmakers from before had to do to pull off that which would normally be done digitally these days, and how it can look just as convincing, if not more so in most cases, to be honest. I guess it's the fact that you know that a puppet is at least something you can physically touch, whereas it takes a ridiculous amount of time and effort to make CGI trick you into thinking you could do the same there.

[@christiankalk4668]

Good puppetry still looks better than 99% of CGI creatures.

[@moviemaestro800]

The newest Planet of the Apes movies are among those rare exceptions.

[@Carandini]

CGI is over-used. The ideal way to use it is as one in an entire toolbox of special effects, not the be-all end-all. Contrast Lord of the Ring, where they used practical effects except where they needed CGI, with those dismal Hobbit movies, where it was CGI 24-7.

[@SchrodingersTransCat]

The early 2000s sf show Farscape used realistic puppets for its aliens (similar to the original Star Wars trilogy). The showmakers soon realised that the way to sell them as 'real' was to have the actors physically interact with them as much as possible. Touch them, manhandle them when angry, etc. Like Yoda, you know the puppet's not really alive, but at least it's clearly *there* in the room with the actors, and the light bouncing off it is actual light bouncing off real material instead of a rendering effect, and so on. Oddly enough, George Lucas of Star Wars reputedly doesn't see any difference between using puppets and using CGI. To him it's all equally fake. He seems puzzled that people think puppets look more real. But he's an odd duck in many ways...

[@Merecir]

WARNING when seen this cannot be unseen. - - - - - - When Ripley fires the flame thrower over the eggs and the alien Queen reacts to that she raises her head and that exposes the metal truss inside the chest that the head is mounted on. I did warn you. 😆

[@AlanCanon2222]

The actor who plays BIshop, Lance Henrikson, showed up at a premiere of a small indy film he was in at Clifton Center in Louisville, Kentucky a few years ago. He got my friend (who was working as an usher) in to the main event....better yet, when the one toilet in the theater stopped working, Lance Henrikson fixed it! Whatta guy!

[@ocelot815]

Legend! 💯

[@iKvetch558]

Shanelle: "Did he just put a cigar in his mouth?!" MSG Al Apone: "Yes I did...would you like me to light one up for you, sweetheart?!"

[@HudsonDoodle]

What I love is he likely went into cryo-sleep with that cigar in his hand so he’d be ready.

[@ratflail215]

@@HudsonDoodle I love that image.

[@danielmitchell8165]

TALK TO ME, PEOPLE!

[@penoyer79]

Al Matthews said he ad-libbed the cigar scene because the girl who played Detreich kept bitching at him like "You're standing in MY light" so he was like "you think im in your light now? well watch this" so he did the cigar thing and got a bunch of praise by Cameron and showed her up. she was pissed.

[@Beakie40k]

“Gee would you sir? I’d like that”

[@martinbraun1211]

Please watch "Galaxy Quest"! Also with Sigourney Weaver!

[@hayleycomet8029]

Love galaxy quest!!

[@tsogobauggi8721]

Sigourney looks wonderful in Galaxy Quest :)

[@ohauss]

By Grabthar's Hammer! It has to happen!

[@-M0LE]

Starring Guy Fleegman

[@shackyman3644]

She'd love it.

[@sarahotto6006]

Jenette Goldstein, who plays Vasquez, is also the Irish mother on Titanic who reads to her children as the ship sinks. She looks so completely different. Aliens was also her first film and Cameron had to fight Fox for her to get the role.

[@miaowington]

And Janelle the foster mum in T2.

[@lanemyer774]

She was also Diamondback in "Near Dark", and detective Meagan Shapiro in "Lethal Weapon 2". Jenette Goldstein is a legend.

[@Artanis99]

Fun fact: When Jenette Goldstein auditioned, she knew absolutely nothing about the movie, she thought it was something about lives of illegal immigrants and showed up for audition in pink minidress and high heels thinking that her role would be illegal immigrant forced into prostitution or something.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

Don't forget that the "Somebody said aliens, she thought they said 'illegal aliens' and signed up" is a joke about how she showed up for her audition dressed as a mexican immigrant because she didn't realise Aliens was a science fiction movie.

[@RizzoF21344]

The original scene with Newt's family was cut, and honestly I think it makes it better. By showing the family you kind of expect one of them to still be alive. Without the scene having a child alive is a much bigger surprise.

[@andersonprimer]

It also works better that our first view of the colony is the same as Ripley & Co's. Going in blind matches the perspective of the main characters. I'm glad those scenes were cut in the original but accessible later on.

[@MustardSeedish]

The elevator sequence with Ripley arming up is one of the most badass scenes of all time.

[@DoremiFasolatido1979]

The other one being "Get away from her, you BITCH!"

[@TheAndroidBishop]

"did I miss how they're able to breath without a suit?" Yeah, it was the atmosphere generator Burk was talking about literally five seconds ago

[@grintharke]

Also demonstrated in the scene where Newt's dad is infected with the facehugger near the alien ship.

[@namelessjedi2242]

Terraforming, a shake & bake colony! The movie tells us several times why it had atmosphere. 😆

[@Bfdidc]

They manufacture those by the way.

[@d3l3tes00n]

Why the attitude?

[@Curraghmore]

That was great how you saw right through Paul Reiser/Burke as soon as he opened his mouth and you wanted him dead before he even finished his first line.

[@TheDreamerExtreme]

Fun fact; Ripley's daughter, Amanda, is the protagonist of a game, Alien: Isolation. She had her own shit to deal with; like mother, like daughter LOL

[@visvivalaw]

"It is impossible for me to harm or through omission of action allow to be harmed a human being." -- a.k.a Asimov's First Law of Robotics from "I, Robot".

[@jason5388]

I think the theatrical cut is more effective by not showing the colony until the main characters arrive and letting us discover what happened along with them

[@jsonkody]

U thing wrong .. directors cut is +25% for me (from 90 to 115 xD )

[@dylancraven3979]

I agree and disagree, both have advantages and drawbacks. The theatrical cut, as you mentioned, does play into the tension and suspense of uncovering the mystery better than the director's cut. On the other hand, the director's cut is the version that features Ripley being a mother who lost her child and Newt as a child who lost her mother, a symmetry that I think makes it all the more powerful when the two bond as adoptive mother and daughter throughout the film. Overall, I think the theatrical is a stronger film in terms of setting and suspense, and the director's cut is a stronger film in terms of themes and character.

[@willarms5510]

The good, the bad, and the okay of deleted scenes in Aliens: The short scene with the photo of Ripley's 'daughter' is one of the most important, best improvements of any scene ever restored to a special edition/directors cut. It absolutely belongs in the film, and even with the other little mother/daughter bit of dialogue in the med lab it hardly adds anything to the run time. In terms of run time it costs next to nothing to add it back in, and in terms of enhancing the theme/story/characters it adds everything. Early in my history with Aliens I had a buddy who told me about this scene because he had seen it in a behind the scenes special or read it in the novelization or something, so I basically have always watched the movie with this paradigm. I still prefer the theatrical cut (being forced to choose which available version to watch) since I already know about Ripley's daughter. 100% of the stuff at the colony before the attack is a travesty of film making. I never choose to watch the directors cut, or introduce people to the film with the directors cut because I can't stand this stuff. Not that there is anything 'wrong' with the material from a technical perspective, but I think... 1) it undercuts the thematic functions of Newt's character for us to actually see her pre-trauma. Ripley is our POV character and I prefer to be on the journey with her, only able to ever guess based on bits and scraps of information about Newts past that she finds in Newts 'nest'. There is a pathos to the loss of whoever this little girl was before tragedy struck that is an interesting parallel to the life Ripley's own daughter lived that Ripley will also only ever be able to guess about by reconstructing bits and pieces of archival information or perhaps hearing second hand from other people. Showing the audience who Newt was 'before' takes away from the film thematically and takes away from Ripley's emotional connection to Newt. Unlike with her daughter who has passed, Ripley has a chance to make up for 'lost time' with Newt, so as an audience member I prefer for that time in Newts life to be truly 'lost' to me, like... oh, let's call it... tears in the rain. 2) It's too on the nose for Newt and her family to be directly involved and present in how the Xenomorphs got unleashed on the colony. Also, with Newt and her family no doubt invested in her father's medical progress, it seems like it puts Newt too close to 'ground zero' and makes it less likely that she would be one of the last (finally the only) survivor. This is more of a nit pik and subjective opinion, but in a movie with a lot of tight scripting and 'real life' sense of stakes, this just feels like 'convenient' writing and I think it weakens the script overall. (I'm fine with convenient writing if the tone of the movie supports it. Let Shanelle react to Monster Squad and I will defend convenient plot coincidences all day long!) I knock it here because it feels out of place in a movie that mostly tends to eschew that type of writing. Mostly. 3) There is mysterious, chilling, foreboding, creepy, tones to the abandoned officescape of coffee and doughnuts on peoples desks that is ruined by showing us the 'before'. It's the section of the film that arguably best captures the 'haunted house' feel of Alien. 4) Even in the theatrical cut that I mostly love (except for missing Ripley's missing daughter) it arguably takes a long time to get into the action. It's really not worth the screen time to show us these locations twice. Showing them to us with Ripley and Co (again, with our POV characters) has lots of arguments to defend it -- building tension, informing us of the layout, etc. For pacing, one of these sets of shots needs to go -- and based on what they each add to the film -- it's clearly the 'before' stuff that needs to go. Anything of artistic value in showing us a parallel, is dwarfed in comparison to cutting the before stuff to up the spooky atmosphere and sense of dread/tension. The 'before' stuff at the colony is actually one of the only deleted scenes of any movie that I kind of wish I could un-see. Then there is all the stuff with the security guns. I can kind of take or leave that stuff. Really interesting to see how cleverly it was removed and that they were able to still make everything flow well without it. As a fan of weapons and f/x it's fun to get to see it. It's the perfect kind of gee-wiz cool stuff to see on a deleted scenes special features, but I don't feel strongly like it diminishes the film to remove it either. It adds to the run time and doesn't really move the plot forward in any meaningful way. Same for Hudson's 'bad ass' speech. Kind of glorious to see as a special features, but doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know.

[@Phantoon]

@@willarms5510 Yeah, I agree with all of this. Out of the Director's Cut stuff, the revelation about Ripley's daughter needed to stay, everything else adds little to the film and is actually deleterious to the pacing or tension. It's still great, but theatrical all of the way.

[@matthill5426]

Ripley: "She's survived here for fifteen days, with no supplies and no weapons!" Corporal Hicks: "Well, why don't you put her in charge?!?"

[@GARYHODGKINSON]

Hudson Sir, he's Hicks.

[@TheZachValentine]

You and Ashleigh Burton (LOVE BOTH OF YOU!) have me cracking up because y’all both thought Newt said “nudes” 😂😂😂😂😂

[@gokaury]

Sigourney Weaver and the actress who plays Newt are still very good friends to this day.

[@aaronjuergens5219]

Oh man. If you play one horror game, it should be Alien: Isolation. There’s no way Amanda Ripley would ever think her mother would break a promise.

[@HudsonDoodle]

So true. May be my favorite video game (and Aliens is my favorite movie). I think Shanelle should do a Let’s Play of Alien: Isolation.

[@Otokichi786]

How about a work/vacation on board the Alterra capital ship, "Aurora"? As "Ryley Robinson," you will be Non-Essential Systems Maintenance Chief, on the way to build a Phase Gate. The "Aurora" will make a gravity-assisted turn over the unexplored ocean-Planet 4546B. If you get shore leave, you can look at the ocean denizens from a safe distance. What could go wrong? "Subnautica: A once-in-a-lifetime experience, masquerading as a game.";)

[@aaronjuergens5219]

Absolutely. I bet she’d get upset when she finds out about the locker mechanic. Lol.

[@maingun07]

The line where Hudson says, "Somebody said "alien" she thought they said "illegal alien" and signed up!" is an inside joke. When Jenette Goldstein auditioned for the part of Vasquez, all she knew was the title "Aliens" and assumed it was a film about illegal aliens.

[@-M0LE]

Maybe that’s how you stop the aliens Just build a wall 🤭🤣🤣🤣

[@SpurrBlack]

Oh dear

[@scottstevens7639]

Can’t believe you haven’t seen “The Terminator” yet. Better get on that ASAP. While you’re at it, better get on the rest of James Cameron’s filmography. The man never fails to deliver the goods.

[@playy1797]

Agreed! The Abyss is another one to watch!

[@-_James_-]

Piranha II: The Spawning was Cameron's first film (before Terminator). It was and always will be awful. I see he's involved in four, yes, four Avatar sequels coming over the next four years. I bet they will mostly suck too.

[@juniorm641]

People really believe she hasn't seen these films

[@iKvetch558]

Shanelle: "Do you manufacture coffins?!" Weyland-Yutani Corporation: "Yes, yes we do, and body bags, and crematory urns...crematoriums too, actually...and gravestones, and corpse freezers...and of course all the weapons. We are a one stop shop of death and horror...what can we sell you today?" 😋😜😂

[@memnarch129]

Literally they sell everything. You look into the deeper aliens lore and Wey-Yu literally manufactures EVERYTHING. There is not a industry they dont have products or investments in.

[@Revanbzn]

They even basically own the marines too.

[@thedragon133]

Well, they are THE company ^^

[@DoremiFasolatido1979]

and life insurance policies, all of which come with a clause where we also get even more of a payout from your death than even your beneficiaries get...if they get anything, because our terms are such that they'll almost never qualify for benefits upon your death.

[@DoremiFasolatido1979]

Did I forget to mention that companies today actually are taking out life insurance policies on their employees?

[@ogrejehosephatt37]

"When you go to space, you can't be makin' promises." -Shanelle Riccio

[@MrUndersolo]

You smile at the parts where most people cringe. Glad to find my doppelganger online!

[@patrickbateman7369]

How the hell could you edit out Bill Paxton's "17 hrs" freak out!! It's super iconic

[@GrumpyOldGuyPlaysGames]

"Get away from her you bitch!" was voted the single-most iconic line in any science fiction movie by attendees of the 2010 World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), beating out such other memorable lines as "No, I am your father", "Gort! Klaatu Beratis Nikto", "E.T. phone home!", and "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

[@Merecir]

If done today "I am Iron Man" would win.

[@mikefarnsworth772]

While I really like the director's cut, I am glad that I saw the theatrical version first. There was an incredible buildup of suspense between when Burke tells Ripley that they've lost contact with the colony, and then watching the marines enter the colony not really know what they're going to find. It wouldn't be the same, or at least I don't imagine it would be the same, if you had already seen the beginning to the alien infestation of the colony. Of course, now that I know what happened to the colony, it's really interesting to see what the colony looked like before catastrophe struck.

[@nathanruggles]

Excellent observation, and I totally agree with this take. Theatrical cut is the best for a first watch for anyone for this very reason. (Which is why I simply don't understand why reaction channel fans always seem to pile-on beg for reactors to watch the director's cut for their first watch.)

[@frederickgramcko5758]

You're well spoken and bring constructive criticism and praise. One of the best "reactos" on KZbin. 😇✌

[@milescoburn1845]

Good reaction! My favorite part of the film, and NO ONE else seems to catch it, is when the marines are getting their briefing and it's turned over to Ripley, she starts faltering in what happened, and the marines start yuckking it up. Then Ripley uses, what we called in the service, her "Command Voice" ("Are you finished?"), and the marines immediately shut up and start paying attention. In this instance, she proves her competency and prior command authority. From then on, she's treated at least on an equal footing by the lower ranking marines. That comes for the Sergeant when she proves her skill on the loader. The green Lieutenant is the typical, just out of command school. After he wakes up, he wakes up and defers to Ripley's more experience.

[@commanderkruge]

What was cut from the theatrical version: - The scene in which we learn that Ripley has a daughter and she died of old age - all the scenes in the colony showing it before shit goes down - The scene with Newt's family discovering the alien spaceship and the father getting a facehugger - The scene with the autocannons emptying their ammunition in a minute That's pretty much it.

[@SchrodingersTransCat]

There are some minor cuts too--for instance, the discussion of 'who's laying these eggs?' is a lot shorter in the theatrical cut. Hudson doesn't get to say his piece about anthives.

[@commanderkruge]

@@SchrodingersTransCat It's been a while since I compared both versions - I only remember the scenes that were completely cut. :)

[@ianhamilton2035]

Some of the best one-liners of all time!! "What are we supposed to use, harsh language?" "We're on an express elevator to hell, going down!" And so many more, LoL 😆

[@matsv201]

"She thought it was illegal aliens and signed up" Actually a true statment

[@squatchnasty234]

Game over man! Game over!

[@rygar218]

How do I get out of this chicken sh!t outfit?

[@galaxytraveler5779]

"There's a Spunkmeyer in this film" 😂 wow great catch

[@MrDabulls23]

I’ve read somewhere that Paul Reiser’s (Burke) mother attended the premiere and she actually cheered when her son’s character was offed.

[@Madbandit77]

That's a mother's love.

[@ratflail215]

That's when you know someone has done a good acting job.

[@aarrgghh]

youtube cc/subtitles @7:55 -- "she got sent to work with clitoral clowns." 🤣

[@FilterHQ]

'When you go to space, you can't be making promises.'....😂

[@garytyme9384]

You do have a very soothing voice Shanelle. Have you done any voiceovers?

[@wishfulstinker8327]

I'm really proud of 2020 actresses being strong powerful female characters. We had none before them....

[@alaska4517]

Except this was made in 1986

[@patrickbateman7369]

You're the first person ever to call the Colonial Marines "clowns"

[@Uncle_T]

"No, have you?" GOAT comeback if ever there was one. :)

[@Sandra-wj4on]

They allowed Ripley to smoke because they needed an excuse for her to have it when she set off the smoke alarm. Another payoff moment!😊

[@gregorybrown3272]

Paul Reiser, who played Carter Burke in this movie, took his mother to the premiere and during the scene where Burke gets killed by the alien, his mother turned to him and say "GOOD!"

[@mattp6089]

'Oh yeah software update. I'll trust him.' You will trust him, you'll gladly trust Bishop with your life! Fantastic turnabout. Burke, not so much. It's not over until the Alien goes out the goddamn airlock.

[@alansonoda]

Paul Reiser portrayed Burke perfectly. You just loathe and hate him, which was the whole point. Which was a nice departure from his character on the "Mad About You" sitcom, which he is also known for.

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

When Ripley asked if there was anything she could do, I appreciated the sergeant's matter of fact tone in "Is there anything you can do?" It wasn't an assumption she was useless because if being a woman, just he didnt know her abilities.

[@LukeLovesRose]

Agreed.

[@Paul_1971]

If you get around to watching Alien 3, make sure you watch the assembly cut or you'll be missing out on 40 mins worth of crucial footage!

[@Jekyll_Island_Creatures]

Why would you want to extend that trainwreck of a film?

[@Paul_1971]

@@Jekyll_Island_Creatures Because its missing the whole Golic subplot - rather than him just disappearing in the theatrical cut which made no sense

[@parcelohssa2243]

Fun Fact, Jenette Goldstein was also in James Cameron's Terminator 2 as John Conner's (Edward Furlong) foster mother. She was also in Titanic as "Irish Mommy."

[@evilproducer01]

If you want an incredible, stunning, and strangely underrated film with a strong female central character by James Cameron, then you should check out The Abyss. The film is gorgeous to look at, and technological innovations abounded for this film, including early “photo-real” CGI, which paved the way for the CG F/X in T2, which in turn led to the CG F/X in Jurassic Park. Photoshop was invented for this film’s digital F/X. The story and the visual style are also really cool. The sense of isolation and the scale in certain scenes are visceral.

[@mariselaorta1981]

"Perfect. All we need is a deck of cards." --Hicks is saying in jest that after they close off their position they can sit around and play a game of cards.

[@davidr1050]

There's a scene in the book where a Xenomorph comes up behind Bishop as he is at the dish.. He turns around and comes face to face with it... The Xenomorph looks him up and down and then moves off because he wouldn't make a good host.. Bishop says, "Not human enough." And goes back to his work..

[@skaraturbo]

Which book? or are you joking?

[@davidr1050]

@@skaraturbo -- I can't remember if it was in the book, or the screenplay / script. I know it wasn't shot which is a shame.

[@SchrodingersTransCat]

@@skaraturbo I think David is referring to the novelisation, written as part of the marketing for the release of the movie. They're often based on early drafts of the script/screenplay because the author has to start writing them in advance--so they tend to differ from the finished film in odd ways, and can provide an insight into work-in-progress ideas that were dropped. For instance, the novelisation of the first Alien movie has the crew waking up from cryo-sleep naked rather than in their undies. (Apologies if you already know this stuff--wasn't clear from your comment.)

[@johnirving5949]

@@skaraturbo The novelization of Aliens was done by legendary SF writer Alan Dean Foster, who also did the original novelization for a small flick named Star Wars, among many others 😁

[@skaraturbo]

@@johnirving5949 Is there a way to get that novel today?

[@desoliver9712]

Shanelle: Atmospheric processors... we manufacture those by the way' A F E W S E C O N D S L A T E R Shanelle: 'How come everyone can breathe?'

[@willarms5510]

Shanelle: I don't know what I'm in for... J. Cameron: about 40 miles of bad road.

[@ClutchSituation]

"Punch this guy." Oh Shanelle. He's just warming up. One of the most reprehensible villains in cinema history.

[@johnturnbull5971]

I get a kick out of Jennifer Lawrence saying in an interview for hunger games that she was the 1st female lead in an action movie like this movie and terminator and many more movies never existed

[@LukeLovesRose]

Or when the critics made Rey out to be the first female action hero in a sci-fi movie. Its like ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME? How can you call yourself a movie critic and say something so ignorant??

[@jimpemberton]

We used "fire in the hole" back when I was active duty Marines to announce that we were starting the engine of the tank.

[@warrengday]

DIRECTOR'S CUT - just so you know, all James Cameron films are the directors cut as he has final cut on all versions of his films (yes, including all the special edits done for TV, different countries etc.). With Jim Cameron films the term normally used is SPECIAL EDITION.

[@jmwild1]

Except Cameron was forced to cut his film by the studio, so he didn't have ultimate decision making power. He did get to choose what to remove, but his hand was forced by Fox. So the theatrical cut was more of a producer's cut, not a director's cut.

[@rev.chuckshingledecker]

@@jmwild1 Indeed. Cameron did not have that sort of clout yet in 1986.

[@R.J.Godzilla81]

I’m not sure if you noticed, but in the scene at the med lab when everyone first shows there, there’s a great piece of subtle acting on Sigourney Weaver’s part when her as Ripley is standing in the doorway and one is trying to get past her brushes up against and she jumps from being startled (which she would be). I watched this movie so much and never noticed it, then one day I happened to finally notice it and now I can’t unsee it, and nobody ever talks about it.

[@joshritz7067]

They're was a recently restored clip where Ripley finds cocooned Burke on her trip to find Newt. Ripley puts I've of those grenades with a deadman's trigger in his hand and keeps walking

[@SpurrBlack]

I like surprises, that definately fits my internal narrative (most people imagine multiple ways he became prices, right?)

[@Merecir]

You can even hear the detonation of that grenade in the theatrical version as Ripley goes deeper into the hive.

[@cnkclark]

I heard it was cut because the timeline didn't fit well given how quickly Ripley went into the hive.

[@Garryck-1]

@@cnkclark - That doesn't make sense either.. since there was clearly enough time for them to cocoon Newt, and Burke was grabbed before Newt was.

[@cnkclark]

@@Garryck-1 I looked it up. When Ripley finds Burke in the deleted scene, he begs for help and says he can feel the chestburster moving around inside him - he's already been implanted. But Cameron realized that didn't make sense, by the established lifecycle timing Burke should have still had a facehugger attached to him. So they just cut out the scene.

[@vwlssnvwls3262]

I saw this in the theater when it released. I was almost 17 at the time. This was just amazing all around. RIP Bill Paxton... he had so many great lines/scenes. :D The theatrical version did not have the scene with Newts family discovering the ship. I kind of like that better, because it leaves you in the dark longer. However, the slight back story into Newt is not bad, I just think the movie works better overall if you don't know anything when they arrive.

[@desoliver9712]

totally agree.

[@steriopticon2687]

The second time I saw Aliens, I thought I must have had an aneurism, as I didn't remember that scene from the first time I saw the show.

[@TinaLaGreca]

This film is definitely my most favorite in the Alien franchise. I was a Spanish major and I did an oral report on the female dominant roll in this film in college in 1986.

[@algrudenich1827]

Tera-forming is why it's raining. Man-made atmosphere

[@TheMaxmurphy1973]

Holy crap! When you said you hadn't seen Terminator yet I couldn't concentrate on anything you said after that for a bit...then I remember you're only in your 20's lol.

[@rbrtck]

Cpl. Hicks already knew they were dealing with a child, so naturally he thought the child might respond better to Ripley than Marines wearing armor and carrying guns. That's the only reason he brought her out front, otherwise he would have insisted that she get behind himself and the other Marines.

[@mccpcorn2000]

Never has anyone caught onto Burke so quickly lol

[@donsample1002]

So many movies do the "30 seconds to self destruct" and then show five minutes of action before the self destruct actually goes off. This movie has the last few minutes of the self destruct elapsing in sync with the time elapsed in the movie.

[@inarar5334]

"come on Vasquez, I don't want you to die." There's literally a TV trope "Vasquez Always Dies."🤣

[@matsv201]

Its imoressive to die so bad as you get your own trope.. I misssed thst one

[@MrM0nt3]

Janette Goldstein, who played Vasquez, is also the stepmother in Terminator 2 !

[@gluuuuue]

As a kid with asthma growing up here in California in the '80s and who frequently came down with bouts of bronchitis, smoking was *EVERYWHERE*. Half my extended family smoked, and every time we ate at restaurants, they asked if we preferred to sit in smoking or non-smoking sections. Starting around the mid '80s I wanna say, the public health campaigns for the dangers of tobacco use along with fire hazards for smoking (Smokey the Bear's "Only *you* can prevent forest fires") became more prevalent on TV, and by the early '90s, far fewer people were smoking around the state, at least here in the metro areas. We became more comfortable sitting in smoking sections of restaurants since patrons rarely smoked anyway. According to the net, smoking became banned in public restaurants in the state in 1995, which shifted a lot of smokers to having to do so outdoors. Most actors probably smoked or at least had to for film roles until this gradually went away too, probably hitting the tipping point I'd say around the mid-to-late 2000s.

[@-M0LE]

And so the tobacco industry invented vaping

[@Ryotsu2112]

As a kid growing up in the 70’s, I can relate. Every trip in the car was us 3 kids in the back seat while my parents were both chain smoking in the front with the air conditioning on. That shit really burns your eyes and you have to crack the window and stick your nose up to it to try to get fresh air. There constantly smoked at home too, of course.

[@pokes404]

The reason they didn't need suits in this movie was because the Atmosphere Processor had been running for roughly 2 decades already. It was making the planet's atmosphere breathable for humans. I actually prefer the Theatrical Cut of the movie; however, it is missing a critical scene. There's no mention of Ripley having a daughter in the Theatrical Cut. Why they would cut that scene is beyond me because it provides so much subtext to Ripley and Newt's relationship for the rest of the movie. So that is definitely the big advantage of the Director's Cut. But aside from that, the TC has better reveals and a little more tension, in my opinion. You never see the colony in the TC until the Marines arrive. Clearly, the movie is titled "Aliens," so you know there are going to be aliens in it. However, not seeing anything in the colony beforehand, and learning everything that happened along with the Marines maintains some mystery around the events that transpired. I just really enjoy movies where the audience isn't privy to any more information than the main characters have. Also, there's no mention of a "Queen" in the TC until Ripley stumbles into the nest at the end. During the discussion with the Marines, Ripley asks "Then who is laying these eggs," and the question is just left to hang there. I remember watching this movie for the first time, and having the eureka moment when the Queen is revealed. It was a great moment where I got to put the pieces together and realized that they're like an ant hive. I feel like that gets robbed from the audience when someone spells it out for them 45 minutes ahead of time. I seriously think I'm going to make my own cut for when my son is old enough to watch this movie. I'm going to take the TC and splice in the scene about Ripley's daughter. Then I feel like I'll have the ultimate version of this movie lol.

[@SchrodingersTransCat]

I agree--I prefer the Theatrical Cut... but it really should have kept the daughter scene. The rest can go. All we need to hear is "They've lost contact with the colony" and we already know (or suspect) what's happened without needing to see it.

[@1nelsondj]

Kudos to actor Lance Henriksen who has 260 credits on IMDB. He was in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Damien: Omen II, The Terminator, Scream 3, Hellraiser: Hellworld and starred in his own series "Millenium" created by Chris 'X-Files' Carter. You did note that Newt is the same girl we saw earlier in the car, right? I think a lot of people miss that.

[@jypziiatthecrossroads9047]

He was also in Dog Day Afternoon, Cool flick, with Al Pacino and the GOAT of Character actors John Cazale.

[@Madbandit77]

@@jypziiatthecrossroads9047 He was also in Network.

[@bonchbonch]

One cut in the theatrical that I like is not seeing Newt's parents find the ship. It makes the lack of contact more mysterious and tense. We don't know exactly what we're going to see on the planet.

[@mugger1]

Now you gotta do Alien 3!

[@MrGpschmidt]

Queen taeks Bishop *chef's kiss* The first film was a haunted house in outerspace; this is a rollercoaster thrill ride. Weaver cements her stardom in her Oscar nominated performance. All hail Stan Winston's f/x and Bill Paxton forever Hudson.

[@RyoHazuki224]

This along with Terminator 2 are among my favorite all-time action movies. The music in this one especially is just so fitting, it always gets me so AMPED UP!! Out of all the scenes in the directors cut that I think didn't need to be in this movie was the scene with Newt and her family where her dad gets face-huggered. I think its much more impactful to not even see the colonized planet until the Marines get there and things have already gone to shit.

[@HiFi5i]

What's crazy to think about is that everyone that died in this movie would have lived had Ripley never said anything about the aliens.

[@inarar5334]

What's terrifying is that if she hadn't, or had never been recovered, they would have kept terraforming and exploring and by the time they did come across the derelict even more people would have died, and it possibly could have gotten off easier as the company would have been all over it.

[@corystanish]

Love this movie, I can't tell you how many times I've seen it over the years. Honestly, I absolutely recommend The Terminator. I recommend literally everything he made pre-Titanic, they're all great. And Titanic is also a hell of a film, but I feel like post-Titanic James Cameron is different in the way that most directors go off the rails a little once they reach a point in their career where they will be given the budget and the creative freedom to do whatever they want. I like Avatar, but I have to admit that almost everything I liked about it was on the screen and very little of it was in the screenplay.

[@SchrodingersTransCat]

It's often said that restrictions encourage creativity. If you can't do everything you want, you have to come up with something clever to get around the problem. The result often turns out better than your original plan. Like the malfunctioning shark in Jaws forcing Spielberg to avoid showing it as much as possible, which made that film much more suspenseful. Cameron really knew how to make the most of a low budget and a tight deadline. Thanks, Roger Corman!

[@R.J.Godzilla81]

@21:59 Q: What did that xenomorph order for dinner? A: A Burker 🤣

[@sydhamelin1265]

My parents rented Alien when I was a kid, and it traumatized me. Then they came home with Aliens not long after and I was like, "ok, I still have to watch it", and it loosened up on the horror enough for me, as a kid, to enjoy it. Then later I watched them both again and faarrrigggin loved them.

[@NefariousKoel]

My mom took myself and my younger sister to see Aliens in the theater when I was 10 or 11. I was on the edge of my seat for so long my hands started shaking on the way home, coming down from the adrenaline rush. Great theater experience!

[@StimParavane]

Well indeed. Don't show horror films to kids.

[@HistoritorJimaldus]

Glad you mentioned the soundtrack, it’s so awesome! RIP James Horner