Were/are you dissapointed that Aliens had alot more action than the first movie?

[Takes Two To Tango]

I prefer the change of pace and approach. It would have been lame if Cameron did a copy of the first.

 

[ColemanwastheGOAT]

I'm personally not as much of a fan of Aliens as most are and I think Alien is a far better movie. That said there's a lot to like about the movie and as a follow up to Alien its solid. Adds a lot of iconic details to the franchise like the queen and the smart guns and even the term xenomorph. All that said I think the Marines in the movie are shallow caricatures with the exception of Hicks and so I much prefer the cast and characters of the first film

The first film is far better. Aliens is great too but Alien is in my top two films of all time.

 

[jimbob27]

fincher created arguably the darkest place in universe

I dunno man. Fury 161 was self governing, and had no weapons. Clemens chose to stay there.The toxic slave mining colony seen in Alien Romulus looked pretty fucking bad; and Alien Resurrection had people being sold to Weyland Yutani as laboratory guinea pigs. As an ugly ass Englishman, I think I'd probably fit in okay on Fury 161.

Back to the original topic... people over simplify things by saying "alien was a horror, and aliens was an action movie".

The whole first act of Aliens is all foreboding and suspense.

The second act is entirely characterised by the fact they can't use most of their weapons, and then later they're extremely short of ammo. In the world of video games, these are all tropes universally recognised as part of the "survival horror" genre.

The third act has the heroine descend into the depths of hell to discover and confront the big baddie... who then does the classic horror trope of surviving the first encounter, so they can have one final showdown with a different background.

Sure there are action elements... but minute by minute, most of the film is still very much rooted in the horror genre.

 

[w00t]

Not at all. Alien is the best movie in the franchise.

 

[Thrawn33]

Other than Hicks and Apone they felt too much like caricatures. Hicks was normal and Apone was a bit exaggerated but within reason. The whole gang of them together was too much for me though.

I thought they were pretty bang on myself.

 

[Pizza Werewolf]

and...?

Give him a break , the movies only been out for 45 years . He'll get around to it.

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

They were both the movies they needed to be at the respective times they came out.

In the late 70s, horror and sci-fi were both huge genres. Alien was absolutely perfect for its time. By the mid 80s, action films were all the craze along with sci-fi, so Aliens again was perfect for its time. Timing is everything and they both capitalized and both became classics.

 

[deviake]

No. Alien to me is the greatest horror movie of all time, there's no topping it. They needed to go a new direction. Aliens gave us something new and amazing. Apples and oranges. Not every Alien movie needs to be a straight horror movie IMO.

 

[650lb Sumo]

No. Alien to me is the greatest horror movie of all time, there's no topping it. They needed to go a new direction. Aliens gave us something new and amazing. Apples and oranges. Not every Alien movie needs to be a straight horror movie IMO.

You think Alien is a better horror film the The Exorcist?

 

[deviake]

You think Alien is a better horror film the The Exorcist?

Yes. But I also didn't think Jaws was that great, just decent popcorn. My taste in horror movies is extremely narrow and particular.

 

[pugilistico]

We actually didn't know what the alien is but Cameron added details like them being a hive mind with a queen. They zerg rush machine guns and get mowed down but in the first movie, we don't even know if guns can hurt it or if it would rush into death like that. The first movie had a lot more mystery. The original idea was that they can transform certain victims into eggs so that idea is scarier because they don't need a queen.

I'm one of the few that does not like the direction the sequel took the alien lore. Of course it's an enjoyable action flick but I much prefer the mystery of the first. Honestly, just like the predator, they probably should've made a sequel.

 

[tasteslikechicken]

What are ya doin w your life???

Probably living it, at a guess.

 

[Gene Tunney]

On the contrary, I was quite happy with my initial Aliens viewing. It was the family friendly version on a local Fox antenna tv affiliate channel. Same channel as ST OS and ST TNG. That was a great channel.

I am disappointed that Alien 3 did not focus on the elephantine space jockey that everyone was waiting for. They really dropped the ball there.

 

[Islam Imamate]

The first film is far better. Aliens is great too but Alien is in my top two films of all time.

Wow I completely agree, now I'm curious what's the other one? For me its Jurassic Park. I love creature features but the genre is mostly garbage. Alien and Jurassic Park though are milestones in the history of cinema so naturally they're my favorite movies. It seems almost dismissive to call those films monster movies but really that's what they are and I love them for it.

Bill Hader has a great take on Alien.


Quentin Tarantino on Alien, goes over the story behind the making of the movie.

 

[ColemanwastheGOAT]

Wow I completely agree, now I'm curious what's the other one? For me its Jurassic Park. I love creature features but the genre is mostly garbage. Alien and Jurassic Park though are milestones in the history of cinema so naturally they're my favorite movies. It seems almost dismissive to call those films monster movies but really that's what they are and I love them for it.

Bill Hader has a great take on Alien.


Quentin Tarantino on Alien, goes over the story behind the making of the movie.

Jaws.

Jurassic Park is top ten for me for sure.

I don't generally like creature features so having three in my top ten imo just shows how those three transcend the genre.

 

[HHJ]

Probably living it, at a guess.

Yeah wow so great someone says game over man game over and you wont know what the fuck thats from

 

[HHJ]

@Islam Imamate thee's deaded mate. Best make peace w your maker.

I will take the 1 meeeeelion dollars into my personal swiss accounts.

 

[tasteslikechicken]

Yeah wow so great someone says game over man game over and you wont know what the fuck thats from

Probably not the most important piece of knowledge in the world.

 

[HHJ]

Probably not the most important piece of knowledge in the world.

Actually, you are mistaken.

 

[Plissken]

No, you had series variety while still being a good film. It's difficult to do what is essentially a slasher sequel in the same style as the original while having it be as good/nearly as good as the original, so trying something different while being respectful to the original was for the best. The only part I didn't like was how it made the individual aliens feel like less of a threat due to the weapons as hand, but it wasn't a deal breaker and I know that Cameron went with a more ant/bee hive type feel for the aliens plus the Vietnam War references so the aliens needing to be more of a swarm and attack in numbers fit.
One of the neatest aspects of the first four Alien films is that each one was tailored around the particular director's style, they all looked, and felt different. Alien 3 is a Fincher film, Aliens is a Cameron film, etc., so changes made each film feel unique so they weren't just slasher in space sequels.