Aliens (1986)

3.1.05
DVD (owned)
Movie: A+
Audio: B-
Video: C+

I can't really write an impartial review of Aliens. It's my favorite film of all time, and it has been for years. I remember seeing it for the first time as a small child, I was probably ten at the time. 15 years later, it's still my favorite. The number of times I've seen this movie is greater than the number of movies most people see total. That's not too big of an exaggeration. As a kid, my best friend and I spent the night at each other's houses about every other weekend. Every time, we watched Aliens. Once I was old enough to have a TV of my own, I bought the trilogy on VHS and watched Aliens on a weekly basis. The year of Alien: Resurrection's VHS release, the aforementioned friend tracked down a copy at a rental store and talked someone into selling it to him. So I had a copy before it was publicly available. When I was old enough to own my own home theater setup, I began anxiously awaiting a great special edition.

In 2003, the DVD gods answered my prayers: The Alien Quadrilogy box set. I know, quadrilogy isn't a word, but that's okay by me. The set has nine discs, one for each film, plus one for special features for each film, and a ninth that included some miscellaneous other things, much of them from past laser disc releases. This set is awesome. Words can't describe how blissful it to behold such a work of art. But, I digress... This post is about Aliens, not the box set. See how excited I get?

Moving on, what's not to like about Aliens? The characters are the real centerpiece here, a rough crew of "colonial space marines." Lean, mean, fightin' machines. The marines are portrayed by an amazing cast that includes some names you'll recognize and some you won't. Bill Paxton steals several scenes as Hudson, one of my favorite characters. Michael Biehn portrays Hicks, my favorite of the characters. Sigourney Weaver reprises her role as Ellen Ripley, the main character throughout the series. The dynamic of this cast provides for both comedy and a sense of "badass" marines ready to lock-and-load.

Unlike Alien, where one xenomorph was intent on wiping out a crew of seven (although he only got six), Aliens has a crew of marines against a horde of aliens. The aliens have taken over the terraforming colony on LV-426, the planet where the xenomorph species was encountered in Alien. They've transformed the colony into a sort of "hive" full of eggs, which leads our courageous marines to the question "Who's laying the eggs?" And here is the real "bad guy" of the movie: the alien queen. Much larger, stronger, smarter, and more vicious than the drones that she controls, the queen is the ultimate foe.

I could write pages and pages about why I love this movie. I could make movies about this movie. I could recite the entire script from memory. I just can't praise Aliens enough. Every element of this film is dead on. The script is great, the characters are wonderful, and the story is a fantastic continuation of the original concept. The direction and cinematography are perfect for the material. The music sets the mood and the creature effects complete the picture. What is there not to like?

The DVD is good, considering Aliens is pushing 20 years old now. 20 years! The audio is quite good, with aggressive use of the surrounds and a great LFE track. The bass will blow you away! Dialogue is always crisp and clear. The picture quality is also good, but not quite equal in quality to the audio quality. The print is clean and nearly free from dirt and scratches. Detail is good, but several darker scenes do show some pixelation. The video is very adequate, but it's certainly not a reference quality transfer.