I don't know...maybe Aliens is actually better than Alien after all?
I have seen both films many, many times...but I find myself enjoying and appreciating Aliens more and more.
shareThere is no “maybe” about it. There never was.
share
MovieChat Forums > Aliens (1986) Discussion > I don't know...maybe Aliens is actually ...
yes, both are good but I love ALIENS! So much action and I know who the actors are more so than in Alien.
I used to think that Aliens is better. I hate to say it but Aliens looks really dated and It makes it harder for me to enjoy it as much anymore. Alien has aged much better.
shareAgreed.
But I never would have put Aliens ahead of Alien anyway. But I did enjoy Aliens more years ago.
Alien is simply classic. Never grow tired of that film. Whereas Aliens I don't really need to see again, I'm good.
I kind of feel the same. I can watch Alien again and again, but I don't really feel like watching Aliens again anytime soon.
share> Alien has aged much better.
Really, with its CRT TV screens and fluorescent tube lighting that would have been centuries outdated by then. But it was the space suits that puffed air out of the top of their helmets that I always thought was funny. Oh, then in Alien there were the 1980's videogame graphic displays as well.
Obviously there are aspects in Alien that have aged, but overall I think it has aged better than Aliens. I just think it looks better today.
Aliens has a lot of special effects that look really bad today. I have a lot of love for Aliens, but it just doesn't look that good to me anymore.
Can't not respect your opinion on matters of taste, at least about this subject.
If I thought about it, I use the word Gothic to describe Alien, a surreal horror movie where mood predominates, and Aliens is primarily a plot-driven action Sci-Fi bug-eyes monster movie. Though I prefer Aliens, I would have to say that in terms of being off-the-mark that Alien was closer to perfection in its genre than Aliens was in its - but I still liked Aliens better. There are movies that compete with Aliens, like Terminator, or Starship Troopers, and it is not significantly better than its competitors, whereas I can't think of anything that can compete with Alien for spookiness. Maybe something like Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Alien carved out a genre of its own, which is a great feat, and then Aliens leveraged it to include a bit more realism and plot and characters.
We will just have to agree to disagree on this.
But I do agree on how you described Alien and Aliens, that was nicely put. Btw, I love Starship Troopers. I was 13 when it came out and it's still one of my favourite movie theater experiences.
I know, it is. Both are good, but Alien was great for the world it created and the mood it set, but Aliens has more and better characters, more plot, more action and even better effects. Not by much, but I agree Aliens is slightly better.
shareAnother reason I prefer Aliens is that in Alien the characters do the most stupid things possible. The characters' motivations in Aliens made more sense. There was no - I'll wander off here alone into this dark room perfect to be attacked in. The crew in Aliens made mistakes, but they were not deliberately stupid.
In Alien they let the thing onto the ship, and then failed to confine it properly from the very beginning. Deliberatelt stupid. That always bothers me about Alien, despite its amazingly bleak atmosphere and scariness. I saw the movie when it just came out, so it was a lot more frightening then, now it's pretty standard.
Another reason I prefer Aliens is that in Alien the characters do the most stupid things possible. The characters' motivations in Aliens made more sense. There was no - I'll wander off here alone into this dark room perfect to be attacked in. The crew in Aliens made mistakes, but they were not deliberately stupid.
Good God!
They continued in to the Processing plant unarmed basically. The ones who had them, suddenly and without care for what they were told, opened fire. No-one was left aboard the Sulaco. They planned to hold up for 17 days despite knowing the Aliens would get in instead of prioritising getting that 2nd dropship.
In Alien they let the thing onto the ship, and then failed to confine it properly from the very beginning.
You mean they were sabotaged by Ash
> Good God!
Relax, keep your panties on you over-reacter.
I think you are forgetting the age old military saying - no plan survives contact with the enemy. Consider that the tough hombre Space Marines were untested, poorly-led, very over-confident, and careless. That can explain a lot. The theme was consistently to that point that Ripley was trying to tell them the danger that they faced and they ignored and dismissed here. That is not the same as the characters on the Nostromo.
In Alien, if I was on a contract crew with people I didn't know, and one of them breached health protocol like that, I'd be a lot more aggressive and tense about it than that crew seemed to be. Also, the whole thing with the Corporation and miltiary weapon technology and security was up in the air. That it didn't make sense worked in the movie's favor in Alien somehow, but it would have make the movie better to nail that down in some way.
And no, I was not just talking about Ash letting Kane into the ship. They did not keep watch over him at night, and then they notice that shed skin and the dead face-hugger and just go ho-hum, well, I guess everything's OK now. This is something they continued to do in sequels, pretend that someone could have something like that growing in their bodies and not feel it. I find that hard to believe.
They did not bother to re-examine Kane in the X-Ray, or MRI, or Body Scan thing ... whatever that was, and they missed an Alien growing inside his body?
I think you are forgetting the age old military saying - no plan survives contact with the enemy. Consider that the tough hombre Space Marines were untested, poorly-led, very over-confident, and careless. That can explain a lot. The theme was consistently to that point that Ripley was trying to tell them the danger that they faced and they ignored and dismissed here. That is not the same as the characters on the Nostromo.
Still a poor plan to try and hold up for 17 days and Ripley was complicit in that plan.
In Alien, if I was on a contract crew with people I didn't know, and one of them breached health protocol like that, I'd be a lot more aggressive and tense about it than that crew seemed to be.
And no, I was not just talking about Ash letting Kane into the ship. They did not keep watch over him at night, and then they notice that shed skin and the dead face-hugger and just go ho-hum, well, I guess everything's OK now.
But what Ash did was ultimately backed up by the Captain so despite (Ripley in particular) protestations what else could one have done?
They did not bother to re-examine Kane in the X-Ray, or MRI, or Body Scan thing ... whatever that was, and they missed an Alien growing inside his body?
They didn't miss it. Ash was the one monitoring Kane and let's be honest here, he missed nothing. He knew what was going on.
This is a close call. For me, Alien wins out by just a little. Partly because it's the original. Largely because we have one primary location and a set group of people. In Aliens, they add more characters and move around more. I think the original feels more isolated and therefore scarier.
shareThey are both classics, but Alien is better.
share"We're in the pipe, 5 by 5!"
share