newt

Ripley is rescued by a deep salvage team after being in hypersleep for 57 years during which time LV-426 has been colonized, but contact has been lost. A bunch of colonial marines along with Ripley are sent to investigate : Written and Directed by James Cameron ALIENS is the BEST MOVIE SEQUEL OF ALL TIME, it was filmed back in 1986 for $18 million (yep your reading this right) and in my opinion it even betters Ridley’s first movie for pure action, suspense and incredible effects : For my latest rewatch I decided to revisit the Aliens Special Edition which contains a VITAL 17 minutes of extra footage : those extra scene’s really do add to the great characters that we have grown to love and hate over the years, adding much more depth and filling some of the theatrical release plot holes such as Newt’s backstory, more stunning panning shots on LV-426, extra scenes involving the marines and more of Hudson’s badass humor : One thing that doesn’t get mentioned too much is the film’s terrific action score by the late composer James Horner, considering the time restriction and conditions Horner found himself in during filming his atmospheric, bruising and deliciously heart thumping score certainly left it’s mark, receiving an Oscar Nomination and contributes greatly to Cameron’s movie : One of my favourite scenes in the movie is when Ripley takes it upon herself to go and rescue the marines after Gorman decides to have a meltdown, it’s a hand in the mouth moment that’s exhilarating to watch as she’s straps Newt in and takes control of their vehicle, but in fairness each and every scene in ALIENS are so damn good : There’s no doubt if your a fan of the franchise and have not seen this special edition then and get out and buy a copy & of course it’s just another excuse to submerge yourself in some mind blowing scifi by one of the masters of the genre James Cameron ★★★★★

It was the year that Pixar Studios opened, Amber Heard was born and Sydney Pollack’s Out of Africa won a Best Picture at the 58th Academy Awards – it was also the year screen legend James Cagney died and Mike Tyson became the youngest Heavyweight World Champion in the history of Boxing – it was also the year two of my movie heroes starred opposite each other for the last time – Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster first appeared together in 1957’s Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and in 1986 they would star in their seventh & final movie together Tough Guys….

My Definitive Action Movies of 1986 : at Number 1 is James Cameron’s epic scifi movie ALIENS that sees Ripley alongside a group of kick-ass Colonial Marines trying to stay alive down on LV-426 – at Number 2 Maverick & Goose fly into Top Gun coming up against the best Fighter Pilots the navy has to offer – and at Number 3 Sylvester Stallone plays Marion Cobretti a cop and part of the “Zombie Squad” who loves nothing better than Telling it to the Judge and putting the bad guys down in Cobra – at Number 4 is John Carpenter’s superb Big Trouble in Little China that sees Burton played by Kurt Russell battling a sorcerer named Lo Pan down in Chinatown – and finally there can be only one at Number 5 and that’s Russell Mulcahy’s Highlander don’t you just love that Queen soundtrack, that amazing Scottish backdrop and Clancy Brown’s villainous Kruger? – as you can see 1986 was an incredible feast of action movies, I was only 15 years of age at the time and my love affair with the movies was only just beginning….