Catching Up
Never Ask an Alien Queen Her Age: Aliens 27 Years Later
July 18 is the 27th anniversary of Aliens, and it has aged well. Mark Blankenship, editor of TheCriticalCondition.com, tells Snakkle that this sequel is right up there with The Godfather II. Jason Zinoman, author of Shock Value, a new book about scary movies, agrees, telling us that James Cameron "took a brilliant horror film [and] transformed it into a brilliant action film." (He also added an "s" on the end instead of the number 2.) Let's look at why Aliens still scares us—in a good way. By Brett Singer
©20th Century Fox/Everett Collection
Sigourney Weaver
Then: Weaver’s rip-roaring return as Ripley is the main reason for Aliens’ eternal awesomeness. Blankenship reminded us that Weaver’s performance earned her an Oscar nomination, a rarity for an action film. Why? Because, he says, while Aliens is indeed a “fantastic action movie,” it begins with “Ripley’s struggle to cope with her past and with her own fear.” Weaver has the audience in the palm of her hand from beginning to end, shifting seamlessly between emotional heft and serious ass-kicking. Watch as she silently saves little Newt from a roomful of alien eggs. Not many actresses can make you feel something and burn the place to the ground in the same scene.
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