Am I the only one who thought ALIENS kinda sucked?

[The Chaver]

Miracle, I respect you for stating your opinion so openly in a forum that are clearly filled with Aliens fanatics (me included).

I've showed the movie to many people and they have had similar opinions to you.

As for the first hour, the whole idea was to present a buildup to the mayhem to come. It's all atmosphere, and in my opinion is something lacking in movies today where they jump right into the action (AVPR for example). Plus this way Cameron was able to give time to character development. By the end of the movie, I felt like i knew almost all the characters so well, so that when something DID happen to them, I actually cared for them (or hated them). AVPR just had pointless killing after killing of characters I had met 3 seconds before their death.

I'm glad you atleast liked Alien or this thread would have probably been deleted a long time ago!!

For me, there is nothing that has come close to the experience I've had watching it and the movie just gets better everytime I see it.

Talk about build up,I don't think anyone was expecting Ripley do face off with the Queen at the end as a grand finale in Aliens.I was totally surprised and what a surprise it was.

 

[The ill Jedi]

Am I the only one who thought ALIENS kinda sucked?

Uhh, YEAH!!:emperor

You are insane if you think ALIENS sucked! It is one of my all time favorite movies and has some of the most memorable characters and moments in the history of film!!!

 

[Jamal]

Ive said to a friend of mine who also loves the series that i think Aliens is one of the top 5 movies of all time, i stand by that

 

[Les Walker]

This is the funniest thread title of all time!

When I stopped laughing, I thought to myself, thank GOD someone is brave enough to say how they feel about a movie in the face of a large and organized group of enthusiasts that think in the contrary. I mean, it is all TASTE and no one can possibly quantify taste. I applaud the gumption it took to say that title in this website, even though I do not agree with it.

I for one, totally love ALIEN best of the series. Always will. None of the others will ever compare to me. It's a personal experience, and preference thing. But, that is me. No way would I ever tell someone else which is BEST like I know all. How silly and egocentric. In fact, I have really come to love ALIEN 3 in recent years, and find it's dialogue and acting better than ALIENS, but I digress...I simply love all the films, and enjoy the very wide responses to all these amazing films from so many people.
I even know a guy that like Alien Resurrection the best of all the ALien movies. Is that wrong? No. It cannot be quantified.

As for toys, and this is a toy collectors site primarily, Aliens has more FUN ones. You know, marines with interchangeable and customizable gear, alien warriors that can be nuanced with abandon (and creatively interpreted by Hot Toys even though they did NOT look like what we got ... Still...) but, again, I digress.

Aliens has a huge following. No reason it can not be defended as a great film. Alien has one too. It's almost like the very old Beatles vs the Rolling Stones kind of argument. They both rocked, and were legends, and are likeable, but no matter what, one or the other pulls at certain preferences in the likers. The Alien films are the same. To declare one or the other THE BEST is foolish in the long run, because there will always be someone out there that will see them differently. And for me, that is what make it all worthwhile.

Thank God we live in a diverse world.

But, still.....

A L I E N IS BETTER!

But ALIENS is, TO ME, one of the very best and original sequels EVER made! EVER. So...there.

Interesting tactic this thread. Fun too. It's always fun to defend one's opinions.

 

[abake]

Before I get lynched, let me explain. I first saw ALIENS on TCM a few years ago, and it was the first Alien film I had ever seen. I originally found the film too long and pretty boring, with all of the good stuff saved for the very end. As a fan of the Predator and Terminator films, I was expecting another fun balls-to-the-wall 80's action flick. Sure it had a couple of neat scenes, but as an overall film, it was really dissapointing.

Flash foward to a few weeks ago. I finally saw Ridley Scott's original ALIEN. It is without a doubt one of the scariest films I've ever seen, and a genuinely suspensful thriller. Sure it was a bit slow at parts, and it probably wouldn't hurt if 10-15 minutes were cut throughout the film to pick up the pacing. Still, I'm not complaining. I was in awe of the special effects, art direction and set design. This is one of those sci-fi flicks like the original STAR WARS, where the film's look has a timeless quality, and the EFX blow the CGI crap of today out of the water. Overall, it's probably one of my all time favorite sci-fi or monster movies.

So tonight, I had a little double feature thatnks to Cinemax. I got to watch my beloved ALIEN, and saw that it was followed by the Cameron-helmed sequel. I decided that maybe ALIENS would be alot better the second time around, since I had seen the original.

I'm sorry to say that it wasn't. My GOD, is ALIENS a boring film, and people say the same about the original. Aside from Hicks and Bishop, most of the characters weren't as likeable as those in the original. Some like Hudson were downright annoying. The set design was alot less Giger-inspired than the sets in the original, and seemed more TERMINATOR than ALIEN (well, whaddaya expect with Cameron directing?) The first hour seemed to drag forever, and in the end most of it was unnessescary. However, the few action scenes in the film were well done and exciting, but never made me jump like the ones in the original. The only part of the film I genuinely liked was the last half hour (which in essence, mirrored the climax of the original.)

Even the Aliens suffered. I liked how the Alien in the original was intelligent and manipulative. We also had no idea what it was. Now, it's just a giant mindless insect. At least the Queen creature was neat.

The thing is, ALIENS had so much potential. The marines were pretty bad-ass, and the idea of using more aliens in an action flick is a great one, I just don't think Cameron did a good job of executing it. I think if he had tightened up the script, shortening the first half of the film, and collaborated with H.R. Giger for the film's look, it would have been a much better film.
It is obvious that Cameron wanted to pick up where Scott left off and wanted to do his own thing with it. He suceeded, but in my opinion, the finished film wasn't as good as Scott's.

But hey, that's just me. What do I know?

Buahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Best title for a thread ever!

I understand your feelings completely.
I don't think Aliens downright sucks, but I do believe it is a highly over rated movie. Of course it hurts it a lot that the archetype of "bad ass" it pioneered turned into a cliché afterwards under the hand of less skilled directors and writers.

And I'll leave it at that. I still enjoy it immensely, but to me Alien is the masterpiece.

 

[Shropt]

Alien > Alien 3 > Aliens

None of the other movies count in my eyes.

Aliens only gets third billing because I hate movies with little kids.

 

[Les Walker]

...but to me Alien is the masterpiece.

I knew there was something ok about you Albrecht.
What was it John Wayne always said, "You'll do!"

 

[BadMoon]

Thread rated accordingly.

 

[wookster]

Wow Dr M, you have balls of steel, but I strangely see where you're coming from.
Don't get me wrong I love Aliens, but to me it's another movie that shows Cameron should have kept to 'original' ideas as his first Terminator, though flawed was his finest hour.
So for me, in my most humble of opinion it has to be 'Scotts' Alien in pole position, it is as you said abake a bona fide, all time Classic (note the cap C). Then it has to be Finchers vision in Alien 3, and it has to be the special edition with the oxen at the begining (as you point out Les the acting in 3 is far superior, Charles Dance, Brian Glover and Ralph Brown all turned in great performances, I also take it any 'Withnail and I' fans realise Ralph also played Danny, the purveyor of rare herbs), then Camerons Aliens, a great movie and very of it's time, but looking at the series with hind-sight I'm sorry to say it's slipped to third for me. But I genuinly love them all... well Resurection aside, I watched it again the other night and it's just sooo meh!

 

[Blake]

Alien was one of the greatest horror movies ever made.

Aliens was one of the greatest action movies ever made.

They are both masterworks in their respective genres.

 

[Jen]

I loved Alien and Aliens.....Now that third one with Winona Ryder...that's a whole different story....

 

[darth dypshyt]

I loved Alien and Aliens.....Now that third one with Winona Ryder...that's a whole different story....

I am sure others will say it too...but that was the 4th one. David Finchers 3rd Alien was a good movie. Not ALIEN by any stretch...but, I enjoyed it..

 

[Jen]

I am sure others will say it too...but that was the 4th one. David Finchers 3rd Alien was a good movie. Not ALIEN by any stretch...but, I enjoyed it..

You are right!!! I'm glad I threw in Winona Ryder so everyone would know which one I was talking about.

 

[Hollis DZC]

Look, here's the deal. Most horror/monster/ whatever/ feature a monster that either takes out dummies and / or people with very little to defend themselves with. Alien had a crew that had to rig up weapontry to take on and unknown nastie.

Aliens was the first film to feature professional soldiers going after monsters. Armed, armored, with cool weapontry and gadgets they captured our interest from the get-go. Watching it unfold on the big screen for the first time, not on a dvd, it was captivating. On a dvd, it's still awesome, but on the big screen it's incredible. And just a couple years earlier Alien had debuted, so this was payback for the crew of the Nostromo in a manner of speaking.
You can't judge a 20 year old movie by today's standards. Instead judge it by it's peers in 1985-1990.

Today's attitudes are different. One can argue more sophisticated, more judgemental. That's just the way it is. One can argue it was based on another era, Vietnam. The graffiti on the armor, the attitude of the command, etc. And that's coming from a good friend who served in Vietnam, Chris Chulamanis.

Yes, the Alien had changed. Had to change to allow armed, armored professional soldiers to be overrun by sheer numbers.

We had heroism, defiance, courage,betrayal, everything that makes up a good adventure. And that was excellent adventure.

Plus, it debuted the single most awesome weapon in sci-fi, the legendary Pulse Rifle.
While by conventional military standards, the red ammo counter, the shoulder lamp basically said "Look, here I am", it was damn cool looking. It was radical at the time.
It showed tough males and females in body armor facing overwhelming odds.
They went from confident to demoralized to desperation to standing up to Death and giving him the finger.

You don't have to like it. And I understand your reasoning. But, you need also to understand why we really like it.

Now you know.

The Colonial Marines- created in 1985 and still going strong!

 

[HigHurtenflurst]

I love ALIENS but I have to agree that the "Aliens" were killed off very easily.

20mm explosive tipped caseless. Standard light armor piercing round. Say no MORE!!

 

[Coorectghosting]

I have about as much respect for all the Alien sequels as I do for the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels.

I really hate how they turned the alien into bug. Big step back there

 

[bubbahotep]

I loved Alien and Aliens, even Alien3 (fan of David Fincher, not to mention Charles Dutton)..heck even parts of resurrection were decent, i.e., swimming scenes, but Bishop > Ryder as an android without a doubt.

 

[eighthsamurai]

you know what was wrong with aliens?

THAT IT WASN'T ABOUT 4 HOURS LONGER!!!
i'm a child of the 80s. i grew up with rambo, arnie, mcclane and other such badass mofos. so ripley in her aliens incarnation (along with hicks) appeals to me much more than her horror incarnation. i love both, but aliens makes me nostalgiac. maybe it's a generational thing.

 

[Jamal]

I wish they could have lasted abit longer in the survival horror with the Aliens, the suspense of the Aliens trying to get in made that film man on so many levels! :chew:chew

 

[wofford29]

I don't think Alien or Aliens or anything with the franchise title in it is any good. Never have, and as for Predator, it stops after the first for me.