Product Description

In this action-packed sequel to Alien, Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, the only survivor from mankind's first encounter with the monstrous Alien. Her account of the Alien and the fate of her crew are received with skepticism - until the mysterious disappearance of colonists on LV-426 leads her to join a team of high-tech colonial marines sent in to investigate.

Personally supervised by director James Cameron, this special edition includes scenes eliminated prior to the film's 1986 release which broaden the narrative scope and enrich the emotional impact of the film.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18428 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-06-01
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, THX, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 154 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Aliens is one of the few cases of a sequel that far surpassed the original. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, who awakens on Earth only to discover that she has been hibernating in space so long that everyone she knows is dead. Then she is talked into traveling (along with a squad of Marines) to a planet under assault by the same aliens that nearly killed her. Once she gets there, she finds a lost little girl who triggers her maternal instincts--and she discovers that the company has once again double-crossed her, in hopes of capturing one of the aliens to study as a military weapon. Directed and written by James Cameron, this is one of the most intensely exciting (not to mention intensely frightening) action films ever, with a large ensemble cast that includes Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Michael Biehn. Weaver defined the action woman in this film and walked away with an Oscar nomination for her trouble. --Marshall Fine

DVD features
The Director's Cut of Aliens includes 17 minutes of bonus footage. The added scenes are intermittently spread out through the film, fleshing out certain characters and plot. Included is a much-needed explanation of what happened to the colony, LV-426 (the decimated planetary outpost the Space Marines are sent to). In addition, there is more focus on the emotional state of Ripley (Signourey Weaver) after she is awoken following 60 years of space hibernation--only to find that all the people she once loved have since passed on. This in turn clarifies the strong bond between the little girl (Newt) and Ripley, which is highly relevant to the climactic showdown between the two mothers (Ripley as Newt's surrogate parent, and the alien queen as maternal protector).

Customer Reviews

JollyGreenGiant
This film was a staple of my youth. I was an usher in a movie theater when it was released in the '80s. The reactions I kept hearing from the crowd were amazing and now twentysomething years later it still is one of the best Sci-Fi films ever made. The DVD looks great and the sound is incredible but the special features disc is the treasure. The feature length "making of" documentary was very entertaining and informative from, casting, to set construction, to special effects and creature design it had it all. That's the kind of features I like to see not the ones where they all talk about how great working with each other was. But, to delve into character development and script writing what it took to bring James Cameron's vision to the screen, that's the good stuff. Forget all the other special editions this is the one to have.

Outstanding sci fi shooter!
This is one of the best sci fi films I've ever seen. It's got tension, gore, excellent setpieces and some brilliant lines. The direction is incredibly good and the DVD is well worth getting. It's a superb film that can be watched over and over again. Amazingly good.

How can't you like this?
Seriously, if you like either sci-fi or action movies, I can't really give you a reason not to like this movie. i think people who rate this movie below a 3 are really either not fans of either genre of film mentioned above or really really stupid. Great action scenes, great special effects(for the time) and great pacing. Listen, they already did the suspense portion of the story. You already seen the alien so it makes sense to put you face to face with it. What better way of doing that then space marines. What, are they going to send scientist or another mining crew? Then you have the same movie over again. So, we finally get a bigger picture of who the "company" really is, and what they will do to secure said alien. What that means to us action fans is a lot, and I mean LOT, of firepower. The action scenes are a delightful mixture of frenetic helmet camera shots and pretty good solid camera work. The camera does not bounce from shot to shot as much as 90 percent of action movies from that era. Oh for the sci-fi fans, we have wonderfully detailed aliens here. The designs are top notch and the way we see how they live and hunt as a pack would scare you out of your skin if you were one of those marines. I loved how this movie played out. To me, it was fast enough that I never got bored, yet seemed to take it's time to let fans of the original get involved in new plot lines and newcomers get a understanding of the alien mythos. I don't know what else to say except, I love this movie.