"Aliens" : Some nice effects, but actually kind've a crap film.

James otm on both counts

Besmirch this movie at your peril

https://68.media.tumblr.com/1b4731564aee8ba541588f50604f9cbe/tumblr_nrnh0x9xR81u2ragso2_500.gif

the effects/sets in this movie look better than any cgi movie

1982 - 1986 was the apogee of film special effects

I think this film has a bit of the Jaws effect. The creature effects are totally superb but it seems likely that in order to hide a bit of the awkwardness of the aliens’ movements Cameron had to keep them in shadow and keep glimpses of them to a minimum, up until we see the queen at the end. It creates this real sense of terror and a scene like Hicks popping up into the ceiling to have a look and his flashlight panning across dozens of these things crawling at him is one of the more nightmarish visuals i recall from my childhood. that and Vasquez/Gorman being cornered in the ventilation shaft gave me some bad dreams as a teen.

Yeah, possibly the only flawed shot in the movie is when the queen's two goons sort of awkwardly shuffle in and out of the scene. For the most part though he just shows you a second or two of various slithering and awful motions, and your brain fills in how the aliens probably walk and attack - - - much scarier and more fluid than anything they could create by having someone in a rubber suit walk across the set. It's amazing how many of the bargain-basement direct-to-video knock-offs (which of course also have even cheaper rubber suits, etc.) manage to screw this up.

same type of quick show/cut used to the same horrifying effect in matrix rave scene

Omar otm

I think because Cameron leans so hard into the meathead action-horror genre it feels like it’s just a dumb alien movie. And in a way it kind of is. But as Omar notes, Cameron makes really good choices in terms of dialing up tension, finessing the action, or playing up the horror moments - the kind of attention to detail that makes it really enjoyable to watch. Mainly because that kind of care & finesse stands out when you’re in a B-movie kinda world.

i think the very unusual Ebert review of this is pretty spot-on, even if in some sense i disagree with it. He admits it's amazing but also admits he didn't enjoy it because of its intensity and constant dread, whereas i totally enjoy it every time. but i understand what he means. i think as far as a film depicting people finding themselves trapped in a desperate situation with no easy way out, it's almost unparalleled. the best thing about it is while there are characters who are not especially bright, none of them do anything especially stupid. they're flawed in recognizable ways. Hudson is an idiot but he doesn't make any dumb tactical errors, he freaks out but never in moments of action, just in moments of downtime. Gorman is in over his head but he's not a craven coward, he just freezes up. Burke flees into a bad spot towards the end, but i mean who the hell wouldn't make a run for it? etc etc...lots of the character types are cliches but their behavior and decision-making makes perfect sense for each one and unlike lesser films they don't behave in ways to artificially change the narrative and story, they're always reacting to what's happening at the moment.

the only thing i question is Burke still thinking about the Company and getting the samples back through quarantine at a time when the survival of the entire team seems pretty unlikely. But Reiser's extremely '80s nervous nice dude comedy style works surprisingly well for the character of an ambitious, sociopathic creep, so it mostly works for me despite that, and i suppose he also figured his survival was a mutually exclusive issue alongside the issue of the alien samples.

agreed

omar otm again, as always

co-sign

'kind've'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFmq2gDwXpo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFmq2gDwXpo

hmmm

Man, those AI generated images of Aliens: The Musical

https://preview.redd.it/ksydb2ec0jwa1.png

https://preview.redd.it/kgrzw2ec0jwa1.png

https://www.reddit.com/r/midjourney/comments/131dhju/aliens_the_musical/

Dammit
https://preview.redd.it/kgrzw2ec0jwa1.png?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=96b8c5cb406a4f99bb8e52d99e47fc24fbfef1fa

https://preview.redd.it/44q0kddc0jwa1.png?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=2f7d648bac46f30dfc30318b2ae48b0fb14305a7

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fu20G4faQAYcgeT?format=jpg&name=medium

lol beautiful