The 1979 smash hit Alien is regarded as both one of the greatest sci-fi films and one of the greatest horror films of all time. Creating one of the most iconic movie characters ever, the combination of Dan O'Bannon's idea, H.R Giger's design and Ridley Scott's execution, Alien set the bar for sci-fi horror skyrocketing, at a height that has been sparsely troubled since. In fact, many believe there's only one film that has managed to surpass it in the 34 years since its release. It's sequel, James Cameron's 1986 creation, aptly titled Aliens. The debate over which is the superior film is fierce, with wars going on in various comic-cons to this day. Which film deserves the crown, Scott's slow paced masterclass in tension, or Cameron's pulse rifle pounding, action packed extravaganza? It's a tricky one. Let's open this freaky looking egg up and take a look.
WHY ALIEN IS AWESOME
There isn't much I'll give a movie more credit for than effectively building tension. It's why I think the first half of The Shining is better than the second half, and why anyone who doesn't like The Blair Witch Project is dumb and needs to stop having hamster mothers. Alien is up there with The Exorcist and Psycho as one of the films that most successfully implements this into its atmosphere. We all know about chest bursting, but come on, was that just not the most perfect scene in cinematic history? The story as a whole holds up brilliantly as well, and doesn't appear dated in the slightest, bar the occasional chunky computer.
The story works because it doesn't get bogged down in the sci-fi, allowing the pros of film-making to mesh seamlessly with beloved nerdy tropes, allowing for something that everyone can enjoy and, more importantly, not feel ashamed about enjoying it. Compare that to two films that get it too far in either direction. 2001: A Space Odyssey, that is hailed by people who know who Joss Whedon is as one of the greatest films of all time, but has struggled to gain recognition from casual movie fanatics due to its ambiguous messages. And on the other side, you have a film like Prometheus, whose nostalgic jargon was a hit with the folks with nostalgia glasses, but found the sci-fi nuts less wavering, seeing through to the awful characterisation and unnecessary shoehorning of dumb space monsters. Alien is a patient mans film which rewards you handsomely for taking the time to get to know the characters, the environment and the enemy, with shocks and suspense as your ultimate payment.
WHY ALIENS IS ALSO AWESOME
If Alien is a thinking mans film, Aliens is a doing mans film. Cameron builds superbly on the original, realising that the initial fear and angst of that one alien killing those idiots on a spaceship is gone, and the only logical step forward from that is to have a bunch of aliens kill a bunch of idiots that appear to be much tougher! The biggest difference in these humans is, of course, that you want to see them die. Hoo boy, do you want them to die. The first scene where they are introduced is like a cheese board of stereotypically unlikable characters. There's no pitiful redshirt scrub here, at least not initially. Everyone here is going down, and it's a glorious thing to realise. It's one of the biggest differences between Aliens and its predecessor is development of characters. Aliens has a much larger cast than Alien, and unfortunately that means sacrificing a lot of what made the original so spectacular, the fact that every character was an individual and you honestly thought any of them could have survived and it wouldn't have seemed out of place. Aliens has plenty more stock characters, but in its defense, Ellen Ripley is still written astutely, as is new character Carter Burke, the slimy researcher who you can never quite tell whose side he's on.
The extra seven years in technological advancements is an advantage not gone un-taken by Aliens over its predecessor, with effects that still look impressive to this day. The scene featuring the first appearance of the Queen is still one of the most disturbing cinema moments I have ever witnessed, and the shots of several aliens charging towards their target are shots you can't help but feel would be impossible in the original, with the alien moving robotically, and, let's be honest, barely at all. Weirdly, however, it's this film that appears to show its age to a greater extent than the 1979 original, notably the space shuttle costing $42 million dollars. Really? Football players cost more than that. There's also the occasional stupid moment. The scene with Ripley in a mechsuit fighting the Queen is great, yeah yeah yeah , but do you remember how it starts? The Queen takes the lift up to the landing dock. THE QUEEN. TAKES. THE LIFT. HOW IS THIS NOT HILARIOUS.
So which do I prefer? Alien. It's the more sensible film and succeeds more on its own merits rather than using some Hollywood blueprint. I love and respect Aliens, but at times it feels too much like an over-the-top B-movie, which would be fine, except it takes itself far too seriously to be accepted as that. It wants to be compared to the original, and that's a battle it just isn't gonna win. Aliens is a great sci-fi horror movie. Alien is goddamn Alien.
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