"Aliens"

Title: "Aliens"
Director: James Cameron
Producer: G.A. Hurd, G. Carroll, D. Giler, W. Hill
Editing: Ray Lovejoy
Composer: James Horner
Starring:
- Sigourney Weaver as E. Ripley
- Michael Biehn as Corporal Dwayne Hicks
- Paul Reiser as Carter J. Burke
- Carrie Henn as Newt/Rebecca Jorden
- Bill Paxton as Private First Class William Hudson

Plot and Critical Review: Of the 40 films i'll be reviewing this Lenten season there are two that belong to a series of movies; this film and another that is to come. I prefer to avoid movies that belong in a series as I can't be sure how much you may or may not have seen of the complete anthology. And what an anthology when it comes to the "Alien" franchise! If you've not seen the first movie ("Alien", 1979, directed by Ridley Scott) you might want to visit it's Wiki page to catch up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)

Ellen Ripley, the only survivor of the space freighter Nostromo, is rescued and revived after drifting through space for fifty-seven years in hypersleep. At an interview before a panel of executives from her employer, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, her testimony regarding the Alien is met with extreme skepticism as no physical evidence of the creature survived the destruction of the Nostromo. Ripley loses her space flight license as a result of her "questionable judgment" and learns that LV-426, the planetoid where her crew first encountered the Alien eggs, is now home to a terraforming colony. Some time later Ripley is visited by Weyland-Yutani representative Carter Burke and Lieutenant Gorman of the Colonial Marines who inform her that contact has been lost with the colony on LV-426. The company decides to dispatch Burke and a unit of marines to investigate. They also offer to restore Ripley's flight status and pick up her contract if she will accompany them as a consultant. Traumatized by her previous encounter with the Alien, Ripley initially refuses to join, but accepts when she realizes that the mission will allow her to face her fears which had been plaguing her since her first encounter. Aboard the warship Sulaco she is introduced to the Colonial Marines, including Sergeant Apone, Corporal Hicks, Privates Vasquez and Hudson, and the android Bishop, toward whom Ripley is initially hostile due to her previous experience with the android Ash aboard the Nostromo.

The heavily-armed expedition descends to the surface of LV-426 via dropship, where they find the colony seemingly abandoned. Two living Alien facehuggers are found in containment tanks in the medical lab, and the only colonist found is a traumatized young girl nicknamed Newt. The marines determine that the colonists are clustered in the nuclear-powered atmosphere processing station. There they find a large Alien nest filled with the colonists all suspended in individual coccoons. The Aliens attack and kill most of the unit, but Ripley rescues Hicks, Vasquez, and Hudson. With Gorman knocked unconscious during the rescue, Hicks assumes command and orders the dropship to recover the survivors, intending to return to the Sulaco and destroy the colony from orbit. However, a stowaway Alien kills the dropship pilots in flight, causing the vessel to crash into the processing station; subsequently, the surviving humans barricade themselves inside the colony complex.

Ripley discovers that it was Burke who ordered the colonists to investigate the derelict spaceship where the Nostromo crew first encountered the Alien eggs, and that he hopes to return Alien specimens to the company laboratories where he can profit from their use as biological weapons. She threatens to expose him, but Bishop soon informs the group of a greater threat: the damaged processing station has become unstable and will soon detonate with the force of a thermonuclear weapon. He volunteers to use the colony's transmitter to pilot the Sulaco's remaining dropship to the surface by remote control so that the group can escape. Ripley and Newt fall asleep in the medical laboratory, awakening to find themselves locked in the room with the two facehuggers which have been released from their tanks. Ripley is able to alert the marines who rescue them and kill the creatures. Ripley accuses Burke of attempting to smuggle implanted Alien embryos past Earth's quarantine inside her and Newt and of planning to kill the rest of the marines in hypersleep during the return trip. The electricity is suddenly cut off and numerous Aliens attack through the ceiling; Hudson, Burke, Gorman, and Vasquez are killed and Newt is captured by the Aliens.

Ripley and an injured Hicks reach Bishop and the second dropship, but Ripley is unwilling to leave Newt behind. She rescues Newt from the hive in the processing station, where the two encounter the Alien queen and her egg chamber. Ripley destroys most of the eggs, enraging the queen, who escapes by tearing free from her ovipositor. Closely pursued by the queen, Ripley and Newt rendezvous with Bishop and Hicks on the dropship and escape moments before the colony is consumed by the nuclear blast. Back on the Sulaco, Ripley and Bishop's relief at their narrow escape is interrupted when the Alien queen, stowed away on the dropship's landing gear, impales Bishop and tears him in half. Ripley battles the queen using an exosuit cargo-loader. The two of them tumble into a large airlock, which Ripley then opens, expelling the queen into space. Ripley clambers to safety and she, Newt, Hicks, and the still-functioning Bishop enter hypersleep for the return to Earth.

James Cameron. It's good to let that name should ring in our ears for a moment. Behind that simple name is a man who has changed the face and very foundation of the motion picture industry. Aside from having written, directed, and produced the two highest-grossing motion pictures of all time, Cameron has firmly established himself as a writer (Cameron has confirmed that he'll write a novel to fill out some of the missing "Avatar" plot elements), scientist, artist, and technical visionary. "Aliens" was the 4th film he directed but already we can see signs of his genius at work.

"Aliens" was nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Film Editing, Best Music, and Best Sound. It won for Best Special Effects and Best Sound Effects Editing. In addition, Sigourney Weaver's nomination for Best Actress (which she didn't win) was a landmark moment as the Academy had been (and is still) known for withholding nominations from films or actors within the science-fiction realm. Much to the dismay of those who grew to love this franchise, "Aliens" was the final shining moment before lesser directors and poorly-crafted special effects thinned down the franchise. To have seen "Alien" and "Aliens" is to have seen the best of that fantastic universe. There has been substantial talk, however, that Ridley Scott may go back and direct a prequel to the entire story. Perhaps he can restore the glory he began so many years ago.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Content to Caution:
V-4 – Things get a little dicey. The gore element is high.
L-4 – Lots of bad words and curses.
DU-2 – Drinking and smoking.
RT-2 – The humans sure do hate the aliens.
H/S-3 – No comment.
CH-2 – You know, Colonial Space Marines saying the sorts of things Colonial Space Marines say.
S/N-1 – Ripley wears a slinky (but not intentionally erotic) outfit when she goes into and awakes from hypersleep.

The "Reel Revelation": "Gaining and Regaining Trust"

Can you think of someone who you absolutely trust? Can you think of someone to whom you can tell anything? Can you think of someone who you know will support you, uplift you, lovingly admonish you when you've gone astray, and walk with you on life's path? If you have someone in your life who fulfills those qualities, you are very fortunate.

Can you think of someone that you used to trust? Can you think of someone who you used to be able to talk with about everything that was happening in your life? Can you think of someone who used to stand beside you, support you, and encourage you? If you have someone like that in your life (or in your past, perhaps), how did they get to that place? What did they do (or fail to do) that caused them to lose your trust in such a profound way? More importantly, is there a way for them to win it back?

In "Alien", Ripley's trust in the android (although she did not know he was an android until he was decapitated) Ash vanished when she discovered he had acted against her orders and was planning on capturing the Alien to return it to Earth. In one moment Ash was a valued member of the Nostromo's crew. The next he was a dangerous enemy. Have you ever lost trust in someone that quickly? I think we've all been injured in ways so serious that our most natural instinct is to withdraw all trust from the ones who've hurt us.

When we come to "Aliens", 57 years in the future, Ripley's distrust now covers all androids. As soon as she learns that Bishop is a "synthetic" she gives him the cold shoulder at every opportunity and criticizes any suggestion he makes. It's not until Bishop saves Ripley and Newt from certain destruction that Ripley's heart is softened to him. In the end we see that Ripley went so far as to carry Bishop's severed body onto the dropship and place it in hypersleep. He had gained her trust.

Sometimes we lose our trust in God. Don't be ashamed if you feel a confession rising up from the depths of your heart; we're not saints just because "In God We Trust" is on all of our currency. We've all experienced times when we felt like God "fell short" and didn't do what we expected or wanted Him to. I've struggled with this for several years and i'm sure you can think of a time or two when God didn't "come through" in the way you'd have liked. Perhaps you know the unique sort of heartbreak that comes when the prayer you've been praying is answered with a "No".

But God is not like the people I asked you to think about earlier on. God does not and will never fail us. Give some thought to this admonition from the Psalmist:

"The LORD is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
The LORD is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
Than to trust in man." (Psalm 118: 6-8)

We can place our trust in a thousand things or people, but how many will last until the end? And in what or who can we have faith? By placing our complete trust, confidence, and hope in God we are better able to extend our trust to those around us. I do not believe this Psalm suggests we ought not to trust in man at all, but to be certain that our deepest trust is in God. For when we've fastened our hearts to the unmovable rock of God's love for us, what action or inaction can shake us?

See you tomorrow- E.T.