I just watched Aliens. The Special Edition, which seemed to be preferred by the Internet and James Cameron. I looked up what was added and I liked nearly everything that was included. Does the theatrical cut not mention that Ripley had a daughter at all?? Because those scenes completely recontextualize her relationship with Newt, which is kind of the heart of the damn movie.

I was kind of surprised that it was not the non-stop actionfest I figured it was from my memory and its reputation. It takes 45 minutes for them to get to the damn planet, and another 15 or 20 minutes for the aliens to attack. Of course, when they did, I realized James Cameron had made that initial attack so much more effective because I had been waiting for it the whole damn movie and didn't know when it was going to happen. It's funny that the entire reason the aliens bleed acid is because they needed a reason for the first crew not to just shoot the damn thing, and they spend this movie just shooting the damn things. To their detriment.

Oddly enough, I think Alien is a better film than Aliens, despite having fewer explosions. It has a much tighter focus, and it doesn't have Hudson whining incessantly or Newt screaming all the time. (Oh, she's goddamn adorable, but she sure does scream a lot.) It was clearer to me that Alien was a classic than Aliens for some reason. I felt like Aliens could have had a little fat trimmed, but then again, I was watching the extra-fatty Special Edition.

"Get away from her, you BITCH!" is still amazing.

I'm going to go ahead and complete the franchise. I'm intrigued by what I've read about the Assembly Cut of Alien 3, which most people agree is much better than the theatrical version (despite not being a true Director's Cut). And I haven't seen Alien Resurrection since reading all those things about Joss's script and the fact that it's sort of a proto-Firefly.

Tim Burton and Robert Downey Jr. may team up for Bryan Fuller’s Pinocchio: [link]

Woo hey. That sounds interesting.

Tom Hardy is also very good, even if he is so pretty as to be almost blinding at moments.

Mmm, Tom Hardy... what?

it's like i don't know you, P-C. i watched Alien the other night because i couldn't remember a damn thing about it. turns out, i'd never seen it! i was mostly bored. took forever for anything to happen and when it did? eh. best part was Ripley kicking ass in her skivvies.

Aliens is by far my favorite. amazing cast and great dialogue along with some awesome explosions! who could ask for more?

I definitely like Alien more than Aliens. Aliens is great sci fi action, but Alien is great and innovative sci fi horror. They were the first dirty space future that I noticed.

I definitely like Alien more than Aliens.

Me too. Alien is one of my all-time favorites.

DO NOT FORGET MARK STRONG.

OMG How could I have? He is so powerful (and also yummy). Plus the scene where he kills the owl is amazing. Actually, every scene with him is amazing.

I guess they don't leave out the boarding school bit then. Nice.

took forever for anything to happen and when it did? eh.

It takes even longer for anything to happen in Aliens !

Aliens is by far my favorite. amazing cast and great dialogue along with some awesome explosions! who could ask for more?

APPARENTLY ME. I AM AS SURPRISED AS YOU. Also, I completely forgot Paul Reiser was in that movie. Also, great dialogue?

Aliens is great sci fi action, but Alien is great and innovative sci fi horror.

Exactly. Guess I'm giving points for innovation.

by great dialogue i obviously mean great one-liners and quips. plus, Alien doesn't have Vazquez so it automatically loses 1,000,000,000 awesome points.

by great dialogue i obviously mean great one-liners and quips.

Oh, it's definitely more quotable. I smiled at the "Nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure" bit because I had thought that was from Aliens, but I didn't remember it.

One thing that unfortunately hindered my viewing experience was that the DVD started skipping during the first alien attack. Everything was crazy and they were coming out of the goddamn walls, man, and Ripley took charge and BZZRRRTTTT grrraaargh. The next ten minutes were toast, and I spent like half an hour trying to find the movie online so I could watch them correctly, which sort of killed the momentum I had just been appreciating.

I was amused at how even though both movies felt so different, they also feel similar. Cameron uses some similar shots of empty spaces to acquaint you with the environment, and he pulls the exact same trick of "Oh good we escaped in our ship and blew up the alien OH SHIT IT HITCHED A RIDE AAAAHHH." Not to mention the fact that Weyland-Yutani are assholes.

Michael Biehn had a pretty good time with James Cameron in the '80s, huh. Way to have major roles in two classic sci-fi franchises, dude.

Another weird note: apparently the scene where Hicks and Ripley exchange first names is only in the Special Edition? So did people who saw the first two movies when they came out know her first name? Was it in the credits, or did they refer to her as Ellen outside of the film?