Hi all,
Since long ago, I have questionned myself : "Why am I so obsessed with alien(s) ?".
And I have no answer because I think this movie and everything about it (xenos, spaceships) calls to our deepest feelings.
What is your opinion ? Can you explain you feelings ?
Thanks

It's fucking awesome.

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Thread closed...

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I've been asking myself this lately. Why is it, the Aliens and the colonial marines are head and shoulders above most any of my other interests and FAR beyond any of my hobbies. I have a shelf for most of my little statue/action figures/props/ memorabilia. I have an entire wall for Aliens.

I think part of it is the impression it made on me at an early age. What 7 year old isn't instantly impacted by soldiers fighting creatures with awesome weapons? Then as an adult you learn to appreciate the 'realism' of the world. Its gritty, its flawed. Not like star trek where everything is squeeky clean and most aliens are english-speaking humanoids.

Theeeeennnn. When you REALLY start to obsess, you appreciate the subtleties of every character. Even the first characters to go in the movie have something about them that stuck with you. The most flawed characters achieved redeeming moments making even the "unlikeable" characters into heroes and who doesn't love a corporate weasel bad guy?

And of course the hardware! So awesome, yet actually attainable when you want to acquire them and/or build your own. The coolness. The mystery (the belt tool).

Everything is so multi-tiered that the badassery knows no end!

I think I've seen the movie for the first time when I was 12 or 13 and I really loved it from the first moment. I started building Lego APCs and Dropships and was a really big fan. Later on I bought the extended edition VHS video cassette and watched it dozens of times. There have been many nice Sci-Fi movies and TV series since then but none of them were as great as aliens. A few years back when I revived my interest in Lego, I found my old Lego-Aliens-Colonial-Marines vehicles and figures in a box and it brought back so many great memories from my childhood and teenie years - instant nostalgia. Then I decided to build new versions. Exactly the figures and vehicles I wanted when I was 12 years old, but didn't have the skills and money to make them.

What is so great about it? Almost everything. The story, the charcters and the designs. I love the atmosphere of this movie. It is so dark and realistic and fun at the same time. I still think it's amazing what James Cameron did there. He had the idea, he wrote the script...he did everything. All the designs we love in this movie - the Sulaco, Dropship, APC, Pulse rifles, armors, Alien queen were all designed by him. What an amazing, talented person this guy is. George Lucas and Spielberg my be great guys, but he is the greatest.

Aliens and Ghostbusters both resonate with me for saying "yeah, monsters are real, but ordinary people can defeat them by working together and using their brains". No Superman or Rambo film can top that for me when it comes to 80's nostalgia.

But also, my dad showed me Aliens just before his death. He was ex-military and fighting cancer, so the film imprinted on me pretty heavily.

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Aliens just feels like real, whereas a lot of modern sci-fi films feel like your watching a video game (cough, Star Wars prequels, cough)...

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yeah i think its a combo of things for me ... My first venture was in the ALIENS movie Aged arround 14 ... Love it so much that when it came out on VHS i taped it (Yes Taped it) onto a 90min Cassette (Remember those walk-mans) and listened to it every night. so much so that i could repeat every line in the movie. (Sadly including key sound effects). but untill i got much older and could justify the toys price wise it kinda took a back seat. Was very glad to find this forum of like minded Very Top Hombays!

It always reminded me of a futuristic Vietnam film. You know, the military travel to a far away distant land where, despite having every technical advantage still manage to sustain crippling losses, resulting in a forced withdrawal. I first watched it at age 12 (or) in my grandads bungalow in the middle of the woods. He and my brother were out and i was deemed old enough to stay at 'home' on my own. It just happened to be on TV and i caught it right at the start. I think it's fair to say the xenomorph left a lasting impression on me . . .

Wow! I was thinking that myself lately!! For me, it was the first time I ever saw strong women on film. It just blew me away. I remember being terrified of the dark and having to sleep with a light on up until I was 15! After seeing it for the first time on August 11, 1986, I wanted to be like them and got over my fear of the dark! Seeing it as a kid, Aliens pretty much helped me shape my life. I admit I didn't watch it for about 20 years, but the ACM video game brought it all back for me. Throughout the years, however, I could be sitting at a stoplight that has the countdown, and out of the blue, I would think of/ "hear" Ferro counting down before the drop, and Hudson's "Express Elevator to Hell.." The phrases just resonated and would run through my mind my entire life.

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The sound of the Pulse Rifle.

I like turtles.

The first VHS I ever picked up was Aliens. Only 2 to 3 years ago, I had to get a DVD. From what I have seen of the blue-ray, I dont want one.

Msgt, I think you need another drink.

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I think that the whole package is just great!
It has it all: plausible & likeable characters, great story, it feels real …
no lame actors or CGI interaction gone wrong. It is action, horror & entertainment and
all these other points that make it stand out. For me Aliens is a sequel that really is unique.
The movie developed thinks further, instead of being a poor copy.

IMHO most movies nowadays lack this originality or overdue CGI etc.

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Well if you want a pysch perspective, the first one shows a stressful situation of normal, ordinary people... Where one rises above the challenge and manages to survive, it speaks to people paranoia, desires (sexual tension within the workplace), intrigue/curiosity and then your fear of others and the unknown. Ridley Scott is a genius when it comes on psychologically involving an audience and invoking a reaction.

The amount of information we lack only lends to the questions we have, and is why we revisit this amazing horror thriller, the mystery and intrigue of the series keeps a person guessing... This is honestly why I think Prometheus is a good thing, it opens up far more questions than it answered, and got people talking about the franchise all over again.

Now for Aliens, it kept some of the tension of the first, but supplanted it with extremely fast paced action with enough comedic relief to make it so you aren't grinding your teeth by the end. The pacing was slow to fast, calmed down for a breather and took us on another ride, it was a roller coaster that gave what it needed and relaxed where you needed it! Its not the same intelligently written story as Ridley's, but it used enough of his foundations of a work a day man vs an insurmountable obstacle! It also had an allegory to the Vietnam war at the time. It was much more just a testosterone romp perfectly executed in a wonderful backstory.