Aliens - Die Rückkehr

In Alien - Das unheimliche Wesen aus einer fremden Welt stellte Ridley Scott wehrlose Forscher und eine unsichtbare Bedrohung gegeneinander. In der Fortsetzung von James Cameron sind es bewaffnete Mariner und eine große sichtbare Bedrohung. Die entwaffnende Angst wurde durch eine entwaffnende Adrenalin-Action abgelöst. Bei Aliens - Die Rückkehr könnte man im Kontext des ersten Films die Absenz der Horror-Intimität kritisieren. Der Regisseur hat sie aber durch viele ausgezeichnete Ideen, eine reichhaltige Handlung mit originellen Szenen und eine für ihn typische technische Perfektion ersetzt. Es ist ein Referenz-Science-Fiction-Spektakel voller Action und Spannung, die das Blut in den Adern gefrieren lässt. Es wäre eine Barbarei, diesem Film im Rahmen des Genres weniger als 5* zu geben. PS: Der Director’s Cut, in dem wir die Bewohner der Kolonie noch vor der Landung von Ripleys Besatzung auf dem Planeten sehen, verringert definitiv nicht den spannenden und geheimnisvollen Charakter des Films ("Was ist hier passiert?"). Es findet nur eine andere Stilisierung statt ("Was ist mit ihnen passiert?"). Manche Handlungszusammenhänge bekommen dadurch eine breitere Bedeutung. (27.05.2002)

Cameron took it radically in his own way and plays on a rather belligerent string. Compared to the first film, there’s less atmosphere and mystery, but the suspense hasn't disappeared and James shows his immense talent and sense of perfectionism in his second big film (not counting Piranha...ahem.). (13.04.2003)

Great film, but I like Scott’s atmospheric first part better. (15.08.2007)

James Cameron is a very wise and clever man. The way he was able to gracefully bridge Scott's horror film (the 57-year time gap, the nightmares, the colonization of the planet) to his own vision of an alien encounter is admirable. It’s an impressive action ride that is unrivaled across all weight categories. It’s built on ingenious editing, (now legendary) sound, and of course, a bunch of marines who, apart from an amazing arsenal, also spew a bunch of catchphrases that should be carved into the most expensive marble. This simply fascinates me even after more than twenty years. To this day I still wonder how something like this film could have ever been made... for me, this is James Cameron's best film and think what you will about it, but that's about all you can do. (03.03.2009)

Ein wirklich guter Actionfilm, einer der besten sogar. Perfekt gemacht, aber im Vergleich zum Original-Alien einfach zu gleichförmig und vorhersehbar. Cameron ist zweifellos ein großer Profi, aber Aliens - Die Rückkehr wirkt sehr schnell abgedroschen. Dennoch sind einige der Ideen einprägsam (wie die Kameras in den Helmen der Soldaten). Hoher Standard in diesem Genre. Und nachdem ich SE gesehen habe, kann ich nicht anders, als einen weiteren Stern hinzuzufügen. Die hervorragende Atmosphäre wird sowohl durch die zusätzlichen Extras (z.B. Newts und Ripleys tiefe Beziehung ist viel logischer) als auch durch die ausgezeichnete THX-Verpackung garantiert... Ich habe die Atmosphäre fast so sehr genossen wie beim ersten Mal. :o) Die leichte Vorhersehbarkeit ist geblieben... Ich bin mir bei der Gleichmäßigkeit nicht mehr so sicher. Natürlich hat Cameron filmtechnisch nicht die visionären Qualitäten von Scott erreicht, aber man kann nicht übersehen, dass seine Visionen die Form der Science Fiction nicht nur im Film bestimmt haben. (27.01.2004)

Where Ridley Scott triumphed through the use of a creeping atmosphere, Cameron puts his money on action-packed antics at a seemingly deserted military base. Where Ridley afforded us just as fleeting as possible glimpses of the alien, believing that unseen evil is the most effective, Cameron deploys whole armies of aliens degraded to the role of insectoid cannon fodder. Where Scott has made do with a few actors in what is almost a chamber piece, Cameron gives us a mega production. Hard to say which of them is better. Both are completely different and yet perfect, although each in its own separate genre. But I won’t try to hide the fact that I prefer the movie that uses the singular in its title. (10.02.2007)

Skipping the seemingly unattainably high bar was an impossible task, but James Cameron did what he could. Ripley still works and even Newt, Hicks, or Bishop quickly grew close to my heart. However, I only started to like Aliens after the extended version, which truly gives the right charge to the psychological background of the first half. Its contribution to the additional success with the audience also lies in the timeless action and breathtaking moments full of elegantly deadly villains. (21.04.2005)

Die Fortsetzung könnte kaum unterschiedlicher von Teil eins sein und dennoch haben beide Filme mehr gemeinsam, als es auf den ersten Blick scheint - wenn auch in kleineren Variationen. Die Truppe um Ripley verwandelt sich erneut in eine Handvoll ängstlicher verzweifelter, Ripley selbst rettet am Ende die kleine Newt, die erfolgreich die Katze ersetzt hat. Auch ein Android darf nicht fehlen (der "böse" Ashe wurde durch den guten Bishop ersetzt), das finale Countdown zur nahenden Zerstörung, das letzte Alien (diesmal die Königin), das wieder in den Weltraum entkommt, und das süße Happy End endet erneut mit einem Kälteschlaf. Nur diesmal gibt es viel mehr Aliens. Wie man sehen kann, hat sich Camerons Fähigkeit, Scotts grundlegendes Schema und seine einzelnen Motive zu variieren, bis ins letzte Detail ausgezahlt. (18.09.2016)

When Ridley Scott made Alien in 1979, it was a huge revival of the genre and the rehabilitation of ugly space monsters as props for adventure sci-fi horror films. Despite all this, it took seven long years before the production studio decided to make a sequel, and none other than James Cameron, who gained the reputation of a first-class director after the triumphant release of The Terminator, was entrusted to make it. Cameron's Aliens literally conquered movie theaters in the United States and abroad. It was hailed as the best science fiction film of the year by both fans and critics. I went to see it with high expectations, and my first impression was rather mixed because the horror atmosphere of the first film was absent, and it was much more of a lavishly filmed action war sci-fi drama. However, it was shot with maximum precision, professionalism, and extraordinary creativity. The plot follows a similar scheme to what the viewer experienced in the first film, but Cameron added the motif of the alien queen and a whole community of two hundred aliens, and audiences can enjoy an attack by dozens of monsters at once. The studio approached the production with extraordinary generosity, and the budget allowed for the use of cutting-edge technology for that time, which paid off. The alien queen was operated hydraulically, but two people were also hidden inside her body, and parts of her body were controlled mechanically by ordinary wire. The movement of the creatures was meant to resemble giant insects, reminiscent of both a praying mantis and a centipede. Cameron also filled the screen with a multitude of characters, tough warriors who would be a decoration in any action film. The screenplay cleverly used the motif of a clash between a human woman defending a child and an alien queen defending her offspring. The scene where little Newt turns to Ripley with a cry of "Mommy" is highly emotive. The cocktail of science fiction, horror, and action drama was a complete success. Although I prefer Ridley Scott's style, I have to take my hat off to Cameron's work. Overall impression: 95%. One of the best films in the science fiction genre. (05.01.2008)

Hands down the best installment of this famous franchise. James Cameron confirms his incredible talent and visual sensibility here and imprints the film with his unique directorial style. The action is fantastic, raw and “realistic”. Similarly, the characters are unusually dense and well-developed for this type of sci-fi. The Marine commando is one cool gang, dropping one-liners faster than the bullets from their machine guns. Finally, we get to see the feared monster in all its beauty and power, and it's no longer just “a guy in a costume”. Sigourney Weaver is even more likeable, and her transformation from a timid advisor to a seasoned warrior is brilliant. The minimalist soundtrack and the android Bishop have become legendary. Together with Blade Runner, clearly the best sci-fi films of the 1980s. (01.11.2003)

Although it's out of place, I can't avoid the comparison; as far as I’m concerned, Aliens is more creative and entertaining than the first one. Cameron is amazing, he elevated an already perfect space survival story to the ultimate polished and incredibly balanced action flick. In the manner of the original, it’s almost heart-attack inducingly suspenseful (you almost can't breathe during the sequence before the first contact with the monsters), but at the same time it's adrenaline-fuelled and superbly choreographed terror for film and computer geeks (so it's quite timeless), and still a prime example of how to use film space with maximum efficiency and how to work with characters in an action story where most of them have to gradually disappear, inventing a variety of traps in line with keeping the pace and delaying the climax in favour of a moment of surprise to the point of being outrageously sexy and cool. An amazing Weaver and a brilliant Henriksen. Together with The Dark Knight and T2, the best sequel ever. (13.05.2018)

I was always too cool not to take issue with the second installment of the Alien Tetralogy because a) I resented the way it stripped the aliens of their eerie Gigerian mystery and b) I thought it broke from canon in that, unlike the other installments, it didn't focus on the crumbling periphery of humanity's galactic boom but instead placed us on a vast station in Earth orbit or a newly built human colony. The latter does become a crumbling periphery very quickly as a result of alien activity, but what I love about the first, third, and fourth episodes is the unspoken fact of how the human race, in its colonization of the universe, carelessly tosses aside any parts of it that are not lucrative, simply without any interest in cleaning up the mess left behind. And yet I madly enjoyed my last viewing of Aliens as probably the most spectacular military sci-fi of the analog era. The fact that everything we see here is artfully crafted, nicely old-fashioned with dirty paws is accentuated here by the Cameron’s knack or perfectly selling every single screw or bolt of the film perfectly. Not five minutes go by where he doesn't introduce us to some new gadget or weapon. The entire set, costumes, and objects are so fitting it actually makes you want to touch and feel everything. At the same time, the film has fantastic drama, able to move from quiet traumas to showy spectacles, alternating small conflicts (Newt and Ripley vs. the facehuggers) with big ones (machine guns, flamethrowers, dozens of aliens). Not least, then, is the admiration for the duality that runs through almost all of Cameron's films – a technophile director making technophobic films from a male milieu in which women naturally assert themselves. His empathy for Ripley and Newt's relationship contrasted with the Marine figures kind of suggests that Cameron is not only an excellent filmmaker, but imo quite a heartbreaker in his personal life. (19.10.2022)

Maybe not as mysterious and full of unanticipated scares as Scott's first, but all the more action-packed and briskly paced sequel to Alien from James Cameron. Qualitatively, I think the first two are on the same level, though each in a slightly different way. :)) 100% (23.12.2009)