Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What I Think Of: Aliens (1986)

I probably should've watched the original Alien first before doing this review, but I was more in the mood for an action film than a horror film, after watching Orphan. Whereas Alien was much more of a horror film, one of the first of it's time, depicting Outer Space as a place we truly know nothing about, Aliens continues the story, but this time adds hardcore Colonial Marines to take on the vile Aliens. That's not saying that the horror isn't there in Aliens, but it's definitely more of an action film, and a damn good one at that. Now, a lot of times, when a sequel changes directors, it's usually not for the better. Especially when that director is Ridley Scott. However, James Cameron of Terminator fame did a fantastic job with the sequel of Scott's masterpiece, actually adding more to the atmosphere of the Aliens franchise, with the cocooning and the Queen, as well as the station. One thing I've always loved about this movie is the atmosphere, and what really helps this movie's atmosphere is the soundtrack, composed by one of my favorite movie composers, James Horner. He won an Oscar for Titanic's soundtrack, but he deserved it more for Aliens, but especially more for Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. Oh yeah, I went there!

-Greg

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