r/alien:

u/xander707

I much prefer Aliens to Alien, and Ill detail why. Firstly, I find the character growth of Ripleys character to be extremely well executed and rewarding in Aliens. She goes from a sole survivor struggling against a singular foe to a knowledgeable, prepared badass who holds her own with and even outdoes seasoned military soldiers, and its done in a way thats believable and inspiring, making Aliens Ripley one of the most grounded and badass heroines in cinema, imo. Secondly, the expanded Alien lore. The aliens are back much bigger and better, with much greater numbers, and a new sub species that is introduced masterfully, with a fantastic creature design to boot. The queen is alluded to but not seen until near the end and yet is still established as a worthy nemesis to Ripley, especially with the added layer of her fight to save Newt, a character Ripley has formed a mother/daughter bond with while coping with the loss of her own daughter that she tragically outlived due to the sci-fi nature of the story and her hibernation. Lastly Aliens is packed full of memorable, complex characters. Ripley, Newt, Hicks, Vasquez, Bishop, Hudson, and a few more all add to an amazing cast and help elevate the story and the stakes. And now Im going to say something about the first movie. I have a lot of respect for Alien – its a masterclass in horror. Its not fair at all for me to levy this criticism about it, but it still needs to be said. Alien did such a wonderful job at horror that it was copied ad infinitum, and to be quite honest it feels diluted as a result; there are many other good horror movies that successfully copied the horror formula of Alien. And while great, I feel its a little more straightforward than the sequel, doesnt have as many interesting characters, doesnt have as much rewarding character growth, and just doesnt offer quite as much as Aliens. I often find showing people new to the franchise Aliens to be a funner experience than Alien. When new viewers watch Alien with me, they react like theyve seen a hundred other horror movies that go through the same story beats. When they watch Aliens, theres a lot more interest and discussion to be had, because it does more and hasnt been copied successfully to the same degree.
u/xander707

It is way better than I thought it would be. Honestly when it was first announced I assumed it was going to be a corny cash grab show that might offer some bouts of mild entertainment. I guess I had trouble buying the premise of taking place on earth. But damn, the production value, acting, special effects (although some of the cgi is a little too cgi-y) are all top notch and giving a great Alien experience so far. I will say its funny how billionaires/trillionaires are valid excuses for weird/bad decision making because its just part of the zeitgeist that those types of obscenely rich people are actually weirdos and would make dumb/unethical decisions, like putting children into synthetic bodies and then sending them on a dangerous mission to secure a rivals proprietary research etc.
u/xander707

Aliens is probably in my top 3 movies of all time. Along with John Carpenters The Thing. Enjoy!
u/xander707

The ticks were diabolical. Between them and the eyeball, this series is producing some quality fresh nightmare fuel.
u/xander707

I gotta tell you, when I first heard of Alien: Earth, I was super skeptical. It immediately came across as a cash grab, and I thought at best it was going to be a show, with show quality, featuring poor acting and just people getting shredded by xenomorphs with Earth as the background for some inexplicable reason. Maybe thats the show some people were hoping for. I was very surprised to see such high production quality, great acting, nostalgic callbacks, and such interesting characters. There are some aspects of the narrative that are a little weak imo, but Im overall glad this exists and look forward to each new episode. The new monsters they have introduced are really something, especially the eyeball.