Review of Aliens: Special Edition

Introduction

James Cameron`s "Aliens" is the sequel to Ridley Scott`s hugely popular and much-loved "Alien". Cameron elects to go for all-out action, mixed in with a few tension-filled moments. This is a wise move as it makes it much harder to draw the inevitable comparisons between the two films. Once the film gets going (and it takes a little while!) then there`s not too much break in the high-octane ride.

Cameron admits that he was trying to make a kind of Vietnam film set in space, and with the addition of the largely military main characters, he instantly succeeds. As it`s called "Aliens" then it`s no surprise to find more than one of them here, and Cameron tries to show us his vision of how the species "lives". This rather contradicts what we learn from the deleted scenes from "Alien" though.

Video

We are presented with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, which whilst still looking pretty good, doesn`t match up to the high quality seen on "Alien" (look, it`s one of those inevitable comparisons!) There`s some grain evident at times, and it just shows its age now and again.

Some of the special effects also look a little dated nowadays, but they don`t really detract from the film itself.

Audio

A DD5.1 audio track is on offer and it does the job pretty well. The full set of channels are used mostly during the big gun battles and dialogue is clear and audible throughout.

Special mention must go to the soundtrack, composed by James Horner, which really adds to the overall experience - pumping along during the action and then playing it cool during the odd quieter moment.

Features

Probably the biggest extra is the footage which is actually restored to the main feature. It would have been nice to see this footage available as an optional way to watch the film (via seamless branching like Terminator 2 or The Abyss - coincidentally both Cameron films). Having seen the new scenes I would prefer the film without almost all of them, but they don`t really spoil it too much.

On to the real extra features then. Well, we get a 15 year old interview with Cameron, which is rather brief and not very interesting, along with some behind the scenes clips, which are quite good, showing testing of the alien models and some of the building work that went into them.

You`ll also find a reasonable photo gallery which gives you more insight into the design of the film and how this was developed. And you get the trailer, which is another example of how not to make trailers.

Conclusion

I think it`s fair to label this film as a classic. But it`s a classic for different reasons. It doesn`t have the tension or suspense of the original (although there is some scattered around briefly). But it does have plenty of action in the form of guns, grenades, flame-throwers and giant robotic structures.

It`s a very typical James Cameron film, so you`ll pretty much know what to expect. The disc itself could have been better, and a director`s commentary would have been very welcome. But what you get is still of very good quality, and is an immense improvement on all those VHS versions that have gone before.

If you want a science fiction action shoot-out which moves at a very fast pace then look no further than Aliens.