Aliens
Year Released: 1986
Produced By: 20th Century Fox
Type of Original Release: Theatrical
Rotten Tomatoes Score/My Grade Equivalent*: 100%/A+

Personal Experience: Out of all the movies that are out there, this is the first movie that I had any real experience with as a kid and it is the movie I most thoroughly remember. It easily earns its place as one of my all-time favorite movies and it's still enjoyable to watch some 25 years later as it was when I first saw it. I was six years old when I first saw this movie and, of course, seeing all the violence in the movie there were scenes that scared the ever-loving shit out of me for several years. That being said however, there were also plenty of scenes that had "bad ass" written all over them, which meant that while the movie had parts that scared me shitless, it also had parts that I loved even as a little boy and it made me want to watch and love the movie even more.

As I grew older, I started to get over the various phobias that the film initially gave me and the scenes that once scared the daylights out of me weren't nearly as scary anymore, leaving only the "bad ass" element of the film and making it a delight to watch again and again.

What I liked about the movie

+: BAD ASS RIPLEY! (This is the movie that made her the poster-child for all the bad ass women in video games and movies. Yeah, this came out around the same time that Metroid did, but I'm sure many gamers (myself included) had no idea that Samus was actually a woman underneath the armor until we beat the game.)
+: That smart-ass Hudson (I would say that he's likely a major inspiration for my own attitude. His scenes are mostly hysterical and makes him look like what would happen if you took Gomer Pyle and crossed him with the Cinema Snob. Out of all the characters in the movie, I liked him the most, with the possible exception of Ripley. On a related subject, I'd like to mention something else as well...I happen to like Bill Paxton (much to the Nostalgia Critic's chagrin), but I also think he's at his best when he's a supporting character playing a smart-ass like Hudson or Chet in Weird Science. I didn't get that same kind of feeling from him when I watch Twister where he's the lead male actor...but that's a subject for a further review. Yes, I know NC already did Twister, but the movie has a significant enough impact on me that I will be reviewing it in the future)
+: Vasquez (She's just as bad ass as Ripley would become in the second half of the movie...it's a shame that she got killed off, because I liked her as well. Speaking of the supporting cast...)
+: The supporting cast in general (You can tell that this is a group of actors/actresses that took their work very seriously and delivered their lines well. You can truly get the feeling that this is one cohesive unit that despite the squabbles of some of their characters, still work together and fight together)
+: Ripley v. The Xenomorph Queen (particularly in the final battle aboard the Sulaco. Speaking of which...)
+ "Get away from her you BITCH!" (This is the quote of the movie that is the most memorable to me and it cements Ripley's transformation from her character in the first movie to the bad ass she's now known as)
+: The cinematography (it's very well done making certain scenes looking dark and hostile while also giving the characters a sense of isolation when they are cut off from the Sulaco)
+: The suspense (like Alien, this had a lot of suspenseful moments in it, even more so than the first in my opinion. With that being said, the suspenseful nature has worn off over time as I got more familiar with the movie, but it remains entertaining as all hell)

What pissed me off about this movie
(This won't take long =3)

-: The fact that the cut scenes were removed from the theatrical release (I watched the uncut version of the movie and while in Alien the cut scenes had little effect on the story...Aliens is another matter. The scenes cut from Aliens actually did contribute to the story, explaining how the xenomorphs got to the colony as well as giving more of a sense of how the marines tried to drive them away while awaiting a potential rescue. Yeah, I know that the movie was already over 2 hours and length without the cut scenes, but given what is shown in the scenes I think it would've been worth the extra 10-15 minutes)

Things that I am questioning after this movie

?: Why were the cut scenes eliminated from the theatrical release when they actually contributed to the story?

CONCLUSION: This movie is an epic example of a sequel done right. It doesn't try and re-tell the same story, it instead expands on it with plenty of entertainment and action to be had for all. Of all the Alien movies, this is EASILY the best of the franchise and one that I'm more than happy to watch again and again

FINAL GRADE: A+ (If I could find the "you won" clip from Willy Wonka, you'd be seeing it here)

Next Movie Review: Alien 3
Next Week's Review: Ms. Pac Man

*: Grade equivalent is based on my video game review score system (a 100% fresh rating on RT = a 10.0 score on my system, basically it takes the percentage score and divides by 10)