ⓘ Details

Movie TitleAliens

Release DateJuly 18, 1986

TaglineThis time it’s war.

Runtime137 minutes

DirectorJames Cameron

Screenplay Written ByJames Cameron

Based OnStory by James Cameron, David Giler & Walter Hill; sequel to Alien, based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett

Is It a Remake?No. Aliens is the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien.

BudgetApproximately $18.5 million

Box OfficeApprox. $85.2 million domestic / Worldwide totals vary by source, approx. $131.1–183.3 million

↑ Return to Top

👥 Main Cast

Sigourney WeaverEllen Ripley

Michael BiehnCpl. Dwayne Hicks

Paul ReiserCarter Burke

Lance HenriksenBishop

Carrie HennRebecca “Newt” Jorden

Bill PaxtonPvt. Hudson

William HopeLt. Gorman

Jenette GoldsteinPvt. Vasquez

Al MatthewsSgt. Apone

Mark RolstonPvt. Drake

Ricco RossPvt. Frost

Daniel KashPvt. Spunkmeyer

↑ Return to Top

🏆 Awards

⭐ Academy Award Winner — Best Visual Effects

⭐ Academy Award Winner — Best Sound Effects Editing

⭐ Academy Award Nominee — Best Actress: Sigourney Weaver

⭐ Academy Award Nominee — Best Original Score: James Horner

⭐ Academy Award Nominee — Best Film Editing: Ray Lovejoy

⭐ Academy Award Nominee — Best Sound

⭐ Academy Award Nominee — Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

⭐ BAFTA Winner — Best Special Visual Effects

⭐ Hugo Award Winner — Best Dramatic Presentation

⭐ Saturn Award Winner — Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Young Actor, Best Writing, and Best Special Effects

↑ Return to Top

📖 Short Plot Summary

Decades after surviving the Nostromo disaster, Ellen Ripley is found drifting in space and forced to explain a nightmare no one believes. When contact is lost with the colony on LV-426 — the same moon where her crew first found the alien eggs — Ripley reluctantly returns with a squad of Colonial Marines and a corporate representative. What starts as a rescue mission becomes a full-scale siege when the team discovers the colony has been overrun by xenomorphs, leaving Ripley to protect young survivor Newt and face the alien queen in one of sci-fi cinema’s greatest showdowns.

↑ Return to Top

❝ Key Quotes

“Get away from her, you bitch!” — Ellen Ripley

“Game over, man! Game over!” — Hudson

“They mostly come at night. Mostly.” — Newt

“Stay frosty.” — Corporal Hicks

“I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit.” — Ellen Ripley

“This time it’s war.” — Tagline

↑ Return to Top

💡 Trivia

Director

Aliens was written and directed by James Cameron.
Cameron shifted the franchise from haunted-house-in-space horror into a muscular sci-fi action war movie.
The film was Cameron’s follow-up to The Terminator, helping cement him as one of the defining action filmmakers of the 1980s.
Gale Anne Hurd produced the film.
Cameron’s script deepened Ripley’s character by making the sequel as much about trauma, motherhood, and survival as it is about pulse rifles and exploding bugs.

Cast / Casting

Sigourney Weaver returned as Ellen Ripley and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress — rare recognition for a sci-fi/action performance.
Michael Biehn plays Corporal Hicks, replacing James Remar after filming had already begun.
Bill Paxton’s Hudson became one of the movie’s most quotable characters.
Carrie Henn made her film debut as Newt and did not pursue a long-term acting career afterward.
Jenette Goldstein won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Vasquez.
Lance Henriksen plays Bishop, giving the film a more sympathetic android figure after Ash in Alien.

Soundtrack / Score

The score was composed by James Horner.
Horner received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.
The score mixes military percussion, suspense, and full-throttle action cues to match the film’s war-movie tone.
Production pressure and a tight post-production schedule reportedly made the scoring process difficult.
Several Horner cues became so recognizable that they were reused in trailers and genre marketing for years afterward.

Location

Much of the film was shot at Pinewood Studios in England.
The alien nest and power-station material used the decommissioned Acton Lane Power Station in London.
The LV-426 colony, operations center, med lab, and alien hive were built largely as studio and industrial sets.
The cold, wet, metallic environments helped distinguish Aliens from the smoother spaceship horror of Alien.
The power station sets were later redressed for parts of Tim Burton’s Batman.

Behind-The-Scenes

Principal photography began in September 1985 and concluded in January 1986.
The film’s production budget is commonly reported at approximately $18.5 million.
Stan Winston’s team created the alien queen, one of the most impressive creature effects of the 1980s.
The film combined creature suits, miniatures, puppetry, practical effects, rear projection, and optical work long before digital monsters became standard.
The “Game over, man!” line came from Bill Paxton developing Hudson’s personality and backstory.
Aliens won Oscars for Visual Effects and Sound Effects Editing.

Nostalgia

Aliens is widely considered one of the greatest sequels ever made.
The movie helped define the look and attitude of futuristic space marines in movies, comics, games, and sci-fi pop culture.
The pulse rifle, APC, dropship, power loader, motion tracker, and alien queen all became iconic genre imagery.
Ripley’s final battle in the power loader remains one of the defining heroine moments in action cinema.
The movie is often debated alongside Alien as a rare sequel that equals or surpasses the original, depending on whether you prefer slow-burn terror or “nuke it from orbit” chaos.

Easter Eggs

The moon LV-426 returns from Alien, now transformed into the terraforming colony Hadley’s Hope.
The Weyland-Yutani Corporation again proves that corporate decision-making is somehow more dangerous than the monsters.
Bishop’s knife trick mirrors the franchise’s uneasy history with androids, but flips audience expectations by making him trustworthy.
The power loader introduced early in the film pays off in the queen battle, turning warehouse equipment into a monster-fighting mech suit.
The queen’s maternal role mirrors Ripley’s protective bond with Newt, making the final fight a battle between two very different mothers.

Misc.

Aliens is rated R.
Box Office Mojo classifies the movie as action, adventure, horror, sci-fi, and thriller.
Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus praises the film’s visceral punch and Sigourney Weaver’s performance.
The film’s theatrical runtime is 137 minutes, while later special edition cuts run longer.
Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists the episode as Episode 229, with Don rating it 4.75, Ken rating it 5.00, Jon rating it 5.00, and an overall rating of 4.92.

↑ Return to Top