Aliens: 30th Anniversary Screening
Description
On “Alien Day”—4.26.16—we’re celebrating 30 pulse-pounding years of the explosive action sci-fi masterpiece with a Xeno-marvelous screening of Aliens. In 1986, director James Cameron did the near impossible: He unleashed a sequel that trumps a nearly untrump-able original—thanks in no small part to Sigourney Weaver’s reprisal of the role of the universe’s most righteous heroine, Ellen Ripley. Drawing inspiration from the Vietnam War, Cameron places her and an elite squad of heavily armored Colonial Marines in a hostile alien environment where they quickly learn that their military training and firepower is no match for a more determined enemy. What follows is an explosion of the Alien universe as Cameron deliberately places the emphasis “more on terror, less on horror” in a powerhouse that leans more on The Magnificent Seven and Southern Comfort than its celebrated predecessor. Championed by critics, Aliens became one of the highest grossing R-rated films of all time and one of the only sequels to go toe-to-toe with its predecessor. —Christian Parkes
James Cameron’s breakthrough came with his second feature, The Terminator (1984), success he built on with his next film Aliens (1986). Titanic (1997), the second highest grossing movie of all time, garnered him Best Picture and Best Director Oscars®, as well as a nomination for Best Editing. For Avatar (2009), the highest grossing film in history, he received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing. Among his other films are The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and the undersea documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) and Aliens of the Deep (2005).
Film Details
Language English
Year 1986
Runtime 137
Country USA
Director James Cameron
Producer Gale Anne Hurd
Writer James Cameron
Editor Ray Lovejoy
Cinematographer Adrian Biddle
Music James Horner
Cast Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton