Alien vs. Aliens

Which is the better movie?

  • Alien

  • Aliens

Results are only viewable after voting.
n...not crazy said:
Watch with director commentary. There are deeper undertones to all of that ineffective firepower. It didn't work, sound like any wars you know of?

And the caricatures were done-up by the actors themselves, not by some dudes at a round table. You could also argue that the characters in Alien were caricatures... the whiny woman (who was written intentionally as a screen representation of the scared audience member), the moaning and groaning mechanics, the heartless corporate guy (who is basically the same character as Burke).

Aliens isn't as campy as people make it out to be. It's not Commando or Cyborg or some shit.
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I've watched directory commentaries of Alien and Aliens. Yes I get it was a Nam reference and Aliens was released in the middle of the great 80s Nam movie explosion.

Aliens is a little bit campy though very effective action movie.
Alien is an ultimate example of a film catching lightening in a bottle with it's story, set design, acting, cinematography, and music being well all ahead of its time. The movie ages incredibly well through a combination of set design and smart lighting and cinematography.

Not comparable movies....one a masterpiece in atmospheric horror where the entire movie is a slow build up from the moon with the beacon to the evolution of the xenomorph during the film so the viewer never knows how it looks or what to expect. The other movie is a largely a fun action movie using the same universe as the first movie but is about as different of a movie and you could possible have. It would be like if the second Jaws movie had 100 great whites and the coast guard was fighting them all. It just such a different approach from the first movie that they share little with each other except being in the same universe.
 
Alien is the best sci-fi movie ever made. Consider that it came out around the same time A New Hope did and looks better. Aliens while it is a super fun movie, it's not a masterpiece. Alien = work of art. Aliens = awesome movie.
 
Much of my opinion has already been covered but here's my additional two cents.

I think the two films work exceptionally well in tandem. The brilliant suspense/horror of Alien sets up the sci-fi action of Aliens perfectly. I remember the collective "OHHHH SHIIIT" that swept through the theatre when the marines woke up the nest of aliens and the collective adrenaline dump that ensued. The slow-burn of the first movie just led so well into the roller coaster ride that was the second. Rather than trying to decide which is best I really consider them both as a unit, and I share the opinion of many others in considering those two films the only ones in the franchise that I really acknowledge.
 
For the first time in a poll, I honestly can't choose.
Both movies have great sets, design, story, cast, score and dialogue. They are both outstanding in their respective genres.
In my 50 years, Aliens was the movie I was most excited beforehand to see at the cinema (along with Jaws and Jurassic Park). My anticipation was intense, and the movie delivered bigtime.
I was too young to see Alien at the cinema, so I first saw it on TV. I think it's a visual masterpiece and suspense classic.
 
I just got done watching Alien Resurrection and think its probly my Fav. and it makes Perfect sense in the telling of where we are at in the next evaluation. First the Engineers made us, then we made AI who wiped out the Engineers and then we made the hybrid of Xymoph and human/clone in Ripley. So now they can make another picking up there were Ripley's Breed will wipe out AI. I would watch that.
 
newcastleman said:
For the first time in a poll, I honestly can't choose.
Both movies have great sets, design, story, cast, score and dialogue. They are both outstanding in their respective genres.
In my 50 years, Aliens was the movie I was most excited beforehand to see at the cinema (along with Jaws and Jurassic Park). My anticipation was intense, and the movie delivered bigtime.
I was too young to see Alien at the cinema, so I first saw it on TV. I think it's a visual masterpiece and suspense classic.
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Dam You Old.
 
Judging by your grammar, you must be very young. In kindergarten perhaps.
 
Brom Bones said:
The critical side says Alien.

The bro side says Aliens.

Critical side usually wins out. Alien. For the most part, movies that introduce a story or universe are better than movies that build on it.

Also, Ridley Scott beats James Cameron.
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Alien is really an excellent example of a "critical" film that also manages to be a very easy to view entertainment film.

I'd agree people overplay the cartoonishness of Aliens somewhat, it certainly isn't in the same league of your average Arnie blockbusters(bar the Terminators of course) plus of course I think characters like Hudson are very deliberately played up as having cartoonish bravado so they can be brought down...



That said it is definitely more in that direction than Alien which takes something similar kinds of archetypes and turns them into very down to earth believable characters. Whilst Aliens makes it a more overt part of the plot of the film I think Alien is actually the much more effective takedown of the corporate individualist mindset. The characters are not ust innocents who are chewed up and spat out by the corporate environment but rather people who have learned to live in it, basically "keep your head down" and focus on yourself rather than others and hope things will be ok, except they won't.
 
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Flip a coin.

Can't go wrong.
 
First for me
Aliens.there were too many aliens. Coming out of no where left and right
 
Kudo said:
Maybe Alien, but I like Aliens more. Can you guys recommend movies about group of people trying to survive against monster/s? I love those movies. Predator, The Terminator and Aliens are my top 3 movies. Also Michael Biehn is the most underrated action heroe.

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Aliens wins this battle every time.

This thread even has a poll.
 
n...not crazy said:
Both good. Why choose?

Although the nod goes to Aliens, because of that huge plot hole in Alien. How did it grow 1,000 its birth weight in 2 days again?

There.
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Agree. That always annoyned me. Same thing happens in all the alien spinoffs.
 
No brainer for me as Aliens is probably my favourite film. I do hold Alien in high regards too and have a bit of a soft spot for Alien 3.
 
Aliens by a long shot. The chest bursting scene in alien was the best in the series, but I prefer the action of aliens
 
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