When Ripley’s lifepod is found by a salvage crew over 50 years later, she finds that terra-formers are on the very planet they found the alien species. When the company sends a family of colonists out to investigate her story—all contact is lost with the planet and colonists. They enlist Ripley and the colonial marines to return and search for answers.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Lt. Ellen Louise Ripley: Sigourney Weaver
• Rebecca “Newt” Jorden: Carrie Henn
• Cpl. Dwayne Hicks: Michael Biehn
• Carter J. Burke: Paul Reiser
• Lance Bishop: Lance Henriksen
• Pvt. William L. Hudson: Bill Paxton
• Lt. Scott Gorman: William Hope
• Pvt. Jenette Vasquez: Jenette Goldstein
• Sgt. Al Apone: Al Matthews
• Pvt. Mark Drake: Mark Rolston
• Pvt. Ricco Frost: Ricco Ross
• Cpl. Colette Ferro: Colette Hiller
• Pvt. Daniel Spunkmeyer: Daniel Kash
• Cpl. Cynthia Dietrich: Cynthia Dale Scott
• Pvt. Tim Crowe: Tip Tipping
• Pvt. Trevor “Ski” Wierzbowski: Trevor Steedman
• Van Leuwen: Paul Maxwell
• ECA Rep: Valerie Colgan
• Insurance Man: Alan Polonsky
• Med Tech: Alibe Parsons
• Doctor: Blain Fairman
• Cocooned Woman: Barbara Coles
• Aliens / Alien Queen: Carl Toop
• Power Loader Operator: John Lees
• Alien Warrior (uncredited): Eddie Powell
• Newt’s Father (uncredited): Jay Benedict
• Al Simpson (uncredited): Mac McDonald
• Lydecker (uncredited): William Armstrong
• Newt’s Mother (uncredited): Holly De Jong
• Worker in Corridor (Special Edition) (uncredited): Jill Goldston
• Amanda Ripley-Mclaren (uncredited): Elizabeth Inglis
• Salvage Team Leader (uncredited): Stuart Milligan
• Salvage Team Leader (voice) (uncredited): Bob Sherman
• Alien Warrior (uncredited): Chris Webb
• Salvager (uncredited): Tom Woodruff Jr.

Film Crew:

• Art Direction: Michael Lamont
• Editor: Ray Lovejoy
• Music Editor: Robin Clarke
• Casting: Jane Feinberg
• Casting: Mike Fenton
• Casting: Mary Selway
• Casting: Judy Taylor
• Producer: Gale Anne Hurd
• Story: David Giler
• Concept Artist: Syd Mead
• Set Decoration: Crispian Sallis
• Story: Walter Hill
• Original Music Composer: James Horner
• Story: James Cameron
• Production Design: Peter Lamont
• Characters: Dan O’Bannon
• Characters: Ronald Shusett
• Executive Producer: Gordon Carroll
• Creature Design: H.R. Giger
• Stunt Double: Kiran Shah
• Art Direction: Ken Court
• Director of Photography: Adrian Biddle
• Visual Effects Art Director: Peter Russell
• Special Effects: Brian Johnson
• Art Direction: Bert Davey
• Art Direction: Fred Hole
• Costume Design: Emma Porteous
• Makeup Supervisor: Peter Robb-King
• Supervising Art Director: Terry Ackland-Snow
• Music Editor: Michael Clifford
• Special Effects: Norman Baillie
• Stunt Coordinator: Paul Weston
• Stunts: Elanor Bertram
• Camera Operator: David Worley
• Conceptual Design: Ron Cobb
• Stunts: Stuart St. Paul
• Supervising Sound Editor: Don Sharpe
• Stunts: Bill Weston
• Associate Editor: Peter Boita
• Costume Supervisor: Tiny Nicholls
• Dialogue Editor: Archie Ludski
• Second Unit Director: Stan Winston
• Production Controller: Paul Tucker
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Robert Skotak
• Stunts: Simon Crane
• Production Supervisor: Hugh Harlow
• Orchestrator: Greig McRitchie
• Stunts: Eddie Powell
• Stunt Double: Clive Curtis
• Stunts: Stuart Fell
• Still Photographer: Bob Penn
• Stunts: Steve Dent
• Script Supervisor: Diana Dill
• Property Master: Bert Hearn
• Sound Recordist: Roy Charman
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Richard Hewitt
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Dennis Skotak
• Camera Operator: Shaun O’Dell
• Gaffer: Jack Thetford
• Stunts: Malcolm Weaver
• Unit Publicist: Geoff Freeman
• Stunts: Sean McCabe
• Stunts: Jason White
• First Assistant Director: Derek Cracknell
• Stunts: Jazzer Jeyes
• Unit Production Manager: Gil Whelan
• Construction Manager: Vic Simpson
• Key Hair Stylist: Elaine Bowerbank
• Stunts: Chris Webb
• Assistant Editor: Simon Harris
• Foley Editor: Rocky Phelan
• Second Assistant Director: Melvin Lind
• Stunts: Sue Crosland
• First Assistant Editor: Phil Sanderson
• Unit Production Manager: Mo Coppitters
• Stunt Double: Louise Head
• Production Coordinator: Joyce Turner

Movie Reviews:

• Rob: One of my all time favorites. It still contains some of the drama and suspense of the first but with far more action leading to what I find a far more appealing storyline. As with Cameron’s movies he makes you feel for the core characters from the start rather than just a bunch of ‘bad ass’ marines (Although they are). The progression of Ripley was really defined by this movie the ‘brave but scared’ Ripley of Alien is gone and a more determined, meaner Ripley emerges with elements of the older nurturing character kept in check with a young girl called Newt. It definitely stands out miles compared to all the other 80’s alien-type movies of that decade.
• Patrick E. Abe: “Ripley and the Soldiers” can be found in two versions: the short version that cuts from Midway station directly to the Weyland-Yutani hearing, and the “director’s cut” which cuts to a waiting room with a wall size “scenery channel” display.
  When I first saw the short version, I wondered how Ripley was able to make an immediate connection with Newt. “Sister solidarity” sounded bogus, and the “director’s cut” cleared up that mystery.
  The more interesting “director’s cut” reveals Newt’s family on LV-426, a long discussion on what the surviving Marines are facing, and an action sequence featuring the deadly Sentry units.
  As Ripley suggested, I.Q.s did drop sharply among the Weyland-Yutani brass, with Carter Burke sending a deadly directive to “Hadley’s Hope.”

  In short: Ripley is living the blue collar life by day and experiencing a recurrent “Alien birth” nightmare at night. Carter Burke and Colonial Marine Lt. Gorman visit her, saying contact has been lost with LV-426. Signing a devil’s deal with Weyland-Yutani, Ripley boards the “Sulaco” with a “company” of Colonial Marines. To her horror, an android, “Bishop” is part of the crew, recalling the murderous “Nostromo” science officer, Ash. The trash-talking Colonial Marines give Ripley’s tale short shrift, as they prepare for the “Bug Hunt.” The armed-to-the-teeth party finds no colonists, but evidence of a battle to the death. Then something streaks out of hiding, pursued by Ripley. “Mewt” is the sole survivor of “Hadley’s Hope” who views the soldiers with a disdainful “it won’t make any differene.” A computer search finds the colonists clustered deep below the power plant.
  The Marines descend into the sub-sub-basement level and find out how true Ripley’s tale is. After retreating from Hell, the survivors seal themselves off from the “Xenomorphs” as best as they can, dispatching “Bishop” to bring down the other drop ship. The Aliens attack and the soldiers fall one after another, leading to an abduction and a face off in an egg-filled chamber. This sequel is superior to the first movie, and leads to “Ripley and the Convicts.” 8/10.

• Charles Dance: **The Disney film of the franchise**

  A basic shoot ’em up that comes complete with soldiers greasing up and watching each others muscles and also added an annoying kid straight out of Oliver Twist.

  Cameron took everything Ridley Scott slowly built up and tossed it in the trash can to make a cheap shot Stallone/ Schwarzenegger style action fiasco.

  People who like this one tend to not be fans of horror movies as they complain about the _dark nature_ of the horror film Alien 3 – LOL – and this is precisely the reason Aliens fails as part of the horror franchise that is Alien.

  – Charles Dance

• John Chard: My mommy always said there were no monsters – no real ones – but there are.

  Ripley has been found in deep space by a salvage ship and brought back to a space station to be awoken from her 57 year sleep. Here she is mortified to find that the planet on which herself and her now deceased Nostromo crew found the Alien, LV-426, has been colonised by Weyland-Yutani Company. Suffice to say that when The Company representative, Burke, tells her that all contact is lost, she’s not in the least bit surprised. Unable to get anyone to believe her about what happened to the Nostromo crew, Ripley is cajoled into going back to LV-426 with a crack team of space marines to seek, destroy or rescue…

  How do you make a sequel to one of the finest, most loved modern era films ever? This was something that director James Cameron must have pondered on many a dark night once he had agreed to make Aliens. The answer was to rightly not copy the format so brilliantly laid down by Ridley Scott and his team for Alien, but to embrace its mood and enhance it with thrills spills and exhilaration. This was only Cameron’s third feature length movie, and here he was working with the crew who had made Scott’s movie so special. Also writing as well as directing, this could have gone very wrong indeed, but Cameron rose to the challenge admirably and set up his marker on how his film would succeed. Keep the premise simple and seamlessly connected to Scott’s film, and lets have more. Not just one bad ass acid bleeding alien, but an army of them, and their mother too!

  They mostly come at night – mostly.

  Where Alien was a splicing of sci-fi wonderment and basic horror terrors, Aliens is a blend of war film staples to compliment both of those earlier picture things. Thus in keeping with Cameron’s more is more work in progress skeleton. Another thing that Cameron instinctively called right was to make Aliens about Ripley (Sigorney Weaver simply brilliant), it’s her story. Be it a parental thread or a feminist heroine fighting off the phallic hoards, cinema got in Ripley’s extension one of its finest and strongest female characters ever (Weaver was nominated for Best Actress but lost out to Marlee Matlin for Children of a Lesser God).

  Thematically Aliens has been pored over in regards to metaphors about Vietnam, foreign policy and corporate greed at any cost, and rest assured that Aliens isn’t merely one big excuse for a shoot them up bonanza. But realistically, and explaining why it was such a huge box office success, it’s with the thrills and terror that Aliens most succeeds. The action scenes are slick and at times breath taking, and the tension is often palpable. None more so as we enter the film at the half way point, because here we realise that we have characters to care about. Blood, brains and brawn, all led by a heroine of considerable guile and guts. 10/10

• AmazoniaNOTAmazon: How Disappointing !

  This movie, Aliens (1986) is a real fiasco. Especially compared to Alien (1979).
  James Cameron ruined the spirit and soul of Alien for several reasons.

  The first one, according to me, is that, unlike Alien, he is using too many characters. Almost all of the actors are lacking of charism, even Sigourney Weaver.
  The soldiers show more muscles than intelligence and this is not reality, it is almost ridiculous.
  I do not understand why Cameron did that. It’s unbelievable for a director who made in 1984 Terminator and in 1991 Terminator 2.

  The second one, is the length of the movie : about 2h20mn. Too long, much too long.

  The third one is the lack of entertainment. I’m sorry, but, compared to Alien, this film cannot hold the comparison.
  It lacks of depth, and sometimes, it is better not to shoot a second part of a blockbuster.

  I recently watched Chinatown (1974), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Alien (1979), Fatal Attraction (1987) and all of them were great, but not Aliens.

• Repo Jack: How do you do a followup to a classic like Alien? GIve it to James Cameron to amp it up to 10 with a bazillion aliens and a fantastic performance by Sigourney Reaver.
• r96sk: A better sequel to ‘Alien’ than I was expecting.

  ‘Aliens’ – love the creativity, guys! – is a minute jot off the original but it remains a thoroughly enjoyable film – despite a slightly longer run time, which pleasantly doesn’t hamper events. Sigourney Weaver is terrific again; I can see why these films launched her career.

  I will say parts of this 1986 flick are a tad repetitive from the original and a few bits are predictable, e.g. the arcs of Lance Henriksen’s Bishop and Paul Reiser’s Carter, but when judged overall it’s another entertaining release from this franchise.

  I look forward to seeing if they made it a hat-trick with ‘Alien³’.