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Jon Cryer recommended Aliens (1986) in Movies (curated)

 
Aliens (1986)
Aliens (1986)
1986 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

"Not Alien, which is great, but doesn’t quite hold up, partially because there is a couple of special effects issues. The chest-burster, as originally conceived, just doesn’t work anymore. But Aliens is, in my mind, the perfectly constructed thriller. People forget that it starts off real slow. I mean, there’s like 40 minutes of quiet. And then all of a sudden you can’t leave your seat. It’s beautifully constructed in terms of, every time you think that they’re gonna get some respite, they get a moment to get their stuff together and maybe get out of this, things get worse and yet they somehow keep going. It was one of the most pure moviegoing experiences I’ve ever had. I loved every minute of it and it made me feel lucky to be an audience member. You can’t get around an experience like that."

Source
  
The Suicide Squad (2021)
The Suicide Squad (2021)
2021 | Action, Comedy, Crime
Hmmm ... not Suicide Squad, but 'The Suicide Squad'.

Like Aliens and not Alien.

A sort-of sequel to the earlier movie (here, Suicide Squad), with some of the same characters - most noticeably, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn - although it is by no means necessary to have watched that earlier movie.

This is also a fair bit bloodier/messier than I remember said earlier movie being, and has absolutely no mention of either Batman or the Joker (unless you count Quinn's aversion to personalised number plates? See The Jokers car ...) to distract from the plot here, which sees the group of super-villains (all with a tracker and bomb implanted in their head) all sent on a mission to the island of Corto Maltese to destroy a Nazi-era prison and laboratory.

Of the 2 movies, I think this is the better.

It's definitely a James Gunn film through and through!
  
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Alien: Covenant (2017)
2017 | Horror, Sci-Fi
Story: Alien Covenant starts with the colony ship the Covenant heading towards a new planet, a crew of 15 and over 2000 colonist on board with just Walter (Fassbender) the android running the ship. When the ship encounters a freak storm in space leads the crew suffering loses they need to let the new captain Oram (Crudup) guide them through the damage to the systems.

When the repairs find a ghost transmission from a planet which appears perfectly habitable Oram goes against first mate Daniels’ (Waterston) opinion to continue their mission and takes a crew to this planet.

While on the planet the crew learn, this planet isn’t as safe as they had thought as they learn the deadly species waiting to be awoken along with a discovery which will give them answers about one of the mysterious of space.

 

Thoughts on Alien: Covenant

 

Characters/Performance – Walter is the latest model of the androids that joins the mission to do the jobs humans can’t manage he is good natured and understands his mission. Daniels is the second in command after the early tragedy, she doesn’t want to investigate the new planet but soon becomes the one we must rout for once she decides to fight. Oram is your standard captain trying to take the role with his own stamp, also he is meant to be religious. The rest of the crew are what you expect.

Performance wise, well this is where things get interesting, Fassbender is fine but let’s face it he is wasting his talent in movies like these. Waterston struggles to follow in the strong leading action heroine footsteps with Crudup being easily forgettable. This does have known names but nothing that comes off truly memorable in the performances.

Story – The story looks to follow up what happened after the Prometheus in what just feels like a complete rip off, of plenty of films, we have horribly written characters that just do panic instead of being professional in the role that would remain calm through each situation. This is a rinse, repeat film that ends up being one of the most predictable movies you have ever seen.

Horror/Sci-Fi – There is little to no horror in a movie that has ALIENS in which is the whole point. The sci-fi side of the story is all what you have come to expect from the genre without being anything fresh.

Settings – The film looks beautiful and stunning throughout but they also don’t have anything looking original though.

Special Effects – The special effects show us the settings looking almost flawless, it is the aliens which come off weak in places.

Final Thoughts – This is a poor addition to the franchise of aliens, we barely see them and the science versus religion question doesn’t end up getting discussed enough.

 

Overall: Poor franchise addition that is weak in every single aspect.

https://moviesreview101.com/2017/05/16/alien-covenant-2017/
  
Alien Resurrection (1997)
Alien Resurrection (1997)
1997 | Horror, Sci-Fi
Story: Alien: Resurrection starts as we arrive on a US space research facility where General Perez (Hedaya) is working on bringing back the aliens with clones of Ripley (Weaver), the latest number 8 shows incredible strength and development. Waiting for a delivery from Captain Elgyn (Wincott) and his crew Call (Ryder), Vriess (Pinon), Johner (Perlman) Hillard (Flowers) and Christie (Dourdan) a deal is agreed they can spend a couple of days’ rest on the research ship.

After Elgyn’s crew get involved in an altercation with the scientists they must escape but the xenomorphs have escaped onto the ship, joining up with Ripley the crew look for a way off the ship while staying alive.

 

Thoughts on Alien: Resurrection

 

Characters/Performance – Ripley is now a clone and the mother of the xenomorphs being created on the ship, she is stronger than before but becomes the best weapon against the xenomorphs. Call is the newest crew member of the pirates but she is harbouring a secret from the rest of the crew. The rest of the characters are your generic group of fighters, the tough one, the gunslinger, the smart one and the captain nothing original comes from these characters.

Performance wise, this isn’t the best Weaver alien performance but she is also brave enough to take it on with a different approach. Ryder is solid enough through the film. the rest of the cast are also solid with Ron Perlman giving his aggressive dick like performance on the good guys team.

Story – The story might not be the greatest, but it does capture what is needed for an alien movie, we have the military wanting to study the aliens for their own good, this happens every single film, we also have the group of soldiers needing to fight them off, but this film does offer a chance to build the relationship between the xenomorphs and Ripley. The problem for a lot of this story telling it that it isn’t original and isn’t on the same levels as the earlier films.

Action/Horror/Sci-Fi – The action is all mindless like you would expect from big budget style sequel too far down the line, the horror is now nearly all gone from the franchise but the sci-fi angle continues on strongly as we see how the aliens are now finding new ways to breed.

Settings – The whole film is set upon the space facility craft which is good because it keeps everything within the one location which is all we want in these films.

Special Effects – The special effects are good in this film and are one of the extra highlights within the film.

Final Thoughts – The weakest part of the Weaver alien films but still a good enjoyable enough watch.

 

Overall: Enjoyable enough.

https://moviesreview101.com/2017/09/27/alien-resurrection-1997/