ALIENS is simply the best thriller I have ever seen: it is intelligent and driven by story and character, though certainly chock-full of engaging and often brutal action. At the end of this movie, your hands will hurt from gripping the edge of your seat. The suspense is terrifying, the acting is believable, the CGI are thrilling, and the direction by legendary James Cameron is masterful. Every fan of action movies needs to see this, for you will enjoy it. However, PLEASE leave the kids at home.
Though this movie was made back in the 80s, there is still a strong pull for kids to want to see it. Since this movie, James Cameron has directed TITANIC and AVATAR, two classic modern movies that most kids have seen. The leading lady, Sigourney Weaver, has starred in several mainstream movies marketed to kids, including the before-mentioned AVATAR plus YOU AGAIN and HOLES. Plus, what teenage boy will read the plot summary and not want to see it? However, this is definitely not a movie for kids. The suspense is too much for many adults; for kids, it will just be traumatizing. The majority of the movie is spent making the audience care for the characters; thus, it is very difficult to watch as they are bloodily impaled, eviscerated, carved in two, eaten, and, in a way, impregnated by aliens. Yes, you read correctly. Impregnated. You see, aliens latch on to their victim's bodies and lay eggs in their stomachs. They hatch by gorily bursting out of the victim's chest. There are at least two instances where this is shown onscreen in this movie, both accompanied by blood and intense music and camera cuts. It gets worse. One of the main characters of the film is a little girl, and she is frequently put in danger from the aliens. Another woman is shredded to pieces by an alien in the cockpit of a plane; though the actual shredding is off-screen, you see the blood that flows down the windows of the cockpit. An android is torn in two by a massive alien, and although he is a machine and his blood is white, he still looks very much human as he lies on the ground in two pieces. In addition to the violence, there is extremely harsh language in the film. In both the special and theatrical editions of the film, there are around 20 uses of the "f" word (twice paired with "mother), plus, around forty or fifty uses of "s**t", "a*s", and "g****mn". There is no sexual content. In conclusion, you should go out of your way to see this movie. It is yet another masterful creation from director James Cameron, and if you are a fan of action, sci-fi, or thrillers, then you will enjoy it. Just please view it before watching it with young kids.