 Get ready for a whole new breed of Blu-ray with the Alien Anthology. Four powerful films....eight thrilling versions....together at last in dazzling, terrifying, high-def clarity and with the purest digital sound on the planet. Over 60 hours of special features and two bonus discs, including never-fore-seen content and the totally immersive MU-TH-UR mode Blu-ray interactive experience, make this the ultimate Alien movie collection your Blu-ray player has been begging for. The Alien Anthology includes: Aliens Alien3 Alien Resurrection Plus all the EXTRAS listed here. (on Disc 5 and Disc 6) For the 1986 sequel, Aliens, director James Cameron takes an opposite—but no less effective—approach, ditching the lonely survival horror of the first film and replacing it with bigger, louder, faster guns a'blazin' action. Where its predecessor's tagline was "In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream," the sequel's threatening slogan is "This Time, It's War." And it is. If you've ever played a video game where the main character is a grizzled, battle-hardened Space Marine—think Gears of War, Doom, Killzone 2—chances are it was inspired, at least tangentially, by Aliens. That archetype is now well past its expiration date—see Avatar, in which Cameron recycles many of Aliens' thematic and visual motifs—but at the time, the idea of gun-toting space grunts was fairly novel. Cameron could've easily made a loose remake of Alien, with a singular creature hunting down its vastly overpowered prey, but instead, he made the admittedly brave choice to do something different and expand the universe of the first film. I still prefer Alien, but I can see and appreciate why some fans call Aliens their favorite. The film picks up with Ripley being rescued after 57 years drifting through space in her cryo-chamber. Carter Burke (Paul Reiser), a corporate lawyer for Weyland-Yutani, the conglomerate that owned the Nostromo, informs her that her daughter on Earth died two years prior—at age sixty. Burke wants Ripley to accompany a group of Marines to a terraforming colony on LV-426, the planet where the alien egg was first discovered. You can see where this is going. When they arrive, the colony has been wiped out, the only survivor a terrified young girl named Newt (Carrie Henn), who quickly forms a bond with Ripley—as you'd expect in a film where a motherless daughter encounters a daughterless mother. This development gives Aliens more emotional impact, but it's only part of the story, which involves the nefarious Weyland-Yutani corporation hoping to weaponize the alien creature to turn a profit. You can really see Cameron flexing his muscles for Avatar here, from the armored "mech" that Ripley pilots to the themes of capitalist warmongering and the futility of military intervention. It's no spoiler to say that the Marines get almost completely wiped out by the end, their sentry guns and assault rifles ultimately ineffective against the alien horde. Yes, horde. Where the mantra of Alien was the less we show the monster, the scarier it is, Cameron's motto is the more creatures we have, the more we can show them slaughtering and getting slaughtered awesomely. There's less suspense and artistic nuance in this tact, but it makes for an explosive, rock'em sock'em action film, all culminating in a showdown with the alien queen—the bitch of all bitches—in her egg chamber. After Alien, Sigourney Weaver was quickly touted as the first real female action hero—she even referred to herself as "Rambolina," a play on Rambo—and that tough, ass-kicking side of Ripley's character is definitely played up for the sequel. Most of her accompanying space Marines are disposable alien fodder, but there are a few stand-out faces, including Bill Paxton as the amped-up Private Hudson—the sole comic relief in a film that otherwise moves at breakneck intensity—Michael Biehn as Corporal Hicks, and Lance Henriksen as fan-favorite Bishop, an android officer who would return briefly in the third installment, one of the few characters to show up in multiple films. Storyline: Fifty seven years after Ellen Ripley survived her disastrous ordeal, her escape vessel is recovered after drifting across the galaxy as she slept in cryogenic stasis. Back on earth, nobody believed her story about the "Aliens" on the planet LV-426. After the "Company" orders the colony on LV-426 to investigate, however, all communication with the colony is lost. The Company enlists Ripley to aid a team of tough, rugged space marines on a rescue mission to the now partially terraformed planet to find out if there are aliens or survivors. As the mission unfolds, Ripley will be forced to come to grips with her worst nightmare, but even as she does, she finds that the worst is yet to come. Written by Brian Rawlings Cast Notes: Sigourney Weaver (Lieutenant Ellen Ripley), Carrie Henn (Rebecca "Newt" Jorden), Michael Biehn (Corporal Dwayne Hicks), Paul Reiser (Weyland-Yutani Corporation Advisor Carter J. Burke), Lance Henriksen (Science Officer L. Bishop), Bill Paxton (Communications Technician Private W. Hudson), William Hope (Squadron Commander Lieutenant S. Gorman), Jenette Goldstein (Smart Gunner Private J. Vasquez), Al Matthews (Ground Troup Commander Sergeant A. Apone), Mark Rolston (Smart Gunner Private M. Drake), Ricco Ross (Private R. Frost), Colette Hiller (Drop Ship Pilot Corporal C. Ferro), Daniel Kash (Drop Ship Co-Pilot/Weapons Officer Private D. Spunkmeyer), Cynthia Scott [I] (Medical Officer Corporal C. Dietrich), Tip Tipping (Private T. Crowe). IMDb Rating (11/05/10): 8.5/10 from 172,956 users Top 250: #59
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