Critical response
Critics were divided about Aliens' intense action and horror, but consistent in their praise for Weaver's (pictured in 2016) performance.Aliens opened to generally positive reviews.[102] It appeared on the cover of the July 28, 1986, edition of Time magazine, which called it "The Summer's Scariest Movie".[116] Audience polls by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[117]
Most reviewers agreed Aliens was a worthy successor to Alien.[118][119] Variety and Walter Goodman said it could not replicate the novelty of the first film, but Aliens compensated with special effects, technique, and a constant stream of set-piece thrills and scary scenes.[3][118] Variety added Aliens was made by an expert craftsman, suggesting its predecessor was a more artistic endeavor.[118] Sheila Benson said Aliens was clever and ironically funny, but lacked Alien's pure horror. Benson attributed this to an overabundance of creature effects in the intervening years, particularly the 1982 science-fiction horror film The Thing (which, Benson said, took alien monstrosities to an extreme).[120]
According to Rick Kogan, Aliens demonstrated that science-fiction horror could still be entertaining after many poorly received Alien-derived films.[121] Dave Kehr and Richard Schickel called it a rare sequel which surpassed the original, and Kehr appreciated the action used to develop the characters. Schickel wrote that the film had evolved from Alien, giving Weaver new emotional depths.[119][122] Jay Scott said Cameron had redefined the war film, combining Rambo with Star Wars.[123] Kogan agreed Cameron possessed a knack for action pacing and excitement, but Kehr believed Cameron pushed some elements beyond believability.[121][122]
Roger Ebert called the last hour "painfully, unremittingly intense" in horror and action, leaving him emotionally drained and unhappy. Ebert believed it could not be defined as entertainment, despite his admiration of the filmmaking craft on display.[124] Dennis Fischer wrote for The Hollywood Reporter that the unrelenting scenes of action and suspense worked for Aliens as they had in The Terminator; tension was created by placing the characters in successive, increasingly difficult situations.[125] Gene Siskel described the film as "one extremely violent, protracted attack on the senses".[126] In the Orlando Sentinel, Jay Boyar called it the Jaws of the 1980s: the most "intensely shocking" film in years.[127]
Reviewers consistently praised Weaver's performance.[118][124] Benson called her the "white-hot core" around whose "defiant intelligence" and "sensual athleticism" Aliens was built, and Ripley returned not for vengeance but out of compassion.[120] Ebert credited Weaver's sympathetic performance with holding Aliens together.[124] Kogan compared her to a more attractive John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone's action character).[121] Scott agreed, saying Weaver made action stars like Stallone and Schwarzenegger look like male pin-up models. He described her as the ultimate adventure heroine, balancing action with femininity and maternal instincts.[123] Pauline Kael was critical of the film overall as too "mechanical", but praised Weaver's physical presence and performance, writing that, without her, Aliens was a subpar B picture.[128]
Most of the cast was also praised, particularly Biehn, Goldstein, Henriksen, Henn and Reiser[118][120][124] but Benson noted that less time was spent exploring the new characters than in Alien.[120] Schickel said Henn played her character as endearingly brave and clever, without self-pity.[129] Benson praised Horner's "ruminative, intelligent" music,[120] but Fischer criticized it for borrowing too much from Goldsmith's score and Horner's work on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).[125]
Accolades
Weaver's (pictured in 1989) Academy Award nomination for Best Actress was considered a milestone when the Academy paid little attention to science fiction.Aliens received two awards at the 1987 Academy Awards: Best Sound Effects Editing (Don Sharpe) and Best Visual Effects (Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, Suzanne Benson). Weaver was nominated for Best Actress, losing to Marlee Matlin for the romantic drama Children of a Lesser God.[130] Weaver's was the first Best Actress nomination given for a science-fiction film, at a time when the genre was given little respect, and it remained a rarity for the action or science-fiction genres.[131][132][133] The film garnered four other nominations: Best Original Score for Horner; Best Art Director for Peter Lamont and Crispian Sallis; Best Editing for Ray Lovejoy, and Best Sound for Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier, Michael A. Carter, and Roy Charman.[130] At the 44th Golden Globe Awards, Weaver was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama.[134]
At the 40th British Academy Film Awards, Aliens won the award for Best Special Visual Effects and three other nominations: Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hair for Peter Robb King, and Best Sound.[135] At the 14th Saturn Awards, Aliens received eight awards: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actress (Weaver), Best Performance by a Young Actor (Henn), Best Supporting Actress (Goldstein), Best Supporting Actor (Paxton), Best Special Effects (Winston and the L.A. Effects Group) and Best Director and Best Writing (both for Cameron).[136] It received a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[137]
