Poll: Alien or Aliens?

[Lazy]

If the release of Colonial Marines has had one positive effect it's that it gave me incentive to re-watch the movies recently. Both Alien and Aliens are regarded as a couple of the most important films in both the sci-fi and horror genres, and generally seem to be considered roughly equal in terms of quality despite their differing focuses. My question is, which do you prefer and why?

I lean more towards Alien, myself. A big part of the reason is just that it looks so good. From beginning to end, every shot is incredibly well presented and the effects hold up almost flawlessly to this day. Between the excellent aesthetic, the deliberate pacing and the believable performances and dialogue, it's a tense and atmosphetic film that's really easy to get sucked into.

The sequel, while a great movie, didn't quite draw me in the same way. The characters are more over the top, the effects are more obvious (particularly when cgi gets involved,) and the overall look just didn't grab me like the first's did.

 

[Professor Lupin Madblood]

Alien for me too. They're both very good movies (the editing in Aliens in particular, as they filmed the whole thing with six alien suits), but I prefer the original. It was . . . I dunno, more Alien-y? If that makes sense? The second movie did a very good job of presenting the badass marines as completely human alien food, but there's just this pervading sense of dread throughout pretty much the entirety of Alien that never goes away.

Like, when Ripley is trying to shut down the Nostromo's self-destruct and the computer doesn't talk to her because the Weyland Corporation, formerly portrayed as your generic megacorps, have shifted to definitively evil people who want the whole thing covered up? That moment was brilliant. I loved it so good.

It's been ages since I've seen either movie (I really should watch them again), but yeah. Alien.

 

[AD-Stu]

Aliens by a very small margin for me - as someone who was raised on 80s Schwarzenegger movies the OTT nature of the marines doesn't bother me Though I definitely feel like it's a bit of an apples-and-oranges comparison since one was sci-fi horror and the other was sci-fi action and they both rank among my favourite movies of all time.

 

[Terminate421]

Aliens, mostly because I saw it first and also the iconic sounds and great lines.

 

[Images]

Have to say Aliens purely from a pacing perspective. Alien is great for the first three quarters then I always find it gets a lil lost. The fight with Ash is rather poorly done, the final two deaths rushed through (because they had to remove that awkward crab walk bit) and then she's running back and forth, back and forth, one time for the cat! And its not even her cat!

So even though it has Sigourney Weaver in space panties...gotta give it to Aliens. Film just rolls from beginning to end solidly. Establishes this uber team, the paranoia is already in play with Ripley about working for Weyland, they fail horribly and then struggle to survive. Beautiful. You can say a lot about James Cameron (die Avatar die) but the man does pacing.

 

[nykirnsu]

For the same reasons as above, Alien.

 

[DoctorImpossible]

Aliens. I still love Alien, but it doesn't scare me like it did when I was a kid and the creature fx don't hold up very well either. And that's not a knock, just the reality of the advancement of film tech.

I don't find Aliens particularly scary anymore either, but imo it has a better cast and more action to fall back on.

 

[Dangit2019]

Alien was a near perfect movie. Aliens was a near perfect action movie. So I'll take the sequel out of personal preference.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Alien gets my pick. The claustrophobia of the whole thing....

*shiver*

Aliens was superb as well. I love both of them.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Like, when Ripley is trying to shut down the Nostromo's self-destruct and the computer doesn't talk to her because the Weyland Corporation, formerly portrayed as your generic megacorps, have shifted to definitively evil people who want the whole thing covered up? That moment was brilliant. I loved it so good.

Unfortunately, it's also not how it happened - there was absolutely no malice, and no company-related foul-play. The self-destruct system on the U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo involves causing a reactor meldown by disabling the coolant system. When Ripley activates the self-destruct sequence, there's a (rather large) warning message stating that the reactor will go critical after ten minutes, and that the five minute mark is the point of no return. If the self-destruct sequence isn't halted before five minutes have passed, it's irreversible. Ripley attempted to deactivate the sequence, but was just mere seconds too slow to meet the deadline. Beyond that, the company from the Quadrilogy has always been all about capturing a Xenomorph specimen, regardless of the cost. Trying to intentionally destroy it would run counter to everything else we see of them throughout the series.

Anywho... on topic. I love both movies. If I had to choose though, I'd go with Aliens. I don't think I have any particularly strong reasons as to why though. They're both phenomenal movies. I think the reason Aliens comes out on top though is because it was the first movie in the series that I was exposed to. I watched it with my dad when I was like three or four years old, and it scared the crap out of me. The scene in the Medlab when Ripley and Newt wake up to find themselves locked in a room with a pair of facehuggers was particularly traumatizing to me, since I've always been terrified of spiders - nevermind spider-like creatures hell-bent on killing me in what was at the time the most awful way I could imagine. My mom gave my dad flak for that for years. I ended up watching it again a few years later to see what had scared me so much as a little kid. I ended up absolutely loving the movie, and have followed the universe ever since.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

It was a tough call but I picked Alien due to it being one of my favorite horror movies.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Aliens turned the Alien into a space bug whose only purpose was cannon fodder. None of the eerie mystique of the original creature, the Derelict, or the Space Jockey was left.

Not saying Aliens was a bad movie (except for the extended edition, that one sucked), but it really isn't for me.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

I actually prefer Prometheus over the entire Quadrilogy. Though I do prefer Aliens over Alien.

I love Prometheus but it has massive flaws that made it hard for me to enjoy it to its fullest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLbcZggwVCw

 

[Zombie Sodomy]

Just barely Aliens. They were both great but Aliens had Vasquez in it.

Hudson: Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
Vasquez: No. Have you?

 

[Casual Shinji]

Aliens, it was a lot more fun to watch.

To this day, I have to wonder in Alien when the second guy dies...why was the starshipo leaking water that he was showering in in the cargo hold? ~.~

If I was on a starship, if I found anything leaking that would be a serious wtf for me.

I always figured it was either cooling fluid or build up water due to condensation.

 

[infohippie]

Aliens, it was a lot more fun to watch.

To this day, I have to wonder in Alien when the second guy dies...why was the starshipo leaking water that he was showering in in the cargo hold? ~.~

If I was on a starship, if I found anything leaking that would be a serious wtf for me.

I assume it was condensation. The hold had not been heated, probably not even pressurised, the whole time the crew were in hypersleep so it would have been extremely cold in there. Once pressurised and heated at least past zero degrees - ie, warm enough for liquid water - moisture in the air would have been condensing on the walls, the equipment, the cargo, everywhere. Being such a large space it is doubtful it would have warmed enough by that time for the condensation to stop, so it makes sense that it was still dripping everywhere.

 

[surg3n]

It's kinda a win win really, I love both films - IMO 2 of the best sci-fi movies ever made.

But Aliens is a much more rounded film, it's an action film rather than a horror - and the horror genre has disappeared up it's own ass recently. Both films have amazing atmosphere and tension, I can't even decide which one has better atmosphere, because they both handle it differently, Alien has the suspense, the slow monster reveal that we got used to with good horror films, while Aliens has the tension, pretty much from start to finish the tension is there, like an extra cast member.

Non-fans probably scoff at our devotion to the Alien franchise, after all this time people are still weighing up both films, deciding which one is more awesome, but hell - blame the movie industry for killing our horror movies and replacing them with creepy-little-girl-in-mirror bullshit. I'd rather watch Alien or Aliens, or any Alien film for that matter, than watch a new horror movie.