Aliens - Collector's Edition

Science Fiction

Sigourney Weaver	Ellen Ripley
Carrie Henn	Newt
Michael Biehn	Cpl. Dwayne Hicks
Lance Henriksen	Bishop
Paul Reiser	Carter Burke
Bill Paxton	Pvt. Hudson
Jenette Goldstein	Pvt. Vasquez
William Hope	Lt. Gorman
Mark Rolston	Pvt. Drake
Carl Toop	Alien Warrior
Colette Hiller	Corporal Ferro
Al Matthews	Ground Troup Commander Sergeant A. Apone

Director	James Cameron
Producer	Gale Anne Hurd
Writer	James Cameron; David Giler

Big-budget special effects, swiftly paced action and a distinct feminist subtext from writer-director James Cameron turned what should have been a by-the-numbers sci-fi sequel into both a blockbuster and a seven-time Oscar nominee. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ellen Ripley, the last surviving crewmember of a corporate spaceship destroyed after an attack by a vicious, virtually unbeatable alien life form. Adrift in space for half a century, Ripley grapples with depression until she's informed by her company's representative, Carter Burke ( Paul Reiser ) that the planet where her crew discovered the alien has since been settled by colonists. Contact with the colony has suddenly been lost, and a detachment of Colonial Marines is being sent to investigate. Invited along as an advisor, Ripley predicts disaster, and sure enough, the aliens have infested the colony, leaving a sole survivor, the young girl Newt ( Carrie Henn ). With the soldiers picked off one by one, a final all-female showdown brews between the alien queen and Ripley, who's become a surrogate mother to Newt. Several future stars made early career appearances in Aliens (1986), including Lance Henriksen , Bill Paxton and Reiser. — Karl Williams