Not to study, not to bring back, but to wipe them out
“They’re packing State of the art firepower, there’s nothing they can’t handle.”
On the surface, this is a movie about space marines, those that live for action as it says on the ship logo:
“Peace through superior firepower.”
As with most things, what is on the surface is far from what is contained beneath, and in Aliens, we have a movie which, although over thirty years old, the action and suspense has never been bettered.
This is a film that set the bar, intelligent, suspense filled and meaningful. For a viewer, this is as close as you’ll get to a perfect film in terms of characters, suspense, effects, action and meaning.
Some background to the series: The original Alien film, Ridley Scott’s classic from 1979, is one of the all-time great horror movies. Simple in its premise, but executed perfectly. It’s worth watching the original to prepare for Aliens, but keep in mind, both movies working well together, but also as separate entities.
“I don’t recognize this place.”
“I know.”
Since the events of Alien, Ripley has been drifting through space in hyper sleep for 57 years. This is not time travel as such, however it may as well be. Imagine living in society sixty years ago, and then coming forward to today. Think of the difficulties you would face in adjusting. Not only would the social and technological aspects be different, but everyone you knew would be either very old or dead, You’d be completely lost, a relic from another time. It’s a fascinating starting point to this movie and it really highlights Ripley’s loneliness in the world – not only has she been through the terrifying experience of Alien, but her back on Earth has been taken from her. This is referenced in a cut scene – (reinstated for the director’s cut which will be discussed later) – Ripley’s elderly daughter passed away, never knowing what happened to her mother.
The scene is cut short with a fake out nightmare of the alien bursting through Ripley’s chest. With most nightmares, upon awakening the fear is over, but for Ripley, just knowing that the alien species is still out there haunts her. This is a key element in the film, in that Ripley is consumed with fear, as anyone else would be. She is safe on Earth, but at what cost? Her body may have escaped the terror of the Nostromo, but her mind certainly hasn’t.
“If one of these things gets down here then that will be all.”
With these words falling on deaf ears, we can see how desperate things are for Ripley. This scene works well in two ways – for those that have seen the original Alien, they know and understand what Ripley has been through – the blank expressions of the doomed crew behind her watching from beyond the grave. For those that haven’t seen Alien, this serves as a brilliant setup: Ripley, such is her conviction, that she is willing to stand up to a group of corporate bosses with the power to destroy her livelihood. In her protest against their bureaucratic bullshit, she highlights how unimportant what they do is, compared to her experience, and the danger that they face in the alien species.
“All of this bullshit that you think is so important, you can just kiss all that goodbye.”
As the meeting concludes, we learn what happened to LV426 in the intervening 57 years: 60 – 70 families living there, working as terraformers.
It’s the word families that strikes Ripley here. she knows the horrors that lie in wait for them. It’s a moral dilemma – you’ve escaped certain death, but you know the fate that lies in store for others, people with families, children. What do you do in such a situation? Do you face your fears and go back to almost certain death? Or do you live with the weight of your knowledge, wrestling everyday with the thought that you could have done something?
Families.
Children.
The next scene shows this incredibly well, and all without dialogue – as the camera pans down onto her slender, elongated hand, it takes on a form similar to that of a face hugger. We know what’s writhing in the darkness of her mind.
Ripley most likely she has some form of PTSD, and having gone through her ordeal, you have to think – how do you continue with a normal life? Knowing that there are creatures like that out there? What could she do? Surely if the aliens do come into contact with the colonists it is certain that they would kill them, and with their presence revealed, Weyland Yutani would most likely attempt to bring one back as a sample.
This means they have to be exterminated.
But how could she exterminate them? She doesn’t have the ability, man or firepower to do so. She’s tortured by both her past and the future, her memories and potential outcomes, fear wrapped in a compulsion to do the right thing. All of this complexity, with such high stakes, in one simple scene.
“You throw me at the wolves and now you ask for my help?”
Ripley’s worst fears have been realized – lost contact with the colony. Now they want her to go back.
We get an insight here regarding what happened to Ripley post the investigation. She was clearly fired from her job and is now working as a powerloader most probably low end, blue collar work. Ripley isn’t living - no friends, family, she’s merely existing. Ironically, Ripley’s existence is much like that of the alien she encountered on LV426, a day to day existence without meaning or purpose. She is safe, but her life will never be the same. What happened on the Nostromo took something out of her.
“You wake up every night, sheets soaked in sweat.”
This shows that although Ripley escaped the terrors of LV426, part of her is still there, the terror of those creatures existing in the same universe still scratching at the recesses of her mind. How do you exist, knowing that those things are out there? Ripley it seems, would rather live in the shadow of fear, than face it head on. A powerful message throughout the movie, and one that’s worth repeating: You can exist while being gripped by your fears, but to truly live, you must face them.
At this moment in time though, Ripley’s fear weighs heavy. Burke tries to assuage Ripley’s concerns with a line which proves to be prophetic:
“They’re very tough hombres. They’re packing State of the art firepower, there’s nothing they can’t handle.”
This is a key statement, which on the surface seems to be positive, but when examined, a major flaw can be found, one which is a prevalent theme throughout: the folly of humanity – putting too much faith into technology.
They’re tough, they have firepower, they can handle anything. Maybe they have the brawn, and the technology, but without the ingenuity and the intelligence to adapt, they are doomed.
Ripley rejects Burke, and opts to continue her tortured existence.
After another bout of night terrors, Ripley relents, opting to face her fears and annihilate them:
“...not to study, not to bring back, but to wipe them out.”
The Nostromo
On the surface, this scene shows the might of the military, with their giant ships and their powerful weaponry. However, beneath that, we see the flaw of humanity – soldiers in sleep pods – naked, unprotected, slow to react, like babies in a crib. All of this technology surrounds them, but beneath this sound and fury, they are delicate and vulnerable. Essentially, bags of meat.
“Fall in Marines!”
Though any movies have tried since, none have matched Aliens in terms of characters. The marines feel real, all having different enough characters that even those that are shown only for a short time feel fleshed out.
What’s interesting here is that no matter the technological change in society, the people are still the same.
This is shown subtly in Ripley’s face when she overhears the marines talking about the “dumb ass colonists.” Her facial expression shows that she is disappointed in the mind-set of these people – we may have evolved another 57 years, but our minds are still in the past. Prejudice, ignorance, and arrogance still the major factors of humanity.
It is right here, already, that Ripley knows that this mission is screwed. Yet she still gets on with it, the importance of doing the right thing, even if it means facing her biggest fear.
The shot of the loading bay which follows still holds up incredibly well. It’s a combination of miniatures, matte paintings and practical effects from Stan Winston. (see Terminator and Predator for more of his work). Compared to CGI, it feels much better. There isn’t that disconnect that is so common in perfectly realized CGI. This world feels lived in.
During the briefing scene, we see the arrogance of the marines. Full of confidence in their abilities and their technology, it takes Ripley to bring them to a moment of realization:
“…just one of those things managed to wipe out my entire crew in less than 24 hours.”
There’s a moment of tense silence, a taste of things to come.
Another realistic aspect of this scene, is the depiction of the work as a hard grind. The military is not fetishized in this film as it would be in other movies of the same era. It’s sweaty, nasty and hard work.
The underlying theme here is that of man kinds’ over reliance on technology. The marines put their faith into their weaponry, seeing it as the solution, when in actuality, it is what is contained between their ears which is the deadliest weapon. All of this equipment is required to make them killing machines. Without their weaponry however, they are vulnerable – we saw how they were sluggish and slow to wake after leaving their pods. The seeds of tension are planted here very subtly. We have a team of fleshy humans with a flawed plan, facing off against a species that is the perfect killing machine.
As the marines are busy complaining about the deadline for preparation, Ripley is asking where she can help. Ripley’s use of the power loader at this point demonstrates a key element of her character. She comes across as a proactive person, someone who would rather work than loaf.
“How many combat drops?”
“Two, including this one.”
During the drop, we get our first indication of something missing: leadership. Gorman’s simulated drops mean nothing out in the real world. This cannot bode well for the marines, and it is an issue which leads to catastrophic results later in the story.
As the ship comes down to land, we get our first glimpse of LV426 (Hadley’s Hope) since the last movie. The slow glide gives a feeling of unease – unknown territories, mysterious, unseen danger hidden within. The ominous trailing lights in the fog heighten the sense of dread. What is kept from our sight is always worse because of our imaginations.
When the marines exit the craft, we see a grimy place, similar to a mining town.
This is not the utopian future we see so often in sci-fi films. If industry, coupled with technology is the driving force of our society, then it makes sense that corporations would own the colonization of space – we won’t do it for such heightened ideals as discovery or betterment of our species, it’ll be for money, or power.
It’s the little touches in the movie that make it come alive. Take for example when Hudson is hotwiring the door. He uses gator clips to get the job done. This is a world in which we have suspended animation, long distance space travel, and synthetic people, however in order to open a locked door we still need to use gator clips. Look at the homeless nowadays using mobile phones to see that this is exactly how the word is turning out. This was made over thirty years ago and the vision of a high and low tech future was right on the money.
With Hudson’s hot-wiring, we get our first view inside the eerily empty facility. There’s something inherently creepy about abandoned technology, like it wasn’t enough to protect the occupants from unseen forces. The holes in the facility walls and floors are almost like gaping wounds in this technological organism. It instills in us a doubt – if technology couldn’t help these colonists, what does it mean for the marines, who rely on technology to do their job? Even more disturbing, is that this can be extended to the rest of humanity. It’s this setup, and this question, which kick starts a master class in building suspense.
