Alien vs. Aliens

[Forsaken Lover]

Aliens was a fun action movie but it was pretty bland besides that.

Alien was a much better film, with a much more likable cast.

But the real problem with Aliens, and why Alien is superior, is the alien itself/themselves.

I dislike how the Alien's intelligence and threat level is directly proportional to how many there are. A single Alien like in the first movie, or even like in *shudders* Aliens 3 is a forced to be reckoned with and could easily outsmart the buffoons in Aliens who are about as 80s Action Hero as you can get. We're talking Arnold in Predator-levels of competence where he says "Knock knock!" after opening a door on an enemy in his raid on their camp.

Yet you have a bunch of them together and suddenly they adopt Zapp Brannigan's intelligence and strategy



Why did they just keep rushing the sentry guns until the sentry guns were out of bullets?

That single alien in Alien was a greater threat than the whole damn hive in Aliens.

[Pike]

These are both great movies but Aliens had Vasquez and also Bishop.

Also the script was perfect. Everything about Aliens was just perfect. I think it's my favorite movie of all time.

(The Commodore 64 adaptation was also perfect.)

[Madame Adequate]

It may be because Alien is a survival horror movie in space whilst Aliens is an action movie.

Also Aliens defined almost every action movie trope and convention there is.

Also Aliens is an absolutely superb, seminal movie.

Also it's probably fair that a single alien on a ship of what, seven people, who have no idea what's going on, is able to pose more danger than a bunch of aliens can to trained, equipped space marines who have some knowledge of what they're getting into.

Also hardly anyone survives Aliens so I can't see how it can be said they're not dangerous.

[Shauna]

It may be because Alien is a survival horror movie in space whilst Aliens is an action movie.

I was coming in to say this. x}

I love them both, they're both amazing films, but I enjoy Aliens so much more.

[Forsaken Lover]

It may be because Alien is a survival horror movie in space whilst Aliens is an action movie.

Also Aliens defined almost every action movie trope and convention there is.

Also Aliens is an absolutely superb, seminal movie.

Also it's probably fair that a single alien on a ship of what, seven people, who have no idea what's going on, is able to pose more danger than a bunch of aliens can to trained, equipped space marines who have some knowledge of what they're getting into.

Also hardly anyone survives Aliens so I can't see how it can be said they're not dangerous.

A Xenomorph is far deadlier than any human being and they outnumbered he humans how many to 1? 10:1? Hardly any humans survived but they still survived and it was after taking down scores of these far superior predators. Hell, their leader and a lot of theri group dies in just the initial attack yet somehow the survivors, with less equipment and fewer numbers, puts up a greater offensive. That makes sense.

And like I said, we aren't talking real soldiers here. We are talking Hollywood's idea of soldiers. The bad guys in Die Hard were more competent.

Neither movie is exactly astounding in terms of plot so you have to care about the characters and it's kind of hard to care about a bunch of macho morons who exist to be fed to the Xenos. I felt far more attached to the crew of The Nostromo.

[Mercen-X]

People aren't big fans of truth in fiction. It's fiction. Why go out of your way to make it as real as possible? If there are no survivors, where does the story come from? And of course, the victors decide how the story goes. Action movies aren't built to earn the audience's attachment to the characters. Action movies are about things going boom! Save your attachment for the hordes of "innocent" people unknowingly walking to their death in a survival/horror movie.

[Ayen]

Hmm... On one hand you have a lot of action and different kinds of aliens leading up to the final showdown with the Queen. But on the other hand you get to see Sigourney Weaver's butt.

It's a close call.

[Crop]

I'm pretty confused as to why you think the Alien has taken a nosedive in intelligence in this movie compared to the first and third one.

1. The Aliens killed the hundreds of colonists on the planet already, no mean feat I'm sure, what with their initially inferior numbers. That shows intelligence and cunning.
2. When the Marines landed, this was a clearly well armed, well trained group of men. Sensing this, the Aliens were smart enough to stay out of sight and lure them into their hive and kill the majority of them with minimal casualties to themselves.
3. They then managed to destroy the survivors incoming ship and (at the time) only escape route.
4. The survivors then barricaded themselves in. The Aliens had likely never come up against assault guns before and didn't know of another way in, which explains why they charge the guns. When this was proving too costly they retreated and managed to find another way in that even the humans had missed.

Yes the Xenomorph may be deadlier, but they don't have guns, bombs and other weaponry. I'm sure a heavyweight boxing champion could kill me with ease if he wanted to, but put him at the other end of a room and give me a gun and he wouldn't stand a chance (odd example but the principle is the same).
Also bare in mind that the Aliens are traversing a territory that has been built by humans to cater for humans being defended by humans.
They're not up against weak, unprepared, unarmed humans like in the first and third films, yet still manage to kill the majority of the cast.


Aliens is indeed the superior movie anyway.

Also, since I met, spoke with and got the autograph of Lance Henriksen, the movie is that much more enjoyable for me to watch.

[Slothy]

1. The Aliens killed the hundreds of colonists on the planet already, no mean feat I'm sure, what with their initially inferior numbers. That shows intelligence and cunning.
2. When the Marines landed, this was a clearly well armed, well trained group of men. Sensing this, the Aliens were smart enough to stay out of sight and lure them into their hive and kill the majority of them with minimal casualties to themselves.
3. They then managed to destroy the survivors incoming ship and (at the time) only escape route.
4. The survivors then barricaded themselves in. The Aliens had likely never come up against assault guns before and didn't know of another way in, which explains why they charge the guns. When this was proving too costly they retreated and managed to find another way in that even the humans had missed.

I like Alien more myself, but there's no denying the greatness of Aliens, and those xenomorphs were god damn strategic geniuses. Just geniuses without automatic weapons and high explosives.

[Forsaken Lover]

So they're smart enough to wipe out a majority of the marines but then they get killed by the handful of survivors? That doesn't help their case ya know. If they were so smart, they should have been able to finish off the suddenly less well-equipped and outnumbered humans which included Bill Paxon pissing himself, a civilian woman, a leader who was paralyzed with panic... People need to stop making it out like these were legitimate badasses. They were the proto-Mobile Infantry from the movie version of Starship Troopers.

[Crop]

So they're smart enough to wipe out a majority of the marines but then they get killed by the handful of survivors? That doesn't help their case ya know. If they were so smart, they should have been able to finish off the suddenly less well-equipped and outnumbered humans which included Bill Paxon pissing himself, a civilian woman, a leader who was paralyzed with panic... People need to stop making it out like these were legitimate badasses. They were the proto-Mobile Infantry from the movie version of Starship Troopers.

Let's be clear here, they were not killed by the survivors. There is a failure in one of the systems on the planet and they are killed by the accidental destruction of the colony. I don't think anyone is claiming the survivors are badass killers who make the Aliens look stupid except you.
After the initial Alien ambush, the atmosphere is one of desperation and loss. The survivors manage to throw up a hasty defense and then they...run away. They only ever talk of escape.
I'm honestly wondering if we're talking of the same movie here, the only time you could call the Marines badass is at the beginning, which is obviously supposed to be over the top to highlight how little they understand about the dangers they're walking in to.

[Madame Adequate]

Well, I think we can all agree that Ripley is a badass killer, but she's the exception.

[Ayen]

Ripley's so badass that in the end the only one she had left to do in was herself.

[Skyblade]

These are both great movies but Aliens had Vasquez and also Bishop.

Also the script was perfect. Everything about Aliens was just perfect. I think it's my favorite movie of all time.

(The Commodore 64 adaptation was also perfect.)

I disagree. Aliens is great, but not perfect. I loathe and detest how unprofessional the soldiers are, especially given the cultural impact the movie has had on shaping the view of the space marine in general.

That said, Aliens is the superior film of the two. I suppose a horror nut may disagree, but to the rest of the world, the answer is clear.

[Forsaken Lover]

"The rest of the world" as in the people who made Titanic and Avatar two of the best-selling movies of all time no doubt.