Name: Aliens
Genre: Horror, Action
Duration: 137 min
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser

Oscar · 2BAFTA · 1

Spoiler-free premise

When Ripley's lifepod is found by a salvage crew over 50 years later, she finds that terra-formers are on the very planet they found the alien species.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Fifty-seven years after surviving the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley learns that humans have established a colony on LV-426. When communication with the settlement stops, she accompanies a squad of Colonial Marines to investigate and encounters the young survivor Newt.

Why it belongs

Aliens expands intimate terror into lucid military action while Ripley and Newt give the spectacle an urgent human center.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Cameron expands the first film's terror into lucid military action through industrial production design, Stan Winston's creature effects, spatially coherent set pieces, and Ripley's bond with Newt, which gives survival tactics an urgent emotional center.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

Academy Awards2 wins1987 · official ceremony record ↗

Plus 2 additional wins

No headline-category win to name

BAFTA1 win1987 · official BAFTA 1987 Film Awards results ↗

Plus 1 additional win

No headline-category win to name

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for

Film Club

Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Aliens

Double Feature