Alien or Aliens

Which of these two masterful sci-fi/horrors is the better film? I adore them both equally, myself. I don’t actually mind Alien 3 in its assembly cut edition (the theatrical cut is piss poor), though hate every following franchise instalment tremendously.

Alien is a more impressive work imo.

Aliens is great but it's more of a popcorn action flick.

May as well run through the others ...

Alien 3 I'd put on nigh the same level honestly.

Resurrection I thought was pretty shit.

Prometheus I really like, largely because I find the ideas in that film fascinating.

Covenant I was fairly disappointed by, since it seemed to do a 180 on the parts of Prometheus I liked. I still don't mind it though.

The AvP films are shite but good fun if you're in the mood.

TiberiusDidNothingWrong wrote:Alien is a more impressive work imo.

Aliens is great but it's more of a popcorn action flick.

May as well run through the others ...

Alien 3 I'd put on nigh the same level honestly.

Resurrection I thought was pretty shit.

Prometheus I really like, largely because I find the ideas in that film fascinating.

Covenant I was fairly disappointed by, since it seemed to do a 180 on the parts of Prometheus I liked. I still don't mind it though.

The AvP films are shite but good fun if you're in the mood.

I lean towards your stance on Alien being the better film, though I’m not sure. I agree with everything else you say, with the exception of Prometheus, which had great ideas, direction and music in it and could have been superb (and featured some nice nods to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Lawrence of Arabia too), though I recall being severely unimpressed with the execution and the script. It’s still miles better than Covenant, though.

This feels a bit unfair because one is horror and the other is more akin to a war flick. I will plump for Aliens, though. Simply because it has better characters and a better story arc. It is also harder to do a sequel that's almost as good as the original, nevermind on par, or in my opinion better. Even Ripley has failed on that account with his vision for the franchise being the next Star Wars. Wut the ferk?

Alien has some great moments and a fistful of squander potential. I think the original idea of a monastery planet may have been a bit more interesting, but I do enjoy the Gothic/industrial aesthetic.

Alien 4 was pants (cheers, Joss Whedon), still had a couple of mildly interesting ideas

Prometheus was idiotic in places, and structurally, the writing wasn't there, but it had more potential than Alien 4 and the daft AvP films put together.

Covenant was utter wank and only the AvP white managed to be more banal.

Anyway, Alien is more about shocks and scares, but Aliens has more emotional pay off. And more guns xxx

Comparing the two movies is like picking your favourite child. I can't, because I love both equally, for the reasons that Rawkuss has stated.

Alien is definitely more the art film.

Aliens is more the rousing action film with occasional bits of the ridiculousness of that genre but works very well on its own terms and even surpasses them.

Alien 3..... I can happen upon either of the two films above when channel hopping, and think "okay I'll watch this for a bit", and yet very soon I'll be hooked and will have to see the film to the end.

With Alien 3, I don't think I've ever been able to sit through it without nodding off halfway through. There's nothing arresting about it. It's just a depressing, empty excuse for itself, and the way it kills off Newt really makes me wish I could erase it from canon.

Alien Resurrection I just found a bit self-indulgent really, lacking any rhyme or reason, and populated by mean-spirited douchebags.

Alien Vs Predator, I think again once I realized it wasn't hooking me in the first half hour, they just hadn't got the charm back. I don't think I even bothered with the sequel.

Prometheus was arresting viewing for the most part but something about it felt missing and a bit under-satisfying.

Covenant I thought was okay actually, but did feel like a bit of a compromised, cynical effort. It didn't leave me quite as eager for what's next, as Prometheus did, so I guess there was a sense of wasted potential there.

So yeah, apart from Prometheus, most of them give me the impression it should've ended on Aliens.

My favourite is alien.

And i prefer aiien 3 to aliens. i thought Dance and Dutton gave vg performances in 3.

Used to be Aliens, now I think the original has edged it for me in the last few years.
The rest are shit.

Alien by a mile. Great Sci-Fi/Horror with proper suspense.

Aliens. Big guns and corny dialogue. Might as well be a Schwarzenegger film.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Well it's why Aliens is vastly inferior to Alien. But having said that, I suppose you could argue that stepping into action movie territory was more successful than simply trying to re-hash a substandard version of the original.

I think "vastly" is more than a little OTT...

Well you know what they say about opinions and arseholes.

As much as I enjoyed Aliens, I much prefer the original Alien film. Nowadays, I'm slightly uncomfortable with some of the Gung-ho elements in Aliens (although the Alien Queen design is a thing of beauty - well, to me, anyway).

Recently watched 'Memory: The Origin of Alien' documentary (2019)- interested parties should check this out.

Aliens because it was made in the 80s.

I enjoy Aliens more, but I have to admit Alien is the better made movie.

I got a dvd of Alien yesterday for $2 from the Salvo's. Haven't seen it for ages. I won't bother with the others though...

Of the two, I'd say Alien. Though I my faviort is Alien 3 if you can believe it.

While the film dose require the magic alien egg at the start, the resulting film is a very intreasting piece of cinema.

Firstly this film is very bleak and nihilistic, even when compared to the first. The killing of Newt and Hicks is narrative genius because it's so unfair but also very real. Life is not fair and people who should get their happy ending don't. This causes a very intreasting change in Ripley, one is pushed further as the film goes on. She's broken. She faced her demons, gave it everything she had and won, but ended up losing in the end. The Alien keeps taking and taking from her at every turn, right up to the point that by the end it's going to take her life and spawn a whole new generation in the process. Yet at this point, when she really has lost everything and the only way to save her life is to make a deal with the devil, she chooses sacrifice. She gives up her life but assures a total victory of the aliens.

The over all setting for the film is also something I like. This run down facility really compliments the tone of the film.

Another intreasting aspect is the other characters. I don't think I know many films that give us such a wide range of characters on the moral spectrum, and makes them our protagonists. None of these guys are good people, even if they have changed they have all done fucked up shit in the pasted. But it's this group of humanities lowest of the low who have to step up and try to stop the Alien befor it can destroy all mankind. The best example of this is from the Assembly Cut, in which the guy who was leading the group that tired to rape Ripley gives his life to trap the Alien.

This also leads to another great part form the Assembly Cut, in which Gollic (Paul McGan/Eight Doctor) develops an infatuation with the alien and after killing one of his fellow inmates, lets it escape.

One critic I never was not being able to tell any of the actors apart. Maybe it's just me, living in England and all with skinheads abound, but I never had that problem. Hell I recognised most of these guys from TV and Film. Any Who fan should recognise Brian Glover, who appeared in Attack of the Cybermen.

Another  great aspect was the Dragon/Runner Alien. This may be the films best addition to the law and is based on idea from the original film, the idea that the alien changes based on the host it grows in. In this case becoming a less intelligent but much faster and savage threat. Which brings me to another aspect of the film I like, the gore. Compared to it's predecessors this film is violent, in fact I dare say the most violent in the franchise.

Both are fantastic films, far beyond much that followed (including the further Alien sequels and the Predator sequels, though P2 was ok).

I suppose the reason I gave the nod to Alien is that I increasingly see some of the more action-oriented sequels, brilliant as they are, tend to move successful series away from tension to their eventual detriment - look at the recent Die Hard efforts, or in games the Resident Evil series from 4 onwards. Sometimes a smaller-scale threat is easier to empathise with, and more chilling.

PS Been ages since I saw Alien 3 - why did Paul McGann get such a pasting for his performance in it?

I like Alien 3 better than Alens. It has more of the atmosphere of the first one.