The Best Sci-Fi Action Epic of All Time Is About to Be Streaming on Netflix
James Cameron’s Aliens is presented as an outstanding sequel because it broadens the scale, action and central role of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley without simply repeating Alien. The film is due to arrive on Netflix on 1 September, giving viewers another chance to watch the 1986 science-fiction action film.
Set 57 years after Alien, the story follows Ripley as she returns to LV-426 with Colonial Marines after being awakened from stasis in 2179. Unlike Ridley Scott’s slower horror film, Aliens shifts towards fast-paced action, featuring larger numbers of xenomorphs and a military confrontation while retaining Ripley as the central survivor and hero.
- Aliens arrives on Netflix on 1 September.
- The 1986 sequel expands Alien’s world and action.
- Ripley returns to confront xenomorphs on LV-426.
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Aliens is a 1986 film directed by James Cameron and a sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 science-fiction horror film Alien. Both films centre on Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, a space crew member who encounters a deadly alien species known as xenomorphs.
The first film followed a small civilian crew trapped with one creature aboard a spacecraft. Aliens moves the story to the human colony on LV-426, the world where the creature was first found, and introduces Colonial Marines sent to investigate.
The film became known for combining science fiction, horror and large-scale action, while keeping Ripley at the centre of the story. Its portrayal of her as a survivor protecting others was also an important part of Weaver’s performance and the film’s reputation.