Who is this hunky piece of early 80's beefcake? Why, it's one of the best (and most shamefully unrecognized) action stars of all time. The one and only Michael Biehn.
Don't believe me? Consider this resume: Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Navy Seals, K2, The Rock. Lest we forget, he was also Johnny Ringo, that educated man, in Tombstone.
Why on earth is this dude not on the Harrison Ford/Clint Eastwood level of fame? Beats the hell out of me. Judging by the sheer level of "mm's" I hear when he appears on-screen at our house, the ladies sure love him.
#6: Aliens
In Aliens, Biehn gets paired with Sigourney Weaver in her signature role, that of Ellen Ripley, alien-hunter, to, yes, battle aliens. What the title lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in descriptiveness.
Sidenote: When I first started dating my Biehn-besotted better half in high school, we would often watch movies at her dad's house. Invariably, he would suggest Alien or Aliens, always mentioning that "Alien is more of a ghost story, but Aliens is more of a battle." He would then strongly aver that he would never watch Alien3 or Alien: Resurrection. (He was apparently serious about this. A few years ago, we bought him all of the Alien films on DVD in an effort to force him to watch all four. To my knowledge, that has yet to happen.) Anyway, it's a running joke in our house that Alien (which is, yes, a gaping hole in our collection) is more of a scary movie and Aliens is the Battle. But, really, that's a pretty apt way to put it, right?
Second Sidenote: Alien3 is a David Fincher film. Alien: Resurrection is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Both great directors attempting new visions with the franchise that just don't work. So he's missing some noble, although failed, experiments by refusing to watch them.
Third Sidenote: No, I will not watch AVP or any sequels thereto. (Amelia has seen the first, thumbs down, says she).
Aliens is one of the most well-executed sequels of all time. Maybe even in league with The Godfather Part II, The Empire Strikes Back, or Superbabies: Baby Geniuses II. Like all good sequels, instead of merely recreating what made the original so popular (I'm looking at you, Hangover II), it takes the central story conceit and expands on it. It takes a claustrophobic horror film with a nigh-unkillable alien villain and expands it into an all-out battle between Ripley, with her admirably interracial/intergender escort of Marines, and a virtually army of alien bitches. (Seriously, either my father-in-law had this thing down, or he's infected my brain).
Led by Weaver's assured performance, the cast is rounded out with great supporting turns by the likes of Lance Henrikson (another unsung hero of American movies) as "artificial human" Bishop, Jenette Goldstein as the pumped-up and flamethrower-wielding Vasquez, and Bill Paxton as ultimate loudmouth Hudson. Also, Paul Reiser's Burke is such an asshat. Of course, we can't forget (mm) Mr. Biehn himself, as the take-charge, take-no-shit Corporal Hicks.
Smartly foreshadowed by the death of Ripley's 66 year old daughter while she floated through space in chryo-sleep for 57 years after the events of Alien, the heart of the movie belongs to Ripley's relationship with the lone survivor of an alien attack, a little girl named Newt (Carrie Henn, in her only film performance). Ripley's need to protect Newt, and Newt's need for someone to protect her, gives the movie some real stakes. Also, it gives Weaver the chance to say that one line you remember from this movie.
So, yeah, KEEPER. Did you have any doubt?
As proof of how much of a KEEPER this is, Amelia fell asleep for about an hour (are we noticing a trend?), after waking, she demanded we rewind to where she fell asleep. I was cool with it.
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