Aliens' Complete Illustrated Screenplay

by James Cameron

Book Overview

FADE IN SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE - SPACE Silent and endless. The stars shine like the love of God...cold and remote. Against them drifts a tiny chip of technology. CLOSER SHOT: It is the NARCISSUS,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0752831941
• ISBN13: 9780752831947
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Orion Publishing
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.6" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Extremely good, though not flawless

Aliens (Film Novelization) / 0-446-30139-6 Whether Foster evolved as a writer between this book and his Alien: A Novel film novelization, or whether he was just presented with a script that was more thoroughly fleshed out this time, I do not know, but this novelization of "Aliens" is extremely good, much better than its predecessor by the same author. In as much as a film novelization is a fleshing out of a favorite film (not unlike the "deleted scenes" we get today in DVDs), "Aliens" is a complete success. Ripley's internal thoughts and feelings are explored in detail, and we come to understand better why she was willing to go on this mission to face her nightmares, how she felt about the marines she travels with, and her own evolving feelings of fear, determination, and protectiveness throughout the experience. The marines are presented here with more lavish care and subtlety than they sometimes receive in the movie - Foster insists on showing that there is substance underneath the movie bravado, and makes them seem more human and more competent than they appeared on film. Even the much-maligned Gorman is presented as less of an inevitable screw-up and more as a good-on-paper junior officer who freezes up tragically in a moment of extreme emotional duress, a realistic and appreciated detail. Burke, in contrast, seems to flirt with a fine line of sociopathy, and the novel character is so true to the way the actor played him, that the reader can actually hear the new novel lines delivered in the actor's voice. Nice little touches abound, such as when Burke and Gorman are kicking around possible alternative explanations for the loss of contact with the planet and Gorman expresses his hope that the colonists have just had a bout of mass religious hysteria resulting in a "collective pout". Not that this novel is without flaws. Some of the dialogue is exceedingly hokey - I, for one, am glad that the movie's inquest scene did not contain Ripley making the pun that "Someone is covering their Ash!". Gah. Similarly, Foster's treatment of the Newt/Ripley dynamic is rather cloying, with way too much internal monologue on Ripley's part about how much to push Newt into trusting her. The movie definitely went the better route of minimalism and left much of the development between the woman and child privately unspoken. Fortunately, these flaws are rather minor and are swallowed up by the serious business of being hunted by aliens, which is superbly done. Really, if I have a complaint about this novel, it's that there is nothing here that isn't in the movie, by which I mean that there are no "deleted scenes" here, only "extended scenes". I would have happily paid twice as much for this novel if it had included a chapter covering the missing time period between the facehugging of Newt's father and the arrival of the marines some three weeks later, but no dice - just like the movie, the novel hops entirely over that elephant in the room, which is a real sha

solid novelization of wicked movie

A novelization is a book based off of the movie. So, in theory, if one loved the movie than one should love the book. Hence, Aliens the novelized book from the movie, is a wicked thrill. Reading the book filled in some details which were unclear in the movie. The history of Ripley and other characters were made more clearly and more satisfaction was drawn from it. The novelization of the first movie, Alien, tended to be a more thrilling read. Aliens didn't have me at the edge of my seat as much as Alien did. Some parts seemed to be rushed through, like the queen's lair and the fight with the queen aboard the ship. Throughout the book, the details seem to be filling in some cases, but lacking in others. It's a strange filling of detail, which leaves some longing for clarification and juicy detail.

Depths Included

CommentaryI usually am one to read relationship/unrealistic novels such as The Outsiders or Catcher in the Rye, but after falling in love with the movie "Aliens" when I was seven I thought reading the book may be fun to. I have to admit, I have read this before, but not since the third grade so picking it up again was not a problem because I had lost all memory of the tale. The thing I like about reading books based on movies is that you get a whole new idea of what each character is feeling when something happens. For instance although Sigourney Weaver is a truly talented actress, when Ripley is trying to get Newt (AKA Rebecca Johnson) to drink the hot chocolate in the movie you don't get the same essence of her emotion towards the child as you do in the novel. I appreciate Alan Dean Foster because he has a tendency to go over what is expected and dive into the depths of a character, making them more distinguishable and easier to get to know. This book is truly one of the only books that makes reading it before or after you see the movie a fun ride. Plus there's a lot of swearing, that's always a plus.

Aliens hasn't gotten this good!

Great book! Like the movie is was suspenseful, action packed, and scary. The first book wasn't as good as this one though. The best parts are the end, and the part where Ripley is trapped with the facehuggers, and without weapons!

Good attempt at capturing the movie

Aliens is a fantastic movie and is one of my favorites. There is no doubt that it makes a great novel. The story is suspenseful and action-packed, and the marines are some of the best characters I have seen. The only problem would be the toning down of the language in the book.