Hard to compare the two because Aliens is the best kind of sequel, one with a completely different theme. Alien 1 is a slasher mixed with eldritch horror that has more in common with John Carpenter's The Thing than Aliens. Aliens is a Vietnam War movie mixed with sci-fi that has more in common with Predator than Alien 1.Steamflogger Boss wrote:It would be slightly more interesting to ponder which is better of the first two Alien movies (mostly goes to shit after that). They are drastically different movies, but I lean towards the first one.
Also the cut is a huge part of the comparison. The cocoon scene in the special edition of Alien 1 just lifts the film to a whole 'nother realm of horror, why couldn't they have cut the "save the cat" scene from the theatrical release instead?
Aliens, on the other hand like most Cameron movies, the theatrical cut is VASTLY superior to the director's cut. One good scene with the auto turrets in exchange for multiple awful cringey scenes that suck the tension out of the film proper.
I think I'd have to give the edge to Alien 1 special edition, because even in the theatrical cut of Aliens, the whole "get away from her you bitch" wrestling scene sucked so much out of the core 'Nam theme and just felt like a tacked on thing to justify Ripley's presence in the film. In fact I think Aliens would have been even better off without Ripley and taken a more grunt-eye-view of being stuck in the shit with an incompetent commander and a slimy war-profiteer while trying to survive a lovecraftian horrorshow.