Dragonheart Review

Dragonheart


Release Date: 12th December 1996 - Australia

Production Companies
Universal Pictures (presents)

Distribution
Universal Pictures Australia


Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Rating: M

Runtime: 103 minutes

Budget: $57,000,000

Box Office Gross: $115,267,375 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary

When the young, weak King Einon gets wounded in battle, a dragon named Draco heals him by giving him a part of himself that's now inside him. However, it turned Einon into a bloodthirsty king, or so it seems. Twelve years later, a dragonslayer called Bowen encounters Draco, and the two team up as a travelling duo, where they perform an act only known by themselves. Supposedly, Bowen slays Draco repeatedly for the reward money he collects from the villagers. Bowen and Draco have to save the kingdom from the tyrannical rule of the now-evil King Einon, who still has a part of Draco and part of him connected to Draco.

Cast

Dennis Quaid - Bowen

Sean Connery - Draco (Voice)

David Thewlis - King Einon

Lee Oakes - Young Einon

Pete Postlethwaite - Gilbert

of Glockenspur

Jason Isaacs - Lord Felton

Julie Christie - Queen Aislinn

Dina Meyer - Kara
Peter Hric - King Freyne
Brian Thompson - Brok
Terry O'Neill - Redbeard

Peter Hric - King Freyne

Eva Vejmelkova - Felton's Minx

Milan Bahul - Swamp Village Chief

Sandra Kovacicova - Young Kara

Kyle Cohen - Boy in Field

Thom Baker - Aislinn's Chess Partner
John Gielgud - King Arthur (Voice) (Uncredited)

Crew

Director - Rob Cohen

Story/Executive Producer - Patrick Read Johnson

Story/Screenplay - Charles Edward Pogue

Associate Producer/First Assistant Director -

Herbert W. Gains

Producer - Raffaella De Laurentiis

Co-Producer/Second Second Assistant

Director - Hester Hargett

Casting Director - Margery Simkin

Production Designer - Benjamin Fernandez

Supervising Art Director - Maria-Teresa Barbasso

Art Director - Ján Svoboda

Dragon Designs - Phil Tippett

Set Decorator - Giorgio Desideri

Costume Designers - Thomas Casterline

and Anna B. Sheppard

Makeup Supervisor - Giannetto De Rossi

Chief Hair Stylist - Mirella De Rossi

Director of Photography - David Eggby

Second Unit Director of Photography/

Camera Operator - Buzz Feitshans IV

Camera Operator - Igor Meglic

Stunt Coordinator - Paul Weston

Sword Trainer/Choreographer - Kiyoshi Yamasaki

Special Effects Supervisor - Kit West

Special Effects Coordinator - John Baker

Microlight Coordinator - Brian Johnson

Visual Effects Supervisor - Scott Squires

Visual Effects Pre-Production Co-Supervisor -

Alex Seiden

Visual Effects Producer - Judith Weaver

Effects Producer - John Swallow
Visual Effects Art Directors - Mark Moore

and Craig Lewis (Uncredited)
Digital Effects Supervisors - Euan K. MacDonald
and Kevin Rafferty

Matte Painter: Illusion Arts - Bill Taylor
Character Animation Supervisor - James Straus

Supervising Digital Effects Artist - Barry Armour
Supervising Character Animators - Rob Coleman

and Doug Smith

Lead Digital Character Modeller - Paul Giacoppo

Concept Artists - David Dozoretz

and Jonathan Rothbart
Film Editor - Peter Amundson

First Assistant Editor - John M. Taylor

Supervising Sound Editor - Richard L. Anderson

Special Sounds Designer - John Pospisil

Re-Recording Mixers - Michael C. Casper,

Daniel J. Leahy and Bill Varney

Dragon Foley Artists - John Roesch

and Hilda Hodges

Music - Randy Edelman


Awards

1997 Academy Awards
Best Visual Effects - Scott Squires, Phil Tippett,
James Straus and Kit West (Nominated)


Review
As a teenager, I used to think DRAGONHEART was overrated since I thought the movie introduced me to David Thewlis's character as the hero instead of Dennis Quaid's. However, David's role turns out to be a bloodthirsty villainous king, and Quaid is the leading protagonist. Now I realise it was a great fantasy movie by director Rob Cohen. Fitted together are the solid acting of Quaid and Thewlis and the appropriated and applied comical slapstick. The well-known music by Randy Edelman and, most importantly, the dragon character Draco, brought to life by CGI and the voice of Sean Connery.

DRAGONHEART was surprisingly entertaining but a lively and pleasant flick that keeps the heart and takes viewers on an unforgettable journey.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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200th Review!! Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful


Release Date: 7th March 2013 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures
Roth Films

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Fantasy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 130 minutes


Budget: $215,000,000

Box Office Gross: $493,311,825
(Worldwide)


Plot Summary
A small-time circus magician
with dubious ethics is hurled
to an enchanting land, where
he encounters three witches,
as well as the opportunity
to transform himself into a
great wizard - and an even
greater man.


Cast
James Franco - Oscar "Oz"
Diggs
Mila Kunis - Theodara
Rachel Weisz - Evanora
Michelle Williams - Glinda/
Annie
Zach Braff - Finley (Voice)/Frank
Joey King - China Girl (Voice)
Bill Cobbs - Master Tinker
Tony Cox - Knuck

Crew
Director - Sam Raimi
Based on The OZ Series -
L. Frank Baum
Screen Story/Screenplay -
Mitchell Kapner
Screenplay - David Lindsay-
Abaire
Executive Producers - Grant Curtis, Joshua Donen, Palak Patel & Philip Steuer
Producer - Joe Roth
Co-Producer/First Assistant Director - K.C. Hodenfield
Co-Producers - W. Mark McNair & Tamara Watts Kent

Casting Director - John Papsidera
Production Designer - Robert Stromberg
Supervising Art Directors - Todd Cherniawsky & Stefan Dechant
Art Directors - John Lord Booth III,
Andrew L. Jones, Iain McFayden,
Meghan C. Rogers & Domenic Silvestri
Set Decorator - Nancy Haigh
Costume Designer - Gary Jones
Costume/Character Designer - Michael Kutsche
Makeup Department Head - Vivian Baker
Special Makeup Effects Artist - Howard Berger
Cinematography - Peter Deming
Second Unit Director - Jeffrey Lynch
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator - Scott Rogers
Co-Stunt Coordinator - Randy Beckman
Special Effects Supervisor - John Frazier
Special Effects Coordinator: Additional Photography -
J.D. Schwalm
Visual Effects Supervisors - Pavan Kumar Potluri,
Scott Stokdyk & Joe Takai
Visual Effects Art Director - Steven Messing
Animation Supervisors - Troy Saliba &
Raphael A. Pimentel
Digital Effects Supervisor: SPI - Francisco De Jesus
Computer Graphics Supervisor: SPI - R. Stirling Duguid
Film Editor - Bob Murawski
Music - Danny Elfman


Review
Some time ago, I thought about doing a review for the 1939 classic 'The Wizard of Oz'. I grew up with this timeless classic that effectively enthralled every generation of critics and film-goers. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to do this review but instead watched the prequel called 'OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL'. While the film isn't as marvellous as the original, because there were no songs included, it still has the scenery as well as that unique fantasy feel. Few of the scenes of the prequel are ghastly frightening and one thing I do need to mention are the visuals which were extraordinary. Some of the acting performances were remarkable, even from James Franco whose character The Wizard is somewhat different than the one played by Frank Morgan. The direction of Sam Raimi is very good, especially for his skills as a filmmaker. The film's usage of 3D is handled very well and often when you see yourself in an imaginative land like Oz, you feel as though you have been immersed into to this magical, exotic land.

'OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL' is a bit better than I had anticipated, it's entirely a semi-decent prequel and the Oz fans should go and see it. So feel free to watch the movie, if you too have a brain or a heart or courage to know what it is good for you.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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Aladdin (1992) Review

Aladdin

Release Date: 3rd June 1993 - Australia

Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures (presents)

Walt Disney Feature Animation

(Uncredited)

Distribution

Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia

Genre: Animation/Family/

Fantasy/Comedy

Rating: G

Runtime: 90 minutes

Budget: $28,000,000

Box Office Gross: $504,050,219 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

A humble street urchin named Aladdin lives in the streets of Agrabah with only his best friend and loyal monkey companion, Abu. He meets Princess Jasmine, who is sneaking out of the marketplace after being forced to marry. When the evil grand vizier, Jafar, captures Aladdin to use him to enter the Cave of Wonders and retrieve a magical lamp for him. After finding it, Aladdin unleashes a comical Genie who grants him three wishes, which gives Aladdin the idea to disguise himself as a prince so he may see Jasmine again.

Voice Cast

Scott Weinger - Aladdin

Jonathan Freeman - Jafar

Robin Williams - Genie/

Peddler

Linda Larkin - Princess Jasmine
Frank Welker - Abu/The Cave of Wonders/Rajah

Gilbert Gottfried - Iago

Douglas Seale - The Sultan

Jim Cummings - Razoul/

Farouk

Brad Kane - Aladdin (singing

voice)

Lea Salonga - Princess
Jasmine (singing voice)
Charlie Adler - Gazeem/

Melon Merchant/Nut Merchant
Corey Burton - Prince Achmed/Necklace Merchant

Bruce Adler - Peddler (singing voice) (Uncredited)

Crew

Screenplay/Producers/

Directors - John Musker and Ron Clements

Pre-Production Story Development/Lyrics - Howard Ashman

Pre-Production Story Development - Linda

Woolverton and Gary Trousdale

Story/Visual Development - Francis Glebas
Story/Character Designer - Daan Jippes

Story - Burny Mattinson, Roger Allers,

Kevin Harkey, Sue C. Nichols, Darrell Rooney,

Larry Leker, James Fujii, Kirk Hanson,

Kevin Lima, Rebecca Rees, David S. Smith,

Chris Sanders, Brian Pimental and

Patrick A. Ventura

Screenplay - Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio

Artistic Supervisor: Story - Ed Gombert
Co-Producers - Donald W. Ernst and Amy Pell

Production Designer - Richard Vander Wende
Art Director - Bill Perkins
Artistic Coordinator - Dan Hansen

Effects Animator/Artistic Coordinator/

Visual Effects: Restoration/Special Edition -

Dave Bossert

Character Designer - Jean Gillmore

Character Designer/Supervising Animator:

"Genie" - Eric Goldberg

Artistic Supervisor: Background - Kathy Altieri
Artistic Supervisors: Background, Florida Unit -

Ric Sluiter and Robert E. Stanton

Artistic Supervisor: Layout - Rasoul Azadani

Artistic Supervisor: Layout, Florida Unit - Robert Walker

Production Manager - Alice Dewey Goldstone

Production Manager: Florida Unit - Baker Bloodworth
Supervising Animator: "Aladdin" - Glen Keane
Supervising Animator: "Jasmine" - Mark Henn
Supervising Animator: "Jafar" - Andreas Deja
Supervising Animator: "Carpet" - Randy Cartwright
Supervising Animator: "Iago" - Will Finn
Supervising Animator: "Abu" - Duncan Marjoribanks

Supervising Animator: "Sultan" - David Pruiksama

Animator: "Jasmine" and "Rajah" - Aaron Blaise

Animator: "Jafar as Beggar/Snake" - Kathy Zielinski

Animator: "Gazeem/Achmed" - T. Daniel Hopstedt

Animators: "Guards" - Phil Young and

Chris Wahl

Artistic Supervisor: Clean-Up/Supervising

Character Lead: Miscellaneous Characters -

Vera Pacheco

Artistic Supervisor: Visual Effects - Don Paul

Artistic Supervisors: Visual Effects, Florida Unit -

Barry Cook and Jeff Dutton

Artistic Supervisor: CGI - Steve Goldberg
Editor - H. Lee Peterson

Editor: Florida Unit - Chuck Williams

Associate Editor - Mark A. Hester

Sound Effects: Weddington Productions Inc./

Supervising Sound Editor (Uncredited) -

Mark A. Mangini

Special Sound Effects - John Pospisil

Sound Editors - Ron Bartlett, Clayton Collins,

Teresa Eckton, Mary Ruth Smith, Donald Flick,

Sandy Berman (Uncredited), Mark A. Hester

(Uncredited), Andrew Patterson (Uncredited)

and Gregory G. Rubay (Uncredited)

Re-Recording Mixers - Terry Porter,

Mel Metcalfe, David J. Hudson and

Frank A. Montano (Uncredited)

Foley - John Roesch and Alicia Stevenson

Songs/Original Score/Songs Arranger -

Alan Menken

Lyrics - Tim Rice

Music Mixer/Recordist - Bruce Botnick

Vocal Arrangements/Music Conductor -

David Friedman


Awards

1993 Academy Awards
Best Music, Original Song "A Whole New World" -
Alan Menken and Tim Rice (Won)
Best Music, Original Score - Alan Menken (Won)
------------------------
Best Sound - Terry Porter, Mel Metcalfe,
David J. Hudson and Doc Kane (Nominated)
Best Sound Editing - Mark A. Mangini (Nominated)
Best Music, Original Song "Friend Like Me" -
Alan Menken and Howard Ashman

(Posthumously) (Nominated)

Review

ALADDIN is a Disney animated classic that takes you on a magic carpet ride, and that is what you'll find in this film. It also includes romance, action and pure comedy. It is the main feature that drives the animated movie. I remember seeing it when I was very young, and then I saw it again when I was 12. As an adult, I notice some deficits in this old childhood feature, such as the opening sequence, but that's an issue better left unsaid.

Having said this, I still enjoyed almost everything in the movie, such as Robin Williams' manically voice performance as the Genie. Williams's role made me laugh, particularly his celebrity impersonations of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack Nicholson, Groucho Marx, Peter Lorre and Rodney Dangerfield. Williams mostly improvised these send-ups and, by doing so, stole the entire show. The other two best things about ALADDIN are the memorable characters and the fantastic songs by Alan Menken, such as the enchanting and romantic tune "A Whole New World".

How wondrous is it that ALADDIN was the first animated film to use pop culture references, including these celebrity impressions? That is why the same writers, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, went to do the first Shrek film as they wrote it by using similar references. ALADDIN was a harmless piece for entertainment, not stereotypical and offensive as some people thought it to be. Either way, there's still plenty of excitement and Disney magic.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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Delgo Review

Delgo

Release Date: 12th December 2008 - USA

Production Companies

Electric Eye Entertainment

Corporation (presents)

Fathom Studios

Genre: Animation/Family/

Fantasy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 90 minutes

Budget: $40,000,000

Box Office Gross: $915,840 (USA)

Plot Summary

Jhamora is a land torn apart

by the hostility of two

species - the Nohrin, the

winged lords of the skies,

and the Lokni, the land

dwellers who wield the

mystical powers of the

land. When a rash Lokni

teenager, Delgo, strikes up

a forbidden friendship with

the fiery Nohrin Princess

named Kyla, tensions

between the two peoples

explode, allowing Sedessa,

an exiled Empress, to seek

revenge and regain her rule.

Voice Cast

Freddie Prinze Jr. - Delgo

Jennifer Love Hewitt -

Princess Kyla

Chris Kattan - Filo

Val Kilmer - General Bogardus

Anne Bancroft - Sedessa

Louis Gossett Jr. - King Zahn

Malcolm McDowell - Raius

Michael Clarke Duncan -

Elder Marley

Eric Idle - Spig

Sally Kellerman - Narrator

Burt Reynolds - Delgo's

Father (Cameo)

Kelly Ripa - Kurrin

Jed Rhein - Ando

Jeff Winter - Giddy/

Lokni Man

Armin Shimerman - Nohrin Merchant

Don Stallings - Gelmore/

Elder Kiros

Brad Abrell - Spog

Melissa McBride - Elder Pearo

Tristan Rogers - Nohrin Officer

Gustavo Rex - Elder Canta

Nika Futterman - Elder Jaspin

John Vernon - Nohrin Judge

Susan Bennett - Melsa

David Heyer - Talusi

Mary Mouser - Baby Delgo

Louis K. Adler - Soldiers

Crew

Story/Executive Producer/

Producer/Director - Marc F. Adler

Story/Screenplay - Jason Maurer

and Scott Biear
Screenplay - Patrick J. Cowan and Carl Dream
Screenplay/Associate Producer - Jennifer Jones-Mitchell

Art Director - A.W. Jackson
Storyboard Artist - Jang Chol Lee

Director of Photography - Herb Kossover

Animation Director - Warren Grubb

Technical Director - John Lytle
Visual Effects Supervisor - Floyd Casey
Lighting Supervisor - Stephanie Cushing

Supervising Sound Designer/Re-Recording

Mixer - Tom Ozanich

Sound Effects Editors - Dane A. Davis,

Bill R. Dean, Glynna Grimala,

Greg Hedgepath, Ronald Hill,

Eric Warren Lindemann and Mark Larry

Music - Geoff Zanelli

Review

After reviewing Red Dog for Australia Day, I decided to begin work on the review of DELGO and watch it for the second time. It is the second lowest-grossing CGI film and has the potential to be an exciting independent animated motion picture, but let's face it. DELGO didn't have the excitement you'd expect. From what I read, the film took nine years to produce. I feel sorry for its creator, Marc F. Adler, who scraped $40 million all on his own for this movie's production as it becomes clear he genuinely believed in DELGO and desperately wanted to make an entertaining film. Unfortunately, he's not good at it.

The CGI animation is okay, a lot of celebrity voice talent got wasted, the themes and messages are heavy-handed, the plot is entirely unoriginal, and the comedy relief is terrible, particularly Filo, who is ten times more annoying than Star Wars' own Jar Jar Binks. My gosh, he is so irritating. Even Chris Kattan's voice performance makes it even worse. Next, there are bright spots, the environments and the creature designs are incredible, the action is decent, and the late Anne Bancroft is fabulous in her final performance as the evil villainess, Sedessa, but won't save DELGO this time.

It's no fault the animated fantasy movie bombed at the box office and failed all audiences, not because of Filo and the cliched plot. It was not promoted or marketed and lacked a major distributor. DELGO is an overlooked feature that is below average and wasn't everyone's cup of tea. If you want to see a similar movie with an interracial romance and floating islands, pick Avatar instead, which came out the following year and has better visuals.

Star rating: (2/5) Bad Movie

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Winners of the 85th Academy Awards

Sorry, blog viewers, I forgot to write
that Christopher Waltz was in
the nominees section for Best
Supporting Actor because I didn't
notice him in this category. I guess
that some of you missed watching
the Academy Awards. Here are the
winners that received the Oscars for
this 85th ceremony, and you'll
find that there is a tie in one of the
award categories.


Best Visual Effects
Life of Pi - Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and R. Christopher White

Best Film Editing
Argo - William Goldenberg

Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina - Jacqueline Durran

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Les Miserables - Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Best Cinematography
Life of Pi - Claudio Miranda

Best Production Design
Lincoln - Rick Carter and Jim Erickson

Best Sound Mixing
Les Miserables - Andy Nelson, Mark Peterson and Simon Hayes

Best Sound Editing (tie)
Skyfall - Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
Zero Dark Thirty - Paul N. J. Ottosson

Best Original Song
"Skyfall" from Skyfall - Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

Best Original Score
Life of Pi - Mychael Danna

Best Animated Short Film
Paperman - John Kahrs

Best Live-Action Short Film
Curfew - Shawn Christensen

Best Documentary Short
Inocente - Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fane

Best Documentary Feature
Searching for Sugar Man - Simon Chinn and John Battsek

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (Austria)

Best Animated Film
Brave - Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay
Argo - Chris Terrio

Best Writing - Original Screenplay
Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino

Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Waltz - Django Unchained

Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

Best Director
Ang Lee - Life of Pi

Best Picture
Argo - Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney

Academy Honorary Award
D.A. Pennebaker
Hal Needham
George Stevens Jr.


I was not surprised that the Pixar animated feature Brave took home the prize. I was outraged for this to happen. It should have been the other movies like Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, just as I once believed that Hugo was to win Best Picture in last year's awards ceremony. Why would somebody pick Brave as the ultimate contender, it's not acceptable, and it is an unexpected choice. If some of you are unhappy about it, tell me about the 85th Academy Awards.

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Beverly Hills Ninja Review

Beverly Hills Ninja 


Release Date: 10th April 1997 - Australia


Production Companies
Beverly Hills Ninja Productions

Motion Picture Corporation of

America (MPCA)

Distribution

Sony Pictures Australia

Genre: Comedy

Rating: M

Runtime: 88 minutes

Budget: $18,000,000

Box Office Gross: $37,639,029

(Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Thirty years ago, an 

American boy washed 

up on the shores of Japan 

of Japan and was taken in 

by a clan of ninja masters. 

They raised him as their 

own, believing him to be 

the child of the prophecy 

who would become the 

greatest martial arts master 

the world had ever seen. 

THEY WERE WRONG!.

Cast

Chris Farley - Haru

Nicollette Sheridan - Alison

Page/Sally Jones

Nathaniel Parker - Martin Tanley 

Keith Cooke Hirabayashi - Nobu

Soon-Tek Oh - Sensei

Chris Rock - Joey Washington

Robin Shou - Gobei
Will Sasso - Chet Walters

Crew

Director - Dennis Dugan

Writer - Mark Feldberg 

Writer/Co-Producer - Mitchell Klebanoff
Executive Producers - John Bertolli,
Jeff Ivers and Michael Rotenberg

Producers - Bradley Jenkel,
Brad Krevoy, Tony Shimkin
& Steven Stabler

Co-Producer - Marc S. Fischer
Production Designer - Ninkey Dalton
Costume Designer - Mary Claire Hannan
Martial Arts Trainer - Master Jian-Hua Guo

Cinematography - Arthur Albert
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
Rick Barker 

Film Editor - Jeff Gourson
Music Supervisor - Mary Ramos

Music - George S. Clinton

Review
Good but silly, the movie 'BEVERLY HILLS NINJA' has tons of action as well as comedic laughs that is provided by the late Chris Farley who plays the main character of a klutz who needs to be more careful at stuff. I'm surprised that this was one of the earliest roles by Chris Rock and I might find that some of the music sounded like the film adaptation of 'Mortal Kombat'. What a tragedy, this was Farley's last film that he made while he was still alive and it's a shame that the late comedian Chris had hated this movie because he wasn't pleased about the finished product.

I think 'BEVERLY HILLS NINJA' had hilarity on its side, yet it's a still basic original film that needs to be watched.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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Aliens Review

Aliens


Release Date: 6th November 1986 - Australia


Production Companies
Brandywine Productions

Distribution
20th Century Fox Australia


Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 132 minutes
                 154 minutes
                 (special edition)


Budget: $18,000,000

Box Office Gross: $183,291,893 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
After drifting into space for 57 years, Ripley awakens from

her escape pod and gets

rescued by a salvage crew.

However, the company's

officers refuse to believe her

description of the lifeform.

Then, as if things couldn't be

worse for her, there's the loss

of all contact with the

colonists where her crew

first encountered the alien.

It compels Ripley to go with a group of colonial marines with hi-tech weaponry and is on a mission where she must learn to confront her fears.


Cast
Sigourney Weaver - Ellen Ripley
Michael Biehn - Cpl. Dwayne
Hicks

Carrie Henn - Rebecca 'Newt' Jordan

Paul Reiser - Carter Burke

Lance Henriksen - Bishop
Jenette Goldstein - Private Vasquez
William Hope - Lt. William Gorman
Al Matthews - Sgt. Al Apone
Bill Paxton - Private William
Hudson

Mark Rolston - Private Drake

Ricco Ross - Private Frost

Colette Hiller - Corporal Ferro

Daniel Kash - Private Spunkmeyer

Cynthia Dale Scott - Corporal Dietrich

Tip Tipping - Private Crowe

Trevor Steedman - Private Wierzbowski

Paul Maxwell - Van Leuwen

Barbara Coles - Cocooned Woman

Carl Toop - Alien Warrior

Jay Benedict - Newt's Father

(Uncredited) (Special Edition Only)

Holly De Long - Newt's Mother (Uncredited)

(Special Edition Only)

Christoper Henn - Newt's Brother (Uncredited)

(Special Edition Only)

Elizabeth Inglis - Amanda Ripley-McLaren

(Uncredited) (Special Edition Only)

Mac McDonald - Simpson (Uncredited)

(Special Edition Only)

Crew
Story/Screenplay/Queen Alien Designer

(Uncredited)/Director - James Cameron

Based on Characters - Dan O'Bannon

and Ronald Shusett
Story/Executive Producers - David Giler

and Walter Hill

Producer - Gale Anne Hurd
Casting Directors: USA - Jane Feinberg,
Mike Fenton and Judy Taylor
Casting Director: UK - Mary Selway
Production Designer - Peter Lamont

Supervising Art Director - Terry-Ackland Snow

Art Directors - Ken Court, Bert Davey,

Fred Hole and Michael Lamont
Conceptual Designer - Ron Cobb
Conceptual Artist - Syd Mead
Original Alien Designer - H.R. Giger
Set Decorator - Crispian Sallis

Property Master - Bert Hearn

Costume Designer - Emma Porteous

Makeup Supervisor - Peter Robb-King
Director of Photography - Adrian Biddle

Camera Operators - Shaun O'Dell and

David Worley

Production Supervisor - Hugh Harlow

First Assistant Director - Derek Cracknell
Second Unit Director/Alien Effects Creator -
Stan Winston

Stunt Coordinator - Paul Weston
Special Effects Supervisor - John Richardson

Creature Effects Coordinators - Alec Gillis,

Richard J. Landon, Shane Mahan,

John Rosengrant and Tom Woodruff Jr.

Visual Effects Supervisors - Dennis &

Robert Skotak
Visual Effects Supervisor: Post-Production -
Brian Johnson

Art Director: Visual Effects - Peter Russell

Mechanical Armature Design: Visual Effects

Unit - Doug Beswick and Phil Notaro

Miniatures Technical Supervisor: Visual

Effects Unit - Pat McClung

Miniatures Floor Supervisor: Visual Effects

Unit - Brian Smithies

Film Editor - Ray Lovejoy

Associate Editor - Peter Boita

Supervising Sound Editor - Don Sharpe

Chief Dubbing Mixer - Graham V. Hartstone
Music - James Horner


Awards

1987 Academy Awards
Best Sound Editing - Don Sharpe (Won)
Best Visual Effects - John Richardson,
Dennis Skotak, Stan Winston and
Suzanne M. Benson (Won)
---------------------
Best Actress - Sigourney Weaver (Nominated)
Best Art Direction - Peter Lamont
and Crispian Sallis (Nominated)
Best Sound Effects - Graham V. Hartstone,
Nicolas Le Messuirer, Michael Carter
and Roy Charman (Nominated)
Best Film Editing - Ray Lovejoy (Nominated)
Best Original Score - James Horner (Nominated)


Review
It's hard to think that ALIENS might not be the best possible sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien because it's very different. It matches up to the predecessor, mainly because of the direction by James Cameron. He added the action and took a few inspirations from Starship Troopers. It has the intensity and the edge-of-the-seat suspense that is part of the series formula. ALIENS has maintained the details and aspects, like Sigourney Weaver's continuation of her acting as Ripley, and great moments include when Ripley is fighting against the Alien Queen. There are fantastic performances by Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton.

As far as sequels come and go, ALIENS lived up to the first movie, unlike several sequels that failed to do so. ALIENS is a tremendous classic with a loyal following from fans, and it's a must-see if you're into the sci-fi/horror genre.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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