Aliens

An early blockbuster from James Cameron (after Terminator but before Titanic), the second installment of the Alien franchise is widely regarded as one of the great films of the horror/sci-fi genre. In it, Lt. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is found floating through space in cryogenic stasis 57 years after surviving her first encounter with alien eggs on the moon LV-426. Back on Earth and barely thawed out, she is quickly charged with leading a team of marines to investigate the now-colonized moon after communication with its inhabitants is lost. Will they find colonists or…ALIENS? This director’s cut restores more than 15 minutes of footage excised from the original theatrical version, much of it devoted to developing Ripley’s character. (137 mins., DCP)