10 Best Film Sequels By Different Directors

The Sequel To: Alien (Scott, 1979)

The Director: James Cameron

Taking Over From: Ridley Scott

By taking the genes of Ridley Scott's Alien and infusing them with his own ideas and techniques, James Cameron made this, Aliens, cinema's greatest sequel by a different director. Cameron, shifting the angle of the first film, which is essentially a haunted-house picture in space (or 'Jaws in space', as one early pitch reportedly went), turns his sequel into an all-out actioner, with Alien's Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) reluctantly returning for more. 

Working in his chosen mode (Cameron has always been one of cinema's great action directors), Cameron was able to use the basis of the original without having to copy or retread it, creating a startling film of tension followed by action. Like his other classic sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Cameron proves a master at extending worlds and characters, but he also proves his talent for adding new ones too, and the supporting cast of Aliens help elevate it to greatness in that they all have their own personalities. This is still Ripley's film, but Aliens truly has one of action-cinema's great ensembles. Perhaps its greatest. 

It stands that Aliens would rank high in a list of any great sequels, let alone ones with a criterion, as it would any list of great action films or just great films, period. It's the perfect sequel.