12 Most Heart-Stopping Sci-Fi Movie Scenes Ever
2. Newt & Ripley Versus Alien Scene - Aliens
The original Ridley Scott directed Alien film had more than its fair share of nail biting moments, in particular the epic final showdown between Ellen Ripley and the Alien. But no moment from the first Alien film quite came near the pulsating moment when young Newt is kidnapped in the James Cameron directed sequel, Aliens
The connection between Sigourney Weaver's Ripley and young Newt, the girl who remarkably managed to survive the ferocious Xenomorphs, grows markedly throughout the film. After an explosive fight with the Xenomorphs, Newt finds herself trapped in a sewer, with Ripley and Hicks in hot pursuit. The audience is left on tenterhooks as Hicks slowly uses welding equipment to open a vent to get access to Newt, Ripley trying her best to calm the girl down.
While most heart-stopping moments on this list work due to the build up of tension, this one works more thanks to the element of surprise. While we are looking over the shoulder of Ripley and Hicks with anticipation of a xenomorph attack on them, the manner in which the alien descends from out of the sewer water comes as a shock in the truest sense of the word.
The epic final battle between the Queen Xenomorph and Ripley is a close second on this list, with its sustained tension, Ripley's use of an exosuit cargo loader making for a classic one on one battle. The image of the Xenomorph towering over Newt though is Sci-Fi folklore, and is more than deserving of its place here.