25. The Alien Queen
The big bad mamma of the Alien brood is the Alien Queen. With a massive crown like skull she towers above everything else. She spends most of her life laying eggs, but when she does get down from her perch, there is only one recourserun like fucking crazy. We learn that the Alien Queen is the boss, when she signals the Alien warriors to back up a bit as Ripley holds a flamethrower dangerously close to one of the eggs in her chamber. Things up to this point look pretty bad, but to know that she is controlling everything by the power of her mind is a big discovering. The Alien Queen shows an intelligence that the horde lacks. Sure, they are fantastic abductors, but otherwise they are quite heavy handed. This big bitch knows how to keep her rabble in line.
24. Quote: One Express Elevator
One express elevator to hellgoing down! An awesome and foreboding quote as the drop ship does as its name suggests and plummets towards LV426.
23. Scene: Ripley Still Doesnt Like Androids
We get a reminder that Ripley isnt fond of Androids and who can blame her after her last trip out where the artificial person malfunctionedand a few deaths were involved. She takes out this particular anger on Bishop when she knocks a tray of cornbread out of his hand and tells him to stay away from me Bishop, you go that straight? We also see some of the companies cover up with Burke using the term malfunction in play here too. Despite the relative inaction in the sequence, it tells us some important facts about the story.
22. Creature Effects
The thing that made Alien so successful was the creature effects or more specifically the darkness that masked the creature effects. In Aliens we had to see more of the creatures, so maintaining the darkness was an impossible trick for most of the action heavy sequences. We see the full form of the Aliens several times but it never makes the creatures look less scary. They move like bugs, crawling across ceilings and up walls and we dont get taken out of the movie thinking thats just a guy in a suit at all. This is a big achievement.
21. Sound Effects
The foley artists and sound engineers for this film did an amazing job with the sound effects, creating some of the most memorable sounds in sci-fi. From the pulse rifle to the motion tracker to the slimy movements and subtle hissing or loud screaming of the Aliens, the sound effects really make this movie something special.