Image Credit: Everett Collection
It took all of — what, minutes? — at EW’s reunion of Aliens before the cast began to act like they were back on the movie’s set in London. “A lot of old jokes were being trotted out,” quipped Sigourney Weaver, who flew in from New York to join Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, and director James Cameron for one very important photo this summer in Los Angeles.
Paxton immediately noticed who was missing. (Yep, we agree with you, Pvt. Hudson: Pvt. Vasquez, a.k.a. Jenette Goldstein, and Carter Burke, a.k.a. Paul Reiser, should have been there, but both were out of town). At the same time, Paxton and Weaver were tickled about who did show up: Henn, better known to Aliens fans as the brave orphan Newt.
“Gosh she is the most wonderful and beautiful young women,” Weaver said of the now 35-year-old Henn, who ended up bringing her husband and grade school-aged daughter down from Northern California to the shoot. Henn stopped working shortly after Aliens; she’s now a teacher. ”She escaped the business!” laughed Weaver.
When plans were hatched to make a third Alien movie in the early ’90s, Weaver figured her Ripley would reunite with Newt, Hicks, and Bishop in the next chapter. “I definitely thought we were going to become a family in the next one, until [director] David Fincher got the job,” Weaver recalled. “He decided to obliterate any idea of Swiss Family Robinson. I think it was a shock to Jim.”
Then again, this extraordinarily talented group didn’t need another action-packed sci-fi to help them feel connected. For proof, take a look at this behind-the-scenes homecoming of some old and very special friends.
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This Week's Cover: The Reunions Issue!
wild! i almost wish Alien 3 & 4 were never made.
Talk about ruining one of the best sci-fi franchises EVER. David Fincher gets a pass (but only barely) because 1) he tried and 2) he made “Vogue.” The French guy should be taken out back and shot.
The “French guy” is actually a phenomenal filmmaker. He gets the same pass as Fincher gets due to studio meddling.
When I was a boy we had movies that were well written and kept us glued to the seats. Not this mamby pamby horse__it.
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EW decided to edit Ripley’s line? One of the most famous, quoted lines of all time? Oh for f*ck’s sake.
3 & 4 WEREN’T made in my book. And they lived happily marooned forever after.
I actually liked Alien 3 but Alien Resurrection was horrible — that money could have gone to a hell of a lot of college educations.
It wasn’t Fincher’s idea to kill of Hicks and Newt.
It was Walter Hill and some other Fox cronies.
Alien and Aliens are 2 of my favorite films of all time. They are masterpieces both of them. 3 & 4 were awful. I never made it through all of 4 I couldn’t believe how bad it was.
Oh can’t have that realism. That’s just not entertaining.
‘Aliens’ would have been better if Ripley had led thousands of Colonial Marines to LV-426 to battle the Xenomorphs and only a few human casualties were suffered.
It would have been good if the climax had extended to the wrecked derelict spacecraft from the first film and given some answers about the Space Jockey’s species.
Well, that’s just a big ol’ pile of no.
Tom, its sounds to me, in a very vague way, that you are sort of insulting the sort of plot in another James Cameron movie, “AVATAR”. To me, your incredulous suggestion is a hazy configuring of what happened in Avatar. Cuz that’s kind of what happened and it was, in my opinion, mostly excreable (spelling?).
Aliens is perfect. None of that sounds good
Go see Prometheus next Summer, Tom.
Thousands? I agree with tad. Why change Aliens? No need. Prometheus will explain the space jockey…
That’s too broad. Stories are usually better when they center around a few characters. Essentially, that’s your army.
Yeah maybe if it was a 10 hour movie. You have to remember the limitations of the genre.
Don’t forget it needed to be in 3D with some cool gimmicks and product placement. And lord, lets make the good guys purple, just because we are some really goofy writers.
What’s wrong with Lance Hendrickson? He seems to be in poor health.
He’s 71. Cut him some slack.
This. He still gives great voice though.
God, I love this film. It’s good to see the actors reunited. It looks like all of them have successful careers.
I have never felt older than I did when I saw the picture and thought “THAT’S Newt?”
I was wondering who ate her.
Mean mean mean.
Why, because she looks like a real woman instead of a stick??
no because she looks like an american woman.
I guess I’m the only one who thought that Aliens 3 was a good movie. I liked how dark it was. I think the death of Newt added to her character’s depth and pain. Good stuff.
I liked it. I think a lot of the problem for some was that they went from having many aliens in “2″ to going back to one in the third.
I don’t love Alien 3, but I don’t hate it as much as most fans do. I read once (no idea how true this is) that Alien 3 started off as an allegory for AIDS… which unfortunately got watered down in committee rewrites. But if you watch it with that in mind (a mysterious biological creature is wiping out a group of segregated men one by one) it’s kind of an interesting approach.
I have a great love for Alien 3, it was so different from the other previous installments but I thought brought the series to a fitting conclusion for the most part. Part 4 doesn’t exist in my world. And as far as the AIDS connection, I can actually see that…now.
I liked it well enough, it was just stupid to kill off Newt.
Aliens 3 was okay compared to the crap we have to suffer though watching today. However, it was very limited to the scope it was granted as a sci-fi aliens horror film. It could have been so much more terrific if they Aliens would have won.
The workprint version on the DVD and Blu-Ray is great. Having come to the series when the DVDs came out, I have never bothered to watch the Theatrical Cut, but knowing what was lopped out, it obviously makes a significant difference in coherency, if not the bleak tone.
I didn’t HATE Alien3, but I didn’t like how Newt and Hicks were killed off during the opening credits. Especially since in Aliens, the drop ship was remote piloted by Bishop and never landed on LV-426. How did those Alien eggs get on board? The queen left her sack behind and I didn’t see her carrying any with her to plant on the ship. I also didn’t like that because the story took place on a prison planet, everybody’s heads were shaved and they all wore the same grubby clothes. It was difficult to tell the characters apart. Also, the director’s version on DVD flows better than the theatrical version.
Top 10 Sci-Fi movie of all-time. Still epic…..
Totally agree. Also, Sigourney Weaver was the benchmark for women in action films. After Sigourney’s ‘Ripley’ in 1979, actresses insisted on having independence, strength, brilliance and intelligence equal to men. Prior to ‘Ripley,’ women were always “help me, help me” and being saved by men. But when Sigourney whooped that alien’s butt in Alien it was sensational and women as victims was forever an out-dated idea. I truly appreciate Sigourney Weaver’s ‘Ripley.’ And Linda Hamilton’s Terminator character, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s character in The Abyss. James Cameron has always written strong women characters right up to ‘Neytri’ in AVATAR and I so deeply appreciate that.
so well said, lily! ripley is fiercely maternal and her love for newt makes her stronger. as a mother, i love seeing that someone loving a child makes her a warrior, not fall to pieces. aliens is my favorite movie. i DESPISE alien 3. i saw it in the theater. i pretend that it doesn’t exist.
Too bad they didn’t let her say one freakin’ word in the interview up above.
@Maeve ~ TY. So glad you agree. And I agree with you. I pretend that 3 & 4 don’t exist!! Alien and Aliens are the masterpieces.
People can rag about James Cameron’s ego and temper, but he is one of the few male directors who ‘s movies women get excited to see as much as the males.
Yeah, but it’s a dry heat, sarge.
Game over man, game over!
So who’s laying the eggs?
Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
I want Alien 5 with Sigourney ! PLEEEASE !
NO!!! Talk about jumping the shark!
Oh no, we just can’t compete with Aliens. Anything but that. I want more movies about talking dolphins, and driving miss daisy part II.
Not against another Aliens movie. I’m against dragging Ripley back in AGAIN.
In the earlier years, I thought: “It’s not too late to pretend ALIEN 3 was a bad dream!!! Restart from part 2!” I agree with Weaver — ALIENS seemed to be leading into a natural progression of the story — Hick and Ripley and Newt becoming a family — but the sequel destroyed that from the get-go. Perhaps they could do what The Sarah Connor Chronicles did, and lead off from the end of the last good movie with a new cast.
I agree with you. 100% ALL THE WAY! I think about that all the time.
“Hey Vasquez, you ever been mistaken for a man?”
No, have you?
no….have you?
They said Aliens, and she thought Illegal Aliens and signed up.
Alien is still the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. I remember leaving the theater and no one was talking, we were all absolutely silent and shaking in fear. The people standing in line watched as we all left the theater and you could tell by the look on their faces they knew how terrified we all looked. I heard one girl say as we walked out, “Oh God, look at them, they’re all scared to death, I’m not going in there”.
Was it a screening at a pre-school or something? I think your memory is playing tricks on you, a theatre of adults did not walk out of a screening for Aliens shaking in fear and deathly silent. It had a few jump moments to be sure, but as James Cameron said in the video, it wasn’t really even a horror movie, more of an action movie. Maybe you were super young at the time, and that’s really how you remember it, but no, I can guarantee you, it didn’t happen that way.
@Micks – Judy is talking about the first movie Alien, not the second Aliens. And Alien is definitely the scariest movie I’ve ever seen also.
I think Judy was referring to the first film, Alien. And let me tell you that her reaction was similar to many in 1979. There were even cases of people throwing up, passing out, and just leaving the theater altogether. It really was quite the phenomenon.
“Look into my eye!”
“One express elevator to hell, going down.”
Somebody wake up Hicks.
“They mostly come out at nights…mostly”
“Hold on to your butts!”
35! Carrie Henn is now 35?! Oh dear God I’m old. Had no idea Aliens is that old.