GFF 2016 - John McPhail Review 3 - Aliens
"They mostly come out at night, mostly" Hey hey tartan feature folk
John here, so the other night I went to see "Aliens: The Directors cut" in the IMAX. First off I love this movie, it's my 2nd favorite movie of all time (the first is ghostbusters) I'm not lying when I say it's eye watering on the IMAX. Genuinely had to blink like a mad man, after some of high paced action sequences. If you haven't seen this masterpiece (where have been for the past 30 years) or seen it in a long time, it totally still holds up. It's one of those films I couldn't get sick of watching. The film is 30 years old this year (same age as me) and as I said above it still holds up, couple of crummy CGI and model effects by today's standard but the rest of it is as good as ANY action Sci-Fi movie being made today. The sets are still stunning, the lighting, cinematography and cutting is some of the best you'll find in the genre, the cast is perfect (Bill Paxton/Hudson still has people roaring with laughter to this day), Sigourney weaver is just an awesome lead, and carries the whole "facing your fears" in such an a way that your always routing for her, and Paul Reiser is still the biggest monster of the movie as the baby face Burke. The Alien puppets/costumes (I'd say) are still better than half the CGI Aliens we get today. The amount of practical effects that are throughout this movie is amazing. The guns they used where all fully working guns (firing blanks of course) you can't cgi those muzzle flashes. I am a big fan of doing things in camera, and this film will show you how well (again 30 years on) it can work. GFF not only put on the film on in the IMAX there where marines and an Alien kicking about the cinema and outside for fans to get some snaps with. Which is a nice wee touch and again well done to them for adding that extra treat for us all. It was another cracking night out at the cinema, I'd never seen the film projected in a way I could get motion sickness before, it was totally worth it. Thanks to Glasgow film festival for putting it on, and making me want to dig out my box set. Ive attached a "making of" link below as I can't go into all the amazing details in this film, and I'd highly recommend giving it a swatch to see how they did it, there will be a few hidden tips on there that might help you out one day. http://youtu.be/J43vXq-Cvfo
