CinemaDome: Fury Road vs Aliens

Both are top shelf action films...two of the best in class. Seminal genre films that stand head and shoulders above their peers. Two strong female leads surrounded by an incredible support cast. Both inspired games by Richard Halliwell. Both seem to be Black Barney's favorite film.

Wow... this is a tough one. I haven't seen Aliens in some time, but years later, I still remember lines from it. I can't remember much in the way of lines from Fury Road. I remember the action sequences, though.

I love both, but I think I have to go with Aliens.

Aliens. Contest over. Ripley is just a much better character than Furiosa. The claustrophobic action makes for a better movie than the Smokey and the Bandit chase of Fury Road. Fury Road would make for a good Universal ride.

Not even close. A diluted sequel to Alien, or one of the landmark achievements of the last decade?

Vote: Fury Road

I've re-watched Aliens a couple of times in the last few years and each time felt a little less enjoyment. Fury Road is a perfect spectacle each time.

Fury Road, but ask again in 15 years.

Both are great, but I'm going to go with Fury Road. FR is one step removed from being a silent movie, in a good way.

Remember when Fury Road looked to be a disaster in the making? Changing the lead actor, director hadn't made an action film in decades, tied up in a long production process with filming moving all over the planet, a genre that was out of fashion, almost 30 years since any other film in the franchise...

Fury Road.

Tough call, but I'd say fury road.

Without a doubt, Aliens. It had a better narrative.

FR is a beautiful visual masterpiece, but suffers in comparison to the characters, story, dialogue and sheer emotional impact of Aliens.

They're both dripping with theme.


I hate you, White, for making me pick between these two, but in the end I don't think it's that tough a choice for me. I just hate picking between two things I love this much. A much tougher cinemadome for me would be ALIENS vs BOYHOOD. Cuz then you have my heart fighting my brain. With ALIENS vs FURY ROAD you have my heart fighting my dick. My heart should and will win that fight.

Fury Road is an incredible achievement that I saw FIVE times in theatre. I've never seen a movie that many times while still in theatre. Every.single.thing. about it works. The music, the performances, the cinematography, the pacing... how can an action movie be 85% action and still be this deep? People that say it's a small film with no plot are small thinkers. There's tons of hidden depth. I can watch this movie from beginning to end, with absolutely no dead scenes or loss of impact upon repeated watches. It's going to still be something great in twenty years, I promise you. Of the many people I've met that "don't get it", I can't properly express how sorry i feel for them. It's honestly like listening to an incredible acoustic performance with someone deaf. You feel awful for them.

but...

ALIENS was my favourite movie of all time for decades. Even now when I'm not sure if it's still my favourite movie or not, I still say it's my favourite movie by habit sometimes. And I feel guilty when I say another movie in its place. Just LAST NIGHT I had the official movie magazine in the hands of my new awesome girlfriend who had found it among my collection of Aliens comics. She had never seen Aliens before and was anxious for me to show it to her, but I'd have her sit through Alien first cuz it's such a beautiful lead into Aliens. You need to feel the tragedy of Ripley losing Amy(?) in the very beginning (director's cut?). I can't wait to introduce her to these movies.

The first time I saw Aliens was when a babysitter rented it for me in 1987, i was 11 years old. The whole build-up of the marines approaching and landing on LV-426... I was SO scared, and I wasn't disappointed when they finally meet up with the enemy at "a goddamn town meeting." I didn't sleep for the entire summer, i was so scared. My mom fired that babysitter and I never saw her again. But what a thirst for sci-fi/action/horror that awoke in me.

As an adult, it really is the perfect movie. It has sci-fi, action, hilarious comedic relief, awesome characters played by super capable actors and actresses and it's pretty scary (we're all immune to the scare factor of this movie, and while it's no Alien in terms of scares, i remember being plenty scared). I'm still amazed that somehow Paul Reiser is in the movie and it's still as good as it is with such a bland antagonist. It also sells Lance Henrikson and Michael Biehn on me for life.

I have one child, a daughter, and her middle name is Ellen and it's 100% named after the strongest, most confident female character I have ever seen on the big screen (and you know I love movies).

Vote: ALIENS and it's not even close.

...oh and I've seen Aliens over 50 times at this point. It's true that repeat viewings take away from some of the punch. My advice is to stop watching the movie after Newt gets separated from Ripley and Hicks. The movie is very formulaic after that point. Everything up until that moment holds up incredibly well each and everytime. And watch the director's cut, the robot sentries are really kick-ass. But once Vasquez and Gorman asplode, you can stop rewatching the movie. Just assume that they make it to the landing pad where Bishop is waiting for them. The queen becomes a little too gimmicky for me upon repeated viewings.

Also, I hate that movie poster that White posted. It's a beautiful movie with tons of mystery. The less you show, the better. I like just this...(this actually evokes an emotional reaction in me)



sorry for being so verbose but I actually tried to cut this down...i could talk about these movies forever. Especially Aliens. I'm so excited that I get to show it to someone i care about for the first time soon.... i won't know what to do if she tries to have sex in the middle of the movie. "but Newt is in trouble!!! We gotta see what happens!"

I guess that's the ultimate decider....which movie would you not pull away from to knock a few boots?

also if the facehuggers buy me an extra fifteen minutes, then kudos to Giger.

Black Barney wrote: With ALIENS vs FURY ROAD you have my heart fighting my dick.

A real Goliath vs. David battle, eh?