Is "Chaos Walking" a Rip-Off of Star Wars?

 

Fresh from her stint in the most recent Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker, Daisy Ridley is back in theaters in another sci-fi flick featuring intergalactic travel. Based on the book The Knife of Never Letting Go, Chaos Walking, like the Harry Potter series before it (a less-than-impressive boy discovers that he's inherited magical powers and later finds out that a disfigured guy in black with special abilities of his own murdered his parents), has seemingly remixed the Skywalker Saga to within an inch of its life.

George Lucas' influence is apparent right off the bat as the story begins with our heroine, Ridley's Viola (standing in for Princess Leia), in distress aboard a spaceship. At the same time, our hero, Todd (the new Luke Skywalker), is an orphan leading a thankless existence on a farm on a planet far, far away. Though it's not a desert planet like Tatooine and there's no mention of twin suns, it never gets dark on New World, as it's called. Instead of a friendly droid (R2D2) that serves as the sci-fi version of man's best friend, Todd has an actual dog, Manchee. After Viola crash-lands onto Todd's home-world, his bearded father-figure (Whose name really is Ben!) convinces him to save Viola from the evil guys -- equipped with laser guns -- who want her dead. By the way, the head evil guy, Mayor David Prentiss (portrayed by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who also portrayed the guy who designed the Death Star in Rogue One), has supernatural abilities which include: reading people's thoughts, mind control and projecting realistic illusions. Eventually, Todd discovers that he too can use the Force conjure authentic-seeming visions out of thin air.  

At one point, Todd wrestles a tentacled aquatic creature in a lake (instead of a trash compactor). There's even a high-velocity chase in a forest, complete with the requisite sequence of weaving around trees a la Return of the Jedi. Except this pursuit involves a motorcycle and horses instead of Imperial speeder bikes. Late in the movie, Viola searches an old wrecked starship -- which is exactly how Rey (Daisy Ridley's Star Wars character) made her entrance in The Force Awakens. Like Leia and Rey, Viola can hold her own in a fight and she also gets her share of hand-holding with Finn Todd. As for Todd, he witnesses Ben's murder at the hands of Mayor Prentiss but, fortunately, he doesn't vanish into thin air. One of the last scenes features Viola at the side of an unconscious Todd, who'd been injured in the final battle -- just as Rey watched over a comatose Finn near the end of TFA. And like Finn, Todd recovers, of course, with the aid of high-tech medical care, which may as well have been bacta treatment.

Star Wars has often been described as a space western by critics and true to form, Chaos Walking revolves around settlers and the story even involves hostilities between the pioneers and the native "aliens". Unsurprisingly, CW also depicts a character falling from a great height (like random stormtroopers in Star Wars, Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett and the Emperor in Return of the Jedi, a death trooper in Rogue One, Han Solo in The Force Awakens, Captain Phasma in The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker, Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace and Mace Windu in Revenge of the Sith).

Aside from all of the SW shenanigans, it also seems clear that the filmmakers wanted to get credit for being progressive. To achieve this, they've featured a same-sex couple as well as an entire community led by a Black woman. Hollywood sorely needs a greater commitment to diversity and the industry continues to struggle with representation. Case in point: Chaos' air of enlightenment rings false once you realize that the only Black man in the movie with speaking lines is a homicidal maniac who kills a dog out of sheer sadism.

Newness is always enticing but my advice is to save yourself the trouble, skip this hot mess walking and just watch the actual Star Wars again -- and not the "Special Edition" if you can help it. 

Originally Posted 3/14/21

All 7 Jurassic Movies, Ranked from Dinosaur Turd to Prehistoric Greatness

Updated 7/17/22

Dinosaurs aren't protected IP, yet only one a handful of movies has presented realistic depictions of them in hit projects. Despite ups and downs, the Jurassic Park series has sat atop the food chain as the apex predator of dino cinema for nearly three decades. The filmmakers released the seventh film this summer, making the franchise a heptalogy. So we figured this was a great time to rank the  installments. Enjoy.

7. The Lost World

It was only natural for the filmmakers to be resistant to making a sequel that closely resembled the original film but introducing dinosaurs to the suburbs was the worst idea that this series has ever employed. Spielberg and company were on the right track in the early part of the story -- tracking the animals in the jungles of Isla Sorna. If only the writing and tone hadn't sucked so hard.

6. Dominion

If Dominion is truly the conclusion to this near three-decade saga, then the tale sure went out with a trash-scented whimper. There was certainly a way to unite the major players of the Park and World trilogies but this dishwater wasn't it. The filmmakers seemingly forgot that the humans are merely an excuse to give us dinosaur action and NOBODY wanted to see a giant locust plague.

5. Fallen Kingdom

Chris Pratt can list two 10-figure smash hits on his resume for 2018. But only one of them is any good (Infinity War). Fallen Kingdom is actually a good way to describe the Jurassic Park movie franchise these days. Despite being the third JP film to cross the billion-dollar mark in sales this flick sucks brontosaurus nuts. But then again, maybe it's just following the JP pattern: the second entry of the trilogy is the worst of the bunch (like The Lost World). However, the dinosaurs themselves have managed to evolve since the last movie. Miraculously, the big lizards seem to select their kills based on character now. Only the assholes are eaten in Fallen Kingdom. 

Despite many of the characters' warnings, maybe they should be unleashed on the world after all. But this movie shouldn't have. When most of the entries in your extremely popular film series are at least partly named Jurassic Park you probably shouldn't destroy the park. The dinosaur habitat, Isla Nubar, is incinerated by a volcanic eruption in the beginning of Fallen Kingdom and nearly everything that follows blows.

When Jurassic Park hit theaters back in 1993, it went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time up to that point, eventually grossing $1 billion at the box office -- without adjusting for inflation. It's not that surprising. It gave us what we believe are realistic-looking dinosaurs and was universally loved. Then the sequel was released. Not satisfied with merely being a sh-- movie, The Lost World also set a pattern of the middle chapters of Jurassic trilogies being the worst of their respective sets. And while Fallen Kingdom did manage to gross 10 figures at the box office, it followed The Lost World right into the dumpster. 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a pretty accurate title, given that the movie is an enormous step down from its predecessor. Jurassic Park kept with the tradition of killing a Black character first and Kingdom features the cringe-worthy Hollywood cliche of the Black guy being a coward. 

Say what you want about Jurassic World, it represented a mammoth comeback for the series and resurrected it much like Hammond's team of scientists reintroduced dinosaurs to the world. JWFK pissed all over that. And taking the blah blah-dons and yada yada-sauruses outta the park has never worked out very well in these stories. Which is a lesson that shoulda been learned from The Lost World. Talk about taking two steps forward and one giant step back. 

4. Battle at Big Rock

It's a shame that none of the members of the unfortunate unnamed camping family at the center of this short never showed up in any of the feature films, because their story is easily far more compelling than half of the theatrical releases.









3. Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park was revolutionary in that it brought (what we believe are) realistic looking dinosaurs to the screen for the first time. But it was woefully cliched in its adherence to the racist trope of killing off a Black character first. Director Steven Spielberg's third highest-grossing movie of all time in as many decades, JP ushered in a 29-year franchise as well as the CGI era of filmmaking with this story about an ill-fated attempted to reintroduce dinosaurs to the world. Predictably, they don't mix very well with modern life -- especially the intelligent, opposable-thumbed variety. In the real world, the film itself went beyond common dinosaur know-how and introduced the masses to extinct species such as Velociraptors, Brachiosaurus and Dilophosaurus and distinct eras like the Jurassic Age.

2. Jurassic Park III

In what represents the only time that it made sense for someone to return to Jurassic Park, Dr. Alan Grant is kidnapped and flown to Isla Sorna by a shady couple who coerce him into locating their missing son, who disappeared during a parasailing trip.

1. Jurassic World

When the park finally opened, it was well worth the wait. The velociraptors, pteranadons and the almighty tyrannosaurus rex joined forces to deliver the Jurassic series its second billion-dollar hit.

Anthony Mackie's 9 Best Movies

 

Actor Anthony Mackie's 20-year Hollywood career includes roles in eight television shows and a whopping 55 feature films (with another on the way this year). Back in 2004, legendary writer/director Spike Lee himself anointed Mackie the next big thing after casting him as the lead in his movie She Hate Me. The New Orleans-native's star has been on the rise ever since. While Mackie has yet to headline an MCU movie, he finally starred in his very own limited series as his Marvel character, Sam "the Falcon" Wilson, in 2021. In the meanwhile, let's take a moment to look back at the work he's done so far.

9. The Banker

Anthony Mackie reunites with his MCU co-star, Samuel L. Jackson in this decidedly more down-to-earth film. Based on a true story, The Banker follows Bernard Garrett (Mackie) and his partner, Joe Morris, as they become wealthy purchasing real estate, and later, two banks in extremely racist 1950s Los Angeles and Texas, using a white man as a front.

8. Ant-Man

In Ant-Man, Mackie's former USAF pararescueman Sam "Falcon" Wilson comes face-to-face with future Avenger Scott Lang when the latter breaks into the group's base of operations in upstate New York.

7. The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give delves into multi-generational issues such as code-switching and murder-by-cop. Specifically, the film features a fatal shooting of an unarmed African-American male by a white police officer. Unlike the relatively recent spate of police murders captured on video, there is only one eyewitness -- aside from the cop. The remainder of the films explore the effects that the shootings have on the witnesses.

In Hate, the witness, Starr Carter, was a childhood friend of the victim, Khalil Harris. The two are pulled over for failure to signal a lane change on an empty street when Khalil drives Starr home from a house party. After Khalil is ordered out of the car, he's shot to death by the officer.

What follows is Starr's struggle to come to terms with the death of her friend, her efforts to achieve justice for Khalil while remaining anonymous, and her continued fight to be accepted by her predominantly African-American community without being solely defined by her ethnicity at her predominantly white high school. Despite Starr's wish to blend in and be a "normal" teenager, the seed of social activism planted in her by her father begins to grow.

In a departure from his usual roles, Mackie portrays King, a violent local gang leader and stepfather to Starr's half-brother, Seven. Interestingly enough, The Hate U Give's title is derived from the acronym that rapper and actor Tupac Shakur gave to the social movement and hip-hop group that he founded -- Thug Life. Mackie actually portrayed Shakur in the 2009 biopic of superstar rapper Christopher "Biggie" Wallace, Notorious.

6. Real Steel

In Real Steel, robot boxing has eclipsed human fighting sports by the year 2020. Former boxer Charlie Kenton and his son, Max, train discarded sparring-bot Atom, who displays both a talent for beating more advanced opponents and a die-hard loyalty to Max. Mackie portrays Finn, a friend of Charlie's who wagers on the fights. When shady businessman Ricky, who had Charlie beat down over a bet, attempts to duck out without covering his losses, Finn teaches him to think twice before ever welching again.

5. Outside the Wire

Outside the Wire offers a fresh take on the familiar "rogue AI" story, all the while questioning the wisdom of military reliance on detached warfare, such as the use of drones in combat. Star Anthony Mackie's casting is fitting, given his cinematic history as Sam Wilson, the right-hand man of Steve "Captain America" Rogers in five MCU movies. This time around, Mackie is the super-soldier and the captain as a U.S. Marine in the not-too-distant future. 

4. The Age of Ultron

Proving that Mackie's Sam "the Falcon" Wilson and Steve "Captain America" Rogers are not just teammates but actual friends as well, the former spends the bulk of his time in The Age of Ultron as the latter's wingman at a party thrown by Tony Stark as opposed to on a battlefield.

3. The Winter Soldier

Mackie's Sam Wilson makes his cinematic debut in The Winter Soldier when he befriends Steve Rogers and the two bond over the fact that they've both seen combat as members of the U.S. military. When we meet him, Sam has put his USAF career behind him and become a counselor for other veterans who find it difficult adjusting to civilian life. Wilson, who quickly becomes the man who Steve Rogers trusts more than anyone in the world, uses his pararescueman training and experimental wings to take the fight to a new threat from land to air in the battle against a woefully corrupted S.H.I.E.L.D. He's instrumental in destroying the agency's three new helicarriers, which were designed to kill hundreds of American civilian targets at once. After exposing double agents within the organization's ranks and foiling their plan to turn the U.S. into fascist state, Wilson and Rogers embark on a mission to root out any remaining HYDRA members as well as the Winter Soldier.

2. Civil War

Reprising his role as Sam "the Falcon" Wilson, who's become a full-fledged Avenger and assisted Captain Rogers in tracking down  notorious assassin James "the Winter Soldier" Barnes, Mackie winds up an enemy of the state and in the crosshairs of Tony Stark after violating the controversial Sokovia Accords. He also recruits Scott "Ant-Man" Lang into the fold.

1. Infinity War

After having been broken out of a federal prison by Steve Rogers, Mackie's Sam Wilson, the aforementioned Captain America and former assassin Natasha Romanoff, have been conducting covert missions and acting independently of the Avengers. However, when an intergalactic warlord's pursuit of mass murder in the name of saving the universe brings the battle to Earth, Wilson and the others make a last stand against an alien army in the African kingdom of Wakanda. Sadly, the heroes lose and Wilson, one of the casualties, is wiped from existence.

Originally Posted 3/19/21

The 15 Best Movies of 2013

 

2013 was a great year for both fiction and true stories alike. From the successful (finally) return of Superman to an inspiration for the Black Lives Matter movement to the last good Star Trek film to the emancipation of a free African-American man forced into slavery, movie theaters provided amazing spectacle and thought-provoking gravitas in 2013. 





15. Before Midnight

Before Midnight is the final movie in writer/director Richard Linklater's trilogy about the 18-year relationship between Jesse and Celine. The first film in the series, Before Sunrise, explores the pair's first night together when Jesse, an American, meets Celine, a French student, on a train in Budapest and convinces her to stroll around Vienna with him until he catches his flight back to the U.S. the following morning. Though they admit to a mutual attraction, Jesse and Celine agree to reunite in Vienna in six months' time instead of exchanging contact info. 

The follow-up, Before Sunset, covers Jesse and Celine's "accidental" reunion in Paris nine years later. Though Celine (now in a relationship) failed to show up to the planned meeting with Jesse (now married and an author -- he wrote a best-selling book about his night with Celine) in Vienna years earlier, she'd attended his book-signing hoping to see him again. Once again, they decide to walk and talk before Jesse has to catch a flight back to the states. The movie ends with Celine performing a song (a song she wrote about her night with Jesse) for Jesse in her apartment. 

Before Midnight picks up after another nine years with Jesse and Celine now the married parents of twins. Over the course of an evening, the couple discuss their now strained relationship, including Celine's declaration that she's no longer in love with Jesse and his reiteration of his feelings for her.

14. The Rise of Technovore

13. Rush

Solo might be the Ron Howard movie to sell the most tickets but Rush is his best. Based on the real-life rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, Rush explores the fierce competition between the two throughout the 1970s.

12. August: Osage County

August: Osage County mostly centers on a gathering of the estranged members of the Weston family in Oklahoma's Osage County. The clan is brought together by the sudden disappearance of patriarch Beverly, a renowned former poet. A few days after the various daughters, boyfriends, sisters, sons-in-law and grandkids arrive, Beverly's wife Violet is informed by the sheriff that her missing husband has been found dead (by drowning) in a local lake. 

The reunion allows the pill-addicted Violet to subject the tribe (and her newly hired housekeeper Johnna) to her well-practiced emotional abuse and it becomes clear why the family and its members are dysfunctional. The new widow is in rare form exposing secrets and playing on insecurities at the post-funeral dinner. Eldest daughter Barbara is pushed so far that she physically attacks her.

11. Side Effects

It's best to know as little as possible about Side Effects beforehand. You'll thank me later.

10. Fruitvale Station

Fruitvale Station is based on the real-life fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant by Transit Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California -- while Grant was handcuffed on lying on his stomach. Fruitvale is the first scripted movie to examine one of the highly-publicized incidents in the recent wave of African-American males murdered by police on video. Fruitvale also marks the first of three collaborations between star Michael B. Jordan and writer/director Ryan Coogler (the other two are Creed and Black Panther). Station was named one of the top 10 films of 2013 by the American Film Institute (AFI).

9. 2 Guns

2013 cinema had a pretty bleak outlook. And while 2 Guns had a sizable body count, this story about a DEA agent and a U.S. Navy Petty Officer's infiltration of a Mexican drug cartel successfully blended the otherwise heavy subject matter with a surprising number of laughs.  

8. The Desolation of Smaug

Like its predecessor, The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug isn't that great until the dragon shows up -- but when he (the best cinematic depiction of a dragon in history, by the way) does show up the entire movie gets lit and doesn't let up until the credits roll. Desolation is the middle of the Hobbit trilogy (the prequels to The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and fulfills the previous movie's teases of the fire-breathing monster (only Smaug's feet and left eye were visible in The Hobbit). 

7. The Purge

America is rapidly decriminalizing the use of marijuana. The Purge examines how in the not-too-distant future, the country takes the same approach with violent crime -- for one night a year.

6. Oblivion

Unlike in most alien invasion movies, Oblivion begins with the war already won -- but at the cost of the planet. I can't say much more without spoiling things for those who haven't seen it. Just know that Jack Harper and his partner Vika Olsen are the last two people on the ruined Earth of 2077.

5. World War Z

World War Z is completely unlike the book on which it's based. The book is more of a detached, unemotional log of the events leading up to, and transpiring during, a zombie holocaust. The film is a harrowing story of one man's globe-trotting attempt to keep his family safe by helping scientists to solve the mystery of worst plague in human history. You will not believe your eyes when you see the course of action he decides to take during an airline flight -- think Die Hard. And oh yeah, these zombies can run -- fast.

4. Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim details the world's military response upon learning that a lone Kaiju (monster) that blazed a path of destruction through San Francisco was only the tip of the spear.

It's revealed that the Kaiju originated in an alternate dimension and make their way into ours via an inter-dimensional doorway, called "the Breach", located on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Besides San Francisco, the initial attacks are directed at Sydney, Hong Kong and Manila.

Realizing that campaigns against the creatures using conventional weaponry are too costly, an alliance of world governments institutes a program in which enormous robots are constructed to battle the Kaiju. Each robot, called Jaegers, is nuclear-powered and operated by at least two pilots who control its movements from the inside.

Scientists studying the Kaiju discover that the monsters' rampages are prompted by aliens from the dimension connected to ours via the Breach. The aliens, intent on invading the planet have been using the Kaiju as an early strike force.

3. Man of Steel

When I think about this movie, my initial thoughts are: "The first 50 minutes or so are great, but the rest is just average." The thing is, I was snowed in for three days a couple of years ago and I watched Man of Steel over and over again -- from start to finish -- and never got sick of any of it. True story. The first third represents greatness -- for cinema, for comic book cinema, and especially for Superman. But, the rest is not merely average. It's just not the same caliber as the beginning. It suffers by comparison. The greatness lies in the retelling of his origin -- much like Batman Begins raised the Caped Crusader to new artistic heights. No Superman movie -- bar none -- introduces him anywhere near in as compelling a fashion or looks better. 

While it's not perfect, this is the best solo Superman movie in almost every way.  The one exception -- Terrance Stamp. But only Terrance Stamp. The uniform his General Zod wore in Superman II would (or at least should) be laughed off the screen these days. His lieutenants are better now too -- Faora and whatever the big guy's name is (Non, I guess). Marlon Brando's immeasurable talent can't be denied, but his Jor-El was not missed. And as crazy as it sounds, neither was John Williams' score.

You know what would've been nice? If that stuff at the end with Clark wearing a big, stupid grin while working at the Daily Planet were a deleted scene. The beginning of the movie gave the impression that not being hokey was it's mission -- and then that shit. At least there was no Jimmy Olsen.

2. Into Darkness

Contrary to popular misconception, Into Darkness is not a remake of The Wrath of Khan. Yes, both films feature Khan, but the two depictions are markedly different. So different, in fact, that neither is inferior to the other.

While Khan features heavily in Darkness, he acts alone without the support of his cadre of genetically-engineered  acolytes, and because he and Kirk have no history, he is not driven by a pathological obsession to murder the good Captain. What's more, Khan is not the main villain this time around. Nor is there any mention of Ceti Alpha V nor VI.

The Wrath of Khan is essentially about time. Now-Admiral Kirk is struggling with coming to grips with getting older -- he feels that his time is running out. And his past catches up with him, in more ways than one: an old enemy resurfaces (Khan); he meets the son he never knew for the first time (a grown man who hates him); and he's confronted by said son's mother, Dr. Carol Marcus (literally, Kirk's baby mama).

Spock's sacrifice and its effect on Kirk in The Wrath of Khan achieve a poignancy unmatched in Darkness' role reversal imitation. However, one scene does not trump an entire film.

Darkness, however, is not without its faults. Future-Spock's presence in this film was jarringly out of place. And if Captain Kirk had to die, he shouldn't have been resurrected until the next film -- at the very earliest. Mr. Scott's new court jester persona is still annoying. He's become the Jar Jar Binks of Star Trek (not to mention Mission: Impossible). Khan could have benefited from more muscle mass, but that last one is just quibbling. 

Otherwise, Into Darkness is superb. The best Star Trek film ever made. Yep. If you prefer one of the 80s movies or 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture, that's understandable. They're pretty good. However, if you put nostalgia aside for a moment and go back and watch those movies, they don't hold up in comparison to this one.

1. 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave is the film adaptation of Solomon Northrup's 1853 memoir of the same name detailing his kidnapping and subsequent enslavement on a cotton plantation in Louisiana. Though tough to watch, it's no accident that 12 Years won the 2014 Oscar for Best Picture.

Originally Posted 9/19/21

All 8 Alien Movies, Ranked from Hot Garbage to Chest-Busting Greatness

It's been more than 40 years since audiences first watched the unsuspecting crew of the Nostromo open a Pandora's box of unheard screams, gaping chest wounds and death in the film that spawned a four-decade saga -- Alien. Initially inspired by the mind-blowing success of Star Wars, Alien has itself been referenced countless times. In recent years, two of the heroes of Infinity War turned to one of the movie's scenes as a blueprint for vanquishing an enemy. In an ironic twist, the Star Wars saga's comeback movie, The Force Awakens, features a comedic riff on Alien's climax. And 2017's Life is an outright -- uh, let's just call it an homage. Forty years is a long time and its a great time at which to look back at the story so far in order to rank the series' eight theatrical releases in order of quality.





8. Alien: Resurrection

In a series full of dumb ideas, Alien: Resurrection is the dumbest. When you kill off your main character -- and CGI technology is still in its infancy -- you don't get a do-over with the same actress who brought her to life years later. You just have to move on. A Ripley clone? Smh.









7. Alien: Covenant

The suggestion of robot incest; the near-total absence of the preceding film's lone surviving human character; the EXTREMELY early death of the guy who was marketed as the hero. Bad ideas abound in this sink-full of dishwater.









6. AVP Requiem

5. Alien v. Predator

In 2004, it was pretty shocking to see a big Hollywood sci-fi flick (from an established series at that) spotlighting an African-American heroine. And it's pretty f'd up that there hasn't been another one in the 15 years since -- not even in the MCU.









4. Alien 3

Shaving the heads of all of your characters is a bold choice. This ugliest entry in the Alien series is easily one of the most suspenseful. It also serves as a cautionary tale about limiting an unbelievably popular franchise to a trilogy. You've killed everyone and the fans are begging to spend more money. Now what?









3. Prometheus

It's a shame that the Alien folks didn't realize that people would be more than willing to watch an Alien movie without Ripley (and without Predators) until after Alien: Resurrection was made. And released. And hated.









2. Aliens

As harrowing an ordeal as the events that transpired in Alien was for Ripley, the follow-up continues her suffering almost from the start, as she learns that her daughter has died during the 57 years that she was adrift in cryosleep. 

Aliens managed to accomplish the Herculean task of competing with it's predecessor by not even trying. While the original Alien is a horror film, it's sequel is a military/action movie. And come on, who didn't try that knife-between-the-fingers trick, albeit at a much slower pace? 

Aliens is just hands-down the best showcase of marines in space -- period.  

It features one of the most visually-striking spacecraft ever seen, in the marines' U.S.S. Sulaco. The rest of the military vehicles, such as the APC and the dropship, aren't too shabby either. Much of the movie was clearly inspired by Robert Heinlein's 1968 novel, Starship Troopers (for instance, the cargo-loader exoskeleton utilized by Ripley). But, Aliens is way better than the movie adaptation of that book -- which was released 11 whole years after Cameron's movie. Check this out: Director Paul Verhoeven hated what he considered the book's pro-war and fascism stance, so he made the movie as a satire of its own source material. How sick is that? Speaking of films influenced by Starship Troopers, Bill Paxton hilariously returned to his future infantry-versus-aliens roots 18 years later in 2014's Edge of Tomorrow as a squad commander who wouldn't have cut Private Hudson (his Aliens character) one bit of slack.

You know, given the Weyland-Yutani corporation's continued and extreme disregard for human life, maybe the movie should've been titled, The Business Empire Strikes Back. Maybe not. The biggest takeaway from Aliens: Never trust a big corporation.

1. Alien

Alien is a phenomenal achievement on more than one front. It's a horror film that actually manages to scare people, and considering the true agenda of the corporation that employs the crew of the Nostromo -- the alien isn't the only monster.

Originally Posted 9/19/19