James Cameron's stunning, pulse-pounding sequel to Alien (1979) manages to simultaneously become an explosive action movie and one of the best films ever made about motherhood. Cameron excels at evoking strong female characters, and here he gets an astonishing, Academy Award-nominated performance from Sigourney Weaver as Lt. Ellen Ripley. The sole survivor of the first film, Ripley drifts through space for 57 years before being rescued by Burke (Paul Reiser), a slimy representative of the sinister company in charge of space development. Ripley is immediately sent to a desolate planet as technical adviser to a group of trigger-happy Marines investigating a communication outage to an atmosphere-control station. When they arrive, they find that everyone in the station has been killed except for a frightened young girl nicknamed Newt (Carrie Henn), and they are soon trapped by rampaging, bloodthirsty aliens. Cameron uses the military angle wisely and accurately, including easily-identifiable archetypes like the lifer drill sergeant (Al Matthews), the incompetent lieutenant (William Hope), and the panicking short-timer (Bill Paxton). The action scenes are tremendous, and the film easily slides between them and its real center -- the maternal relationship between Ripley and the little girl. This is that rarest of birds, an action film that was enjoyed by both male and female moviegoers.