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Aliens1 (Twentieth-Century Fox, Cameron), 1986's summer blockbuster film and the sequel to Alien (Twentieth-Century Fox, Scott, 1979), grossed over $70.8 million during its four-month run and was seen by an estimated 15.73 million viewers. In large measure, Aliens capitalized upon the “repeater” phenomenon, those viewers who see a film many times over,2 and the “return” audience, those who had seen the first film. Beyond the obvious monetary gain to be made in capitalizing upon a given film's or character's popularity, one must wonder why a film audience may require a sequel. Certainly this phenomenon may engage a viewer by mastery through repetition, sadism by proxy, or sadomasochistic voyeurism. It is just as valid to consider film in terms of a process (content as indivisible from form, images and themes associatively intertwined). Like the repetitive re-workings of the dream work or the analytic process, certain film sequels may be appreciated not so much as continuations or growths away from original films, but rather as returns to troubling thematic concerns or issues which are inadequately resolved or remain developmentally-specific.
These assertions apply equally well to Aliens. All in all, it is rather amazing that Aliens, a film revolving around the wholesale slaughter of “bug-monsters” and the apocalyptic confrontation between two mothers, should generate such a huge following and appeal to so many diverse individuals.