No one makes sequels quite like James Cameron. A handful of talented filmmakers have one terrific sequel to their name, like Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Part II) or Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), but Cameron has written and directed two of the greatest sequels ever made.
He followed up Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror masterpieceAlien with his own sci-fi action masterpiece Aliens, and later followed up his own “tech noir” The Terminator with a bigger, bolder, technically groundbreaking follow-up, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. So, here are five reasons why Aliens is a perfect sequel, and five why T2 is.
Aliens: It Switched Genres From The Original
Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie is one of the cornerstones of horror cinema. In terms of pacing, suspense-building, production design and thematic substance, it’s one of the greatest masterpieces of the genre.
James Cameron knew that if he tried to make his Alien sequel as a horror movie, he’d fall short of Scott’s masterful work. So, he wisely avoided the genre and switched gears, making Aliens as a rapid-paced action thriller.
T2: It Put A Fresh Spin On The Original’s Formula
Every Terminator sequel after T2 has tried to copy this element and failed miserably. In the first Terminator film, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 is sent back in time to kill Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor before she can give birth to John Connor, the leader of the Resistance against the machines, and human Kyle Reese is sent back to protect her.
In T2, Robert Patrick’s more advanced T-1000 is sent back to kill John, and a reprogrammed T-800 is sent to protect John and his mother. This raised the stakes and put a fresh spin on the original movie’s familiar formula.
Aliens: It Matches The First Movie’s Intensity
James Cameron may have switched the genre of the Alien franchise from horror to action for his sequel, but Aliens is still every bit as intense as its predecessor.
From Ripley and Newt being locked in a room with a facehugger to the hordes of xenomorphs crawling through the ventilation shafts, Aliens is filled with terrifying moments to rival the jump scares of the 1979 original.
T2: The Action Sequences Are Bigger And Bolder Than The Original
At the time of its release, with a budget of around $100 million, Terminator 2 was the most expensive movie ever made. It had about 20 times the budget of the first movie, which was made for next to nothing.
This allowed James Cameron to go bigger and bolder with the movie’s action sequences, from an 18-wheeler chasing a dirt bike through a storm drain to the T-800 taking on a helicopter with a minigun.
Aliens: It Amplifies The Terror Of The Original
What’s scarier than a bloodthirsty alien picking off a space crew, one by one? Dozens of bloodthirsty aliens tearing a space crew to shreds!
When James Cameron was tapped to helm a sequel to Alien, he upped the ante and amplified the terror of the original by multiplying the threat.
T2: It Felt Like A Natural Progression Of The Story
Although the first Terminator film stands perfectly on its own and would still be remembered as a classic if it never had any sequels, T2 does feel like a natural progression of the story. Unlike unnecessary sequels like The Hangover Part II, T2 is integral to the Terminator saga.
The fact that Miles Dyson developed Skynet from a piece of the first movie’s T-800 villain that was left behind when Sarah destroyed it is an essential part of the Terminator mythology, and ties the larger narrative together beautifully.
Aliens: It Expands On The Xenomorph Mythology
In the first Alien movie, fans found out that the xenomorphs are born via facehuggers planting eggs inside people and the baby aliens bursting out of their chests. In the second film, that mythology is expanded significantly.
On top of the swarms of xenomorphs giving the species more of a sense of community than the first movie’s isolated creature could, we’re introduced to the alien queen.
T2: It Made Technical Breakthroughs
James Cameron got his start in Hollywood by taking on gigs as a special effects artist, designing effects for B-movies from the likes of Roger Corman, so his movies as a director have always pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved with visual effects.
After using stop-motion animation to bring the cyborgs to life in The Terminator, Cameron broke new ground with computer-generated effects for Terminator 2, creating the liquid metal appearance of the T-1000.
Aliens: It Rounds Out Ripley’s Characterization
The script for the first Alien movie was written with no specific genders in mind for the characters. They were all given unisex names and it was up to director and the casting team to pick a gender for each character. So it was sheer chance that Ripley ended up being a woman, breaking new ground for female action heroes.
Going into Aliens, James Cameron knew he was writing Ripley as a female character, and rounded out her characterization by exploring her maternal instincts as she learns that her daughter on Earth has died and finds a new surrogate daughter in Newt.
T2: It Built On Sarah Connor’s Character Development
The worst sequels are the ones that ignore the changes that the lead underwent in the first movie, bring them back to square one, and repeat the same character arc all over again.
At the beginning of T2, viewers discover that Sarah Connor has been institutionalized following the events of the first film and her son has been taken away from her. Throughout the movie, as she’s forced to question her unwavering commitment to preventing Judgment Day, Sarah’s character development continues in an organic way.
