"...Game over man, Game over..." - Hudson

ALIENS: Trivia

One of the sets was kept intact after filming. It was later used as the Axis Chemicals set for Batman (1989).

A draft of the script had Gorman being paralyzed by a stinger on the tail of an alien, rather than being clobbered by falling equipment.

Michael Biehn's character gets bitten on the hand by another character. This happens to him in every James Cameron movie he's in - see Abyss, The (1989) and Terminator, The (1984).

The "special edition" includes extra scenes: Newt's parents discovering abandoned alien ship on LV-426, scenes of Ripley discussing her daughter, Hudson bragging about his weaponry, robot sentry guns repelling first alien raid, Hicks and Ripley exchanging first names. Also included is a scene on LV-426 where a child rides a low-slung tricycle similar to one ridden in Terminator, The (1984), also directed by James Cameron.

In an early draft of the script, Bishop claims to have been made by "Cyberdyne", a company from Terminator, The (1984).

The mechanism used to make the face-huggers thrash about in the stasis tubes in the science lab came from one of the "flying piranhas" in one of Cameron's earlier movies Piranha II: The Spawning (1981). It took 9 people to make the face-hugger work; one person for each leg and one for the tail.

Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) daughter was played by Weaver's mother.

The APC was modelled after an airplane tug.

"Sulaco" is the name of the town in Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo". See also Alien (1979).

Hicks was originally played by James Remar, but Michael Biehn replaced him a few days after principal photography began, due to "artistic differences" between Remar and Cameron.

"She thought they said `illegal aliens' and signed up..." said Hudson. This line (directed towards Vasquez) was in inside joke amongst the actors. Jenette Goldstein (Vasquez) had gone to the audition thinking the film would be about illegal immigrants. She arrived with waist-long hair and lots of makeup. Everyone else was wearing military fatigues.

Directors Trademark (James Cameron): [nice cut]: a few minutes into the movie, we see Ripley lying in the cryo-tube, and then the scene fades to the picture of the earth; the earth directly fits into the silhouette of Ripley's face.

Directors Trademark (James Cameron): [feet]: When the soldiers arrive on LV426 and jump out of the armoured vehicle. See also Abyss, The (1989).

Directors Trademark (James Cameron): [feet]: When Ripley drives the APC, she crushes an alien's head under one of the wheels.

Directors Trademark (James Cameron): [feet]: close-ups of the power-lifter's feet.

Directors Trademark (James Cameron): [nuke]

Only six alien suits were used. The appearance of hundreds of aliens is simply clever editing and planning.

During the scene inside the APV preparing for battle, "El riesgo vive siempre!" can be seen scrawled in white across Vasquez's armor. This is Spanish for "Risk lives always."

The body mounts for Vasquez's and Drake's smart guns are taken from Steadicam gear.

The "pulse rifles" that the Marines use are made from a Thompson M1A1 machine gun with a Remington 870 shotgun underneath.

Composer James Horner cannibalized some of his scores from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).