Aliens - 1986 Theatrical Cut.

For some reason, I'd never seen the theatrical cut of Aliens, just the '91 Special Edition. I have to say, overall ... I prefer the theatrical cut.

Not because most of the added scenes don't benefit the film. They do. The sentry gun sequence is thrilling, the more explicit mother/daughter subplot between Ripley and Newt is touching, and there's generally a little more breathing room.

However, after seeing the theatrical cut, I now have one huge problem with the Special Edition. The scenes of the colonists on LV-426 before the alien attack.

Sure, it's nice to see the colonists before they're all wiped out. Sure, it's nice to get a little family background on Newt. Sure, it's nice to know that she plays hide-and-seek in the ducts, and that's how she's so used to the small spaces in the city that she was able to hide from the aliens for weeks.

But those scenes absolutely kill any and all suspense that you get when the Marines reach the base. There's no what the fuck happened here moment in the viewer's mind because, well, we already know what happened. No, we weren't shown how the colony was completely wiped out, but we know that an alien was definitely brought in, and we can quickly connect the dots from there, so we can come up with a pretty good idea of what the Marines are going to find when they go into the colony.

I don't know why Cameron decided to put those scenes back in. The Special Edition would be fucking perfect if everything else about it were the same, but the scenes with the colonists remained out.

Anyway, it's still an immensely awesome movie. One of my favorites.