Overrated isn't the same as crap.

It simply means overrated.

Cameron copied Ridley's lighting and much of the plot points but the tone is more comedic and cheesy, it has some awful special effects, the score is terrible...mostly and the choice of aspect ratio really does make the film look a lot cheaper and less epic than it needed to.

It's a solid action film (one of the best of the decade) with some really fun moments but it's not in the same league as the really troubling handsomely mounted horror of Alien.

Bizarre as it may seem I thought the first AVP was much better than it really should have been with the premise and all (the second one is everything I expected the first one to be).

It's more Aliens' cousin (guest starring those Rasta crabs from Predator) than Alien's.

But BACK ON TOPIC.

What about the backwards stretching story thread in Alien?

Ash being on board couldn't be just a coincidence.