In 1986, seven years after the groundbreaking Alien, director James Cameron released its long-awaited sequel. Rather then trying to recreate Ridley Scott’s claustrophobic 1979 horror, Cameron transformed it into something bigger, louder and more militaristic.

Forty years later, Aliens remains one of the rare sequels that can credibly stand alongside – and perhaps even surpass – its predecessor. A friendly argument among friends might debate which sequels are better than the originals. The Godfather Part II, The Empire Strikes Back and Terminator 2 are usually among the contenders. Aliens can be added to that list.

How could the chestburster scene be topped, you might wonder. Well, it wasn’t, and Cameron didn’t try. He made his film stand out by changing its genre from horror in space to war in space, and its look from low-grade industrial to high-tech military grade. And where Scott had only one alien, Cameron had a bunch.

Cameron had been reluctant to write a treatment for an Alien sequel because he considered Alien to be a “perfect movie”. He told the studio that instead of duplicating the original, he would create a “stylistic hybrid” between Alien and The Terminator. The result cemented his rise as a blockbuster director and the reputation of its producer,........

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