The Lion King (1994) - #66

Empire top 301: #66

IMDb top 250: #75

Rating 9/10

Director: Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff

Writers: Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts & Linda Woolverton

Starring: Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson & Nathan Lane

"It means no worries for the rest of your days, it's our problem free philosophy. Hakuna Matata!"

The Lion king tells the story of Simba, the future King of the Pride Lands of Africa and his evil uncle Scar who is resentful of Simba as he replaces him as heir to the throne. Tricked by Scar into thinking he's killed his father, Simba leaves Pride Rock guilt ridden abandoning his responsibilities as King, leaving Scar to rule. 

I was 10 when The Lion King first came out. I remember seeing it at the cinema, getting very emotional when Mufasa died, being on the edge of my seat during the stampede and dancing along to the infectious soundtrack. I played the movie to death when we finally owned it on VHS. Nearly 20 years later I still adore this movie. It's a Disney classic.

Like so many Disney classics it's greatness lies in two things; the characters and the songs. It's songs written by Elton John and Tim Rice are so good and always have me singing along; from I Just Can't Wait To Be King & Circle of Life to the two stand outs for me Hakuna Matata and the Academy Award winning Can You Feel The Love Tonight. 

The Lion King boasts a superb all-star ensemble voice cast, led by the delicious tones of Mr Darth Vader himself James Earl Jones. The perfect choice for the majestic and powerful Mufasa. All the voices lent to The Lion King fit their characters perfectly from Rowan Atkinsons Zazu to Whoopi Goldbergs hyena Shenzi, but the real standout is Jeremy Irons as Scar, so charming and persuasive but with a real evil streak running through it. 

Scar is another perfect Disney villian, brilliantly voiced and written. It's really the supporting characters who steal the whole show; like Scar, and Timon and Pumba. They get the best lines and the best songs. The animation is very of it's time but it works, it's vintage yet classic Disney. 

The Lion King is a brilliant film, for the whole family and for me it's up there with The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beaty and The Beast as one of Disney's all time greats. 

Predator (1987) - #108

Empire top 301: #108
IMDb top 250: -

Rating 8/10

Director: John McTiernan
Writers: John Thomas & Jim Thomas
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura & Shane Black

"If it bleeds, we can kill it."

A team of commandos led by "Dutch" (Schwarzenegger) are dispatched into the Jungle on a mission to rescue a presidential cabinet minister who has been abducted by guerrilla forces. Unbeknownst to the group they are being hunted by an extraterrestrial killer, the Predator, who was jettisoned to earth by a space craft to hunt man for sport and collect their skulls as trophies. 

Had the Empire 500 list been compiled of movies based on critics choice only, this movie would never had made the cut. A lot of movies on the list wouldn't have made the cut. But I would say Predator is a bit of a Sci-Fi classic. I think it's a really well made action film and it's definitely stood the test of time. The movie is so quotable and features one of my favourite lines and delivery of a line ever...."you're one ugly motherfucker!"

I love the Jungle setting and think it's shot extremely well, some great cinematography. The score from Alan Silvestri is great and fits the tone of the movie perfectly. I still love the now iconic Predator costume, designed by Stan Winston and think it to be one the greatest movie monster creations ever. There are some excellent action scenes in the movie, complete with lots of explosions and gore and full of suspense. 

The whole cast does a pretty good job; it's not the kind of movie that calls for Oscar worthy scenery chewing. Arnold is perfectly cast as "Dutch" and he and Carl Weathers have some great scenes together. I love how macho the guys are and they all work well together and the dialogue they're given is really funny 

I like the pacing of the film and the fact the movie doesn't stop to explain anything, it's just all out action from the start. The tense final showdown between Dutch and The Predator is why the movie gets an 8 out of 10 for me. A definite classic. 

Aliens (1986) - #19

Empire top 301: #19
IMDB top 250: #60

Rating 10/10

Director: James Cameron
Writers: James Cameron, 
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein , Bill Paxton & Lance Henriksen

"Get away from her, you BITCH!" 

Set 57 years after the events of the first Alien movie, Ripley (Weaver) has been in a deep sleep drifting through space. After being rescued she tries to convince her employer of the disaster aboard the Nostromo. Her employer advises the planet LV-426 has been colonised. The company soon lose contact with the terraforming colony on LV-426 and dispatch a team of marines to the planet to investigate. After suffering constant nightmares about what happened aboard the Nostromo, Ripley wants to face her demons and agrees to go back to LV-426 and help the marines investigate what has happened. 

Where Scott's first Aliens film was all about atmosphere and build up, Cameron's Aliens is just all out action! Once the marines land on LV-426 and first encounter the Aliens it's pretty full on until the end of the movie. Like the first movie, this film has some great tense and suspenseful moments and some brilliant jumpy bits. It also has an amazing score and sound effects. 

The thing that makes Aliens score higher than Alien for me, is the characters. I think the supporting characters in Aliens are some of the strongest from any movie. Whilst Weaver's Ripley steals the show (more on her later), the rest of the cast are just as impressive and I absolutely love their characters. Hudson is my favourite and I think Paxton did a great job. Vasquez, Hicks and Bishop are also superbly written and portrayed. 

Sigourney Weaver is just amazing. Partly down to Weaver but also to Cameron who has managed to develop the character from a straight laced by the book, sort of frightened character to a strong, knows how to handle herself woman and make it believable. I think it's with Aliens that Ripley became the sort of template for the modern day action heroine! Weaver delivers a great performance and has some real acting scenes to sink her teeth into; each time I watch this movie I still find myself glued to the screen!

Cameron does carry over some of the tatics used in the first movie in terms of building the suspense with clever camera work but he also manages to show more of the Aliens and still make them scary. Cameron has just made a really fun, exciting movie and it's one that I can watch over and over again and never get bored. 

Alien (1979) - #21

Empire top 301: #21
IMDb top 250: #40

Rating 9/10

Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Dan O'Bannon & Ronald Shusett
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm & John Hurt

"You are my lucky star. You... Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky."

Commercial spaceship Nostromo is on a return trip home to earth carrying tons of mineral ore and 7 crew members in a deep sleep. The ship detects a transmission (possibly a distress call) from an unknown origin and awakes the crew to investigate, following orders stipulated in their contracts. The Nostromo lands on the planetoid and three members leave to investigate, they find a crashed alien ship where they discover a chamber full of eggs. Crew member Kane (Hurt) is attacked by a creature that latches onto his face when it hatches from it's egg. Foolishly, the three investigating crew members arrive back at the Nostromo with the Alien life form where it escapes and terrorises the shipmates. 

There's a bit of theme happening here, but I absolutely love this film and most it is down to the exceptional filmmaking of Ridley Scott. The guy is a genius and Alien is one of his greatest pictures. The atmosphere and sense of fear he brings to the movie with the remarkable camera work and editing is something that has and will be copied for years and years to come. Once the Alien is on board the Nostromo the tension never lets up, it's edge of your seat stuff to the end. 

The sound effects and music in Alien also play a big part in the atmosphere and tension. I've seen this movie so many times but the big "scare" scenes still make me jump out my seat because of the great use of sound. The movie is really claustrophobic and you really fear for Ripley and Co as this creature could be just around the corner. There's no where to run and as the brilliant tagline points out "In Space no one can hear you scream!" 

The fact that CGI wasn't used in the movie is also a massive plus. Scott had to really think outside the box in terms of camera angles and lighting to make the creature seem as scary as it should be. Nowadays it would be some ridiculous CGI Alien or full shot of a guy in a rubber suit (see AVP for more details) and it looks awful. The fact we never get full on shots of the Alien just adds to the atmosphere and the scares. 

Sigourney Weavers' Ripley is now iconic and rightly so. Here is a female character, who plays by the rule book but doesn't whine or seek revenge when she doesn't get her own way or is outranked. She just get's on with her duties for the protection of herself and her crew members. Whilst she was right not to let the investigating crew back on the ship with the alien, she doesn't rub it in their faces when things go tits up! She's a brilliant character and Weaver plays her beautifully. Not to mention she looks smoking in those little panties! The supporting cast including Jonesy are great too. 

Alien is a Sci-Fi classic and a must see!