Sigourney Weaver Says ‘Aliens’ Is the ‘Most Satisfying’ Ripley Movie

It's hard to understand what kind of impact Ellen Ripley has had on film. She was one of the first female protagonists in science fiction and paved the way for a more inclusive, badass universe. 

Ripley was the lynchpin of the original Alien universe. From surviving the first movie to leading the second, to having the third and fourth revolve around her as well. 

It's the role that defined Sigourney Weaver, the one that put her in the spotlight and showed her range as an action star. You know she must have strong opinions about where the character has been, and what version of her was the best on-screen. 

So which is it?

“The best-constructed story for the character to tell was in Aliens, just because Jim [Cameron] has such an amazing sense of the structure of story,” Weaver recently told Collider. “To take this character out of hyper-sleep, have no one believe her, have her be exiled into this limbo land where no one believes her, and her family’s dead. The whole set-up for Ripley in Aliens and then what she ends up doing and… finding this new family by the end. The whole structure of that story, to me, was gold.”

Aliens is maybe the best sequel of all time. It built on the themes of the original, but added in a new genre and lots of memorable set-pieces and one-liners. It's no surprise that frequent Cameron collaborator Weaver picked Aliens as her favorite version of the character. I think it really built on who we met in the first movie and then defined the franchise moving forward. 

Is this your favorite version of the character, or would you have picked a different film? Let us know in the comments.