With Aliens, writer/director James Cameron was always the first and only choice. When he left his script to make The Terminator, the studio agreed to wait for him. It was the strength of his script that convinced heroine Sigourney Weaver to return to the franchise.
In a move that is considered by many to be both Aliens greatest strength and also its weakness, Cameron moves the focus of the story out from the titular starbeast. Cameron’s script is noted for it’s discussion of maternity and femininity in non-typical contexts. Cameron also went to great lengths to create an accurate representation of the Marines, the ultra-macho group whose only female member is as butch as they come, which plays with and balances the sexual conflicts of the story.
