Seven years after Alien burst upon the scene and spawned countless imitators and knockoffs the James Cameron helmed sequel Aliens arrive for a fresh round of terror and action.

The version released to theaters in 1986 ran a total of 137 minutes, that two hours and 17 minutes making it a very long film for theatrical distribution. The more over two hours a film runs the fewer screenings a theater can screen in a single day. In 1991 an extended version running twenty minutes longer was released on laserdisc with both editions available on the Blu-ray boxed set collection. Writer/Director Cameron has stated that his preference is for the extended ‘Director’s Cut’ version of the film.

When I first saw the extended cut on DVD/Blu-Ray I agreed with Cameron but over time I’ve found that my preference has become for the theatrical cut.

In the making of documentaries packaged with the Blu-ray release Cameron reports that when the film came in longer than the studio preferred time and technology hampered going through the entire film and trimming scenes here and there to shorten the running time. In 1986 editing was still a physical processed of cutting and splicing film as non-linear editing had not yet become the industry standard. His producer and at the time wife Gale Anne Hurd suggested and entire reel of the film depicting the colony of Hadley’s Hope and the discovery of the alien vessel, and the parasite eggs could be dropped without damaging the narrative. That’s exactly what Cameron did.

It’s the introduction of the reel that I find doesn’t really work and it all comes down to Point of View.

In Alien it is not clear at all that Ripley is the protagonist of the story until late in the film. Perhaps as early as Dallas’ doomed foray into the airduct but certainly by the reveal of Ash’s true nature do we understand that Ripley is our real focus. Part of the terror of Alien is because we haven’t had the protagonist clearly defined, we are uncertain who is ‘safe’ due to storytelling conventions.

Before the first frame flashes past our eyes, before we have gotten our popcorn and taken our seat in Aliens, we know that Ripley is our hero and our eyes into the world. It is he struggle with PTSD and survivor’s guilt that drives the emotional heartbeat of the story. It is her pain that we empathize with and her restoration we are hoping for.

Given that to leap away from our protagonist, our viewpoint character for 15 or more minutes to meet the colonist is a violation of the story’s point of view. We don’t know these people and save for newt, who drives none of the deleted scenes, we will never meet them again. Leaving Ripley for these throw away characters saps emotional investment from the audience and wastes time. With this reel excised from the movie the story remains tight on Ripley, and we ride along with her, knowing no more than her as this fresh horror unfolds.