Ridley Scott was 'pissed' at James Cameron for Aliens

When James Cameron took over the helm from Ridley Scott for the sequel to 1979's iconic space horror, Alien, it was a very different kind of film. Two years after the cosy space adventure Star Wars, with its light-hearted humour and cuddly characters, captured the beating hearts of an entire generation, Ridley Scott's Alien suddenly came down like an acid-drenched nightmare, with every frame holding the audience in a gasping iron grip. It was a claustrophobic nail-biter that showered an equally lyrical and tearful audience with both psychological horror and pure jump scares. An isolated cold place where an overly slobbering monster was constantly breathing down some poor soul's neck and a rock-hard Sigourney Weaver forever wrote herself into the history books as Ellen Ripley.

With Aliens, James Cameron evolved the basic idea and instead unleashed a high-octane space romp in which monsters were shot down on a regular basis by marines and it was a transformation that immediately divided fans into two different camps. Those who preferred the creeping claustrophobic chamber game and those who were more in favour of the concept, full on unconscious. One who definitely favoured the former was Ridley Scott. Somewhat biased it may seem, but on the other hand, he has kept his feelings to himself and has not expressed his displeasure publicly, until now. In an interview with Deadline, he not only reveals that he was unhappy with the direction James Cameron had set for Aliens and the fact that he wasn't even informed that there would be a sequel. He was pissed off. Furious and angry. However, Scott is clear that he likes Cameron as a person, but that he felt really let down. Something he believes was due to Blade Runner, which was a massive flop at the time. Here's what he says about the debacle:

"Well, Jim is about that, the way he designs, his whole process is The Ride. As I learned somebody else was doing this, I actually had been trying to develop something. When Jim called me up and said, listen ... he was very nice but he said, this is tough, your beast is so unique. It's hard to make him as frightening again, now familiar ground. So he said, I'm going in a more action, army kind of way. I said, okay. And that's the first time I actually thought, welcome to Hollywood.

Jim and I talk often. We're not exactly friends, but we do talk and he's a great guy. I was pissed. I wouldn't tell that to Jim, but I think I was hurt. I knew I'd done something very special, a one-off really. I was hurt, deeply hurt, actually because at that moment, I think I was damaged goods because I was trying to recover from Blade Runner."

Which film is the best is still debated today and, as with all things cultural, there are no objective answers. Ultimately, it's a matter of taste, so where do you stand? Are you Team Alien or Team Aliens?