James Cameron's Best Special Effects

Aliens, 1986
Following up on his success with The Terminator, Cameron took the director's chair for the sequel to Ridley Scott's original film Alien. Most of the sequel's visual effects were created with traditional miniatures, combined with creative lighting and camera techniques. With computer-generated special effects still in their infancy, the signature aliens were merely stuntmen in giant suits. The famous alien queen was slightly harder to re-create. Cameron's artistic desire resulted in a monstrous 14-ft.-tall alien menace controlled by hydraulics and a team of puppeteers.

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