Right this is another revisited post from yonks past on this blog so I think it is begging to be updated and rewritten so that's what its going to get and the post in question is of course James Cameron's sci-fi action classic: Aliens.
So load up those pulse rifles, get the marine gear on and check facehuggin mother out......
And yes the usual warning applies: PLOT SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!! So if you don't want to read the plot section, just skip onto the thoughts paragraph.
STORY
Right OK so to start off the film begins 57 years after the events of the first film, with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) who is in stasis sleep, being rescued by a deep space salvage team. Ripley now, the only survivor of the Nostromo, has to explain her actions to the Weyland Utani company commitee who suspend her flight licence as a consequence of her destroying the Nostromo in order to try and kill the alien. Ripley herself, still suffering from post traumatic stress, has nightmares from her harrowing ordeal on the Nostromo. However, the head of the board, Van Luewen (Paul Maxwell) also informs Ripley that on the alien planet, now named LV-426, now has colonies of families living there, which has been made habitable through the implementation of air processing stations. This leaves Ripley horrified at the prospect of what may happen to the families as a result of being on the alient planet.
Pretty soon after, one of the company execs, Burke (Paul Reiser) visits Ripley and tells her that they have lost contact with the colony, and that they want her to go with a team of marines, as an advisor to help them know what they are up against. Ripley eventually agrees reluctantly to go with the marines, accompanied by Burke to the planet. Some of the crew include, the hardened veteran Sgt Apone (Al Matthews), the down to earth Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), the cocky Hudson (Bill Paxton), the seemingly helpful android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) and the gutsy and muscly female Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein).
On arrival at the planet, they find one of the colonies to be deserted, with alot of interior damage and acid burns found on the floor decks, however they do find a young girl, Newt (Carrie Henn) who has been left traumatised, as her family were killed by the aliens. Hudson eventually manages to track the location of the colonists, at an atmosphere processing station. On arriving, the marines to their horror find some of the colonists have been cocooned by the aliens, and pretty soon the aliens themselves emerge and attack and kill most of the marines including Apone and Vasquez's good marine buddy, Drake (Mark Rolston). Ripley soon drives the reinforced military vehicle to rescue the remaining marines, and from there they decide on their plan of action what to do. On trying to hail the APC, their dropship, an alien infiltrates the ship and kills the flight crew, thereby destroying the ship. Now stranded on LV-426, Ripley and the remaining crew, have to fight for their survival against a hoard of aliens, and find a way to escape the planet.
THOUGHTS
It has to be said that while it isn't as big a classic as Alien, Aliens is still a very tense and gripping sequel which follows up the original very well even if it doesn't quite scale the same heights. And this films scores actually pretty well in that it has really well drawn out characters and Ripley in this film turns out to be strongest and bravest character in the whole film as she goes back to the alien planet to face her fears. The marine characters also add an element of fun to the film aswell and in a way it allows for a bit of light comic relief just before the shit really hits the fan later on. The film also despite having a modest budget of approximately 18 million dollars is also visually very impressive as the special effects for the aliens are excellent as are the effects for the spaceships and environmental effects on LV-426.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!)
As for the performances well they are really good pretty much all round as it features a pretty strong cast.
And to look at the cast I will start off with its main star, Sigourney Weaver who is terrific in her role as Ripley and here she slips effortlessly back into the character as she plays Ripley with a mixture of vulnerability and toughness. Weaver also rightly so earned her first academy award nomination with her performance here and its easy to see why as its easily one of the highlights in her career.
Sigourney also has plenty of great moments in the film such as the scene near the start where Ripley has to justify her actions to a board meeting. And as the head of the board tries to halt Ripley's explanation of the alien planet by saying "Thank you that will be all!" Ripley angrily stands and shouts "GODDAMNIT THAT'S NOT ALL!! Cause if one of those things gets down here then that WILL be all! And all this....(picks up papers and throws them away) this bullshit you think is so important...you can just kiss all that goodbye!!". Then there is the moment where Ripley after having another nightmare calls Burke to accept his offer to go down to LV-426 and she says to him "Just tell me one thing, Burke. You're going out there to destroy them, right? Not to study. Not to bring back. But to wipe them out". And as Burke reassures her "That's the plan, you have my word on it" Ripley says to him "Alright I'm in" and terminates their video chat and she turns to her cat (who appears in her nightmares making hissing noises) and says "And you, you little shithead....you're staying here!".
Then comes the scene where after the first alien attack, the surviving marines and Ripley take stock of the situation and Ripley simply suggests "I think we should take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. Its only the way to be sure". Another good scene comes when on Ripley and the marines are on LV-426 she discovers that Burke had sent the colonists to the alien planet knowing the aliens were there and he didn't warn them. And as Burke tries to justify himself, Ripley angrily grabs him and shouts "These people are DEAD, Burke!! Don't you have any idea what you've done here?!!! Well, I'm gonna make sure they nail you right to the wall for this! You're not gonna sleaze your way out of this one! Right to the wall!". And later after Burke engineers an attempt on Ripley's life by letting a facehugger into a room where she is with Newt and marines save her, they confront him. And Ripley says to him "You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage!".
Then there is the scene where Ripley goes back down to the lower levels to the heart of the alien lair to rescue Newt and she says to Bishop who is about to protest "I don't want to hear it, Bishop! She's alive!". And the moment where Ripley takes the elevator down to the lower levels and loads up the grenade launcher and get's herself ready for a fight and the elevator doors open and Ripley tensely moves out to find Newt is one of the best and most suspensful scenes in the whole film.
And lastly of course is the great moment where Ripley confronts the alien queen onboard the Sulaco as she straps herself into a powerloader and moves toward the alien and warns her saying "Get away from her, you BITCH!!!!".
Michael Biehn also does very well in his role as Corporal Hicks, the cool headed marine, who is second in command of the operation to go to LV-426. Biehn plays the part largely understated but that's what makes his character work pretty well.
And Biehn has some good moments himself in the film that include the scene where Ripley suggests they "nuke the entire site from orbit" and points out that Hicks is now in charge since Apone has been killed. And as Burke says Hicks doesn't have the authority to make the decision and calls him "just a grunt!" then corrects himself by saying "No offence" and Hicks says "None taken" and repeats Ripley's words "Let's take off and nuke the site from orbit. Its the only way to be sure".
Another good scene and amusing moment is when Hicks gives Ripley a wrist strap containing a locator so Hicks can keep an eye on her location in the complex on LV-426. And Hicks says to her "Its just a precaution. Doesn't mean we're engaged or anything!". Then comes the scene where Hicks shows Ripley how to use a pulse rifle "I wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A pulse rifle. Ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher". And Hicks holds out the gun to Ripley and says to her "Feel the weight" and she takes the rifle and smiles saying "OK, what do I do?". And later as Ripley asks about the grenade launcher, Hicks says "I don't think you wanna mess that" and Ripley says "You started this! C'mon show me everything. I can take care of myself" and Hicks smiles and says "Yeah, I noticed!".
Then comes the scene where the alien queen takes Newt before Ripley and Hicks can save her and Ripley screams out "SHE'S ALIVE!! SHE'S ALIVE!!". And Hicks grabs her and yells "OK! I BELIEVE YOU!! SHE'S ALIVE! BUT WE'VE GOTTA GO!!! NOW!!" and they make their way to an elevator, which opens slowly and they get inside and as the door is slow to close an alien suddenly appears and Hicks shoots it but its acid bleeds onto his chest armour and Ripley takes it off but it leaves Hicks wounded. And last of all there is the moment where Hicks and Ripley share each other's first names as Hicks tells her his name is "Dwayne" and she says "Ellen" and he says to her "Don't be gone long, Ellen!".
Paul Reiser who was a stand-up comedian and appeared in comedy films before this such as Beverly Hills Cops, is excellent as Burke, the sleazy company exec who is sent with Ripley and the marines to investigate the alien planet.
Reiser also has some really good moments in the film such as his opening scene where he meets with Ripley (in her nightmare) where he tells her "I'm Burke, Carter Burke. I work with the company, but don't let that fool you I'm really an OK guy!". And when Ripley asks how long she had been floating out in space Burke says "57 years. You were out there for 57 years. You had drifted through the core systems and it was just blind luck that a deep salvage team found you when they did". Then there is the scene when the marines arrive at the cooling tower plant on LV-426 and Ripley expresses her concerns that if the marines fire their weapons then they will rupture the cooling system. And Burke says "Whoa, whoa she's absolutely right!" and as the commanding officer, Lt Gorman says irately "So what?!". And Burke explains "Look, this whole station is basically a big fusion reactor... So you're talkin' about a thermonuclear explosion and "Adiós, muchachos".
Then after the first alien attack as the marines and Ripley take stock and suggest nuking the planet from orbit, Burke protests. And Burke says of Hicks "Yeah... look, Ripley, this is a multi-million dollar installation. He can't make that kind of decision. He's just a grunt!" and looks to Hicks saying "No offense". And one of Reiser's best moments comes when Ripley confronts Burke over his decision to place the colonists on the planet without telling them about the aliens. And Burke awkwardly explains "Okay, look. What if that ship didn't even exist, huh? Did you ever think about that? I didn't know! So now, if I went in and made a major security issue out of it, everybody steps in. Administration steps in, and there are no exclusive rights for anybody; nobody wins. So I made a decision and it was... wrong. It was a bad call, Ripley, it was a bad call". And Ripley grabs him and shouts at him telling him she will nail him "right to the wall" and before she leaves, Burke nervously says "Ripley...! You know, I... I expected more from you. I thought you'd be smarter than this".
Bill Paxton also is great as the cocky wisecracking marine, Hudson, who is all tough and macho at first but then becomes terrified after the first alien attack. Paxton being a good friend of Cameron's (and appeared as the punk leader in The Terminator) must have been an obvious choice for the role and you can see Paxton is having a ball here with his part and he get's most of the best dialogue in the film.
And as a few examples I'll start with his first scene onboard the Sulaco after the marines and Ripley awaken from hypersleep. And as Vasquez asks who Ripley is one of the marine crew, Ferro (Colette Hiller) says "She is supposed to be some sort of a consultant. Apparently she say an alien once" and Hudson says "Whoopee fuckin doo!". And later during the marines debrief over their mission, Vasquez says of the aliens "Look man all I need to know is one thing, where they are!" and Hudson jokes "Right, right. Somebody said "alien" she thought they said "illegal alien" and signed up!". And Vasquez gives Hudson the finger "Fuck you, man!" and Hudson quips "Anytime, anywhere!".
Another good scene from Paxton is when the marines discuss their options after the first alien attack and when Burke protests over their option to wipe out the aliens, Hudson angrily says "Maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!". Then of course we have the classic bit of dialogue where after the drop ship is destroyed when an alien boards the ship and kills Ferro and the brilliantly named co-pilot, Spunkmeyer (Daniel Kash). And after the crash Hudson says "That's great, this is really fuckin' great, man. Now, what the fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some pretty shit now, man!" followed by "That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over! What the fuck are we supposed to now, huh, what are we gonna do?!!".
After this there is the scene when Ripley, Hicks and the others go back to the command centre and Ripley asks how long is it before they are declared overdue for a rescue and Hicks says "17 days". And Hudson nervously says "17 days?! Hey man, I don't wanna rain on your parade, but we're not gonna last 17 hours!! Those things are gonna come in here just like they did before. And they're gonna come in here......and they're gonna come in here AND THEY'RE GONNA GET US!!".
Then after Burke engineers an attempt on Ripley's life by releasing a facehugger into a room where Ripley and Newt and the marines rescue them both, Burke is taken back to the others and Hudson points his pulse rifle close at him saying "I say we grease this rat-fuck son-of-a-bitch right now!". And as Ripley explains Burke possible plan to potentially sabotage the marines hypersleep chambers and jettison their bodies afterward, leaving Hudson disgusted "Fuck! He's dead! You're dog-meat, pal!". And last of all is Paxton's last scene in the film (SPOILER!!!) during the second alien attack Hudson rediscovers his courage and shoots as many aliens as he can and he yells during fire "Come and get it, baby! Come on! I don't got all day! Come on! Come on! Come on you bastard! Come on, you too! Oh, you want some of this? FUCK YOU!" before being grabbed by an alien and pulled under the floorboards to his fate.
Carrie Henn who had never appeared in a film before also does pretty well in her role as the orphaned Newt who Ripley takes care of after they find her alone at the colony complex. Henn herself decided not take take up a career in acting after the film and instead became a teacher. Henn has some good moments aswell that include the scene where Ripley asks Newt where her family are and Newt says angrily "They're dead! Can I go now?!". And Ripley says to Newt "These people are soldiers, they're here to protect you" and Newt says "It won't make any difference".
And lastly there is of course Henn's most famous scene in the film just after the drop ship is destroyed and Newt says to Ripley "I guess we won't be leaving now". And Ripley says "I'm sorry, Newt" and Newt says "Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault" and then she says her most famous line of all (which I still can't quite fathom why!) "We'd better get back cos it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night. Mostly".
Lance Henriksen is also excellent as the android, Bishop, who Ripley is wary of at first due to her encounter with Ash (played by Ian Holm) from Alien, but he eventually gains her trust. Henriksen has some good moments also that include the scene where he does that "thing with the knife" as Hudson puts it. And this is followed by the revelation that he is an android as he cut his finger during the knife scene, which anxiously causes Ripley ask why no one told her an android was onboard. And as Burke explains Ripley's situation to Bishop, Bishop says "Well, that explains it then. The A2s always were a bit twitchy. That could never happen now with our behavioral inhibitors. It is impossible for me to harm or by omission of action, allow to be harmed, a human being". And when Burke calls Bishop a "synthetic" Bishop says "I prefer the term "artificial person" myself".
Then later there is the scene where Bishop dissects one of the dead facehuggers looking through a microscope at its internal organs and one of the marine crew asks if he needs anything else and Bishop spookily looks up at him and says "No". And as the crewman says "That's a nice pet you've got there, Bishop" Bishop says "Its magnificent, isn't it?". Another good moment for Henriksen is during the scene Ripley and the others discuss their options and how to get the other drop ship on the Sulaco and remote pilot it to the planet. And as no one is ready to volunteer to do it, Bishop says "I'll go. I'll go. I mean, I'm the only one qualified to remote-pilot the ship anyway." and Hudson says relieved "Good idea!" and Bishop says "Believe me, I'd prefer not to. I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid. Believe me, I'd prefer not to. I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid!".
After this another good scene is when Ripley stocks on guns and ammo to rescue Newt and Bishop warns her that the cooling system will soon explode and he says "In nineteen minutes, this area's gonna be a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska". And later on after (SPOILER!!!) Ripley rescues Newt and Bishop get's them safely off the planet they fly back to the Sulaco where they have Ripley has the confrontation with the alien queen. And after its all over, Bishop, who was ripped in half by the alien queen says to Ripley "Not bad for a human".
And lastly for the supporting roles in the film I'll start with Jeanette Goldstein who is really good as the muscly tough female marine, Vasquez. And Goldstein has a few highlights too that include her first scene where Vasquez works out onboard the Sulaco and Hudson says to her "Have you ever been mistaken for a man?" and Vasquez says "No, have you?". Then there is the moment during Ripley's brief to the crew when Ripley becomes agitated trying to explain Kane's death, Vasquez cuts her short saying "Look, man. I only need to know one thing: where they are!". And later of course there is that moment just as the aliens first attack, Vasquez let's rip with her smart gun shouting the memorable line "LET'S ROCK!!!!".
Later on another good scene from Goldstein is when Vasquez says to the others after the first alien attack "Okay. We have several canisters of CM-20. I say we go back in there and nerve gas the whole fuckin' nest!". And after Burke says "This is clearly an important species we're dealing with and I don't think that you or I, or anybody, has the right to arbitrarily exterminate them!" and Ripley says "Wrong!" and Vasquez says coldly "Yeah, watch us!".
And lastly during the second alien attack as Vasquez and the others trying to escape from the aliens from the ventaliation tunnels she soon runs out of ammo in her rifle and shoots an alien at point blank range with her hand gun, but acid spills onto her leg, injuring her and she yells "OH NO!!!!". At this point Gorman goes back for her but they are soon surrounded by aliens and Vasquez takes out a grenade and says her last line "You always were an asshole, Gorman!" just before it goes off.
Third last is Mark Rolston as Drake, the macho marine who is Vasquez's good buddy and he does a fine job. Rolston's good moments include when he first wakes up for hypersleep and he says wearily "They ain't paying enough for us, man!" and he looks Hicks who has just got up "Hey Hicks, you look just like how I feel!". Later on there is also the moment where Bishop does the thing with the "knife" and Drake holds Hudson and places his hand ontop of Bishop's and after Bishop finishes, Drake hands back Hudson's meal to him and says "Enjoy your meal!". And lastly there is Drake's last moment where he fights off the aliens and he yells back at Vasquez "Go, Vasquez! Run for it!!" before he meets his end to an alien's acid which burns his face.
Second last is William Hope who is pretty good as Lt Gorman, the inexperienced commanding officer of the marine op. And Hope's good moments include when at the end of the debrief when he says to the marines "Now listen up. I want this thing to go smooth and by the numbers. I want D.C.S. and tactical database assimulation by 0830. Ordinance loading, weapons strip, and drop ship prep details will have seven hours. NOW MOVE IT PEOPLE!". Then is the moment when just after the drop ship leaves the Sulaco, Ripley asks how drops Gorman has had and he says "38. Simulated" and Vasquez asks "How many combat drops?" and Gorman awkwardly says "Two. Including this one!".
Then there is the scene where Ripley voices her concerns about the marines firing their weapons at the cooling station leading Burke to explain that it could cause a thermnuclear explosion and Gorman says "Oh, great, wondeful! Shit!!". And as the alien assault begins, Gorman panics not knowing what to do and Ripley takes control of the situation and drives the RV to get the marines, prompting Gorman to yell "Ripley, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???!!!!". And lastly there is the moment after Gorman awakens from having sustained a concussion, Ripley asks him how he is and he says "Alright, I guess. One hell of a hangover".
And last of ALL is Al Matthews who is great as the tough veteran marine, Sgt Apone. Matthews himself was a Vietnam veteran and he used his experience to help train the actors in the film. Matthews has some good moments aswell such as his first scene where he addresses the marines after they have woken from hypersleep "All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed? Another glorious day in the Corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade! I LOVE the Corps!".
And in the next scene as the marines sit down for their dinner, Hudson asks "Hey top, what's the op?" and Apone says "Its a rescue mission, you'll love it! There are some juicy colonist daughters we have to rescue from their virginity!". And later on after the marines debrief is over, Apone says to his crew "Alright sweethearts, you heard the man and you know the drill. Assholes and elbows!" and to an impertinent Hudson "Hudson, come here! Come HERE!!". Then there is the moment where Ripley helps out the marines with their prep for the drop to the planet and she asks if there is anything she can do and Apone says "I don't know, is there anything you can do?". And Ripley says she can operate a loader and Apone says "Be my guest" and as Ripley straps herself and expertly operates the loader and picks up a crate she says "Where do you want it?" and Apone simply laughs and says "Bay twelve, please!".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Finally moving onto the director, James Cameron does a superb job here especially given the daunting task he had in following up the classic original. Cameron not only handles the film's tense action scenes very well he also brilliantly builds up the tension toward the first alien attack and after that you are left with an unnvering sense of dread before the next one. Cameron's screenplay for the film is also very well written and is filled with witty dialogue (as extensively already mentioned above!).
Cameron also being American and somewhat inexperienced as a film maker had a hard time working with the British production crew during filming (as it was filmed at Pinewood studios and the cooling station scenes were filmed at the disused Acton power station in London) and production was also slowed down at times due to the British working hours. Cameron also had an altercation with the film's original choice of cinemaphotographer, Dick Bush, whom he fired and replaced with Adrian Biddle (who's photography is excellent here). However I think its safe to say that Cameron managed to rise above all that here with the outcome of his work.
As for the music, the film features an excellent score by James Horner and it is easily one of his very best scores as it very suspenseful and atmospheric and the title theme is also quite memorable and it sets the tone for the film perfectly during the tense opening credits. Horner however during post production of the film felt that there wasn't enough time for him to create the score he wanted for the film and he too had a tense time with Cameron and afterward said he would never work with him again, although they would eventually work again together on Titanic. Horner however did receive an Academy Award nomination for the score and rightly so as it really is very memorable and over the years has been used for alot of other film trailers, which shows its popularity and durability over time.
FLAWS
OK so while Aliens is an excellent film it has to be asked: does it have any flaws??? Well yeah it still has one or two.
And for starters I would have to say that while the theatrical cut is just about the perfect length, the director's cut is just a bit too long and I felt it includes some scenes that felt a bit unecessary.
And as an example of this are scenes such as Hudson and Vasquez checking the empty rooms of the colonists quarters detecting a life sign, which turns out to be just a rat. Then there are the scenes where Hicks sets up the armed sentry droids to shoot any aliens that might approach, which does have a suspenseful moment near the end but it still does feel a bit superflous. Not to mention the scene where Newt's family discover the alien ship which features some pretty cheesy acting from the actors playing Newt's parents, particularly the father. And in the scene when they find the ship the father says "Folks we have scored big this time!". Its more like a line that deserves to be in M Night Shyamalan movie! The scene itself however still has a good payoff as we see the father has a facehugger on his face as the mother makes it back with him and Newt screams as she sees him.
You could also argue that while it is a well written film it still does have some cheesy bits of dialogue that feature either in the director's cut or theatrical one. And as an example there is the moment where Ripley tries to reassure Newt who is afraid to sleep, that her doll, Casey doesn't have bad dreams and Newt says "Ripley, she doesn't have bad dreams because she's just a piece of plastic". Yeahhh OK! Then there is of course the one where Hudson in the director's cut tries to reassure Ripley during the drop ship flight that "Me and my squad of badasses will protect you!". Agghhh shut up, Hudson!
As for what I see as the biggest issue in the plot the one thing I have to say that stands out the most is why on Earth (or LV-426 more like!) would anyone want to live on a barren shithole such as LV-426 in the first place???! I mean its hardly the prettiest of planets is it???!! Brutal winds, lovely atmosphere, scenic barren wastelands, yep, families want to live there for alright!! You could argue that its all about pioneering and branching out by living on other worlds, but they could at least find somewhere better to live than that!! Perhaps there were already colonists living on other worlds and this lot got the short end of the stick! Either way it just seems daft that anyone would want to live there anyway whether they were aware of the aliens or not!
Another issue in the plot for me is also of course to do with the film's climax (SPOILER COMING UP!!!) where Ripley has her confrontation with the alien queen and as their fight leads into the alien queen grabbing the powerloader Ripley is in and bringing it crashing down into the airlock. And in the scene Ripley opens the airlock to the brutal gusting winds of the vaccum of space where the alien soon loses her grip on Ripley's foot and flies into space, yet during this Ripley is able to hold onto the rung of the airlock ladder locking her arm around it and to top that off climb her way back up into the ship!! Now that has to be utter bullshit as surely there is now way she would be able to withstand the forces of the hard vaccum of space (again the Youtube comedy channel, How it should have ended parodied this scene where Ripley's arm breaks off and she falls into space along with Newt and Bishop).
Although this one is debatable given that the real effects of the vaccum of space are hard to predict given that there are solar winds in space that would presumably cause powerful winds, other than that would space have no wind at all?? If so then opening the airlock wouldn't cause anything at all if it were calm in space but its not something I know much about so I couldn't give an answer either way really. But let's not get too carried away with that one as it is just a film after all.
So that's it for the flaws
SUM UP
So FINALLY summing up, Aliens is an excellent, tense and gripping sequel to the original film which is well worth seeing and checking out after 30 years. The performances are excellent, the visual effects are also very impressive given its modest budget and Cameron expertly directs the film and does a great job at cranking up the suspense as it goes on. And if you haven't seen it, well....where have you BEEN?!!!
So that's it for now and I will be back sometime soon with another post.
Till then bye for now.
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