On this day in movie history - Aliens (1986 movie & novel):

Aliens

directed and written by James Cameron,

based on a story by James Cameron, David Giler and Walter Hill,

was released in the United States on July 18, 1986.
Music by James Horner.

Cast:

Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, William Hope, Jenette Goldstein, Al Matthews, Mark Rolston, Ricco Ross, Colette Hiller, Daniel Kash, Cynthia Dale Scott, Tip Tipping, Trevor Steedman, Paul Maxwell, Valerie Colgan, Alan Polonsky, Alibe Parsons, Blain Fairman, Barbara Coles, Carl Toop, John Lees, William Armstrong, Jay Benedict, Holly De Jong, Jill Goldston, Christopher Henn, Elizabeth Inglis, Mac McDonald, Stuart Milligan, Eddie Powell, Bob Sherman, Chris Webb, Tom Woodruff Jr.

Recommended reading:

Aliens

By Alan Dean Foster.

The Official Movie Novelization.

Published by Titan Books.

First published 1986.

ISBN-10: 178329017X

ISBN-13: 978-1783290178

Description:

In the sequel to the 1979 film Alien, Ellen Ripley is forced to return to planet LV-426, where her crew encountered the hostile Alien creature. There they discovered hundreds of eggs, and just one slaughtered everyone but Ripley. This time she's accompanied by a unit of Colonial Marines, but even their firepower may not be enough for them to survive and learn the fate of the colony known as Hadley's Hope.

Ripley is going back ... The sole survivor of the terror that struck her space comrades years ago, she now steels herself to help lead an expedition to the hell she once escaped. For on a planet far from earth, alien beings swarm, hungry for the human face, ready to make the human race their living nesting ground. Here waits the ultimate nightmare of Alien, hundreds of times stronger, more insidious, and practically invincible. Here Ripley must re-enter a world of sudden, unspeakable horror ... one that attacks without warning again and again and again.

On this day in music history:

A Kind of Magic by Queen (1986)

American Acoustic by Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel (1998)

A Kind of Magic

Album by Queen,

released on June 2, 1986.

Inspired by the movie Highlander (1986), directed by Russell Mulcahy.

Track list: One Vision; A Kind of Magic; One Year of Love; Pain Is So Close to Pleasure; Friends Will Be Friends; Who Wants to Live Forever; Gimme the Prize; Don’t Lose Your Head; Princes of the Universe; A Kind of Magic (Highlander Version) Roger Taylor; One Vision (Single Version) Queen; Pain Is So Close to Pleasure (Single Remix) Freddie & John; Forever (Piano Version) Brian May; A Kind of Vision (Demo ‘85) Roger Taylor; One Vision (Live at Wembley ‘86) Queen; Friends Will Be Friends (Freddie Mercury & John Deacon).

American Acoustic

Album by Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel,

released June 2, 1998.

Track list: Shenandoah; Alligator Alley; Give & Take; Shadow Dancer; Oaks; Johnny Appleseed; Gigue; Secrets Of The Big Sky; The Eyes Of Amelia; Don Juan; The Merced; The Children's Garden; Clancy's Heart; Aria; Jewels In The Crown; Sacajawea; Appalachia Calling; Danza Mora; Peru; Prairie Lullaby; Medicine Tree; Coyote Dance; La Fogata.

On this day in music history:

Belinda by Belinda Carlisle (1986)

Land of Forever by 2002 (1998)

Ophelia by Natalie Merchant (1998)

Belinda

Album by Belinda Carlisle,

released May 19, 1986.

Track list: Mad About You; I Need a Disguise; Since You’ve Gone; I Feel the Magic; I Never Wanted a Rich Man; Band of Gold; Gotta Get to You; From the Heart; Shot in the Dark; Stuff and Nonsense; Band of Gold [Featuring Freda Payne] [Single Mix]; Dancing in the City; Mad About You [Extended Version]; Band of Gold [Featuring Freda Payne] [Extended Mix]; Band of Gold [Featuring Freda Payne] [Dub Mix]; Shot in the Dark; Lust to Love; Mad About You; Since You’ve Gone; Head Over Heels.

Land of Forever

Album by 2002,

released May 19, 1998.

Track list: Summer of 300 Years; Sea of Dreams; Land of Forever; Realms of Splendor; The Calling; Dance with a Princess; Feast of Immortals; Falling Through Time; Heavenly Cities; Oceansky.

Ophelia

Album by Natalie Merchant,

released May 19, 1998.

Track list: Ophelia; Life Is Sweet; Kind & Generous; Frozen Charlotte; My Skin; Break Your Heart; King of May; Thick As Thieves; Effigy; The Living; When They Ring the Golden Bells.

On this day in movie history - Scene of the Crime (1986):

Scene of the Crime

French title: Le Lieu du crime,

directed by André Téchiné,

written by André Téchiné, Pascal Bonitzer and Olivier Assayas,

was released in France on May 16, 1986.
Music by Philippe Sarde.

Cast:

Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Wadeck Stanczak, Nicolas Giraudi, Jean-Claude Adelin, Jean Bousquet, Michel Grimaud, Philippe Landoulsi, Claire Nebout, Jacques Nolot, Victor Lanoux, Christine Paolini.

On this day in movie history - The Blue Lightning (1986):

The Blue Lightning

directed by Lee Philips,

written by William Kelley,

was released in the United States on May 7, 1986.
Music by Frank Strangio.

Cast:

Sam Elliott, Rebecca Gilling, John Meillon, Robert Coleby, Max Phipps, Robert Culp, Ralph Cotterill, Jack Davis, Ray Meagher, Michael Carman, Norman Erskine, Gary Waddell, Jeff Truman, Garry Who, Bob Barrett, Chris Pang, Peter Ford, Ernie Dingo, Leo Martin, Kenneth Radley, Dennis Hunt, Glenn Boswell, Bob Hicks, Zev Eleftheriou, Roy Edmunds.

On this day in movie history - Murphy's Law (1986):

Murphy's Law

directed by J. Lee Thompson,

written by Gail Morgan Hickman,

was released in the United States on April 18, 1986.
Music by Marc Donahue and Valentine McCallum.

Cast:

Charles Bronson, Kathleen Wilhoite, Carrie Snodgress, Robert F. Lyons, Richard Romanus, Angel Tompkins, Bill Henderson, James Luisi, Clifford A. Pellow, Janet MacLachlan, Lawrence Tierney, Jerome Thor, Mischa Hausserman, Cal Haynes, Hans Howes, Joseph Roman, Chris DeRose, Frank Annese, Paul McCallum, Dennis Hayden, Tony Montero, David Hayman, Lisa Vice, Janet Rotblatt, Greg Finley, Jerry Lazarus, Robert Axelrod, John Hawker, Bert Williams, Daniel D. Halleck, Randall Carver, Gerald Berns, Don Brodie, Graham Timbes, David K. Johnston, Paul McCauley, Brooks Wachtel, Richard Hochberg, John F. McCarthy, Leigh Lombardi, Charlie Brewer, Charles A. Nero, Wheeler Henderson, Frank Bove, Christopher Stanley, Linda Harwood, Nancie Clark, Michael Cooper, Dallas Hinton, C. Courtney Joyner, Shawn McBurney, Denise Schriedel.