Did most people want another macho, exciting, gung-ho action-adventure fest?

I think the problem that people had with it is that it wasn't enough to have it so grim and nihilistic that Ripley killing herself would seem like a happy ending..they also made it boring as all get out and chock full of despicable characters. A complete screech to a dead halt in what could have been a memorable trilogy. But they can never leave anything alone.
The first two films took different approaches and got it all right and are masterpieces in their own way.
I'm really not a believer in any of the Ripley verse that followed. But this slice stands beneath all others.

I honestly feel like Aliens functions as more of a take-down of macho and gung-ho attitudes in your typical action flicks of the time (or antidote to them) than it does a sibling to them. Ripley's 'assault' on the nest and fight with the alien queen are action-packed, sure, but they offer much more in the way of catharsis and character-growth than anything you'd tend to see in the Arnie, Sly, Chuck or Charles movies of the time.

It feels a lot more like what became the popular 90s blockbuster trend of compassionate, rational civilians solving the problems that armies or the authorities cannot, i.e. Independence Day, Fifth Element, Stargate, Volcano/Dante's Peak, Godzilla, or Jurassic Park (which Spielberg admits is his own riff on Aliens).

And I honestly think it was Alien 3's nihilism, rather than it's return to smaller-scale, measured suspense, that was a turn off for critics and then audiences.

And of course, unbeknownst to audiences of the time, the story could never have been satisfying without so many of the important strands and themes that were cut and later restored in the Workprint Cut.

No. This movie was so bleak, though, and people didn't respond well to the quick, offhand way they killed off Hicks and Newt.

no our main complaint was the film made no attempt to explain the egg and killed of newt and hicks.

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT - AH, YOU KNOW THE DRILL!!!

From what I gathered, what people wanted was a good movie. What they got was a mess that (a) killed off the characters Ripley saved from Aliens, (b) confused the audience with a creature running all over the place, and (c) ended with Ripley dying. Not the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon, if you ask me.

I certainly don't hate this film and actually quite like it, more so than the film that followed it and every other Alien film in this universe since. It isn't a patch on the first 2 but that was always a tough ask.

It's a shame Cameron couldn't have been the one to do a third round about the same period. He was within his peak years and bringing groundbreaking CGI special effects to the big screen like in Terminator 2, which also showed how good a job he did at making a sequel, even with the sort of time gap that is often so damaging to the continuance of quality to a franchise. He wouldn't have killed those 2 characters off either. Just imagining what might have been and in my opinion we'd have probably had the greatest trilogy of films of all time.

Still, this wasn't a bad effort, though not without its flaws. Yeah, killing off Newt and Hicks before the film gets going was a bummer and sets the tone for the bleakness of the film. It doesn't particularly bring anything new to the table other than a different setting, whereas Aliens did just that and why it's heralded as one of the best ever sequels.

No, I think people just wanted a movie that wasn’t rushed through development and began filming without a finished script, and the lead actress making ridiculous demands.

Nope I prefer Covenant films Aliens 3 & 4 dont exist after Aliens and Dani was as awesome as Ripley fight me