| Alien: Resurrection | | Cast : | Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder | | Director : | Jean-Pierre Jeunet | | Studio : | Fox Home Entertainme | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | November 26, 1997 | | DVD Released Date : | January 06, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 18, 2005 | | Summary | A Great Way to Close Up a Quadrilogy | Content
 | The title speaks it all. I thought Alien: Resurrection would end in so much crappiness that they'd need a better, 5th movie to end the terrifying Alien saga. The special edition version (with 116 minutes instead of 108 minutes) was good.
In the beginning, scientists have successfully clone the Ellen Ripley Clone 8. Ripley meets up with a lot of Aliens in this movie.
In the end, Ripley senses that the Queen Alien is in pain. She then goes to the Alien Queen. The Queen is giving birth to a baby Alien Newborn. The Alien kills the Queen by slicing off the top part of the Queen Alien's mouth. The Newborn is even more deadly than the Queen. Ripley is a mix of Human and Alien DNA, so when the Newborn is terrorizing everyone, she makes herself bleed with acid blood and throws that blood onto the window, eating away the window the shields everyone from space. The Alien is caught by the window and shredded into blood and bone. Everyone makes it to Earth.
This movie is a great way to close up a quadrilogy!!!!!!!!! |
| Rating | | | Date | June 07, 2005 | | Summary | Alien Resurrection (1997) | Content
| In 1979, director Ridley Scott gave us the film, ALIEN, the scariest film in all of Science Fiction history. In 1986, director James Cameron had directed the sequel entitled, ALIENS, where it became an even bigger success than the first film. In 1992, director David Fincher had directed, ALIEN 3, the least popular film in the whole series. But now, in 1997, director Jean-Pierre Jaunet had given us: ALIEN RESURRECTION, the fourth installment to the ALIEN series.
200 years ago, Ellen Ripley had died, after being impregnated with an Alien queen inside of her. But, 200 years later, doctors have taken some blood samples from Ripley's blood, where she died, and decided to clone her. The first seven times where a disaster, but on the eighth try, the clone came out absolutely perfect. Their plan was to clone her with a clone of the alien queen inside her, take out the alien, grow it and give it some sort of drug that will cause the Alien Queen to develop a human reproductive system. Instead of the Alien Queen laying eggs, where the face hugger inside implants the alien, the alien can mate with other Aliens, and reproduce naturally. RIPLEY (again played by Sigourney Weaver) is now a clone, who has been mixed with some of the Alien's DNA, giving her some of the creature's characteristics, as their acid burning blood, their speed, their sense of smell, everything. But Ripley has her own human characteristics, as well as her memories from the first three films. which is why she still remains a good character. Among Ripley's doctors are DR. MASON WREN (played by J.E. Freeman) and DR. JONATHAN GEDIMAN (played by Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky), who are among the plot, involving the Alien Queen. Running the ship is GENERAL MARTIN PEREZ (played by Dan Hedaya).
On their way to the ship holding Ripley, is a band of smugglers, containing bodies of people. These bodies are being used to make other Aliens aboard. The smugglers are known as VREISS (played by Dominique Pinon), CHRISTY (played by Gary Dourdan), JOHNAR (played by Ron Pearlman), HILLARD (played by Kim Flowers), CALL (played by Winona Ryder), and ELGYN (played by Michael Wincott). They have no idea of what these bodies are being used for.
They arrive at the ship. Call goes to kill Ripley, thinking she still has the Alien inside of her. They talk briefly, and Call leaves. She is captured by the guards of the ship, where her and her crew are in trouble for Call. But the Aliens bust out of their cell and roam around, killing off most of the ship's guards, and General Perez. The only ones left are Ripley, Call, Johnar, Elgyn, Hillard, Wren, Christy, and Vreiss. Ripley joins them to help them escape. Along the way, after distrusting Ripley at first, Call becomes friends Ripley, and during that time, Elgyn, Hillard, and Christy are killed. Wren turns on them and shoots Call. But Call survives, for she is...an android. She helps them along the way, where Wren is killed. Ripley is captured by the Queen, where the Queen mates with Ripley. The queen gives birth to a baby, half alien-like, half human-like. Ripley escapes and enters the smuggler's ship. She begins helping them drive, as Call closes the hatch. Realizing how long she is taking, Ripley goes back to check. The alien baby has Call trapped. Ripley distracts the alien away from Call. She cuts her hand and throws her acid blood on the window, where it burns a hole right through it. The alien is ripped to shreds, where Ripley, Call, Vreiss, and Johnar return to earth, safely.
I thought there was no need for a fourth installment, since it should have been left at Ripley's death in ALIEN 3. But this sequel was one hell of an improvement of ALIEN 3. Don't get me wrong, ALIEN 3 was a killer sequel, but it was depressing when we had to watch Ripley plummet to her death. ALIEN RESURRECTION saved us from our sadness. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 25, 2005 | | Summary | Slow, boring, bland, laughable, big disappointment | Content
| This is hands down the worst movie and biggest disappointment I have ever seen. I love the first three Alien movies (yes, I even appreciated the third one), but this movie left such a bad taste in my mouth I actually left the theater in search of a breath mint. Perhaps it just had too much to live up to?
The sad thing is I highly respect the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, also known for `The City of Lost Children' and `Amelie' (two movies that I love). This movie was just soooooooo out-there for me, it was just too much. It was literally `The City of Lost Children' meets `Alien', which is not a good combination. Alien Resurrection was too artsy where the previous movies in the trilogy were anything but (well, the third one a little more than the other two). It lacked that realism that the previous films had. That realism was the driving momentum that the previous films flourished on, in which scared the audience...this one just didn't have that. The acting was bland, emotionless and I did not feel any connection to any of the characters. The plot was dull, slow and way too predictable. The visuals were mediocre and those even slacked towards the end. I found myself laughing several times by the time the movie ended. Come on now...the alien gets sucked out of a hole into space...talk about anticlimactic. *sigh* This movie was created to make money. It is 100% Hollywood hype rubbish.
|
| Rating | | | Date | April 30, 2005 | | Summary | THIS MOVIE SUCKS | Content
| I'm tellin you do not rent or buy this movie. it is the worst and give a HUGE descrace to the fanchise. Allthough i have'nt seen Alien 3 i hear from people that it would've been the best place to stop. What ever you do, DO NOT BUY OR RENT OR EVEN TOUCH THIS MOVIE. I rented this from my local library and a regreted it. THIS MOVIE IS cow $H!T |
| Rating | | | Date | March 06, 2005 | | Summary | A film with excellent potential, but horrid execution | Content
| This is one of those movies that should have been much better than it should have been. It featured a script from one of my favorite creative artists, Joss Whedon of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE and ANGEL fame, direction by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (director of A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, AMELIE, and CITY OF LOST CHILDREN), and reprises the greatest female action hero in movie history: Ellen Ripley. Or at least her clone. In 1997 when this was released Whedon was not yet known for what he would achieve with BUFFY on television nor Jeunet for what he would do with AMELIE and A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, but in retrospect the film on paper seems utterly ideal. First, you had the matching of Whedon with Ripley. More than any other recent American screen writer, Joss Whedon feels at home with strong female characters. He was, after all, the one who created in Buffy the supreme female action hero of our time (and set the stage for a host of imitators such as Max Guevera on DARK ANGEL and Sydney Bristow in ALIAS). Who better to write the screenplay for the fourth film in the ALIEN sequence? Unfortunately, although no other writers are credited, his script was extensively rewritten during production. Whedon has since disavowed his involvement with the film, and refused to be involved with the commentaries for the ALIEN boxed set.
One would have to agree with Whedon that the final outcome is not that great. One can often glimpse great potential in the film, but there is also a feeling that much of it was made on the fly, and that it is the victim of constant compromises. We know, for instance, that dozens of scenes had to be modified or altered for financial or other considerations. One also wonders to what extent Jeunet was the right person for the director's position. I have to confess to not being one of his fans. I loved AMELIE, but as I've seen his other films, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that while he possesses an extraordinary eye and can produce films that are wondrous to look at, he is seriously challenged by narrative. CITY OF LOST CHILDREN is a haunting film to watch, but the story really isn't worth discussing. A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT is one of the most incoherent major releases of the past couple of decades, despite being exquisitely beautiful in very nearly every frame. Even AMELIE succeeds more as something to look at than as a story to follow. This is not a good combo for a writer like Whedon who is obsessed with narrative. They do not play off one another's strengths. My own suspicion is that the final film is a result of the wrong director for the wrong set up financially-minded producers to produce a screenplay that didn't mesh with the strengths of either the director or the producers. But the brute fact is that the film was severely under-budgeted (it was made for between $50 and $60 million, which was not much even in 1996-97 for a major science-fiction film), and too many compromises had to be made, especially considering that much of the budget had to go for salary.
Nonetheless, there are still many memorable moments in the movie, and all in all I'm glad it was made rather than not made. I do wish a different director had been involved, someone who understood narrative and was good at exposition. But what we have is often interesting. Ripley is simply the best female movie action hero ever, and anytime we get to see Sigourney Weaver reprise the role is something to be grateful for (there have been rumors on and off over the past few years that we might see one more ALIEN film). In this film she is a clone, and a disturbed clone at that. She is simultaneously world-weary and psychotic. She's been stripped of the compassion that was found in the first films, the intense passion for life. Only gradually does she regain some of her humanity in the course of the film. I liked Winona Ryder's turn as the android Annalee Call (which creates an odd conflict in Ripley, who has a history with androids), and many of the other characters as well. The cast wasn't the problem with the film. The problem with the film is the sense that everything is being done on the cheap.
Many Whedonesque touches survive in the dialogue. Before getting the chance to do BUFFY on TV, Whedon worked extensively as a script doctor, his job being to add sparkle and one liners to otherwise moribund scripts. It isn't an accident that BUFFY has perhaps more great one liners of any show in the history of American TV. The guy can write a great line. So, ALIEN RESURRECTION has a host of great lines, many of them containing words that makes it impossible to repeat here. But you have to love an exchange like:
Johner: So, I hear you, like, ran into these things before?
Ripley: Yeah.
Johner: What did you do?
Ripley: I died.
Or when Ripley is talking to someone who has had one of the aliens implanted in his chest for gestation:
Purvis: WHAT'S [expletive deleted] INSIDE ME?
Ripley: There's a monster in your chest. These guys hijacked your ship, and they sold your cryotube to this... human, and he put an alien inside of you. It's a really nasty one. And in a few hours, it's gonna burst its way through your rib cage, and you're gonna die. Any questions?
Purvis: Who are you?
Ripley: I'm the monster's mother.
Or this great line:
Distephano: I thought you were dead!
Ripley: Yeah, I get that a lot.
There is a lot of great talk like this in the film. Unfortunately, the talk is a whole lot better than the sets and the action. Throughout there is a sense of lack, as if things are not quite finished, or not sufficiently developed. All in all, it is better than nothing, and I think over the next few decades I'll go back to this from time to time, but it is always going to be more of a could-have-been than anything else.
The previews to this film when it first came out did provide one of the great comic moments of my life. I was sitting in the theater with the woman I was dating at the time, an utterly brilliant and astonishingly cute anthropology Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago (today graduated and teaching in a Midwestern university). I was trying to explain to her who Dan Hedaya was, developing my theory that for many years there was a secret contract somewhere that determined that he had to appear in every other film made in Hollywood, and had mentioned several of his roles, none of which struck home. In exasperation I said, "I swear, the guy is in everything!" At which point the lights went down and the previews began, the first of which was for ALIEN RESURRECTION and which began with a shot of Dan Hedaya. I elbowed her and said, "That's Dan Hedaya!" "Oh," she said, "he's in everything!" Just a perfect moment. |
|
|
|
|
