Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Witness the resurrection
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman, Gary Dourdan, Michael Wincott, Kim Flowers, Dan Hedaya, J.E. Freeman, Brad Dourif, Raymond Cruz, Leland Orser, Carolyn Campbell
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Running Time: 104 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 18
Action, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
On DVD As underwhelming as the third instalment of the 'Alien' series was, you can at least understand why the temptation to make it was so great. The reasoning behind green-lighting this after-thought of a movie, on the other hand, is completely flummoxing.
After all, the key character - Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) - died at the end of the last one, along with any real avenue along which the franchise could credibly be kept alive. So, in order to bring Weaver into the story, we're whisked 200 years on from 'Alien3', where scientists aboard a military spacecraft have successfully(ish) cloned Ripley using blood samples from one of her many scuffles.
The plan? To get the alien queen out of her body and use it to create a snarling pack of said beasties for their own non-specified but doubtlessly stupid motives. Needless to say, this creates a couple of problems. For one thing, the new Ripley's got a touch of alien DNA in her system which means that, as well as suddenly being incredibly good at basketball, she's gone a bit loopy. And not like in 'Aliens' where the folks back on Earth just THOUGHT she was loopy. This time, she genuinely is as mad as a hatter.
An even bigger problem is that, inevitably, the aliens break loose, wreak havoc, and Ripley's left with only a gang of space mercenaries (among them Winona Ryder) to help her restore order. Cue the usual array of chase scenes, swearies, and frenzied shooting at nothing in particular.
'Amelie' director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (in case you couldn't guess from the name, he's French) adds little that hasn't already been covered to vastly superior effect in one of the previous outings. Except for sporadic instances of boredom, perhaps.
Weaver, meanwhile, seems wholly uncomfortable with some of the lines she's expected to deliver, especially as the new Ripley appears to have a little unexplained Schwarzenegger DNA hiding in there as well. At one point, after blasting one of the critters to Kingdom Come, she quips 'Was it everything you'd hoped for?'. Eh? Let's face it, that doesn't even make sense.
DVD Extras: Original theatrical trailer and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
It's Got: One seriously ugly baby - definitely one that only a mother could love.
It Needs: Not to be compared to either of the first two movies - they really don't deserve it.
Alternatives: Alien, Aliens, Alien3
Summary: Visually impressive, but too much of it is contrived and totally far-fetched - making it effectively the binary opposite of the original movie. Here is a prime example of a franchise that should have quit while it was ahead.
Review by Gary Panton
Review Date: 27th August 2003
External Links
Official Web Site
Alien: Resurrection at the IMDB
Comments4 Comments |
| This film is awfull. The fear and groundbreakingness of Alien . The gungho adrenalin ride of aliens. The film noir moody atmospheric Alien3 then we get this. Alien Resurection is nothing short of ****. The sets are too overlit the aliens are seen far too often the ending is to nice. The plot has far too much cramed into it for one movie. This film was released at the wrong time. People are far too quick to critisise Alien3 when this is far worse. |
| Comment by:- grant | | 28 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| Ok Grant,what do you think about AVP Huh? Now I haven't seen it yet.I like number3 of Aliens,all people have their own opinion..Alien vs.Predator suposebly good,from what I heard,but Im not voting just yet..I wanna see before I vote on it.. |
| Comment by:- Yoko Kurama | | 29 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| Holy crap i never realised that Alien Ressurection scored so low, when i first saw it i thought it would at least be a 8-9, i think its a great film, and desirve's to be seen as one. |
| Comment by:- Dave | | 12 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| I liked it very much. The actors were great. The poor things in this movie for me were the stupid creature who borns from the alien queen, and the way like the black guy dies, when he fall from the ladder. Apart from that, it was a good movie, with lots of entertainment. |
| Comment by:- Nuno | | 12 October 2004 | ip: logged |
