Alien Resurrection (1997)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Mike S

  
  Best known to the world for his wonderful gem <i>Amélie</i>, French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet was a rather unlikely helmsman for a project of this nature. I mean, going from flowery and lighthearted comedy to something as dark and gritty as an Alien movie, is quite the… More
  Best known to the world for his wonderful gem <i>Amélie</i>, French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet was a rather unlikely helmsman for a project of this nature. I mean, going from flowery and lighthearted comedy to something as dark and gritty as an Alien movie, is quite the artistic leap. Even more surprising, however, is his success in adding a worthy installment to the franchise. I know many consider this the weakest in the quadrilogy - and yes, it does get a little cheesy and over the top at times - but all in all, I think it's a great and underrated installment. Having Ripley resurrected through the magic of cloning, may be a cheap way to return her to the story, but I'd rather see her present in the film, than not at all. Backed up by some really memorable supporting characters - including a half-crazy Ron Perlman and the equally exceptional Brad Dourif - it's quite the wild space ride, filled with excitement, badassery and skin-crawling close encounters. That being established, I don't really care what they critics say. Because this is a highly entertaining sequel that more than meets my requirements for a fun and action-packed evening.

• Phil H

  
  I liked this, again its another visual masterpiece and really shows another great individual look for the series. It is a slight reworking of the Cameron vehicle I must say, the motley crew in this film try their best to be as cool as the Marines. In a sense they do succeed as a… More
  I liked this, again its another visual masterpiece and really shows another great individual look for the series. It is a slight reworking of the Cameron vehicle I must say, the motley crew in this film try their best to be as cool as the Marines. In a sense they do succeed as a unique bunch of space pirates but they lack bite. Different takes and camera angles by the Frenchman make this a visual feast, as to be expected with this franchise, but some aspects I didn't like, a bit too similar to other films perhaps, couldn't quite put my finger on it. Overall the film does tend to swing a little bit towards your typical slasher albeit set in space, not badly but sense is there. Still the aliens are slick and lethal as ever plus they swim here, the technology is believeable and ice cool whilst the characters are top notch despite lacking some originality, they obviously pushed hard for that. Downers are clearly the alien/human hybrid in the finale and a dodgy looking queen, still, it ends on a good cliffhanger, I want number five by Ridley please.

• xGary X

  
  200 years after the death of Ellen Ripley she is cloned by yet more misguided scientists in order to breed the species for their research on board a military vessel. Alien 3 tried to follow the template of the first film with some flawed success and Alien Resurrection does the same… More
  200 years after the death of Ellen Ripley she is cloned by yet more misguided scientists in order to breed the species for their research on board a military vessel. Alien 3 tried to follow the template of the first film with some flawed success and Alien Resurrection does the same for its sequel Aliens with similar results. The very contrived premise is one that you have to accept considering Ripley died at the end of the previous film but the whole alien hybrid concept is a little harder to swallow. Joss Whedon actually disowned the script after various studio rewrites but it does have some very nice moments; particularly the scene in which Ripley confronts "herself" and the idea of self aware androids consumed with self loathing. Jeunet also stamps his own brand of attractive visual invention on the proceedings and the effects are streets ahead of Alien 3's. The aliens also have a lot more character and the set pieces are executed with some real panache, especially the underwater pursuit that reminded me of a futuristic Poseidon Adventure! Unfortunately it falls down at the last hurdle with the afore-mentioned hybrid that's a slightly ridiculous idea and the creature itself looks rubbish. The journey there is very entertaining though and despite being the least inventive of the series it's still a creditable addition to the franchise. But inevitably, it's once again nowhere near as good as the first two.

• Film C

  
  I Actually preferred this forth installment of the alien franchise compared to the previous three! I thought it was more entertaining and more intense. I actually preferred Weaver in this last Alien movie, i thought she was more intense and much more of a stronger female lead,… More
  I Actually preferred this forth installment of the alien franchise compared to the previous three! I thought it was more entertaining and more intense. I actually preferred Weaver in this last Alien movie, i thought she was more intense and much more of a stronger female lead, really enjoyed her in this actually. The graphics are far better and still brilliant fight scenes between the aliens and humans. A really good strong cast, and an enjoyable plot and storyline. I liked the idea of them creating more and it backfiring on them one step further the company have gotten compared to the previous three Alien movies. Far more enjoyable and worth a watch!

• Drake T

  
  Too many "larger than life" characters for the viewer to take any of this seriously. It also opts out the thrill and suspense of the horror genre with blockbuster action making it a non-stop rollercoaster of adrenaline rushing incoherency. I mean it had some cool ideas with… More
  Too many "larger than life" characters for the viewer to take any of this seriously. It also opts out the thrill and suspense of the horror genre with blockbuster action making it a non-stop rollercoaster of adrenaline rushing incoherency. I mean it had some cool ideas with the Alien/Human hybrid idea but the theme never resonates enough throughout the film for it to play effectively with the overall story. I'd skip this if I weren't an Alien fan.

• Carlos M

  
  Definitely superior to the previous installment, this fourth film does not add anything new or relevant to the series, but neither does it disappoint. It has plenty of action and scares, a mildly interesting plot and a particularly grotesque ending that works just fine.

• Jacob E

  
  *WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ALIEN 3 AND ALIEN RESURRECTION This movie is by know means awful. Its actually pretty decent sci-fi movie fare, with some interesting twists and some twists that will make you want to seek out the director and punch him in the face.… More
  *WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ALIEN 3 AND ALIEN RESURRECTION This movie is by know means awful. Its actually pretty decent sci-fi movie fare, with some interesting twists and some twists that will make you want to seek out the director and punch him in the face. Seriously, was it necessary to make Ripley have implied sex with an alien? Why? WHY? On a brighter note (and if you're wondering why anything like that would ever happen), lets get to the story. After Alien 3, it was pretty much impossible to make a sequel seeing that Ripley was dead and the final xenomorph went with her. In this movie, 200 years after this event, she has been resurrected as the by-product of an experiment to bring the xenomorph queen back to life. But separating sequences of DNA is very difficult considering that Ripley apparently now has acid blood and sports a psychotic personality. This is easily the most interesting idea the movie presents us with, a new facet of the Ripley character. She's far more unpredictable than before and a lot more dangerous as well. The other cast members worth noting are Ron Perlman as an unlikable/likable man whose only concern is survival and Winona Ryder as Call, a woman with secrets of her own. I really liked Winona in this movie, she became my favorite by the end. The thing is though, this movie is nowhere near the pedigree established by Alien and Aliens, and it isn't even as good as Alien 3. Its not awful, but its easily the weakest link in the franchise unless you count the AVP movies.

• Daniel M

  
  The number of good four-quels can be counted on one hand, if not one finger. Lethal Weapon 4, Die Hard 4, Police Academy 4 ? all titles that fill one with an instant sense of dread and disappointment. Near the top of this pile of ever-diminishing returns we find Alien Resurrection,… More
  The number of good four-quels can be counted on one hand, if not one finger. Lethal Weapon 4, Die Hard 4, Police Academy 4 ? all titles that fill one with an instant sense of dread and disappointment. Near the top of this pile of ever-diminishing returns we find Alien Resurrection, the last and weakest of the Alien films and the most deserving of the phrase ?flogging a dead horse? (or should that be xenomorph?). Looking down the cast and crew list, you could be forgiven for expecting a half-decent fourth instalment. Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a very likeable director, who had charmed audiences with Delicatessen and dabbled in fantasy filmmaking with The City of Lost Children. The original treatment and screenplay were penned by Joss Whedon, who would later write the cult sci-fi western Firefly and its movie spin-off Serenity. And it co-stars Winona Ryder, who had recently received Oscar nominations for Little Women and The Age of Innocence. But based upon this pedigree, the kindest thing you can say about Alien Resurrection is that it is less than the sum of its parts. It lacks both the cohesion and sense of terror which previous the instalments displayed in some way, shape or form. When the film attempts to draw on some deeper issues raised by the plot, we don?t get anything like enough time or explanation to merit our patience. The rest of the time, it?s noisy, confusing, and worst of all quite boring. One of the big problems with Alien Resurrection is in the choice of director. Jeunet is a talented filmmaker, but he specialises in quirky, fantastical fables laced with offbeat humour. Here his unbridled imagination has been compressed and dumbed down, giving us a central mismatch between action and quirky comedy. In the midst of trying to set up a dark atmosphere, individual scenes are played for laughs in a way which is neither coherent nor beneficial. Why do we need Sigourney Weaver trouncing Ron Perlman at basketball, or Winona Ryder trying to drink from a mug while wearing boxing gloves? There have been many instances in which Hollywood executives have hired an arty, ?outsider? director to helm a mainstream blockbuster. Think of David Lynch?s Dune, Guillermo del Toro?s Mimic or more successfully Alfonso Cuaron?s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In most cases (Cuaron excepting), the studio uses a director?s reputation to sell the film but steadfastly overrules their ideas with regard to story or design. Elements of Jeunet?s signature style do survive: the crew of the Betty is a motley bunch of misfits with Heath Robinson technology, as in Delicatessen or Micmacs. But these elements are swamped by a mainstream-orientated blockbuster which struggles to justify its existence, let alone add anything to the series. While Aliens and Alien 3 were on one level action movies, they were intelligent in the way that they co-ordinated the action and balanced explosions with character development (even if, with Alien 3, this happened almost by accident). As a result they didn?t feel like a series of set-pieces being hastily book-ended by half-baked dialogue. Resurrection, meanwhile, is closer in structure to a video game. The plot is a very thin quest to get from A to B by going through a series of levels and avoiding monsters. The final scenes of arriving back on Earth are like the expository, triumphant little bits of video that appear after the final boss has been defeated. There has always been a debate amongst horror circles about whether it is scarier to show the monster or to withhold it. Alien proved that the latter is generally more successful, and Aliens demonstrated that just because there?s more than one monster doesn?t mean you have to constantly show it on camera. Resurrection disregards both precedents, showing so much of the aliens so early on that by the time we get to the big showdown, they?re no more scary than the sharks in the Jaws sequels. In the moments when it wants to be taken seriously, Resurrection attempts to explore issues surrounding cloning and the possibility of creating human-animal hybrids. It?s tempting to think that this was topical, given that the film was released around the time that Dolly the Sheep was created. But in fact the film is much closer to H. G. Wells? The Island of Dr. Moreau, in which a mad scientist creates such hybrids through secret vivisection. Brad Dourif?s character is clearly standing in for Moreau, being fascinated by the prospect of indestructible hybrids of humans and aliens. There are two good scenes in Resurrection which touch on this very area. The first is that of Ripley coming across the previous attempts to clone her; the version Weaver plays is the eighth time the scientists tried it. Most of the attempts are kept suspended behind glass, like the face-huggers in Aliens, but then she comes across a grotesque version of herself being kept on life support. ?It? begs Ripley to kill it, and Ripley torches the whole room through tears, just as she torches Dallas? cocoon in the extended version of Alien. The second good scene (relatively speaking) is the birth and death of Ripley?s ?son?, which conveys the blurring between human and alien and makes all that has gone before seem dryly ironic. Alien 3 explored the idea of the aliens not wanting Ripley to die, but now she is treated as one of their kind. As she slips into the queen?s clutches, their relationship is almost symbiotic, as if one species cannot live without the other. We even feel sorry for the creature as it gets sucked out into space: its death screams almost move us to tears as we feel that twisted maternal bond, and when Ripley says ?I?m sorry? we know she means it. But while these scenes make sense as self-contained sections, they are not part of a well thought-out story. In Alien, we are given a creature with a comprehensive alternative ecosystem, with acid for blood and a strong exoskeleton made of silicon. In order for the Dr. Moreau plot to work, there has to be some level of explanation as to how the hybrids can survive and where the systems cross over. Since there isn?t, we are left wondering just how Ripley can have acid for blood without it eating her from the inside out. Or for that matter, how the alien queen managed to acquire a womb but not mammary glands needed to suckle her young. More irritatingly, all the best moments in the film cover ground which has been explored before, so much so that the film should have been called Alien Regurgitation. Even the good moments essentially take all that was scary or interesting about the first three films and reproduce them in a manner which is neither scary nor interesting. A textbook example is the introduction of Leland Orser?s character who has an alien inside of him. He fulfils the John Hurt role from the first film, but without any of the magnetic screen presence of John Hurt, and when the chest-burster scene is restaged, it?s played for goofy laughs rather than deep-seated shocks. As far as the performances go, it?s a fairly even keel of mediocrity. Sigourney Weaver remains a solid screen presence, but she has very little work with and her performance is largely phoned in. Ron Perlman, who worked with Jeunet on The City of Lost Children, is completely wasted, and Winona Ryder has her moments but little more. Most bizarre of all is Brad Dourif, who delivers a performance every bit as ripe and hammy as his turn in Dune, and with an equally ridiculous haircut. Alien Resurrection is not totally rubbish: even without its two good scenes, it is a damn sight more coherent and enjoyable than the Alien vs. Predator series. But one cannot help feeling that the series deserved to end in a more dignified way than this. It dwarfs in comparison to Event Horizon or even Mimic, has very little to say that is original or interesting, and is executed in a deeply unsatisfying manner. In all it?s a dull and forgettable last instalment, which will leave even Alien completists out in the cold.

• Alexis N

  
  The best one of the whole collection. Jean-Pierre Jeunet just worked it. Tons of action. Scarier alien. More gore and goop everywhere. Winona is adorable and who doesn't like Ron Perlman?! This one is just more of everything and super fun Sci-Fi.

• Chris W

  
  This film has some issues, and it's not really a good movie, but it's not really terrible, either. I give it some bonus points (part of the rating) because I find it oddly humorous that this is directed byt the same guy that later made Amelie. I like that Joss whedon wrote… More
  This film has some issues, and it's not really a good movie, but it's not really terrible, either. I give it some bonus points (part of the rating) because I find it oddly humorous that this is directed byt the same guy that later made Amelie. I like that Joss whedon wrote this, but i have an unfortunate feeling that his wokr got tinkered with, because the stroy sees a little muddled and shakey, and I'm not really sure why it was deemed necessary to clone Ripley. I do like te look of things though, and the effects are pretty damn good. This is more violent and gory than some of the others, and it sometimes feels like that takes priority over everything else, but it is entertaining, even if it may seem kinda pointless. Weaver looks a bit bored here, but still does a good job. Ryder actually does a pretty good job, and I thought she had an interesting character. A lot of the "That Guys" in this movie, such as J.E. Freeman, Michael Wincott, Dan Hedaya, Brad Dourif, and Ron Perlman are all not bad in their respective performances. As I said, this isn't really that great, but it's not awful, so it's an okay way to kill some time without feeling guilty for not doing something else instead.

• Dead A

  
  I expected this to be as good as the other ones. But it disappointed me. Didn't like this that much. It was okay to watch.

• Jeff "

  
  Alien Resurrection is the fourth film in the franchise and is an improvement over Alien 3, which did not succeed because it lacked a tense, suspenseful atmosphere, relying exclusively on action, Alien 3 lacked the soul of the first two. However for this fourth entry, it contains… More
  Alien Resurrection is the fourth film in the franchise and is an improvement over Alien 3, which did not succeed because it lacked a tense, suspenseful atmosphere, relying exclusively on action, Alien 3 lacked the soul of the first two. However for this fourth entry, it contains action, tense, scary moments and gross out horror elements which makes Resurrection a winner. It's one of the better sequels, and is quite scary. The cast is a much better one with Michael Wincott alongside Sigourney Weaver. The film does recycle a few ideas, but in the end you're just glad that it's better than part 3. Alien Resurrection is a fine fourth entry, it has everything you'd expect from an Alien, and in the end, it's all that matters. A decent return to form.

• E.J. B

  
  (Review coming soon)

• Conner R

  
  While it isn't the disaster that is Alien 3, it still has its problems. It is a fun movie, but aside from that it isn't much. The story was weak and seemed like a desperate attempt to bring back its star. That being said, Sigourney Weaver was completely on top of her game… More
  While it isn't the disaster that is Alien 3, it still has its problems. It is a fun movie, but aside from that it isn't much. The story was weak and seemed like a desperate attempt to bring back its star. That being said, Sigourney Weaver was completely on top of her game this time around and makes Ripley even better.

• Anthony L

  
  I seem to be one of the only people who really like this film, I don't see why it killed of the Ripley side of the Alien franchise. To be fair to Jean-Pierre Jeunet, he had the hardest film in the series to follow as Ripley died in the last one, so he did a pretty good job. Sure… More
  I seem to be one of the only people who really like this film, I don't see why it killed of the Ripley side of the Alien franchise. To be fair to Jean-Pierre Jeunet, he had the hardest film in the series to follow as Ripley died in the last one, so he did a pretty good job. Sure the half Alien, half human was rubbish but apart from that it was ace! I really wish they'd follow on from this story but I think there is little chance of ever happening. Maybe the AVP series will get better? ;o)

• Gordon A

  
  Unfairly maligned entry in the saga which has great visual flair and effects and some wonderful set pieces. Admittedly, some of the dialogue is poor and it feels like a retread of 'Aliens' at times, but it doesn't deserve its reputation. (Answers on a postcard: Why… More
  Unfairly maligned entry in the saga which has great visual flair and effects and some wonderful set pieces. Admittedly, some of the dialogue is poor and it feels like a retread of 'Aliens' at times, but it doesn't deserve its reputation. (Answers on a postcard: Why would scientists capable of cloning humans keep Aliens in cells that can be eroded by their blood ?)

• Stella D

  
  there are some good ideas in this; i like the space pirates whedon would expand later for firefly. some of it's funny, almost like a sendup of the other films, but there's cheesy dialogue and acting, especially from winona. still watchable tho they prolly shoulda ended it… More
  there are some good ideas in this; i like the space pirates whedon would expand later for firefly. some of it's funny, almost like a sendup of the other films, but there's cheesy dialogue and acting, especially from winona. still watchable tho they prolly shoulda ended it with 3

• Tsubaki S

  
  Starts ok, then it's all downhill.

• Sarah G

  
  <u>Director:</u>Jean-Pierre Jeunet <u>Released:</u> 1997 <u>Stars:</u> Winona Ryder, Brad Dourif, Sigourney Weaver and Dominique Pinon <u>Genre:</u>Sci-Fi/Horror <u>Country:</u> USA <a… More
  <u>Director:</u>Jean-Pierre Jeunet <u>Released:</u> 1997 <u>Stars:</u> Winona Ryder, Brad Dourif, Sigourney Weaver and Dominique Pinon <u>Genre:</u>Sci-Fi/Horror <u>Country:</u> USA <a href="http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/sarah88_uk/?action=view¤t=Alien4-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/sarah88_uk/Alien4-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> 200 years after the conclusion of Alien 3, the company is able to resurrect Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) through the process of cloning and the scientists successfully take the Queen Alien out of her. But, Ripley's DNA gets mixed up with the Queen's and she begins to develop certain alien characteristics. The scientists begin breeding the aliens, but they later escape. Soon the Xeno-morphs are running amok on the ship, which is on course to earth. The Queen then gives birth to a deadly new breed of alien, which could spell disaster for the entire human race. It's up to Ripley and a band of space pirates to stop the ship before it reaches earth. Well this conludes my Alien marathon and I have to admit I'm extremly diasppointed. This film is unbearably bad I can't think where to begin. For a start I don't see what other users on this site saw at all. To me it seems just one big mess of a film. For start it's toally ruined my enjoyment of the stunning Alien and brilliant Aliens and it makes Alien 3 look pretty good. I think what irritated me was the fact the same thing is happening again for the forth time and it just seemed unbelievable that after blowing up a whole ship and almost a prison that the aliens somehow manged to get through and kill everyone in sight. Amazingly Ripley is re-made, cloned into some perculiar droid who has some sort of aleginace to the Aliens...and then doesn't. I mean this is a classic exapmle of a seriously flawed script and production of the film. Who in their right mind thought this is a good concept? You would think Sigourney Weaver, producer on the film and gained a salary exact to the budget of the original Alien, would have something to saw about it...clearly not. The film is very predictable. Most noticably because the exact same thing is happening again and you know exactly what is coming and who is going to do what. I could pretty much guess what the Alien was going to do before the idiotic characters. The plot is incredibly silly. Ripley cloned back to life and has somehow got an Alien inside her chest and claims to be the mother of some of the Aliens. I mean wtf? I am quite proud that I manged to get through the film because I seriously started to loose patience. The team that enter the ship...no is that right? Still not clear on what went on, seem to somehow guess that the Aliens are going to reck havoc on the ship. This is shown in the scene where Ryder's character attempts to ask Ripley to help. I mean did no-one notice this? There's also not much explanation as to why thery're there or why "The company" have decided to produce and keep several aliens for examination. Or perhaps I did loose interest from the beginning... And what's with the pathetic humour that just doesn't fit. The tensions and suspense has left this one and in comes seriously fast characterisation and camera style that jus makes you feel confused and left wondering what the fuck is going on? Winnona ryder is with ou a doubt one of my least favourite actresses who seems to play herself in every role she's been in. This is not different her droid like image just doesn't seem authetic or belibavle but at times pretty laughable. Some of the Aliens made me laugh....I mean one closes an entrances into a spaceship and one manges to open a door at one point I think. Everything about this is wrong and unbeliebably dull. I just wanted it to end as soon as possible to end my torment. The lack of suspense and the fact you've seen it all before made me prefer Alien 3 a lot. Still can't understand why people prefer this one to the 3rd. I mean at least the location of the 3rd was orginal and the plot plausable! I don't recomend this one folks. If you wanted to start watching the serious you must start with the masterpiece that is Alien (1979) and work your way to Aliens and Alien 3. I still maintain that Alien 3 is better than this and Alien is officially the best in the trilogy! Not worth your energy.....1/10

• Tim S

  
  Not the best of the series, but Jeunet's signature style makes this a great entry into the series.

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