Alien Resurrection (1997)

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Accidentally stumbled into Alien 4 (Resurection). Remembered it as a watered down version. But I enjoyed it beyond expectations, although the ending seems a little cheap. Maybe they ran out of money because the special effects at the end are somewhat cheesy, but as a whole Alien 4 has almost the same energy and feel as Alien 2 (Aliens). The acting is particularly good in Alien 4. Better than in 2 and 3. I loved the stereotyped characters. The music is glorious as it should be. The effects are deliberately scaled down to gritty and dark, which is the way I like it. The first half of this movie is just as in the other versions the best part, because of the building up of the suspense. However once the monsters are beginning to attack it sort of demystifies the suspense and the action is not as well visually portrayed as has been done before, probably caused by the studios refusal to invest more money. This was a shock for the director who expected a bigger budget. But if you can look past some very cheap backsets and cheap explosions than the action, story and acting are enjoyable.Alien 4 was co produced by Sigourney Weaver so it is safe to assume she has had some influence on the story. She always had said before that she wanted to "mate" with the monster in another sequel. And that "mating" with the monster is what makes Alien 4 so special. Sigourney Weaver has become the mother of the monsters in Alien 4. Alien 4 has got some great humoristic oneliners that wouldnt look bad in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. The jokes are good so they add to the general funny feel of this Alien version.All in all a very enjoyable light Alien version but certainly not the best. But I like it more than Alien 3. Too bad for the cheap ending otherwise this 4th sequel could have been as enjoyable as some of the other editions.

One of the longest running modern day horror franchises, "Alien" is a fascinating beast in the world of entertainment and media. With its humble origins as a quiet, slow-burn sci-fi thriller, the series evolved through sequels and spin-offs into something else entirely. Whether it be through James Cameron's exquisite action-extravaganza "Aliens", or the Paul W.S. Anderson schlock-tastic crossover "AVP: Alien VS Predator", or even series co-creator Ridley Scott's own pseudo- philosophical quasi-prequel "Prometheus"... "Alien" has changed and evolved quite a bit over the past forty years.But one release in particular has attracted an almost unanimous scorn and unending ridicule from all over the fanbase. A film that's so reviled, it's almost become a prerequisite that you're just expected to hate it. That being 1997's "Alien: Resurrection"- a strange little footnote in the series that tries its hardest but never quite comes together into much of anything. An attempt to turn the series around after the mixed reception garnered by "Alien 3", this fourth film aims for the stars, but stumbles and falls flat on its face. Although, if I am to be completely honest... I actually don't mind it too much. It's silly, but quite amusing and thrilling, with stylish visual direction and plenty of laughs and thrills to go around. Yes, "Resurrection" might be a mindless and trite exercise in style over substance... but it's also bold and extraordinarily entertaining. It's a ton of fun, even if it is objectively a "bad movie."Two-hundred years after the events of the previous film, scientists working for the military successfully clone Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the queen embryo she had been impregnated with, intent on allowing the alien life-form to reproduce so that they might study its race. This "new" Ripley has retained some faint memories of her former life thanks to genetic memory, but as a result of the cloning process, has also taken on some characteristics of the dreaded "xenomorph" species. When the offspring of the alien queen manage to escape, however, Ripley is forced to team up with a group of mercenary space-pirates (including Ron Perlman, Winona Ryder) in order to escape. Along the way, she will uncover startling and deadly revelations about the project that brought her back to life, and come face to face with a devilish new threat...Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet from a script by the world-renowned geek-god Joss Whedon, "Resurrection" does so much right that it's frankly a shame it's so routinely dismissed without much thought. It's essentially an incredibly slick and exceedingly well-made crappy B-movie. The plot is ridiculous. The characters silly and archetypal. And it's filled to burst with nonstop gore and effects. But it's made with a massive budget, an A-list cast and comes from a wildly talented director with a clear vision. Even on a pure aesthetic level, it's one of the most striking films of the franchise, with Jeunet's wonderful eye for flow and composition delivering many incredible set-pieces and designs that'll stick with you. It's just a gorgeous film all around.The cast is an absolute blast, with Weaver once again knocking it out of the park. Especially as this "new" Ripley also goes through some fascinating changes that both allow Weaver to stretch her acting chops... and have some fun chewing the scenery from time to time. Perlman and Ryder are good fun as members of a space-pirate team, with Perlman in particular being a good fit for the franchise. He's a criminally underrated performer and it's a joy seeing him on- screen. We also get small but fun turns from the likes of Brad Dourif, Dan Hedaya and Michael Wincott, and all serve the film quite well. The effects and action are top-notch for the time, with many sequences still holding up quite well to this day. An underwater chase-scene and a trippy climactic battle against a potential new threat in particular being eye-popping and absolutely jaw-dropping. And the wonderful cinematography and almost amniotic musical score add much to every single scene.But yeah... despite that praise, the film does have a lot of problems. Like I said above- it's basically a big-budget B-movie filled with the tropes and archetypes you'd expect, and it doesn't fit in with the rest of the series quite well. Unless you're willing to forgive a lot and go with the flow, you're not gonna have a good time with "Resurrection." There has been a lot of talk of how Whedon disowned the film and felt his script wasn't translated properly to screen, and I could definitely see shades of that. For all the amazing things he does, Jeunet seems less interested with story and more interested in increasingly psychotic visuals. And if you're looking for anything more than surface-level entertainment, you'll be sadly let-down.But me? I take movies for what they are and what they aspire to be. It's clear everyone involved on-screen is having a lot of fun. It's clear that Jeunet is trying to build a wild thrill-ride of a monster-movie. And it's clear that this is a film more concerned with crazed displays of gore and effects than a cohesive story. And you know what? I had a lot of fun with it. It's technically a "bad" movie, but to me... it's a FUN bad movie. And I'm giving it slightly above average 6 out of 10. Give it another shot with an open mind. It just might surprise you how enjoyable "Alien: Resurrection" really is.

Alien ResurrectionThe hardest part of mixing human and alien DNA is picking the right mood music.Regrettably, the scientists in sci-fi thriller don't divulge which slow-jams were successful.When a ship of mercenaries (Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon) docks at a military vessel to drop off stasis bodies for scientific experiments, they recognize a familiar face. Despite being dead for 200 years, military heroine Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) appears alive, well and enhanced with alien attributes, including acidic blood.The mercs eventually discover that there are other genetically engineered aliens aboard and that the infested ship is headed straight for Earth.Thanks to French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, this third sequel in the Alien franchise manages to stand on its own merits, despite sharing similarities with its predecessors. With strong female leads and creative visuals this unsung sequel deserves revisiting. However, the real horror show doesn't start until the human/alien in-laws meet.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

A one-off goofy, campy, B-movie comic book throw-away Alien universe film. One last ride but knowing full well the Ripley saga was truly wrapped up in the last one. Again though, as is the case with this franchise, this film has its own personality, look, feel and genre to call its own.Ripley is a superhero now, and she's explained as emotionally autistic so as to not question why she's so benign the whole film (it's clear Whedon knew not to have her slinging quips the whole film, but he didn't know what else to do with her so he turned her into a superhero, surprise). Whedon apparently complained about the delivery of his lines in this film but I don't know. I think most of the actors are game and his dialogue is just OK.The bigger problems are the lazy plotting (really, 200 years in the future the company still wants an Alien and they still weren't prepared for acid blood? or had a contingency plan in place...) and the lack of characterization of Ripley. There's nowhere else to take her. The only interesting thread involves Ripley kind of becoming an Alien queen at the end (there's mention of cross hybrid DNA) but this an end game play and it's interesting, it's just too bad it doesn't take up more room in the overall film.Jeunet is not suspense generator, nightmare-maker, or an action stager. He has some pretty sets, and does well with the beautiful Alien special effects (not the CGI though, shudder). The only indelible image in the whole thing is the final shot of the new white Alien thing getting sucked out of a tiny hole. That looks painful, and it's harrowing to watch - notice that Ripley is almost crying seeing it. It's almost like the film made Ripley a mom again only to have her rip it away from herself, but I'm not entirely sure the film understood that, or knew what to do with it.