Alien: Resurrection (1997)

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Earlier tonight I watched Alien: Covenant, and then I was like, fuck it, while I'm at it I might as well go ahead and watch the only Alien film I never saw.

So I rolled into Alien: Resurrection.

Like I said, I never saw this one and one reason for that is the fact that I have heard people shit on it over and over and over through the years. I'm not sure I've ever heard one positive word about it. But you know, now that I've seen it, I think maybe people have been a little too hard on this film.

I suspect that the reason people didn't like it when it was released is because, in a lot of ways, it doesn't FEEL like an Alien film. There's weird humor in it, Ripley is not really Ripley, the direction occasionally feels like some goofy Luc Besson shit with overly frenetic camera moves, and the ending is just fucking bizarre.

But I noted a lot of positives as well.

For one, the movie just LOOKS fucking great. In 1997 we were in this weird period where CGI was a thing and filmmakers were using it, but they had not come to rely on it completely. It was only a tool to be used when necessary and practical effects still ruled the day. And because of that, so much of this film, which mostly falls back on animatronics, miniatures, a bit of stop-motion, and sets that are mostly physical, looks really good. In a lot of ways, it looks a hell of a lot better than most sci-fi movies today do.


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I also felt like the performances were MOSTLY good across the board, and we get actors like Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman and the under-appreciated Michael Wincott.

Speaking of Winona Ryder, she makes the film better just by being on screen. There are few things as delightful to look at as a circa 1997 Winona.


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The storyline, while being a bit goofy at times, was at least interesting. And this is where I feel like Alien: Resurrection shines in comparison to something like Alien: Covenant--yes, I'm saying that A:R is better than A:C. At least with Resurrection interesting things happen and creative shit goes down on the screen. Covenant, on the other hand, is just mostly dull and feels uninspired.

I mean, why the fuck is Sigourney Weaver dunking a basketball? I'm not entirely sure, but it's at least interesting to watch.


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All in all, I thought this was a solid sci-fi thriller. It is neither a GREAT film, nor can it live up to Alien/Aliens, but it just might be a more entertaining watch than Alien 3 and I also enjoyed it more than Prometheus and Covenant. At the very least, I think it deserves more credit than most people seem willing to give it.

7/10


 
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Its better than Alien3.

That doesn't say much.
 
I watched it at the cinema when it first came out and really enjoyed it. Rewatched it two or three time and yeh, it's not as bad as some people say it is. 7/10 is about right imo
 
Gazwald said:
Rewatched it two or three time and yeh, it's not as bad as some people say it is. 7/10 is about right imo
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I suspect it's falling victim to the same curse that The Godfather III succumbed to. Everyone judged it against its predecessors. If moviegoers had instead just judged it on its own, or judged it against the entire field of sci-fi films, then they'd have realized there was some good stuff here.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I suspect it's falling victim to the same curse that The Godfather III succumbed to. Everyone judged it against its predecessors. If moviegoers had instead just judged it on its own, or judged it against the entire field of sci-fi films, then they'd have realized there was some good stuff here.
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Judged against the field it's about on the same level as Event Horizon. Good but not great. Plenty of flaws, but overall it's pretty enjoyable.
 
It was aight. A fairly enjoyable slice of hokum not much more.

It did however have one of the most incredible asses ever seen on film....

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"Goofy Luc Besson shit" is probably a good way to describe it.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I suspect it's falling victim to the same curse that The Godfather III succumbed to. Everyone judged it against its predecessors. If moviegoers had instead just judged it on its own, or judged it against the entire field of sci-fi films, then they'd have realized there was some good stuff here.
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I think Alien 3 was judged like Godfather 3, and was probably a somewhat similar falloff. Alien: Resurrection is that weird Pygmy thing in Jersey.
 
Gazwald said:
Judged against the field it's about on the same level as Event Horizon. Good but not great. Plenty of flaws, but overall it's pretty enjoyable.
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BisexualMMA said:
I think Alien 3 was judged like Godfather 3, and was probably a somewhat similar falloff. Alien: Resurrection is that weird Pygmy thing in Jersey.
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What's interesting is that apparently Joss Whedon, who wrote the script, wasn't happy with the film. Why? Because the tone was off. It seems he wanted it to be MORE lighthearted and comedic.

Why the fuck would you write an Alien film with the intention of making it light-hearted? The fuck's wrong with him?

According to the IMDB trivia:

Joss Whedon has commented on his dissatisfaction with the movie. Fans had speculated that the finished movie deviated from his original script in some fatal manner, however he put such rumors to rest. His dialogue, action and plot were essentially intact. However he had written with a playful, tongue-in-cheek tone, which didn't work when the director decided to "play it straight." Eventually, Whedon created Firefly (2002) and Serenity (2005), which was also about a group of pirates on an old space ship, and captured the tone he had aimed for in this movie.

And:

Joss Whedon was unhappy with everything about the film. He later commented in 2005: "It wasn't a question of doing everything differently, although they changed the ending; it was mostly a matter of doing everything wrong. They said the lines but they said them all wrong. And they cast it wrong. And they designed it wrong. And they scored it wrong. They did everything wrong they could possibly do. That's actually a fascinating lesson in filmmaking. Because everything they did reflects back to the script or looks like something from it. And people assume that if I hated it then they'd changed the script...but it wasn't so much they changed it, they executed it in such a ghastly fashion they rendered it unwatchable."
 
The continuity from previous Alien films in Alien: Resurrection was a complete disarray.

What the fuck happened to Weyland-Yutani?
In the film it was only mentioned that they were bought out by Walmart. wtf?
That plot device was certainly a load of bullocks!
Just picturing Walmart space labs where you can buy discounted aliens is truly hysterical!

Then they have a brilliant idea of creating a Half Human/Half Alien hybrid. Then what?
What were they trying to accomplish with that?

I'll give it some credit though!
I liked the female android that had human emotions. It was different than the norm.
The action sequences between the mercenaries and Aliens was very cool.
Ripley using her own blood as a weapon was also very interesting.
 
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I was obsessed with this film when I was younger, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit
You kinda know what your in for it's blood guts ass and aliens
What's not to like
 
I actually quite liked Alien 3. It's the only movie where the Alien wasn't sucked out of the airlock.
 
I always liked Alien Resurrection, much better than Alien 3 and Covenant.
 
The tone of this film was off. Not enough grim, claustrophobic terror. It was too Besson-y. Jaunty french irreverence is not what I want in an Alien film.

There were some cool ideas and scenes like the aliens eviscerating one of their number to escape, the underwater sequence, and Call was a cutie. But the way they brought Ripley back, the dynamic between her and the hybrid and the "Alien sex scene" left me cold.

Felt like more of a spinoff than a canon film in the series.
 
The aliens swimming underwater still scares the bejeezus out of me. Didn't know they're that agile and graceful.
 
i actually really liked alien3,it has that claustrophobic feel,and the despair of fighting something with out the weapons needed to balance things out. resurrection is not a bad film,but for me personally its the worst one in the series.
 
I like the first four movies.
Four different views on the same thing. Four different nationalities (british, canadian, american, french). Extended on three decades (from 1979 to 1997).
They are symetrical : in the first and the third, one alien, versus humans with basically no weapons. In the second and the fourth, plenty of aliens, versus heavily armed humans.
Ripley evolves beautifully : she discovered and escaped the alien in the first, she came back and face the queen in the second, she get inseminated in the third, she melted with the alien in the fourth.
 
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