Alien Resurrection [Blu-ray] [1997]

Alien Resurrection is better than Alien3, but still has a weak plot and characters. Its action's good; it has more in common with disaster films like Deep Blue Sea, so despite its failure as an Alien sequel it works on its own terms. If you want a simple gory thriller Resurrection delivers.
200 years after Alien3 scientists at a military outpost clone Ripley from a blood sample so they can extract an alien from her. If you've seen Alien3 you'll wonder how and why they did this (and why if they were going to it took them 200 years) but they did, so now Ripley's back, I think. I'm not sure if it's really the same Ripley from before. Whatever. The filmmakers needed Sigourney Weaver to draw fans in, I guess, so this is their reason. There's also some mercenaries, including Winona Ryder and Ron Perlman. I like Ryder as an actress, and though she isn't challenged here I think she does well. I'm also a big fan of Weaver, who in a way helps save this material; another lead might have pushed it further into mediocrity. Her and Ryder have a few bonding scenes, which is an Alien staple; there's always one character to soften Ripley, from her cat in Alien to Newt and Charles Dance in the sequels. It isn't exactly compelling this time, but it's handled better than in Alien3.
The most amusing performance, however, is Brad Dourif's as a weirdo scientist. Dourif is a bit like Christopher Walken: you don't know why he's here, but he's so entertaining that you don't care.
This is probably the goriest Alien film. Some of the deaths are nicely creative and gross, even if very contrived. There's quite a lot of blood and goo. That said, this film shares one of Alien3's problems: the aliens don't have much personality. Resurrection establishes them as intelligent, but unlike in the first two films they don't seem sly or predatory. They behave like sharks or slashers, sneaking up on characters when the plot requires them too, but otherwise not serving much purpose.
For fans of the series Alien Resurrection is worth getting, however, and if you like gory thrillers this one will do. Just don't expect the spark of genius which drove Alien and Aliens.

This is the forth and probably least popular film in the Alien franchise among fans but still a very cool sci-fi withy a lot to offer, the story is very good with the resurrection not only of the Aliens themselves but also their mother Ripley!! The practical effects in this movie are awesome yet some CGI shots are a tad cheap which lets it down a little, the cast is brilliant yet the acting is sometimes a bit no brainer! The ending is completely messed up and pretty good but not the best in the franchise, still worth getting as it is part of the big picture and is great fun anyway.

Actually a very mixed bag but overall an enjoyable film, while not touching on the first 2's uber-greatness. There are a million things wrong with this but also so much else that is right.

The humour is part of the director's milieu but is misplaced in most scenes where it is attempted. Also, the script has some terribly forced one-liners. But the cast are all great and the new 'nasty' Ripley works well against the xenomorph-fodder that arrives. Winona Ryder's Call (?) is ok but she uses some very hammy acting in parts, and it's a little too much to expect the audience to be surprised by another droid; it seems to be slowly part of an overall franchise motif. The CGI is poor in places but the model work is beyond reproach. The aliens have not looked better, but also have not looked worse either.

The plot is basically a retread of all of the past movies. It is a base-under-siege movie; the Auriga being the lonely outpost this time instead of the prison facility on a dead planet from 3, the terraforming plant from 2 and the Nostromo from the original. But it does have some differences such as the amount of survivors at the end of the film being greatly more. And the twist of the aliens being slightly more cerebral gives the franchise a much needed boost freshness. Also the bond between the alien queen and Ripley comes full circle and their bodies merge; however this almost makes Weaver's character impervious to peril as she is so well equipped to live. But it is interesting for the queen as now she can 'give birth' instead of laying eggs. Still, is this the franchise we know and love? We've come to get a kick out of the eggs hatching and the face-huggers are iconic in film lore. Thankfully it seems that that idea stopped here.

2 more aspects struck me as combative to a viewer. The underwater scene was great but implausible. Ripley could be believed to have the ability to hold her breath and even fight for a few minutes but most of the rest of the survivors should have perished by drowning. Saying that, it is a film about killer aliens set in a space station hundreds of years in the future, starring the universe's first alien/human hybrid clone, so....

The last good/bad thing was the 'birthed' alien. I wasn't sure whether it was scary or laughable. Sometimes it's both. It depends on the mood. However, it was a brave move. I'm all for pushing the boundaries and forcing franchises to expand and evolve but you do have to be careful. Audiences like their franchises as they have always known them. Food for thought.

All that said, it has more good stuff than bad stuff. Some of the deaths are brilliantly realised and heroically over the top. This is proper bubblegum Alien; not too cerebral, not too dumb, the right amount of scares, lots of action, lots of explosions and plenty of flat one-liners. Yee-Haw!