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569 comments in total

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107 out of 148 people found the following comment useful :-
The Fatal Mistake., 9 February 2006

Author: lordblackburn13 from United States

Review 4 of 4

With Alien 3 closing the story arc of the Alien trilogy, this film begins with a fresh slate. The Alien films have always been a director's series but in this film it was the writing that ultimately killed it. Resurrection tries to be too many things at once. It has a very artistic and dynamic visual style, but cardboard characters. It has a very overt sense of humor, but it is all done in a very juvenile manner. Much of the maturity and restraint of the previous three films is thrown out in favor of a more comic book style. The cinematography and set design is gorgeous to the point of decadence. Sigourney Weaver has been given an interesting character to play and does it with a strange sense of detachment that lends more depth to the proceedings than the script ever could. Thinking back, the first three films all had very solid overall stories and well developed characters while Resurrection has a very solid concept but can't seem to build a coherent movie around it. If you follow the overall themes of the series with the first, second and third being birth, life, and death respectively that leaves Resurrection on shaky thematic ground. Since this is Alien: RESURRECTION obviously the filmmakers wished for rebirth to be the theme, but somehow it never quite works. The characters are basically action movie clichés, and the action sequences of the movie are hopelessly contrived. Why does the Alien always stop to snarl before it attacks giving people just enough time to shoot it? Alien 3 did not have this problem and it reinforced how dangerous the creature really was. Resurrection turns the Aliens into monsters from a B-movie. Very few scenes in the film are particularly memorable. Sure, the underwater chase is a nice bit of action derring-do, but there's no real sense of danger...except for the supporting characters you barely know who get killed in the reverse order they appear in the credits. Two fantastic scenes that I wish there were more of in the film are the doctor's examination of the Aliens where he "plays" with them. Now that was a scene of inspired genius. The other scene was when Ripley wakes up in her circular chamber. It is interesting to note that neither of these scenes have any dialogue, because the dialogue is pretty atrocious. Ron Pearlman is always fun to watch and makes a good comic duo with Dominique Pinon, but Winona Ryder absolutely kills this movie with her nonperformance. The effects look less realistic this time out and the score at times seems to try too hard to emulate the second and third films with Goldsmith's original Alien theme being used on several occasions. The film is a brilliant exercise in dynamic visuals but the story really does not go anywhere. Unlike the first three films this one does not take itself seriously at all so the danger level becomes nonexistent. I believe Jean-Pierre Jeunet was an excellent choice for a director but the script served him very badly. This is an interesting film to watch for an interesting scene here and there but not in the same league as the previous films.

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171 out of 291 people found the following comment useful :-
Vastly underrated, stop bitching, will ya?!, 25 May 2003

Author: glopglop from Switzerland

OK. We've all been frightened to death in our youth with 'ALIEN'. A year or two later we shat our pants once more when Cameron delivered what is probably the best 2nd part sequel ever ('ALIENS'). We then all got more slightly more mature over the years and had different perceptions of Fincher's ALIEN3: some of us thought it too little of a splatter movie while others complained about it's still being a rip-off of the original. Now then, there's no question about us people in the +30 age group, is there? We simply must see ALIEN RESURRECTION, don't we? The whole saga has become part of our personal history and seeing Lt Ripley dealing with Giger's creation makes us feel young again. I'm ever so glad Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a director who, just as the rest of us, has grown from teen to twen to adult with the ALIEN-trilogy's impact on his creative soul. He doesn't copy, he doesn't steal, he doesn't try a rip-off of any kind. Instead, he carries the story further, he introduces tongue-in-cheek-moments while at the same time delivering a true, suspenseful actionmovie that is very well worth seeing. I don't understand the ranting going on on this page. ALIEN RESURRECTION fulfils all expections, both storywise and visually. For an action flick, the cast is beyond criticism. ALIEN RESURRECTION is to be judged for what it wants to be - an entertaining modern fairy tale, a horror action movie, a splatter for the masses. In these categories, it delivers 9 out of 10.

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119 out of 192 people found the following comment useful :-
Alien=suspense, Aliens=action, Alien³=tragedy, Alien Resurrection=gore, 14 August 1998

Author: Pluto-3 from Quebec, Canada

Although it's got major flaws and some plot holes, I find myself liking Alien Resurrection a lot. First of all, I'm a sucker for horror and sci-fi movies. Second, I LOVE the Alien series, although Alien³ was a bit offbeat in the action department. Third, Sigourney Weaver is incredibly menacing as a cloned Ripley. She's always great to see on screen but this was truly something to behold. and last but not least, I loved the storyline, how they brought the genetic aspect so cleverly. It was truly a new twist on the series, although I wouldn't qualify A:R as a REAL episode in the Alien series but rather a new begining. Jean-Pierre Jeunet did a great job in bringing his fantastic style to Hollywood. The creatures were cool and scary although I wish we had seen more of the Queen; we still had the horrific Newborn which was truly demonic. Anyway, despite it's flaws, it's still a great film, although it will never be a classic like Alien and Aliens are. Now if only there could be a fifth one with a better script, more character development and more firepower.

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53 out of 69 people found the following comment useful :-
Some perspectives on Alien: Resurrection, 10 August 2007

Author: laika-lives from United Kingdom

The Auteurist Perspective - The most unorthodox way of viewing this picture is as a kind of formalist exercise. Jean-Pierre Jeunet has talked about his desire to make a film tailored exactly to the format of a Hollywood action movie, even going so far as to count the number of cuts and camera set-ups in the blockbusters he watched for research. Everything in the movie may be taking place within quotation marks, as in the melodramas of Douglas Sirk or, more obliquely, Gus van Sant's 'Psycho'. The film wants to be both an archetypal big sci-fi action movie whilst simultaneously a pastiche of the form. The gorgeously overblown shot of Ripley and Call standing amid the clouds at the film's close certainly suggests a playful tweaking of blockbuster bombast. However, the 'Alien' series may not be the most appropriate place for this experiment; the series is far more defined by spaces and silences than by frenetic action of the Bruckheimer variety. Even James Cameron's 'Aliens' is surprisingly slow in its build-up; by contrast, Resurrection's relentless pace becomes oddly monotonous and the film loses the distinctive texture Jeunet brings to it.

The Whedonite Perspective - The problems with the script are mostly additions or changes to Joss Whedon's original (which is available online). Whedon rightly made Ripley's resurrection the backbone for the story, finding new things to do with a character many believed had reached the end of her life, both literally and creatively. He also carefully fleshed out the supporting characters just enough to keep them interesting. There are small problems even in his original script - Purviss is sidelined when his predicament demands imaginative exploration, and the narrative is more linear than you'd expect from this writer. But it's the feeble alterations that damage the film - reducing characters like Hillard (in particular) to cyphers, changing the ending so the audience never gets to see earth (the only place, as Whedon instinctively understood, that the climax could possibly take place), and removing a lot of the texture of the setting, like the marijuana fields. 'I'm a stranger here myself' should have been one of the great closing lines in movie history, up there with 'Tomorrow is another day' and 'Shut up and deal', but the dialogue (Whedon's great strength) is mangled by a director working in his second language, and who seems to be paying more attention to the lighting anyway.

The Cynical Perspective - The 'Alien' series is, by this point, a cash cow that everyone involved wants to milk until it bleeds. 'Alien3' ended Ripley's story with an unflinching finality that 'Resurrection' can only cheapen, no matter how good it is. The hiring of a cult french director is a sop to the critics who lionise Scott and Fincher's contributions - and whilst prior instalments were filmed in England, this production was mounted in LA, for the convenience of everyone involved. It wouldn't do to make too much of an effort on what is, after all, the latest sausage on the string. The suits' only concern is the opening weekend; hence Winona, shoehorned in just in case Sigourney's box office draw is waning.

The Aesthetic Perspective - John Frizzell's score is the fourth classic in a row for the series; both lushly romantic and queasily menacing, it gives the film its own distinctive flavour. The production design is bold and distinctive, with perhaps a hint of playful parody (the sickly green light, the mad scientist outfits, the giant glass jars in the lab); the film looks like a comic strip version of its predecessors. Some of the direction is highly effective - the underwater sequence is devastatingly beautiful. The problem is the slightly over-ripe grotesquerie Jeunet brings out in the material, particularly in the way the cast is shot (Dominique Pinon looks like a malevolent garden gnome, Dan Hedaya resembles a sweaty gendarme). It sits uneasily with the straightforward disaster movie plot. The biggest miscalculation on the production front, however, is the Newborn. The thinking behind it - to give it an expressive face and thus complicate Ripley's (and our) emotional response to it - is sound enough, but it doesn't really come off in the finished creature, which looks like moldy old tissues clinging to a pipe-cleaner frame. Whedon's original conception of a white, red-veined alien of the traditional design might have worked more effectively, although even that might not have survived the aesthetic indignity of its impossible demise, getting sucked into space as a string of alien linguine.

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86 out of 142 people found the following comment useful :-
Alien Resurrection is Slightly Underrated, 5 March 2005

Author: my_name_is_aoshi_of_the_oniwaban from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Audiences are automatically drawn to dislike sequels, which is understandable. I had the fortune to see all four movies in one sitting and this movie was just another part of the series, as it should be. I can see some of the arguments against it. It has some weak parts and is definitely different than the others but this one has its own powerful message and actually ends on a happier note.

While I agree its the weakest of the series I don't believe it "sucks". It's not scary like the original and isn't as action-packed as the second. It's most closely related the the third one but it's its own story. I think it adds a whole new depth to the character of Ripley.

If you like the first three Alien movies there's no reason why you should not enjoy Alien Resurrection.

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57 out of 94 people found the following comment useful :-
Meaning in the chaos, 13 September 1999
Author: Famulous from Northern California USA

Jeunet is a unique visual genius, and purveyor of rare pathos. What may be truly unique about Alien: Resurrection is the scene wherein Ripley discovers the 7 "mistakes" that preceded her. It is one of the most powerful, terrifying and ultimately beautiful scenes I have ever experienced in a film. The "please kill me" segment pops up in other scenes, perhaps other films in the series, and certainly other films in general, but where has one witnessed the great suffering of a version of oneself and the "chance" to end that person's suffering? Weaver plays the scene with just the right amount of emotional chaos. Jeunet typically softens the end of the scene with Ron Perlman's "must be a chick thing" comment, but thankfully that humorous interjection is no more jarring that a slight Shakespearean comic relief. Another terrifying-poignant-grand guignol, and perhaps a unique situation in film (mother killing son and being a hero for it) with the Newborn getting sucked out of the cargo window, one glob of flesh at a time, is also a visually stunning and beautiful realization of the ultimate, primal connection between Ripley and the beast, and the uncomprehending shock and horror the beast experiences when he realizes his own "mother" won't save him. I think Jeunet perfectly handled the movie: the humor, goofier than any in the previous episodes in the series, shows a very European director confident enough in his own style to inject a sacred cow with some sweet cream.

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33 out of 47 people found the following comment useful :-
Don't think of it as an Alien film, 9 March 2006

Author: Josh-is-not-you from United States

Don't think of Alien Resurrection as an Alien film, but rather a Joss Whedon film. Yes it's different. But the others are separate types of movies also. Alien is a creepy monster thriller. Aliens is an action movie. Alien3 is a goth nightmare gone wrong. Alien Resurrection is a Whedon film. Me being a big fan of Firefly/Serenity and his Astonishing X-Men comic book series loved this film dearly. Yes it may require some thinking to understand, due to the cloning and cross-breeding stuff. But it isn't bad to have Hollywood make you think with an action/horror movie. If you think of this a different kind of movie I think you'll enjoy it like I did. But if you are looking for the same kind of movie a before you might a well pass this one.

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48 out of 77 people found the following comment useful :-
Oh Ridley, where art thou? (or even David Fincher?), 14 July 2001

Author: jimbofletch from London, England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Why? I'll ask that question again. WHY? Why was this film ever made? The original Alien is a masterpiece. No doubt. Aliens is the perfect sequel. Alien 3 is flawed, but visually inventive and it makes some interesting developments from the first two films in terms of drama and character. Alien Resurrection is a cash-in. Of course, most sequels are, but this one doesn't even attempt to hide the fact that it is one. It feels, lazy, hackneyed, tired and lethargic. There is no tension, not even in the underwater sequence that everyone raved about (simply because it was too difficult for the fans to believe that an Alien film could be utterly devoid of merit, suspense or interest). The Ripley character looks bored, and is now so outrageously arrogant as to become a cheap parody of her strong female status. Now she is so overwhelmingly macho it just looks stupid. The other characters are pitifully written. The first two Alien films had characters you cared about, and even the third film managed to make some of the victims (tough job considering they were all murderers) sympathetic. But here, all they do is make bad jokes and totally dispel any possible tension by spouting ridiculous dialogue. And for a film in which all the characters do is run away, there is no atmosphere of tension or sense of danger. This is

due to a lame script and uninvolved direction. The special effects are mostly poor, especially in the end, and is a further testament to the overall badness of CGI.

There is only one mildly diverting sequence, when Ripley sees all of her clones in the laboratory and burns them down in a moment of grief. Some attempts of character development, but in retrospect, the sequence just feels throwaway, just a bit of filler in between the next inevitable death. It is also doesn't help that the emotion of the scene is ruined by the line "Women..." by the stereotypically mysognist bonehead played by that moron out of Beauty and the Beast.

Finally. Winona Ryder. She is terrible in this! Of course (SPOILER), she's a robot, but that's just something defenders of her unexplainable star status say to avoid admitting the fact that she is bad in this. Very bad.

If Alien 3 was a pale imitation of Alien (albeit not a bad one), then this is a TV movie copy of Aliens. It looks rubbish, has no reason to exist, and completely destroys the credibility of one of the most interesting SF film series ever. For what once was a classic trilogy, has now become a franchise.

As stupid as Alien Versus Predator seems, it can't be as bad as this.

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51 out of 83 people found the following comment useful :-
It might disappoint you and here's why..., 29 September 2005

Author: AMIO-PatricioMunoz from Toronto, Ontario

The first three Alien films have a unique kind of "magic" about them that I think make up the ideal Alien experience.

It is the "ALIEN" atmosphere: The first three films depict a very real world around a mysterious and terrifying ALIEN creature that you feared along with the well developed characters.

Alien Resurrection has a very different flavor. Although it has some serious moments, there are several areas of this film that are out-of-place in both the film and the saga: Alien Resurrection has a number of humorous scenes which I feel take away from the above described overall ALIEN experience. The director goes straight into the action very quickly in this film so the only well developed character is Ripley. I think that the Alien creature loses a lot of its majesty in this film mostly because of these two critical factors.

It is still a must-see film for any Alien fan. It is full of strong cinematic sequences that resonate in your head long after the film is over.

But go in expecting something different.

Enjoy!

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66 out of 116 people found the following comment useful :-
In space, no one can hear you sigh, 25 February 1999
Author: pooch-8 from Fargo, North Dakota

Alien Resurrection is the most radical departure in the series that has now spanned centuries in its own universe and nearly twenty years of our own earth time. Gone is the meticulously constructed suspense of Ridley Scott's 1979 original. Gone is the heart-stopping pulse of uncannily staged action from James Cameron's 1986 sequel. Gone is the Ripley who cried and fought and bled and sacrificed her own life to save the world from the horror she very nearly unleashed in David Fincher's atmospheric and underrated Alien 3. Instead, we get the all-new Ripley: cynical, sardonic, and ready with a wisecrack or a fist for anyone who crosses her path. Director Jeunet unfortunately seems to bask in self-parody, and this is where the film goes wrong. He serves up plenty of nasty evisceration and gruesome chest-bursting, but by now we have seen so much of the creatures that they are no longer terrifying. Still, I have a lasting affection and fascination with this series -- and Jeunet Alien is better than no Alien.

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