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Alien Resurrection (Collector's Edition)

Alien Resurrection (Collector's Edition)

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Yelch. This movie [is bad].
Review: I was a big fan - a BIG fan of the first film, thought the second was great and the third enjoyable more in it's own right. This one though, should be put on the back of a truck and pushed down a sharp slope. Put quite simply - THIS MOVIE [is bad]. The only thing that made me watch it to the end was that it was a part of the Alien series. That's it. It has boring characters (even Ripley has nothing to make her interesting since she does nothing but sniff people and mumble), nothing scary about the aliens, just nothing, forget it. Try looking out of the window instead.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best after "Alien" (1979).
Review: I think this film is the best after the first "Alien". Great acting, good story, great action sequences, great special effects and new fresh character like Ryder. Excellent.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Emotional sledgehammer. Ick.
Review: This could easily be a decent enough movie, except I think one rather serious mistake was made. Jeunet, though I'm not familiar with his previous work, certainly seems to be very good at evoking emotions and imagery. The problem is he does it far too often here. EVERYTHING is emphasized and made to be a highstrung emotional event, no matter what the event or what the emotion. Because of this, the movie ends up like an emotional sledgehammer ("*ANGRY!* *MEAN!* *SAD!* *TRAGIC!* *DRAMATIC!*"), and quickly becomes a real strain to watch, especially since the actors seem to really have to stretch to present the story in this fashion.

This *could* have been a very good movie, if a little restraint had been employed. As it is, it takes a lot of effort to watch. (One of my friends is partially autistic, and even he couldn't stomach the sledgehammer.)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What the hell is this film DOING?
Review: This adds NOTHING to the Alien series. NOTHING. Nothing leads anywhere or seems to have any purpose. There is no reason why Ryder should be an android. The "Making of" documentary says that we begin to see in this film some greater depth to the Alien species - perceiving them as being more intelligent than the mere killing animals we are used to. But all they do in this film is roam around killing people! There is a sequence where the Aliens are being experimented on and the comment is made - "So, you're a quick learner." And nothing becomes of that!

The aliens die too easily in this film - even more easily than in Aliens. When aliens appear, (which they do one at a time at long intervals) they are destroyed instantly, and there is no acid sprayed around. The characters are even more pointlessly aggressive than in Aliens, and are not built up in any way that makes you develop sympathy or interest in them. There is no tension... with the characters moving from one large room or corridor to another there's no feeling of them being trapped.

I could go on but I don't really have the time. All in all this is a boring film which adds nothing to the Alien series. If you really need to see it, watch it with your eyes half closed so that you can pretend it was a dream.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Shameful
Review: Despite what most people have said, the fourth installment in the Aliens saga did managed to elicit strong feelings from me - namely bordeom. I could have easily (and in retrospect should have) got up and walked away after about the fiftieth time someone sprouted the now-typical action movie dialogue that is supposed to be witty or profound or something but means absolutely nothing, i.e: "You find this funny don't you?" "I find a lot of things funny now, but I don't think they are." Get back to me if you figure out what that means. It's this ridiculous predictability of the absurd that flows throughout the entire film, like a strange sort of harmony. Perhaps if you were one of the movie's titular aliens and had never seen an action flick before, you might be saying things like "They're going underwater. Oh-no, the aliens can swim TOO! Who'd have thought?" or "The hatch won't close. Yikes, there's an alien ON THE SHIP! I never would have guessed!", but I don't think so. Confounding this, I couldn't for the life of me figure out who I was to root for: the impossibly slimy alien puppets/poorly rendered CG images, or the murderous, foul-mouthed, lecherous band of grimy space-pirate-trucker guys. It doesn't help the fact that Sigourney Weaver's character, the one person you could ALWAYS root for in at least the first two movies, spends half the film sniffing people and mumbling, and the other half making love to alien warriors. Hey, great. But the worst part of it all was that the filmmakers assumed the viewer would have the intelligence of, say, a post-it note. Every stereotype was shoved blatantly down the viewer's throat, just in case they couldn't figure it out themselves: he's walking down a silent hallway for about a half an hour; its scary, get it? They're playing god, so they're being killed, get it? This mentality sort of sums up the entire yawn-inducing ordeal. It's an Aliens movie, so its good, get it? No, I'm afraid I don't.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: ATROCIOUS
Review: Even worse than Alien 3, and that's quite an accomplishment as far as bad movies go. Below sub-par acting, a forgetable cast and terrible special effects. This movie disgraces the Alien franchise. The plot is horrible. Ripley should have stayed dead. Alien 3 should have brought closure to this series before they could screw it up more, but it is too late. With no relevance to any of the previous Alien movies, this seems more along the lines of a poor side-story or an 'original adventure' than an actual sequel to one of Science Fiction's greatest. The Aliens do not resemble ANYTHING similar to what they looked like in the previous movies, poorly explained by the rather lame idea of a combination of Alien and Human genes. These creatures are more along the lines of 'Dinaliens' (Combo of Dinosaur and Alien), as they walk like and nearly look like the dreaded Velociraptors from another classic, Jurassic Park. The roaring of the beasts is also clearly out of character of the aliens, as they wre more well known for their hissing and frightening screeching. The movie gets steadily worse, as one of the scariest creatures in Sci Fi history, the Alien Queen herself, is shown as a horrible cross breed of human and alien genes, with a new method of 'birthing' aliens. You'll see what I mean, and probably turn the movie off by that time. The final creature is even worse. My recommendation is to not buy this movie. And if you feel you must see it, turn it off about an hour and 20 minutes in so you miss the worst parts. One of the worst movies i've seen in a long time, i strongly recommend AVOIDING AT ALL COSTS.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Underrated.
Review: This film is hardly as bad as others claim. It has some of the best effects of the series, colorful and distinct characters, great performances (Michael Wincott, Ron Pearlman, Dan Hedaya, J.E. Freeman), memorable action scenes, some of the best lines since ALIENS, excellent musical score, and visually impressive cinematogrophy and sets. I especially like how the aliens are portrayed as living, thinking creatures rather than mindless killers like in the second and third films. The only thing that detracts from this spectacular sci-fi thriller is Weaver's completely flat and uninspired performance as the new Ripley. Overall, not as good as one or two, but just as good as three. The Alien series is still going strong.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: And the Alien series sold out like a b@@@h!
Review: This is not only the worst one of the series (and by far) but also one of the most pointless poor excuses to make franchise money I have ever seen!!! Why destroy the recordnized work of art of the first three movies with this blockbuster crap?! Where is the mood beautifully put on celluloid for the other movies? Where is character adaptation? Where is the human emotive description we all loved this series for? This all pointless gun toting crap for testosterone filled (in their brains) fans who where shamefully disapointed by the wonderful Alien3. Being a BIG fan I will never forget of how excited I was before going to watch this movie, living in the States at the time I had a chance to see this on it's opening day... well I was reminded of the criminal stunts pulled on fans by American studio executives with small harts but big pockets... from Ripley having sex with the Alien to that incredibly stupid last monster I couldnt belive I had to remind myself I was watching a movie of the series... I was hoping somebody at the end of the movie would jump out and say "OK you all it was a joke smile in the camera hidden over there and now enjoy the real movie". Somethig very important to me was scared and it will never shine the same no more. Thanks for destroying the credential this movie earned over more than two decades.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Ending Ruins the Movie.
Review: I was disappointed by ALIEN 3. That movie's nihilistic deconstructionist view of life ruined everything that had been built by the first two films (I couldn't help but think that Frank Miller had a part in the movie's creation). After the dismal ALIEN 3, I was hoping for a better movie in ALIEN RESURRECTION and wasn't too disappointed. I knew that as part of the plot, Ripley had been cloned and unlike some, was not upset by that. Ripley is one tough cookie and though she died a hero's death in ALIEN 3, it's nice to see her get another chance.

I thoroughly enjoyed ALIEN RESURRECTION until the last twenty minutes of the film. Granted the plot was true to the formula of a usual Hollywood sci-fi action flick. Nevertheless, there is a lot that made this film better than the last Alien film. Ripley's back with Alien DNA that gives her some very useful gifts, there are a few interesting twists (what is Winona Ryder's character hiding), and we get to see the Aliens swimming underwater. However, the last twenty minutes of the film ruined all the good points of the movie. I won't give the ending away, but those last twenty minutes turned the film into a live action cartoon. I guess the writers got lazy at the end, giving their job to the special effects people and this is the sfx team's way of getting back (movie- making fact: one great way to ruin any movie is to have cheesy effects, unless of course you're making a cheesy movie).

Overall, ALIEN RESURRECTION is a decent sci-fi film. As part of the Alien franchise, it doesn't compare to the first two films, but brings some hope back into the series after the bleak ALIEN 3.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terrible. Imagine your worst and think worse.
Review: Bringing back Ripley as a human/alien combination could have been an interesting idea. Since a "dog" alien appeared in Alien3 (though seemingly without any purpose besides showing off early computer special effects and to make a new, faster alien so as not to simply repeat the premise of Alien), there is every likelihood that the Alien species might somehow interfere with the genes of its carrier. No depth of this is explored in Alien Resurrection however, and we are left to guess. Some of us might presume that the makers of this film simply used the idea to bring Weaver back into the dead series. Perhaps.

To get to the point, this film is, in my opinion, no stronger than any of the other typical Hollywood Blockbusters churned out one after the other these days. As such, it is inappropriate for the Alien series. The film is built upon the premise of setting people on a journey (escaping from the ship), which involves putting them in trouble along the way. Like the plotlines of Scooby Doo, a little tension emerges (but not much) - will they escape this time? - but nothing exists to generate the kind of breath-held anticipation one expects from the Alien series. We are merely led to somebody pulling out a gun, and with a teenager-like one-word or line quip, the alien or aliens explode with an ease never before witnessed with this species.

One simple example illustrates this perfectly. Imagine, if you will, the introduction of a character who seems to serve no real purpose, other than to help make up the team that tries to escape the ship with Ripley. Imagine as well that for some reason he is able to shoot bullets off objects and around corners with an alarming accuracy. This is demonstrated once, and then we promptly forget as the film moves on. The characters argue and bicker, we discover a few things here and there, like who the android is in this film, and then suddenly the crew are in danger. Underwater, nearly drowning, with alien eggs opening up ready to release face huggers. And damn it, the eggs are around a corner - how will they get out of THIS mess? Oh yes, of course, thank god for the man who can shoot bullets around corners with an alarming accuracy. He does it first time - hooray! So now the characters can move on to their next terrifying ordeal. That character's special skill was never re-incorporated. Other examples of this sort abound.

The indestructable form of the aliens, once the trademark of the films and the essence of so much of the previous excitement, has gone. The characters here are so dull I care so little about the evolution. If the whole ship had exploded mid-film (even mid-sentence) and we had been introduced to a whole new concept I would not have cared.

Perhaps you are curious about the film. But I would say save your money. More excitement can be found in your average half-hour of Scooby Doo.


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