ALIEN RESURRECTION
SPECIAL EDITION

 

 

"I'm its mother"

Ripley

200 years have past since the death of Lt. Ellen Ripley (Weaver) but when the crew of The Betty deliver their cargo to the military vessel they find her alive and well but something does appear right about this Ripley. The crew find out that she is in fact a genetic clone but she wasn't the real subject of the cloning process, the military scientists had more sinister motivations. Now they have their Queen and the cargo the crew had brought in were people who are about to get introduced to her eggs.

After killing off Ripley in a blaze of glory at the end of Alien3, the franchise is resurrected for a fourth outing. The problem is that is should have really remained dead.

The third Alien movie wasn't great but compared to this it is a masterpiece. The film is a complete mess that tries to restart a franchise but totally lacks the invention to do it. Gifted French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet follows in the tradition of Ridley Scott, James Cameron and David Fincher of Fox inviting visual, breakthrough directors to guide the Alien films in new directions but despite the film's unquestioned visual flare, the story is completely lacking.

Writer Joss Whedon, of TVs Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fame, tries to amalgamate the best elements of the previous three movies and bring them together to make something new. The problem is that he fails completely. The idea of bringing back Ripley via cloning is a good one and the most interesting element of the script but beyond that the story is so slight that it defies believe. After this momentous discovery the Aliens escape and kill of the crew one by one until Ripley confronts the Queen and then her new born offspring. That is it and that is how complex the picture gets. It assumes that you realise that the scientist are trying to produce a bio-weapon, it assumes that you know with Winona Ryder's Call character knows about the Aliens and it assumes that you know why Earth has become a wasteland. No background information and answers to any of these questions.

The cast try there best with the material. Winona Ryder is ok as Call but doesn't really have much to challenge her talents. Ron Perlman is his usual wisecracking self, adding abit of comic relief to the film. Leland Orser plays the panicking victim well but this is a role that he has made his own. It is Ripley that comes off the worst however. Gone is the brave and strong woman we have all come to respect and in her place is a nonchalant, uncaring and cynical bitch who would rather use a wisecrack or her fist than the reason and logic we have come to associate with the character. Ripley is a shadow of her former self and you get the feeling that she is only there for Weaver to get another big payday.

All style and no substance does not a good movie make. The look of the film, along with the rest of the franchise is stunning but with out an engrossing story the whole thing just becomes a mess. Yes there are some riveting scenes like the underwater attack but then they are counteracted by the appalling ending that has one of the most stupid looking and ill-conceived creatures to grace any franchise.

Alien Resurrection is by far the weakest of the Quadrilogy and isn't even worth purchasing or viewing for completion sakes.

PICTURE & SOUND
Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts surround sound, the movie is presented brilliantly. The picture quality is superb throughout with Jeunet's decision to drain the colour and emphasise the blacks and greys of the palette really showing true. The sound is also of a high quality, coming into its own during the climatic sequences.

BONUS FEATURES

DISK ONE

Special Edition (116 mins)
Introduced by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet this version has the original beginning and an alternative ending to the movie.

Theatrical version (106 mins)
Audio Commentary director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, editor Herve Schneid, Alien FX creators Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., special effects supervisor Pitof, concept artist Sylvain Despertz and stars Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon and Leland Orser
This fun and informative commentary works very well, even though it is an intercut track. Jean-Pierre Jeunet seems to have really enjoyed making the film and the same can be said for everyone involved. It is a shame that Winona Ryder and Sigourney Weaver where not involved however.

DISK TWO

One Step Beyond - The Making of Alien Resurrection

Pre-production

From the Ashes - Reviving the Story (9.51 mins)
Writer Joss Whedon talks about bring the franchise back to life. Approached by Fox to write a treatment, he recalls that they basically agreed to make his first draft. Original Alien producer David Giler reveals how he tried to stop the picture been made because he thought it was finished. Sigourney Weaver also talks about the script and how she hated the idea of doing an Alien vs. Predator movie. First Draft Screenplay by Joss Whedon Your chance to read the actual first draft that the studio accepted.

French Twist - Direction and Design (26.11 mins)
After passing on Trainspotting director Danny Boyle, the studio went for up and coming French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The cast and crew talk about the Gallic director and the man himself reminisces about wondering, "why did the studio want me?" With a French director came a French crew with key position taken up by people who had worked with Jeunet before.

Under the Skin - Casting and Characterisations (12.48 mins)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet talks about casting and getting the right people for the characters. Dominique Pinon talks about acting in a big American film and Winona Ryder reveals that she couldn't believe that her dream of working on an Alien movie had come true that she started stealing things from the set (was this the start of something?)

Test Footage - Creatures and Costumes (15.35 mins)
Special effects test footage of the alien egg, Facehugger, Alien and the New Born. There is also footage of Alien kills and a costume test for Sigourney Weaver.

Marc Caro Portfolio - Character designs
Your chance to view the character designs by the noted French designer.

The Art of Alien Resurrection - Conceptual Art Gallery
A collection of concept art images from the movie, which includes poster and title designs. Storyboards - Archives The complete movie in storyboard form.

Revisualization - Rehearsals
Storyboard, rehearsal and final shot comparisons via a multi-screen format.

Production

Death from Below - Fox Studios Los Angeles 1996 (31.39 mins)
Underwater cinematographer Pete Romano takes you behind the scenes of the underwater chase sequence. The featurette reveals how a Fox soundstage was transformed into a huge pool where to kitchen set could be built. The cast talks about filming the chase with Winona Ryder revealing her fear of water and Sigourney Weaver talks about her fear of enclosed spaces.

In the Zone - The Basketball Scene (6.44 mins)
Sigourney Weaver talks about her training for the basketball scene and how through sheer determination she was able to make that impossible shot. The featurette includes raw footage of the shot which proves that no special effects was involved. Just watch Ron Perlman's face.

Production Gallery - Photo Archive
Images of weapons, The Betty, extracting the Queen, Aliens escape, the clone horrors, underwater attack, the Queen's nest, falling to Earth and on Earth.

Unnatural Mutation - Creature Design (26.24 mins)
Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. talk about working the creature effects on Aliens, Alien3 and this movie. They talk about the new designs for the Alien, the egg, Chestburster and Facehugger and designing the New Born and the clone Ripley's.

A.D.I. Workshop - Photo Archive
Your chance to look at images from the design of the clones, New Born and the rest of the creatures from the movie.

Post Production

Genetic Composition - Music (13.12 mins)
Composer John Frizzell talks about working with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and his inspirations behind the writing of the score. He reveals that scoring the underwater sequence was the most difficult and how he tried to keep character themes down to a minimum.

Virtual Aliens - Computer Generated Imagery (9.54 mins)
Susan Zwerman (Visual Effects Producer), Conrad W. Hall (Visual Effects Cinematographer), Erik Henry (Visual Effects Supervisor) and Pitof (Visual Effects Supervisor) show how pioneering computer-generated imagery was used in the movie. They take you behind the scenes of the underwater chase and the creation the first CG Alien.

A Matter of Scale - Miniature Photography (22.52 mins)
Matthew Gratzner and Rich Fichter talk about the extensive use of miniatures in the movie. With CG at the time not good enough to create everything the large spaceship models had to be used. The main military ship the Auriga, the transport ship the Betty and the Alien lab were all built at 1/18th scale. The featurette also shows how they were filmed and how the models were deliberately weathered to make them look used and old.

Visual Effects Gallery - Photo Archive
Still images of the visual effects from the movie including the prototype models for a very different design for the Auriga.

A Critical Juncture - Reaction to the Film (14.29 mins)
The cast and crew talk about what they liked about the movie even though it wasn't a critical success. Jean-Pierre Jeunet says the reviews were good in France however and he doesn't really care what people think because he is proud of the movie. The cast and crew also speculate on where they think the series will go next with most of them wanting to find out where the Alien ship came from in the first movie. Special Shot - Promotional Photo Archive Promotional images from the movie.

OVERALL

Even though the film isn't very good the DVD is fantastic. The collection of featurettes, behind the scenes footage, storyboard comparisons and photo galleries cover every aspect of the movie to give you a fascinating insight into the making of the film. While the views of the cast and crew are a tad too positive about the movie at times, this is still a brilliantly packaged DVD. It is just a shame that the movie wasn't as good.

DVD

Alien

Aliens

Alien 3

Predator

Predator 2

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