Alien Resurrection
| Alien Resurrection | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jean-Pierre Jeunet |
| Written by | Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett, Joss Whedon |
| Produced by | Bill Badalato, Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill |
| Starring | Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman, Gary Dourdan, Michael Wincott |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Running time | 109 min. ; 116 min (2003 Special Edition) |
| Budget | $70,000,000 |
Alien: Resurrection (1997) is the fourth film in the Alien series, preceded by Alien, Aliens and Alien³.
Synopsis
Template:Spoilers The events of Alien: Resurrection take place 200 years after the events of Alien³. Ellen Ripley has been cloned using "blood samples from Fiorina 161, on ice" so that the United Systems Military can extract the alien queen embryo that was inside her from Alien³. It is not explained exactly how the alien's DNA would have been mixed with Ripley's in order to allow this to take place. The first seven tries are unsuccessful hybrids of human and alien body forms. Six of them are dead in fluid-filled preservative chambers. The seventh, horribly deformed, remains alive to be discovered and mercifully killed by Ripley later in the film. On the eighth try the scientists recreated a viable normal-looking Ripley with a viable Alien queen embryo inside her.
A new capacity of the aliens is revealed in this film, being their ability to transfer memory genetically. It is this capacity that lets resurrected Ripley keep her former self's memories. It also piques the curiosity of the scientists and leads to their decision to keep her alive for further study. Having her DNA mixed with the aliens' has also given Ripley increased strength, lightning reflexes, enhanced hearing and acid blood. She also has somewhat of an empathy for the aliens, refering to them as "my babies." At the end of the film, it is shown that the alien queen has also received a gift from Ripley's DNA: the ability to give birth to live offspring directly.
A rogue ship full of freelancers arrives with kidnapped humans for the aliens to parasitize and reproduce upon. However, before the freelancers depart, the aliens (expectedly) escape and wreak terror across the ship. Ripley, who is now part alien, teams up with the freelancers to help destroy the ship before it reaches home base, Earth.
Trivia
The film opened on November 26, 1997.
Winona Ryder won the Blockbuster Entertainment award for her role in the film. In spite of this, the film is considered the least successful in the series, being poorly received by many fans and critics. It grossed only around $45 million at the US box office.
There was also controversy surrounding proper credit for the alien design. H.R. Giger, the artist famous for creating the original alien design, was openly displeased that the film did not give him a credit for this and sent a letter to the studio complaining. This does not parallel to his lack of credit in Aliens, as the new design for the Alien in the second movie was actually put together by someone else entirely.
In the 2003 Alien Quadrilogy DVD box set, Jeunet included an alternative version of the film with extended opening and closing scenes.
Prequel
Alien Quadrilogy
- 1979: Alien, directed by Ridley Scott
- 1986: Aliens, directed by James Cameron
- 1992: Alien³, directed by David Fincher
- 1997: Alien: Resurrection, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Cast and crew
Cast
- Sigourney Weaver .... Lt. Ellen Ripley and Ripley Clone #8
- Winona Ryder .... Annalee Call
- Dominique Pinon .... Vriess
- Ron Perlman .... Johner
- Gary Dourdan .... Christie
- Michael Wincott .... Elgyn
- Kim Flowers .... Hillard
- Dan Hedaya .... General Perez
- J.E. Freeman .... Dr. Wren
- Brad Dourif .... Dr. Gediman
Director
Writers
Producers
- Bill Badalato .... producer
- Gordon Carroll .... producer
- David Giler .... producer
- Walter Hill .... producer
- Amy Jupiter .... executive producer
- Lisa Knaggs .... producer
- Edouard Valton .... producer
- Sigourney Weaver .... co-producer
Other media
Alien Resurrection has been published also as a video game on the Sony PlayStation platform.
