When you mention Alien Resurrection you will almost unanimously get a negative response. Many people don’t like it and for a variety of reasons. I recently became quite fascinated with how a film with so many talented people involved in making it would turn away so many.
And so OmegaZilla, RidgeTop, Xenomorphine and I sat down to discuss Alien Resurrection for the latest episode of the AvPGalaxy Podcast as we dissected the work of Jean Pierre Jeunet, Joss Whedon, Brad Dourif and the rest.
We talked the good, we talked the bad and we talked the downright ugly (looking at you Newborn). It’s a fairly lengthy episode, clocking in at over 2 hours but we discuss quite a lot.
We discussed Ripley 8 and her connection to the Aliens in detail.
During the podcast we mentioned a few things that I thought you listeners might appreciate being able to see for yourself – the Fangoria interview that talks about the Alien design, the Chestburster prop with the cheeky grin and Den Beauvais portfolio with his concepts for Alien Resurrection figures.
As always, if you have any thoughts on the topic of Alien Resurrection or would like to leave us any comments, feel free to post down below! And be sure to check out our previous episodes for all your Aliens, Predator and Aliens vs. Predator podcast needs!
Yeah could you imagine that version of the alien nailing you in the vents on isolation that would be an epic scare. Gotta agree as well on ripleys constant presence in the series. Think that's the only doubt I have for the new movie but could be an advantage if Sigourney plays the character in a fresh way.
I'm still never sure about the Newborn. I get the intent behind its design and the animatronic work on it was simply fantastic but the design just wasn't suitable in my eyes. I would have loved to have seen something more like this:
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11064859_861501840563923_8128088989394449130_n.jpg?oh=a1483c34efcfab3095085612803557de&oe=55FD9998
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1-news.softpedia-static.com%2Fimages%2Fnews2%2FAlien-Creator-H-R-Giger-Has-Died-Reuters-441925-3.jpg&hash=292456265e6b40ee64640410c8dd94f9ecb93d5c
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bfi.org.uk%2Fsites%2Fbfi.org.uk%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Ffull%2Fpublic%2Fimage%2Falien-1979-009-h-r-giger-and-model-00m-yml.jpg%3Fitok%3DrB4xhG0s&hash=2671fb3af5d423f796f2169abea38042ae08f586
And use that empty human face to get that crossover of DNA across.
Completely agree on the Ripley thing. Fox's reliance on her character is such a problem. It leads to things like her forced inclusion in Out of the Shadows or the family connection in Sea of Sorrows. I really think they need to step away from Ripley. All it would take it a decent writer to make it work without her. There are plenty of other directions they could go with the franchise and the best one would be a clean slate (not a remake!!!) with a new set of characters.
Thanks for the kind words fellas.
I agree with most points made. It's a fairly watchable movie until they reach the chapel, then I usually turn it off.
With regard to the Auriga not looking very high-tech, it always came across to me that this little experiment was 'off the books' so to speak and was Perez' and Wren's ticket to the big time. Perez comes across as very inept and I can't imagine him having much sway in the upper hierarchy of the USM, despite his rank. I believe he was a largely ignored man in charge of this crappy old research vessel and saw the cloning of Ripley as his chance to shine.
If this was an officially-endorsed USM experiment, then yes why such a primitive-looking ship with primitive facilities? Why the need to use pirates to smuggle in people to be used as breeding incubators?
I hate the aliens in this film. Someone said they sounded like dinosaurs which was a good point. I dislike ADI's work in this series wholeheartedly and I think they have completely bastardised the alien. The chin and jaws are horrible and the neck is just a mess. People use the excuse of 'well it's the director's vision', but underneath the minor, superficial changes the director's insist on such as the brown paint schemes - the xenomorphs look terrible. Had ADI's creature been in the original Alien, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as memorable. I won't even comment on the newborn. But Xenos were horrible looking and far, far too much slime. I pray that ADI do not return for Blomkamp's film. Please lord give someone else a go.
Characters were serviceable. I thought Michael Wincott's Elgyn was very interesting and severely under-developed. Christie was also good and I'm glad you guys pointed out his 'death' by falling in water from 10 feet! Di Stephano was forgettable and annoying as hell.
Direction was fine but a little out of place as you guys pointed out. The CGI-practical mix was also very inconsistent. I thought there were some needless CGI aliens strolling about such as the one stalking the characters down the corridor after Elgyn died and the alien dodging the gunfire on the ladder.
The action scenes were also a bit weak. It always gets me when they all huddle underwater waiting for the grenades to destroy the eggs that not a single person decides to fire at the lone alien swimming towards them.
What the hell was Ripley doing under the floor right beneath Elgyn's body? Why didn't anyone shoot at the alien in the corridor after Johner pulled Call back? If there were only 13 aliens running loose across the entire ship why were all the military personnel evacuated? Need I go on?
The musical score was also the weakest in the series by a long stretch.
The underwater water sequence and clone destroying scenes aside, this is a pretty poor movie.
For me the biggest mistake Fox ever made with the Alien saga was deciding it could not be carried without Signourney Weaver. Alien Resurrection should have been a complete reboot with fresh characters and a fresh story, with perhaps Weyland-Yutani being the common bond.
There's 26 of the suckers! Started like 3 years ago. Where have you been man?!
That's a whole other kettle of fish and one I'd completely disagree with.
Downloading now..
Alien 3 sucks hard, assembly cut is the only version that's even watchable.
I'll just have to assume that she started transforming into a full blown Alien creature in a Cronenberg's The Fly manner
It just wont unfortunately.
Certainly!
Whilst the designs leave a lot to be desired - for both regular and the Newborn- the work that went into them is absolutely top-notch, especially that Newborn. You can fault the designs (despite working for what was needed of them) but the craftmanship was amazing.
Though I disagree Omega, I thought's ADI's work on Resurrection was terrible and by far their worst movie. Technically, I guess you can say it all works but in terms of design, everything they did there was atrocious.
By a LONG SHOT! XD