Quote from: Valaquen on Jan 07, 2019, 04:42:58 PM
I think it was Fincher who called it "janitorial". And it really takes away from the idea that Ripley ever had a choice. If she'd run full pelt towards the Patna she still wouldn't have made it.
Yep, I've said the same thing on here before. Granted, if she had bursted while in custody of the team, even on the gangway, they could've captured it outright or just located it somewhere within the complex. So Ripley did still keep it away from them. But with only seconds left to live, and no chance at survival, why not give the same company that started all of this for her, the proverbial middle finger? It can work, just not as effectively in my opinion. Suicide is less of a sacrifice for a character that is seconds away from inevitable death anyway. So truly, the only question was how she checked out.
It also feels alittle cheesy that the moment Runner is dead, oh, here comes the burster. It feels like it's being shoehorned in there because the movie needs to be wrapped up.
The AC ending leaves the amount of time she had left ambiguous, which I think works much better. As has been said, she's making the conscious choice to decline her own salvation, and see her mission through. Ripley dies not knowing whether or not she could've lived, and we are left to wonder the same thing. But both Ripley and the audience know that the events that began with the Nostromo have finally concluded, and that those who sought to profit from hell, have lost.