Would you feel better if Newt and Hicks survived?

[Samhain13]

It would've given something Ripley to actually sacrifice at the end. An actual chance at happiness. Ripley runs out of reasons to live ten minutes into the film and no one in the audience buys Bishop II's bull at the end. He's got nothing to offer.

Knowing Newt is out there somewhere makes Ripley's sacrifice that much more emotional, imo.

Hell I never thought of that. Knowing that Hicks and Newt are out there somewhere would make Ripley's suicide up worse for her, Weyland could use that against her at the end, she didn't had much to live for at the end of Alien 3. In this case she would not only be sacrificing her life but a future with the ones she wanted to be with.

[The Old One]

"You can still have a life, children?
And best of all, you'll know it's dead."

The reason the above's successful is because it's a farce, the audience knows it and Ripley knows it.

It's difficult to do the right thing when you've something to fight for.
It's more difficult to do the right thing when you've nothing to fight for.

[Local Trouble]

That went over my head.

[The Old One]

*Shrugs*

[Local Trouble]

Hell I never thought of that. Knowing that Hicks and Newt are out there somewhere would make Ripley's suicide up worse for her, Weyland could use that against her at the end, she didn't had much to live for at the end of Alien 3. In this case she would not only be sacrificing her life but a future with the ones she wanted to be with.

As I suggested before:

Conversely, imagine if Michael Bishop had sweetened the pot with "Ripley, we found the girl.  She's alive and well on our ship."

[Samhain13]

I can dig that.

[Local Trouble]

Cliche nonsense.

I sense...disapproval.

[The Old One]

The onscreen idea's the correct idea.

[Local Trouble]

Reply #136?

[The Old One]

126, 130, 136.

[Local Trouble]

You don't mind that it hurts?

[Samhain13]

[Local Trouble]

So do we all agree that Ripley's sacrifice would have been more poignant if her alternative was a happy life with Hicks and Newt?

[Frosty Venom]

That assumes that Michael Bishop was telling the truth about the operation to save Ripley.

[Local Trouble]

True.  Ripley may have been more tempted to take that chance if she'd had a better reason though.