Alien 4: Resurrection (1997)
- written January 2004
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It is 200 years later and Ripley is back one more time. Seems the Company has been able to clone Ripley and her DNA when the alien was inside her and using, so they are doing experimentation to create the ultimate breeding and killing machines. However, not all is well. Soon after a military ship arrives with some victims to experiment on, the Aliens break free from their bonds and strive for freedom. Only Ripley can save them but she’s connected to the Queen this time and she may not want to help the humans.
Overall: Well I can say I was very disappointed with this movie. It took a lot of time and energy to kill Ripley off in part 3, there is not justification for part 4...except money I guess. Given how they did resurrect Ripley, it is better than treating part 3 as if it was a dream but still...they killed her in part 3. Part 4 should never have been made and Joss Wheadon was too greedy to stand up for what is right. So, now that this has been made...there are more things that bug me. The series has gone from Ripley being the Aliens enemy to being their best friend (ala Terminator). What made parts 1 & 2 so good was the conflict between the 2 sides and now humans have been made the ultimate bad guy here. The film is confusing in that you aren’t sure whom to root for: the aliens, the clone, the robot or the humans who kill other humans for fun. Ripley is all buff now too with a general disrespect for everyone, when for the first 3 films, you could count on her for doing the right thing and saving humanity. I liked the casting of the film but still Dan Hedaya & Winona Ryder are not action-movie material. They are cheesy comedy actors and moving them from their craft is disrespectful for the film that got made. Also, the introduction of the basketball hoop & the home shopping network was silly and unoriginal. I think the ideas in this film were so weak given that this film should have had an additional 200 years of advanced technology in them and yet it still looked just as "plain" it had for the prior 3 films. The special edition does feature a new beginning and ending but do skip this film. How can “We” (horror film community) let the director of “Amelie”, a man who didn’t even speak English while the film was being made, a man who needed translators to get the actors to do their scenes properly, a man who allowed these aliens to be turned into mammals (live birth as opposed to eggs) and finally a man who says at the beginning of the special edition that he thinks the theatrical released version was perfect and no added scenes were necessary, direct this film. What a waste. Comparison: 2001 meets Virus |
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