Alien Resurrection

1997 Sci Fi

Two centuries after Ellen Ripley's death, doctors aboard the space station Auriga clone her using a blood sample taken from Fiorna 161, in hopes of harvesting the queen embryo that was incubating inside of her when she was trapped on the remote penal planet. Finally succeeding after numerous attempts, they remove the alien and repair the clone for further study. Before long, the Ripley clone has gained consciousness, and displays superhuman capabilities that suggest it possesses alien DNA. When Ripley discovers that General Perez (Dan Hedaya) is keeping the queen in a heavily fortified room of the space station, she warns the military man and his scientists that the creature cannot be contained no matter how hard they try. Meanwhile, General Perez has hired a crew of space pirates to deliver the cryogenically frozen bodies of another ship to the Auriga so they can be used to breed more aliens. The leader of the pirates is Johner (Ron Perlman), a gruff mercenary who engages Ripley to no avail. When Call (Winona Ryder), one of Johner's crewmembers, admits that she was sent to assassinate Ripley, General Perez attempts to have the pirates executed. The result is a tense standoff between the pirates and the military men, with the aliens causing havoc after breaking free of their containment cells. Attempting a daring escape, Ripley and the pirates discover the lab where she was cloned before being forced to swim through the mess hall, which has been submerged in water during the aliens' escape. Discovering a carefully guarded secret about Call's past, Ripley attempts to convince her to alter the Auruga's course, which was set to Earth when the ship went into emergency mode. With the fate of mankind hanging in the balance, Ripley is captured by the aliens and taken to their nest, where she comes face to face with the mutated results of the scientists' experiments. more..

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon, Michael Wincott

Reviews

  • By rocketing ahead 200 years from the previous film and jiggering the story cleverly (with a script by Toy Story coscreenwriter Joss Whedon as late-'90s wiseacreish as Alien3 was early-'90s portentous) to create a Ripley reconstructed through a mix of human and alien DNA, Alien Resurrection power-kicks the whole definition of the Horrifying Other into a fresh, deep, exhilaratingly thoughtful, millennium-sensitive direction.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    29 November 2012

  • Recycles the great surprises that made the first movie so powerful. And most significantly, it makes a big hoot of the whole business.

    Desson Thomson - The Washington Post

    29 November 2012

  • So drippy and slippery you'll feel that you're hiding in Kevin Costner's nasal passages during the filming of "Waterworld."

    Stephen Hunter - The Washington Post

    29 November 2012

  • Tauntingly flirtatious scenes between Ms. Ryder and Ms. Weaver give this film a sexual boldness that the others' action-adventure spirit lacked.

    Elvis Mitchell - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

  • The cluttered, surreal, claustrophobic sets and gooey alien creatures look intriguing, sometimes shocking. But the story tries so hard to be imaginative that it congeals and sinks like lead.

    Peter Stack - The San Francisco Chronicle

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Best DVD Collection

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (2004)

     
  • Favorite Supporting Actress - Sci-Fi

    Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (1998)

  • Bogey Awards, Germany (1997)

  • Best Overall DVD, Classic Movie (Including All Extra Features)

    DVD Exclusive Awards (2003)

  • Best DVD

    Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards (2010)