Say what you will about Resurrection, but...

WrenchPede I've read Batman vs Aliens 2 that was a really bizarre comic.

It seemed curious about Call perhaps visually but realized it wasn't Ripley and was going to destroy her until Ripley intervened.

Yeah but it still seemed to toy with her.A scene that really stands out to me is when Call is hiding and its reaching in to grab her stops for a moment and makes a face like i just want to play. Call looks at it a little confused by it then it goes back to being violent.

Yes, that is a very nuanced scene imo.

Another thing i like about Resurrection is that its smarter than one might think(although BigDave might squash this opinion with  the scientific inaccuracies he acknowledged ).It brings alot of new ideas to Alien i wish would have been explored further.

I believe the newborn was a compromise between director/weaver and the studio. weaver has said she and the director discussed ripley actually mating with a xeno.

I couldn't tell u where but I do believe the Call backstory is looked at in much more depth and detail in a book or comic somewhere.

tbh by the time the movie had come out I didn't have too much fear of the xeno. although aliens is my 2nd fave in the franchise I believe the fact JC went down the route of an action movie and showed multiple xenos and that they die very easily if one has the right equipment took something away from the xeno. I believe he made the right choice in going with an action movie rather than another RS isolation type horror as that had been done but the fact the xeno does for a time get is a$$ kicked by the marines even without them being in the room (the 2 remote controlled sentry guns) lessened theyr fear factor for me a bit. the scary thing about alien was even though it was alone and outnumbered, it seemed invincible, IT was the hunter. aliens kinda put the marines on a level playing field for a time at least inbetween the hive scene (which remember they were put at a disadvantage) till the point where the xenos do indeed manage to get to them, and even then it is more sheer numbers in a confined space that wins.

AR did though give us some new aspects which I don't think A3 gave us. ok it gave us a different type of xeno but other than that and the idea of a super hugger it wasn't very revealing other than the company was after it alive, pretty much the same as they did in alien.

I didn't take too much from the newborns design though its story was interesting. I think the fact it took the queen by surprise was the fact she got snuffed out pretty quickly but I wasn't that fond on the queen giving birth that way, again takes something away from her as its very limiting to her to give birth that way

@Wrenchpede - That's a pretty good way to look at it and a very good sales pitch :) You make some interesting points!

When it first came out I was underwhelmed.  Thought it made the aliens look a bit 'Disney monsterish'. 

However, watching it again there are some cool elements and were it not tied into the other ALIEN films I'd probably like it a lot more.  As a popcorn chucker its decent fodder.

Ali,

"I wasn't that fond on the queen giving birth that way, again takes something away from her as its very limiting to her to give birth that way"

What was weird to me about thatand got me thinking is how the queen was able to interface with the cocooned scientists.  "She" meaning the queen decided to start a second cycle and use "Ripley's gift" a human reproductive system.  To me this shows intelligence and the ability to choose a cycle to use in reproduction, which isn't limiting but expanding.  Something not shown in the other movies.

Rick

Great topic, I liked AR. The setting was visually amazing, akin to a twisted fairytale. The film might as well been directed by Guillermo delivery Toro judging by the style.

Weaver did a fantastic job portraying the clone Ripley 8 that tried to come to terms with what she was (the clone room 1-7 was not only fitting but terrifying, I agree dk.)

I really liked the characters, the casting was a fresh take on the franchise, with anti-hero mercenaries/space pirates that were only in it for the money. 

The acting was great imo, minus a few lines like.....(can't believe I'm mentioning this) "who do I have to f*** to get off this ship" XD 

The Newborn was a walking nightmare, one of the scariest looking creatures I've seen, realized with top notch animatronics, sculpting/molding and sound design that sends shivers down my spine (sound design was stellar btw)

The interactions it had with Ripley 8 was strangely compelling and I can't bear to watch the scene where it's violently sucked out into the vacuum if space, it was like an animal imo.

The soundtrack was beautiful with the intro still creeping me out.

The underwater scene- although a bit unrealistic in terms of holding breath better than elite swimmers- was thrilling although it would be better in retrospect if they chose to use puppets instead of CGI that tends to get outdated more rapidly.

All in all I see AR as an expanded universe live action comic book film based on an Alien comic.

I could also easily see a sequel to this film with an all powerful Ripley 8 queen on earth being a spiritual counterpart to David 8.

I hope Blomkamp shows some damn respect to A3 and AR and decides to make a sequel to AR instead of disregarding these films like they never happened. Blomkamp's latest two films were lukewarm at best imo. 

"What was weird to me about thatand got me thinking is how the queen was able to interface with the cocooned scientists.  "She" meaning the queen decided to start a second cycle and use "Ripley's gift" a human reproductive system.  To me this shows intelligence and the ability to choose a cycle to use in reproduction, which isn't limiting but expanding.  Something not shown in the other movies."

There's nothing to suggest the Queen had control over the second cycle.

Yeah, Resurrection definitely sits at the bottom of my Alien pile, but it's still miles better than the AvP flicks and I do occasionally dust off my DvD to watch it.

As per the second stage in the Queen's reproductive cycle - I was always disappointed by how it played out. The Newborn I did not care for, though the concept was intriguing. I was always hoping the remaining Xenomorph Warriors would have swarmed the Newborn after it sucker-punched the Queen. Surely they weren't far away when that transpired. Would have made for an epic ending / battle sequence.

The film might as well been directed by Guillermo delivery Toro judging by the style.

Good shout (or possibly Terry Gilliam)- and that's the thing for me.  As a stand alone film it works well but as a film in the franchise it seems out of place, a bit like how I feel about Alien3.

"As per the second stage in the Queen's reproductive cycle - I was always disappointed by how it played out. The Newborn I did not care for, though the concept was intriguing. I was always hoping the remaining Xenomorph Warriors would have swarmed the Newborn after it sucker-punched the Queen. Surely they weren't far away when that transpired. Would have made for an epic ending / battle sequence."

The Newborn came too far out of left field.  A friend of mine once said they should've had the protagonists stumble across the dead Queen much earlier and we're left with the lingering of question of what killed it before the reveal.

The ending suffered from budget cuts.  Whedon wrote endings that would possibly have been more exciting.  And much more expensive.

Speaking of Whedon, his script's version of the Newborn is the polar opposite of the one we got in the movie: it was supposed to be an emotionless, faceless, blood-sucking albino alien killing machine, and Ripley-8 destroying it would also represent how she leaves her alien side behind and embraces humanity.

In the movie however Ripley-8's humanity is ultimately left ambiguous. I even read an interview where Sigourney Weaver suggests she hasn't chosen a side yet, and only went with the humans to survive.

Anyway, I've seen people claim that the good parts from AR are only because of the script by Whedon, but personally what I liked about the movie seems to come from the vision of the director.

I welcomed the introduction of the characters from the Betty ship. We had the 'space truckers' in Alien, the 'space marines' in Aliens, the 'space convicts' in Alien3, and here the 'space pirates'. I really liked Call, Christie, the captain guy, Perlman's character, and disabled guy. I just felt everything else was under par, even Ripley.

ron perlman... he was the heart of the flick! no ron perlman = no movie....

Id

Ron was great! He was a good counterbalance to the more serious Riley clone.

I love Johner!I wish he was playable in the game.I would have loved to use his special recipe.

Bumped because you may be seeing reference to this again- possibly to your benefit. Let us revive the love for the movie you hate or the hate for the movie you love!