DVD Review - The Alien Quadrilogy

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page created: 11/3/03

The Alien Quadrilogy
1979-2003 (2003) - 20th Century Fox

review by Bill Hunt, Editor of The Digital Bits

Back to Disc Six

On to Disc Eight

Disc Seven - Alien Resurrection

Film Ratings (Special Edition/Theatrical): C-/D+

Disc Ratings (Video/Audio - DD/DTS): A-/A-/A-

116 mins (Special Edition), 108 mins (Theatrical Release), R, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced, THX certified, single-sided, RSDL dual-layered (layer switch at ?? at the start of chapter ?? for Special Edition; ?? at the start of chapter ?? for Theatrical Release), dual versions available via seamless branching, text introduction to Special Edition, audio commentary (with director Jean-Pierre Juenet and Hervè Schneid, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff, Jr., Pitof, Sylvain Desperetz, Ron Pearlman, Dominigue Pinon and Leland Orser), optional deleted footage marker for Special Edition, separate deleted and extended scene access for Theatrical Release (10 scenes), THX Optimizer, animated film-themed menus with sound effects, scene access (32 chapters - Special Edition; 28 chapters - Theatrical Release), languages: English (DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1) and Spanish (DD 2.0 Surround), subtitles: English and Spanish, Closed Captioned

"Witness the resurrection..."

I wish wholeheartedly that Alien Resurrection had lived up to its name, and actually breathed some new life into this franchise. Sadly, however, I saw this coming. About a year prior to the film's release, I was given a copy of the script to read, and I was really disappointed. It was almost as if screenwriter Joss Whedon (of Buffy fame) had thought to himself, "Hmmm... what did people like about each of the other films? Alien had characters trapped on a spaceship, Aliens upped the ante with rowdy Marines, guns and lots of aliens, and Alien³ introduced some new biology to the creature. I wonder if I can write all that into my script?" He did, of course, and the result was a tired retread, which broke little new ground and failed completely to be scary, entertaining or in any way satisfying to most Alien fans.

Here's the plot: some 200 years after the events in Alien³, we learn that United Systems Military scientists (the infamous "Company" from the earlier films no longer exists) have taken samples of DNA from Fiorina 161 to clone Ellen Ripley, in an effort to also clone the alien queen she carried inside her. After several unsuccessful attempts, these scientists (aboard the military spaceship Auriga) manage to do exactly that, and remove the alien embryo from its host to breed it. Meanwhile, a motley band of smugglers arrives at the Auriga with a very special cargo. It seems the head of the experiment, General Perez (played by Dan Hedaya - no I'm not kidding) has hired the smugglers to hijack another spacecraft and steal its crew, which is frozen in stasis, to be used as hosts for the aliens.

Still with me? So now on board the good ship Auriga, we've got aliens breeding like crazy (under controlled conditions, of course), said gun-toting smugglers, lots of military types, and one Ellen Ripley clone, who isn't quite human. You see, when they cloned her, somehow her DNA got mixed up with the alien's DNA, so she's got acid for blood, super-strength, and she can sense the aliens from a distance. And the aliens got some of Ripley's DNA too, so they're getting smarter - smart enough, naturally, to get loose, and start killing everyone in sight. Sound familiar? What happens next, is that all hell breaks loose, the military types abandon ship, and the smugglers (along with Ripley) have to fight their way through the alien-infested Auriga, to get back to their own ship and escape. But there's a hitch - the Auriga gets damaged, and is headed back to Earth on automatic pilot (where it could land, teaming with aliens just itching to wreak havoc on Humanity). What's a newly-cloned Ripley to do? Girl just can't catch a break.

As directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (whose other films include The City of Lost Children and Amélie), Alien Resurrection has far too many plot holes to be effective. Remember how the crew in Alien couldn't kill the creature for fear that its acid blood would eat through the ship's hull? Well that doesn't seem to be a problem anymore (despite the fact that they're on a ship again), although the acid-for-blood thing does come up when it looks good on-screen. How are we supposed to believe that the scientists clone Ripley... to also clone the alien inside her? It doesn't work like that - if they found Ripley's DNA, that's all they should be able to clone... Ripley. If they wanted the alien, why not just find some alien DNA? Why not scrape the crashed EEV for it, or some of the dried alien slime that must be leftover somewhere from the last film? I mean, heck... if they were able to find Ripley's DNA, finding a little alien DNA shouldn't be a problem, right? That's really just the beginning of the problems here, and I don't have the energy to continue listing them all.

At least you can say that Alien Resurrection boasts an interesting cast. Along with Sigourney Weaver, along for the ride this time are the aforementioned Dan Hedaya, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Michael Wincott, Raymond Cruz, and Brad Dourif. I actually found the whole subplot revolving around Ryder's character (Call) fairly interesting, and I would have liked to see it explored more fully. Dourif is terrific as always (film fans may remember him from Dune and the new Lord of the Rings films), but he's largely wasted here. His part goes by much too quickly. And Dan Hedaya as a military General? I kept expecting him to crack jokes - he's just too goofy. The best of the new cast is Ron Perlman, who goes toe-to-toe with Ripley on more than one occasion. But again, his character is only two-dimensional in this script. He's used mostly as the guy that talks sass all the time.

Adding to the film's problems, the creature effects are once again terrible. Watching this makes you really miss the look and movement of the aliens in the first two films. Here, we get to see aliens that glisten constantly with slime - it's practically pouring off them in buckets. And I'm sorry, that newborn alien with the quasi-human face at the end of the film just looks stupid, like something from Pumpkinhead rather than an Alien film. I'll give the effects guys some credit - the CG aliens are not bad at all. I kinda liked the whole underwater bit. But why do the production designers keep feeling the need to evolve the look of the aliens more with each film? H.R. Giger created the scariest alien ever to grace the screen for the original film, and I dug the queen from Aliens. But that's enough - if you can't make a scary movie with that creature, what's the world coming to? We don't need acid spitting, slime dripping, semi-intelligent people aliens... it's just too much.

Anyway, like it or not, for this DVD release, you can choose to view either the original Theatrical Release or a new Special Edition version. The latter runs about 8 minutes longer, and I actually like it a bit more than the original. There's an alternate opening shot that runs behind the credits, and an alternate ending, in which we actually see the Betty landing on Earth near post-apocalyptic Paris. In between are a few scene extensions and new moments that flesh out the characters a bit more. In particular, there's more with Call and Ripley in the chapel, and one great new moment near the beginning of the film in which the scientists show the newly created Ripley a photograph of a child, which triggers painful memories (a nice connection to the first two films). The improvement to Resurrection isn't great, but the new moments do make the story a little more palatable.

The video quality of both versions on this DVD is once again very good, thanks to a brand new high-definition transfer. Presented in anamorphic widescreen, Alien Resurrection looks maybe even just a little better than the previous DVD release. Contrast is spot on, with good shadow detailing and overall clarity. Colors are muted but accurate, edge enhancement is non-existent and there's nary a blemish to be found on the print. There is a certain amount of grain visible, but this is to be expected. Most of the new footage blends perfectly in terms of quality with the original theatrical footage, with the exception of the new effects shots at the beginning and end of the film (the actual CG effects aren't quite up to feature film quality, but they're good enough to work here - this is particularly true of the insect in the new opening shot). The Special Edition has another optional deleted footage marker to help you spot the new material.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound is also solid, with great dynamic range and deep bass. The front soundstage is nicely wide and there's good, if often subtle, use of the surrounds. This is a very atmospheric mix, with good creation of space in cavernous chambers and long corridors (not to mention that creepy alien hiss echoing around). Dialogue and music presentation is also excellent. The DTS mix is about on par with the Dolby Digital. It's maybe a tad more natural sounding, but not enough to really be obvious. I'd have to say they're about equal in quality. You'll be happy whichever mix you choose.

The menus on Disc Seven, as you'd expect, feature the warrior stage of the alien life-cycle. When you start the disc, you're asked to choose between the two versions of the film. When you view the Special Edition, you get a brief video introduction with Jeunet, in which he explains that this is NOT a "director's cut" but just something fun for fans to see (he still prefers the Theatrical Cut). As with the previous discs, in addition to the deleted scene marker on the Special Edition, you can view the deleted scenes separately if you select the Theatrical Cut. There's another THX Optimizer available here as well.

Once again, both versions of the film feature newly-recorded audio commentary. This track includes director Jean-Pierre Juenet, editor Hervè Schneid, creature effects artists Tom Woodruff, Jr. and Alec Gillis, visual effects supervisor Pitof, conceptual artist Sylvain Desperetz, and actors Ron Pearlman, Dominigue Pinon and Leland Orser. The track is fine, but given that this is easily the worst film of the bunch, your interest in what the participants have to say will probably wane after the first 20 minutes. No one really has anything Earth shattering to say, and they repeat themselves a few times. I think what you really come away with is the feeling that Juenet was just the wrong choice to direct this film. He's a great director and a fantastic visualist, but he seems to lack a strong vision for the alien entity itself. He's the wrong fit. I would have loved hearing Joss Whedon trying to explain his script, but he's not here (I believe he was approached to participate, but declined). It's not a big deal - my interest is only half-hearted anyway.

Time now to move on to Disc Eight, which includes the bulk of the extras for Alien Resurrection...

On to Disc Eight