My buddy claims Alien: Resurrection is the best of the series...

[SiegePerilous02]

Is your friend a gigantic Whedon fan? Because some of those people are capable of liking a lot of horrible garbage.

Hell, I'm a Whedon fan, and even I would never watch Alien: Resurrection.

I know Joss likes to pin the blame on the director for shooting it all wrong, but a lot of the problems sounded like they started with the script.

[Guest_1001]

Is your friend a gigantic Whedon fan? Because some of those people are capable of liking a lot of horrible garbage.

I was thinking the same thing. I still can't get over the "do you want to check the chair?" line or the idea that Alien DNA makes you a lesbian.

[Kensei]

It's been so many years I had to really search my memory banks and go, "Hmmm, have I seen both Alien 3 and Resurrection?" Then I vaguely remembered- oh that's right, Ripley died and then came back. In comparison to the first two films which I remember hugely and fondly, the other two are of such equal quality to me that if it weren't for this thread I probably would have remembered them as being the same movie (which is to say, not very good).

"Aliens" is the best all right, in the same vein as "Empire Strikes Back," "Rocky II" and "Superman II". And two things made the movie for me. One was the line- "Get away from her, you BITCH!" (equal to Clint Eastwood's "Go ahead, make my day.") And the other was that little girl Newt. I rewatch it now and then and she had one most memorable line too- "My mommy always said there were no monsters, not real ones, but there are. Why do they tell little kids that?" Practically makes me cry. I guess Carrie Henn didn't stay in acting. I wonder if she would have become another Kirsten Dunst (in other words, peak with her first film).

Not a sensible thing to do to argue seriously about movies though. Life's too short.

[the_coldest_sun]

If your friend likes Firefly, I can see why. Alien Resurrection is basically Alien vs an R-rated Firefly crew. All the archetypes are there. Ripley & Call fill the Tam roles, Frank is Mal, Christie's a mash-up of Zoe & Wash, and Ron Perlman rocks as Jayne Cobb. Then you watch them all get slaughtered by the alien. It's awesome.

[simbob4000]

Is your friend a gigantic Whedon fan? Because some of those people are capable of liking a lot of horrible garbage.

That's just part and parcel with being a Whedon fan. Although Alien Resurrection is a better version of that crazy space crew thanks to Jean-Pierre Jeunet; who unlike Whedon can actually direct, and can actually make stuff not look like a cheap tv show. Although Resurrection is something that Whedon hates, he thinks Jean-Pierre Jeunet ruined his "brilliant" script by casting the whole thing wrong, and by not having them say his words right.

[Crimson Knight]

I was thinking the same thing. I still can't get over the "do you want to check the chair?" line or the idea that Alien DNA makes you a lesbian.

Maybe it doesn't. Maybe Ripley X just was, even if Ripley was heterosexual, or otherwise.

Only one I dislike is Aliens, myself, with all the soldier stuff, and bit of creepy thing between Ripley and Newt, to me, but some good stuff on planet, Xenomorph, Queen, all that. Decent atmosphere too.

And, cyborg/android Bishop doesn't come off as bad, per say, as the real deal in Alien 3.

But, really, enjoy all four, myself, have watched the crossover films, only Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection and Prometheus.

Found Alien 3 very meaningful, emotional, well written and acted, with great atmosphere, acting, all that. Almost wish the Xeno didn't feature, and good dilemma, though not sure necessary, and decent resolution to it with the big death.

Don't truly get the criticism of P, but, felt after it got going, it got better, with some interesting creation and all that, ideas.

Great ending, one of the most compelling androids/cyborgs they've had, Ash, Bishop, or otherwise, Engineers VERY interesting, though crew could've been livelier, even if Theron was good, others coulda been better, really.

Hope sequel isn't far off, and that we can get a sequel to A:R one day.

[Cyke]

If your friend likes Firefly, I can see why. Alien Resurrection is basically Alien vs an R-rated Firefly crew. All the archetypes are there. Ripley & Call fill the Tam roles, Frank is Mal, Christie's a mash-up of Zoe & Wash, and Ron Perlman rocks as Jayne Cobb. Then you watch them all get slaughtered by the alien. It's awesome.

I need to watch Alien Resurrection with this brand new lens now. Holy crap.

[harpier]

...is this grounds to end our friendship? He HAS seen Aliens...

I've always found the Alien "series" to be a highly useful litmus test to just about everyone's action movie tastes. I use quotation marks precisely because there is minimal continuity of creative teams and creative vision, only the gesture of plot continuity (which depends heavily on wiping the slate virtually clean after each installment), and no consistency of tone or scope.

1. Alien is an exceptional horror movie masquerading as sci-fi, which capitalizes on the hostility, isolation, and vulnerability of open space as a site for a creature flick. It focuses on a small piece of a very large universe and teases at a more elaborate history, but it remains interested only on its precisely confined suspense drama. (For the record, it's my favorite, though I saw Aliens first.)

2. Aliens is more or less a traditional military action adventure but on an alien planet with alien enemies who behave remarkably human in their strategy and cooperation. Scott's alien was intelligent, but Cameron's aliens are considerably more familiar in their behavior, a characteristic the plot is keen to utilize. The mirroring of Ripley and the queen or between the army of aliens and the band of marines is correspondingly heavy-handed but not very insightful. But it's certainly a rousing shoot 'em up.

3. Alien 3 was a more traditionally sci-fi-as-social-metaphor attempt, though most people (including nearly everyone involved, especially director Fincher) think it failed for different reasons. The arrival of Ripley and the alien to a prison seems more an opportunity to investigate the dehumanization (or potential for it) in penitentiary institutions. It too falls back on some rather ham-handed "who's the real monster" philosophical meandering with very little success.

4. Alien: Resurrection is a grand attempt at a more sophisticated sci-fi premise that at least tries to be interested in the science and its relationship to what it means to be human. But, man, is it clunky! There's a lot of talent behind it, including director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (best in his collaborations with Marc Caro) and Whedon, but it just doesn't come together. However, it's unsurprising that viewers drawn to more sci-fi-y ideas and plots would prefer this one.

5. Alien v. Predator and AVP: Requiem are both more in keeping with the tone and tradition of the Predator franchise. Both seem more interested in the Predators as creatures, and they are subsequently the driving forces behind the plot and the metaphor.

6. Prometheus is easily the most philosophically and cosmically sophisticated of the franchise, though it trips over its own ambition several times. However distinct it may be in scope, it at least recaptures some of the poetry and the creepy intrigue of Scott's original effort that got increasingly muddled in all the action in the sequels and crossovers. Despite a few solid action sequences, Prometheus just doesn't seem at all interested in them.

[simbob4000]

Neither of the AvP movies really feel like the Predator movies, with Requiem just coming off like some crappy third rate slasher film with Aliens and Predators plugged into it.

[Totoro Man]

The directors cut of Aliens just makes Aliens run longer. It's interesting if you're a fan of Aliens, it's likely boring for everyone else. On the other hand the directors cut of Alien is interesting in that it adds new stuff while being a shorter movie than the theatrical cut, and seemingly gives every Alien movie after it a middle finger by putting the cut original alien life cycle back in. The cocooned crew members scene does two big things: 1. It shows you the alien is making more eggs 2. It more greatly aligns the film with it's horror roots, (not to say it wasn't a horror movie before) the scene isn't all that different than Laurie Strode going into the room of dead people at the end of Halloween, and the bone room from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

so, apparently making the film shorter is very important, in and of itself? (I can't imagine that's what you really mean) how much shorter was it? seems like you'd need the clock display running to tell the difference.

I don't remember those scenes showing that the alien is making more eggs. I remember cocooned people, though. and, even if additional eggs were shown, does that really matter if Ripley's the only one left that the viewer cares about? she's already trying to escape the ship. the alien is undoubtedly hunting for her as well. witnessing the cocoons and eggs simply postpones Ripley's final encounter with the alien and her attempt to escape.

does bringing a film into allignment with it's genre roots really make it a better film? or is it simply pandering to genre fans? why would making it more like the end of "Halloween" make "Alien" a fundamentally better film?

you're entitled to your opinion, of course. I just disagree. perhaps you're coming at it from the perspective of a genre fan and I'm just thinking about it as a casual viewer. I was never rooting for the aliens, like some people seem to do. the complete life cycle didn't matter. we saw everything we really needed to see in the theatrical cut. flipping the middle finger to the other films does not make the director's cut of "Alien" a better film. maybe it just meant that Ridley Scott felt obliged to make an alternate cut of the film for DVD because fans of the franchise can never get enough bonus features? maybe the pay was good and he had nothing better to do.

the theatrical cut of "Alien" will always be superior to the "director's cut" in my book. if you disagree, that's fine. you're entitled to your opinion.

[simbob4000]

I didn't say it made it better, I said that it's interesting that in his directors cut the director added new things while at the same time making his own movie shorter. How many directors cut made the movie shorter than it was before? It also doesn't have the problem of the Aliens directors cut where it takes forever to get to the point.

If you don't remember the scene having eggs, maybe you should watch the movie again. The alien is clearly turning people into eggs (and also transforming the ship, which is something we hadn't seen before until Aliens). I don't really get your questions about that egg scene. Do additional eggs really matter in any of the other movies then? Does having a atmospheric scene that people may find creepy matter in a horror movie?

[CliffHanger2]

The crossbreeding in Alien Res was really disgusting and in bad taste but the art direction and effects were pretty damn good. I liked super Ripley and the merc crew too. I think aliens is still the best in the series though.

[simbob4000]

The crossbreeding in Alien Res was really disgusting and in bad taste but the art direction and effects were pretty damn good. I liked super Ripley and the merc crew too. I think aliens is still the best in the series though.

What? The failed clones scene was one of the better scenes in that movie.

[evangelionofasgard]

my rating system
6 OF 6 = THE ABSOLUTE BEST
5 OF 6 = AMAZING / SUPURB
4 OF 6 = GREAT
3 OF 6 = GOOD
2 OF 6 = OK / MEH
1 OF 6 = BAD
0 OF 6 = HORRIBLE

ALIEN (1979) = high 5 [2nd best horror movie of all time after john carpenter's the thing]
ALIENS (1986) = 4
ALIEN 3 (1992) = 3
ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997) = 2
PROMETHEUS (2012) = low 4
PREDATOR (1987) = 4
PREDATOR 2 (1990) = 4
PREDATORS (2010) = 4
ALIEN VS PREDATOR (2004) = high 2
ALIEN VS PREDATOR - REQUIEM (2007) = 3 [do not get the hate at all, other than being too darkly lit at times i do not really have any problems with it]

just to give some context comparisons for where i rate things.
THE TERMINATOR (1984) = 4
TERMINATOR 2 - JUDGEMENT DAY (1991) = high 4/low 5
TERMINATOR 3 - RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003) = 3
TERMINATOR SALVATION (2009) = low 4/high 3
BATMAN = 2
BATMAN RETURNS = low 2
BATMAN FOREVER = low 2
BATMAN & ROBIN = high 0 (singular good thing is the freeze outfit and even that is getting dated)
BATMAN MASK OF THE PHANTASM = 4
BATMAN BEGINS (2005) = 4
THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) = 6 (only full 6 i give to any film at the current time)
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012) = low 4
MAN OF STEEL (2013) = high 5

I would say yes if he had said that about Alien 3... or AVP:R, if you consider that part of the series

i defy you to explain how anything in alien 3 is even remotely worse than resurrection, and killing the previous films cast does not count, thats a poor creative choice not a actual film quality or story problem with the finished film.

[CliffHanger2]

What? The failed clones scene was one of the better scenes in that movie.

I was more talking about Ripley's hurl inducing baby at the end.