Cast:
Ripley: Sigourney Weaver
Dallas: Tom Skerritt
Parker: Yaphet Kotto
Lambert: Veronica Cartwright
Ash: Ian Holm
Kane: John Hurt
Brett: Harry Dean Stanton
Released: 1979. Directed by Ridley Scott. Written by Dan O'Bannon, Ron Shussett, David Giler and Walter Hill. My Rating: ****. Position on Top Twenty: #20.
Plot:
The mining vessel Nostromo is pulled out of hypersleep on orders to investigate a barren planet, LV-472. The crew are annoyed at not being home, but investigate anyway. They find an alien vessel, and Dallas, Kane and Lambert check it out.
They come back, with an alien being attatched to Kane's face.
He seems to be in a coma, but after a while, the alien comes off. Kane seems fine, but soon after, in an amazing scene, a small
alien bursts from his chest. Kane is dead, but the alien is loose on the ship. Soon, the alien picks off the crew one by one until
only Ripley is left.
In the final confrontation, Ripley blows the alien from the airlock of the escape shuttle.
My Comments
This movie is a classic horror movie. You don't actually see the alien, which heightens the tension in the final battle. Ridley Scott
brings his marvelous sense of visuals to a wonderfully written script. And H.R. Giger's alien design is inspired. Of the series, this gets my second place vote.
Scott has made the statement that this movie was complete, but he went back and made changes. The changes were noticable, but I've seen this movie a few times. Originally, they added fottage taken out, but it made the film too long and unweildy. So, Scott cut some other footage, and slightly changed the narrative. Overall, the new edition isn't better, but it isn't worse. Both are acceptable and enjoyable.
Aliens
Cast
Ripley: Sigourney Weaver
Newt: Carrie Henn
Hicks: Micheal Beihn
Bishop: Lance Henriksen
Burke: Paul Reiser
Hudson: Bill Paxton
Gorman: William Hope
Vasquez: Jenette Goldstien
Released: 1986. Directed by James Cameron. Written By James Cameron, David Giler and Walter Hill. My Rating: *****. Position on Top Twenty: #7.
Plot
Awakened after 57 years, Ripley attempts to return to life on Earth. Soon, her 'expertise' is called on by
The Company after a colony on LV-472 is lost. The aliens are back, and this time a team of Marines are sent in to
kill them. With the team, however, is Company man Burke, who wants to take back an alien as a weapon.
Soon, the aliens (many, many aliens) pick off the team until only a few remain. The last stand in which all but four
survivors are killed, is intense. In the end, with Bishop the android looking after an injured Hicks, Ripley
goes after the aliens.
One of the colonists, a young girl named Newt, has bonded with Ripley, and after the girl is kidnapped, Ripley
chases. After getting Newt, they head to the ship, only to find the queen alien has stowed aboard. Once again, Ripley has to blow it out of an airlock.
My Comments
The best of the four. Action, drama, effects. It just doesn't stop. The bond between Ripley and Newt is the driving force
in Ripley's mission, and adds immensly to the story.
After The Terminator, James Cameron had a hard act to follow, but he showed he wasn't a fluke. This movie is one of the defining moments in action movie history
and is as classic as the first Alien movie.
Alien3
Cast:
Ripley: Sigourney Weaver
Dillon: Charles S. Dutton
Clemens: Charles Dance
Andrews: Brian Glover
Aaron: Ralph Brown
Morse: Daniel Webb
Golic: Paul McGann
Bishop & Bishop II: Lance Henrikson
David: Pete Postelthwaite
Released: 1992. Directed by: David Fincher. Written By: Larry Ferguson, David Giler, Walter Hill, & Vincent Ward. My Rating: **
Plot
After a mysterious accident, the pods containing Ripley, Newt, Bishop and Hicks are jettisoned. They crash land on Fury 161,
an old prison planet. Hicks and Newt are killed in the crash, and Bishop is damaged beyond repair. Ripley survives, and is nursed back to
health by the prison doctor. There are no women on the planet, and Ripley is treated like an outsider. Soon, however, its clear that an alien survived
the crash as well. Soon, it picks off prisoners one by one.
Ripley spearheads several attempts to kill the alien, but each one fails. through it all, after several opportunities, the alien won't kill Ripley. The reason: she has been implanted
with one. With this knowledge, they lure the alien into a mercury mold, where its finally killed.
The Company arrives just as the alien is killed, and Ripley knows they know about the implantation. So, in a final sacrifice, she throws herself into the mold.
My Comments
Okay, this is the weakest of the four. It has long been called a very terrible movie, mostly blamed on the director. But, since then, Fincher has directed such hits as The Game,
Se7en, and Fight Club. Since then, Alien3 has been looked upon a little differently. I enjoyed this movie, and even liked the heroic ending.
The new box set contains a different cut of this film. There's about an hour of extra footage, most of which makes this film so much better. It not exactly a director's cut, mostly because Fincher refused to participate in the box set. The whole process of the studio intruding on his vision has put him at odds with them. But, the added cut made the movie closer to what he wanted, and I enjoyed it much more than the original cut.
Alien Resurrection
Cast
Ripley: Sigourney Weaver
Analee Call: Winona Ryder
Johner: Ron Perlman
Vriess: Dominique Pinon
Dr. Wren: J.E. Freeman
General Perez: Dan Hedaya
Elgyn: Micheal Wincott
Released: 1997. Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by: Joss Whedon. My Rating: ***
Plot
200 years after her death on Fury 161, Ripley is cloned for the alien inside her. Its a queen, apparantly, and the new United System Military wants it for a weapon.
Sound familiar? Well, all is going well, until a group of smugglers board with human cargo for the experiment. On board is one Analee Call, who is there to kill Ripley.
But, the new Ripley has been infused with alien DNA, including acid blood, incredible healing powers, and increased strength.
When the aliens do break loose, the military personelle are either killed or evacuate, leaving Ripley and the smugglers to their fate. They charge to the smuggler's ship, pursued the whole way by
aliens. Soon, Ripley gives in and goes to the queen.
That's when the queen gives birth, in the human sense, to a new breed of alien. More human-like, but still alien. Ripley then escapes, but the new alien follows her. In the end, her and Call (revealed to be
and android) blow it out of the airlock over earth.
My Comments
This was a kind of Aliens revisited. Working with more than one alien, keeping the action coming, using interesting characters. Like Alien3 was an Alien revisited, this one uses the same formula
as Aliens. But, it works. Joss Whedon and Jean-Pierre Jeunet don't dissapoint as they string together a taut action thriller. Number three in the series by my count.
Although the new box set adds footage, it doesn't change the movie very much. There was very little wrong with it, and it still stands up to the others.
Wait, this year, Aliens VS Predators finally becames a reality. It won't be directly related to this series of movies, or with the storylines, but Lance Henrikson comes back. Even without Ripley, it should be fun. Long Live Alien!!
