Two hundred years after her death Ripley is cloned for the Alien inside her by a rogue military faction. After the Alien is surgically removed the Ripley left is one of mixed species' strengths and seemingly divided species loyalty. When the Alien breeds and decimates the military space station, it is left to Ripley and a group of "where the f**k are the army guys?!" mercenary smugglers stuck on the outpost to stop the Aliens from reaching Earth. The standard Alien and space special effects are in play here. The music has a tendency to get in the way of scenes instead of enhancing them. There's a nice mixed group of engaging characters in the smugglers (the lovers, the horny foul mouthed tough guy, the brainy soft hearted wheelchair bound guy, the calm leader, the one with a secret) and the obsessed to the point of arrogant blindness doctors. Over all, the idea of a hybrid Ripley/Alien is an interesting one and makes for a decent center to a good fun action film. Did the director love Ron Perlman or what?! Gave his rough mercenary smuggler character Johner (yeah, he's the horny foul mouthed tough guy) all the best lines in the movie ("If you don't want to play basketball I know some other indoor sports," "I can get you off...maybe not the boat..." "Waste of f**kin' ammo...must be a chick thing," "I'm not the mechanic here Ironsides, I just mostly hurt people!") and Ron Perlman makes the most of it, turning in the performance most likely to be the first thing remembered about the film. Favorite line: "Earth? I'd rather stay here with the things man!" (we all know who said it). Availability: VHS & DVD (theatrical release), DVD (collector's edition), suggest: Amazon http://www.amazon.com, I have purchased from them, new and used, for years and have had no problems. Please make sure to check that the VHS/DVD is compatible with your country/region. Worth a rent if you're into the Alien movies and/or sci-fi/horror, definitely worth a buy if you're just into Ron Perlman. The Region 1 DVD Collector's Edition 2 disc set has an audio commentary with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, editor Herve Schmeid, Alien effects creators Alec Gillis and Tom Woodraoft, Jr., visual effects supervisor Pitof, conceptual artist Sylvain Despratz, and actors Ron Perlman, Dominque Pinon, Leland Orser (not all are present throughout the entire audio), and this is what Jean-Pierre Jeunet said about casting Ron Perlman: "I remember the studio, they were a little bit worried about Ron Perlman. They appreciated the guy but they weren't sure it was the right guy for the character and, by luck, it was the first day of shooting, and they saw the daily. They came to see me on the stage and they told me 'you're right, he's perfect.'" This may be a weird observation but Ron Perlman had great arms in this movie. I remember reading an interview about the filming of this movie where he said he had been working out and making sure to eat most of his carbs for the day in the morning so he could "stay light." It worked. He had that nice V shape going on (again…like he ever doesn't have it). By Tressa Lee Breen.
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Region 1 DVD
- 2-disc Collector's Edition also at Playusa.com
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