Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Two centuries after Ripley’s sacrifice, military scientists clone her aboard the USM Auriga to extract a xenomorph queen. When mercenaries arrive and the creatures inevitably escape, Ripley 8—now sharing alien DNA—teams with the smugglers and the enigmatic Call to survive a drifting nightmare of laboratories, breeding chambers, and the terrifying “Newborn.”
Story & Style
Jeunet infuses the series with baroque production design, black humor, and slick body‑horror—an offbeat tone that explores identity, cloning ethics, and motherhood from a new angle through Ripley 8.
Key Cast
- Sigourney Weaver — Ripley 8
- Winona Ryder — Annalee Call
- Ron Perlman — Johner
- Dominique Pinon — Vriess
- Michael Wincott — Elgyn
- Dan Hedaya — Gen. Martin Perez
- J. E. Freeman — Dr. Wren
- Brad Dourif — Dr. Gediman
- Gary Dourdan — Christie
- Leland Orser — Purvis
- Raymond Cruz — Distephano
Awards & Legacy
Though divisive on release, the film’s visual inventiveness and set‑pieces—especially the underwater kitchen chase and grotesque finale—have earned a cult following within the franchise.
Tech & Design
- Creature/Effects: Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. (ADI)
- Production Design: Nigel Phelps
- Notable Set‑pieces: Ripley’s clone lab, underwater chase, Newborn confrontation
Plot
Two hundred years after Ellen Ripley’s death on Fiorina 161, United Systems Military scientists clone her aboard the research vessel USM Auriga. Their goal is to harvest the alien queen embryo she carried. The experiment succeeds, producing “Ripley 8,” a hybrid of human and xenomorph with enhanced strength, acidic blood, and fragmentary memories.
The Auriga receives a shipment of human hosts courtesy of space mercenaries led by Elgyn. Once again, the xenomorphs mature and escape containment, slaughtering soldiers and crew. Ripley 8 allies with the smugglers and the mysterious mechanic Annalee Call, who is revealed to be an advanced android with her own mission to prevent the aliens from reaching Earth.
The survivors fight through flooded laboratories and hive‑ridden chambers as the Auriga, on autopilot, speeds back toward Earth. Dr. Gediman and other scientists are killed in grotesque encounters, and a new mutation—the “Newborn,” a hybrid offspring of Ripley’s cloned queen—emerges, recognizing Ripley 8 as its twisted mother.
In the final confrontation, Ripley 8 uses her bond with the creature and the pull of space to destroy the Newborn by ejecting it through the hull. With Call, Johner, Vriess, and Christie’s sacrifice, she escapes aboard the mercenaries’ ship, the Betty. Now fully aware of her altered nature, Ripley reflects uneasily on what awaits them on Earth.
Screencaps
