Alien-Ate

The Alien series is one of my favourite series of all time but unfortunately Resurrection was only ever an ok movie to me. I'm such a fan of the rest of them and I know just how good they can be so I had to check out your edit, you have finally given me a version of Alien 4 that I can enjoy and that is now a worthy addition to the Alien series. You cut out all the unnecessary scenes and dialogue which helps speed up the pace of the movie, also the color correction, toned-down music and the SFX work is excellent and wouldn't be noticeable to anyone that hasn't seen the original. I also found the change of direction at the finale to feel completely natural and again wouldn't be a noticeable edit to a first time viewer. So thank you Jerick for making Alien 4 into how it should have been and a worthy addition to the Alien series.

By only looking at the other reviews have I only found out that Ripley was the Alien Hybrid creature, so unfortunately I don't think the narrative at the end was clear enough. But that was my own honest experience, as watching Call shouting for Ripley left me completely confused.

Otherwise the edit is brilliant as the cuts and audio are flawless and by watching it (apart from the end) you would think it was the proper cut of the film. I think removing some snippets of the film was a good idea such as removing the scene where Call originally opens the door from the other side as in the original film it feels a bit dull because we hardly sympathise with the character at all throughout...if anything, Call is a bit of a brat and gets in the way, so I'm glad you trimmed her down throughout. Another part I seem to remember being removed was when the general looked at a piece of his brain when he's been killed by the Alien, yeah, that definitely had to go. I think you may have shortened the swimming scenes, which helped with the suspense.

Personally I think you could have removed the Alien Hybrid altogether....yes, it would have been slightly anti-climatic, but it would have shortened and improved the film somewhat. I think we all hate that stupid Hybrid and for the Alien Queen to be so soft and go unguarded just didn't make sense for me in the original film. Perhaps that could be a future edit for someone to do?

As with all TMBTM films the visual and audio editing are flawless. Unless you know what has been cut you'll never notice something is missing. Picture quality is what's to be expected from DVD quality.

As for the narrative and enjoyment I'm a little torn. I'm not a fan of the original by any means, and anything that helps strengthen the story is a win. But, as TM2YC pointed out, by cutting out the more ridiculous things only highlights how nonsensical it all is. There were also a few instances where the pacing felt just a tad rushed.

The big change was the ending. While I see what TMBTM was going for it just didn't work for me. Maybe it was fine for others, but I just couldn't buy what happened to Ripley. I don't want to spoil it for others so I'll leave it at that.

Is the edit worth your time? Definitely. While not perfect it is better than the original. I think that this is just one of those films that is impossible to fix in a satisfactory way due to the how the original film was put together.

TMBTM, I could kiss you flat on the mouth for this! Alien is my favorite movie of all time, and the whole original trilogy means a lot to me, but Resurrection is a blight on this series. Because I'm such a fan of the rest of them, though, I keep compulsively watching it, and it gets worse every time. With your edit, you have finally given me a version of Alien 4 that I can enjoy. You cut every single thing I was hoping you would. EVERY. SINGLE. THING. God bless you. The basketball scene, while still in the movie, plays like the small character-building scene that it should be instead of a forced set-piece. The aliens no longer have an argument among themselves before breaking out of their cell (My understanding is that they have a hive mind, so this never made any sense and made them feel more like the velociraptors from Jurassic Park). Poor, miscast Dan Hedaya is barely in the thing! The color correction, toned-down music, and less frenetic cutting amps the tension significantly. The SFX work is terrific and subtle (when it needs to be). Everything was just spot-on.

And that ending! WOW! Kudos for going with this bold choice. It works so much better that the theatrical ending that I really feel like the way you re-worked it should have been the way it played in the first place. You nailed it.

though alien 3 wasn't perfect it was a fitting end to ripley, unfortunately a film studio can never leave a franchise be and so ripley is now back from the dead. with alien 4 were in friday the 13th territory the franchise doesn't offer us anything new, the aliens are less scary. you could call this alien 4: a new chapter luckily this is were the sequels ended but unfortunately for us the alien films would continue with the AVP films and would get even worse.

it's always interesting when a editor takes a film that most of the fans consider to be a poor entry in the franchise and look to improve the film. and on a whole this edit succeeds in doing so though i won't get carried away by saying the edit can now stand alongside parts 1 and 2.

as others as mentioned the cuts made are on the whole flaws i did feel they were one or two moments in which the cuts were obvious but nothing to spoil my enjoyment. this is the second time i've seen the edit and when i first saw it the new ending past me by. so seeing it again i knew what to except. it's really well done but i don't think it improves the film, but it's certainly a really good alternative whenever you wish to return to the film.

for me we the audience don't know which side ripley is on at the start. this is obviously a new ripley to what we've seen before but as the film progresses i felt ripley more human side was starting to take over. with this version she openly gives herself up (as with the original) to seemingly become a monster to which she seeks to kill the crew that she's been helping to stay alive. as i said i think this is nicely done but i'd prefer to watch the cuts made with the original ending

i also don't fully understand why the footage from AVP was used, couldn't ripley have gone into the womb of alien queen from part 4 then be reborn and kill the queen? again it's nicely executed but i come away thinking why was it played out in this way (note it has been a while since i saw alien 4) because it's now ripley killing the queen alien and as i mentioned she's now seeking to kill the remaining survivors i'm left feeling a little confused regarding the character of ripley

overall this is what i'd expect from a TBTM edit technically it's of a very high standard with an ending that you either love or hate. i think the cuts improve the film up until the ending, though nicely done i say i prefer how the original played out.