Review Detail

8.5 9 10
Hot
FanMix November 02, 2015 9400
Overall rating
 
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
7.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
5.0
Enjoyment
 
6.0
When watching JobWillins' fanedit RIPLEY, you come in almost expecting a wholly unique, self-contained story - a tight, lean "definitive" sort of sequel to ALIEN and ALIENS. The promises are well laid for the first half of the movie, through which the cuts interweave the two very different visuals and storytelling styles in an almost eerie, elegant manner. It is just after the midway point that you start wondering if the whole package is really going anywhere. Unfortunately, what RIPLEY ultimately feels like is a semi-satisfying experiment in fanediting which would have benefited from a longer running time. Some of the cuts between one and the other movie's narratives are shockingly well done and inspired, but this does not completely make up for the fact that ALIEN3's sequences in the story feel stronger, more thoughtful and more provoking than RESURRECTION's, and taking minutes away from the former in order to give them to the latter is never truly satisfied by a new throughline. What I also felt was lacking was a growing sense of depth for the criminals who share the screen with Ripley, as I think that the story's final moments would have gained in payoff, and I did feel something was missing in RESURRECTION's timeline. I do, nonetheless, understand the choice of trying to keep the amount of time spent in ALIEN3's world and the one spent in RESURRECTION's as balanced as possible.
I own both originals but have never seen them, and was curious going in, knowing of JobWillins' interest in melding movies together thanks to his strong editing. I saw the movie in HD and was really stunned by the overall look: the choice of black-and-white favours both movies' cinematography while also keeping them distinct in a way that is not distracting. I have to say I did notice the audio was slightly out of synch, but this never truly impacted my viewing experience.

Ultimately, JobWillins' RIPLEY fanedit is an interesting but flawed exercise in bridging two very different movies together which fails narratively more because of one of the two originals' weaknesses than because of any proper faults of the editor, and which would have probably benefited from a slightly longer running time. I do recommend this edit to any fans of the franchise who want to give the final chapters a new spin.
Congratulations.

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Digital
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