Ripley

JobWillins' second Alien mashup edit fails to reach the heights of Derelict and later Paradise, but that's to be expected considering he's dealing with the worst film in the franchise in Resurrection and the studio ruined Alien 3. Technically I had no issues with the edit, and while I appreciate the effort, this just fell a bit flat for me. While I agree with some other reviewers that an additional 20-25 minutes would probably help, I just don't think the two films work together. I would recommend this edit, but I doubt I'll be revisiting it.

TOUGH ONE to review....

Alien 3 has become my fave entry in the franchise over the year's aided in no small measure by the extended version that was released. Resurrection has some nice ideas but the flesh coloured attrocity at then end is almost a comedic parody, further hampered by what feels like a script written by comittee. So where do I come out on this effort?

Well, the effort is there for sure!

Any kind of narrative experiment is going to prove challenging to deliver and to watch since there will always be a significant deviation from the source material. Many of the interweavings are inspired and deftly handled but as has been said already in other reviews, this is definitely and edit of two halves....I found myself progressively pulled in during the first half as I increasingly believed that the execution would deliver a satisfying conclusion. However, as previously pointed out, the necessary excisions to both entries combine to diminish them despite the cretive effort here (ACADEMY ARE YOU THERE? TO ADJUST THE RATING CATEGORIES, PLEASE). The overall narrative does not quite come togethere and there is a sense that these are two movies.

I completely respect how challenging this is and for sure I was engaged, but I do feel that an extra 30 mins could have made all the difference here. The use of B & W is inspired and certainly helps blend these two polar opposite entries (and makes the Resurrection finale more palatable).

In the end, the two sources are to polarizing and as much as Resurrection is improved here (excising the agredious) it is outweighed by the diminishment of Alien 3. That's is not to say that this is not an interesting and worthwhile viewing...it is, but ultimately I hope a V2 emerges...which I believe could indeed lift this experiment further.

Definitely recommended

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.

Since I have never seen either of the original movies, this was a bit confusing, particularly the Resurrection parts. I don't think I would have or will watch the originals anyway though, so I think this is a great way to experience them in some form.

A valiant attempt at correcting the sins of two flawed films by combining them into one less flawed film. Loved the intercut scenes of both film’s action sequences, the reveal of how Ripley 8 came to be, and the idea to both cover up some not so stellar special effects and link both films visually using black and white but ultimately I feel this cut removes far to much content leading to neither film getting much attention. Adding a bit more from Alien 3 would fix most of my issues and if someone did a fanedit of this fanedit I think it could really work. Cool in concept and worth watching for that alone but not unflawed. I still enjoyed my time with it and recommend it for anyone looking for a weird yet welcome edition to your Alien franchise experience.