Ripley

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.

The editing in this is just sublime, a whole other level. The way this is put together in itself is worth a great deal of merit and makes for a very enjoyable experience, even if the narrative isn't spot on.

I've always hated Resurrection. Alien 3, on the other hand, I've had a special spot for since I first watched the special edition; always thought it was only a few cuts away from being near brilliant. Combining the 2 films certainly makes for something very unique, and even if the visuals are different, the stories work well together.

The first half of this was excellent, but I think that it begins to fall short a bit as time goes on. This is partly due to the lack of good footage available from Resurrection (so many comically bad scenes...), but also due I think to the characters in that part of the story not being set up quite well enough. It's been a while since I watched Resurrection though, so I'm not sure how much could have been done about that.

Ripleys escape from the alien nest is also a bit sudden, but I imagine that was the best that could be done while avoiding the (ugh) hybrid.
One other qualm I have is that it's not clear how the company were able to clone Ripley, particularly after we end the film with her committing suicide. Again though, I can't remember how well this was communicated in Resurrection.

All that aside, so many things are worth commending in this edit, and the mere 2 hour runtime is impressive. Many great shots of the alien were left out at the beginning of the film, but this created a great sense of suspense akin to the original Alien movie. The black and white filter also worked well in helping to hide some of the less than impressive effects, making them appear somewhat slicker.

Anyway, well done, Job Willins. Taking 2 flawed films such as this and turning them into such a visual treat is beyond creativity, it's a work of art. I look forward to seeing more of your work!

Editor JobWillins previous edit - Derelict - was an arresting and entertaining comparison of two of the stronger entries in the Alien canon. If anything, Derelict shows how much the Prometheus lot echoed / borrowed / swiped from the original Alien movie. This second edit mixes two of the most misunderstood, if not roundly disliked Alien films, Alien³ and Resurrection. Skepticism notwithstanding, I dropped in to have a look.

Video - 1280 X 720p MPEG-4. As with Derelict, Ripley is also rendered black n white. Too dark, especially in the first third, to my liking. Brightness could be boosted a bit, and yes I understand filmmakers use smoke and shadows to mask budgetary limitations. I strained to make out foreground details. A curious thing I noticed was two (2) video streams. After demuxing, the smaller stream revealed itself to be a series of ten still frames. Time markers for the editor perhaps? Or perhaps an abandoned menu design? I had never seen that before.

Editing itself was uniformly fine. Now and then, an inspired cut from one film to another. Most struck me as random.

Audio - 2 Channel AAC, 251 Kb variable. No subs. Despite being a pair of actioners, the dynamic range is not especially sweeping. Dialogue understandable throughout.

Narrative - Ripley suffers in comparison with Derelict. Ripley is two films from two different periods of the timeline. The edited story bounces about like a pinball. There seems no reason for this. The editor simply could have assembled his film chronologically, rather than this random method. Both storylines are weak on plot. Characters are poorly drawn, and even Ripley is barely more than a cipher. This is especially true for the Resurrection half.

Part of the problem lies with the original films themselves. Garbage in, garbage out, as the saying goes. JobWillins is trying to forge a superior viewing experience from poor stories.

Enjoyment - Less than ecstatic, I’m afraid. I disliked both films when I first screened them theatrically. They failed to improve after seeing on VHS and later DVD. The stories are simply weak, the characters unmemorable. This edit did nothing to improve my opinion.

The closing credits ought to have mirrored the opening credits, by the way. The dual closing credits are too busy and an unfortunate choice.