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The Alien Series might have the best roster of directors of any series I’ve ever heard of – especially series that change directors for every single addition. We’ve got Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Black Hawk Down), James Cameron (Terminator, Titanic), David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac), and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (The City of Lost Children, Amélie) all bringing their own styles to the table to give each piece of the quadrilogy a very distinctive feel from its other parts. Another feature of the series that sets it apart from modern series is how spread out it is. Ranging from 1979 to 1997, it serves as a great example of the evolution of film-making.

Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott’s original take is a classic sci-fi horror film. Though it seems mild by today’s outrageous gore standards, the movie sets a far better example of mood and suspension building than Eli Roth could ever hope for no matter how many girls he has shave their skin off.

The movie’s pace has a very old school feel to it. It doesn’t rush to get to the kills, it takes its sweet time setting things up and building anticipation. Granted, the first half hour is a little slower than I care for, but more than anything I respect the movie for its influence. Ridley practically invented the psych-out ending where you think the villain is gone just before he pops up one last time like a video game boss that requires four hits instead of the standard three. These days it’s been copied so many times (even in the Alien series itself), that’s it’s practically a cliché in modern cinema.

Another notable aspect, the movie’s simple use of puppetry is one of the finest samples of the art that is slowly being more and more replaced by CGI.

Aliens (1986)

Seven years later, following up the release of his first Terminator movie, James Cameron stepped up to rejuvenate the series with what is easily one of the greatest sequels of all time.

Opting to take the series in a completely different direction from the original’s horror/suspense tones, Cameron created a timeless action classic. Using a mixture of the amazing Stan Winston’s puppetry and state-of-the-art (at the time) miniatures and backdrops, he sculpted a movie that’s held up perfectly in the twenty-plus years since it’s release.

Similarly to the first one, it takes a while to set everything up, but the pay off is totally worth it for the last three-fourths. This is my personal favorite movie in the series, but both this and the original have locked their positions as classics.

Alien 3 (1992)

Alright, this is where things took a bit of a turn for the worse. I HATE Alien 3. Like, absolutely, positively hate it. The only reason I made Elijah watch it was because it technically connects to the other movies. Anytime I watch the series by myself in the future, I’d have no problem completely skipping this installment. I know what happens: Absolutely NOTHING.

First, the movie completely does away with the entire purpose of it’s predecessor by announcing everyone but Ripley is dead. Which makes you feel great that Newt and Hicks went through so much hell and “survived” Aliens – which is a great movie. So it feels a bit like a kick in the nuts when the pile of shit that is Alien 3 informs you that the eternally better movie that came before it was all for nothing.

Second, there’s still no real story. A prison of rapists is getting attacked by an alien. Oddly enough, I think I’m on the alien’s side on this one. Sure there are two good people, one of them being Ripley, but in the long run it’s just not a conflict worth seeing resolved. The 1992 CG Alien looks so painfully out of place at times it’s just ridiculous.

Now, I think David Fincher is a very, very talented director. The problem on this was that it was his first feature film and FOX didn’t really want to give him the authority he deserved. Pieces of Fincher still shine through from time to time with the shooting style, but in the long run, it’s an embarrassing addition to his resume. Based on his complete refusal to have anything to do with the special features (unlike all three of the other directors which contributed several hours worth of interviews/commentaries), I’m guessing he feels the same way.

Good ridance to bad rubbish. This movie blows and I don’t blame Fincher. I blame FOX for not trusting a talented guy to do his job.

Alien Resurrection (1997)

Five years after the disgrace of Alien 3, which was still profitable – most likely because of the awesomeness of Aliens – FOX decided it was time for another money-maker (if you’ve seen Alien 3, a sequel didn’t even seem possible because the ending seemed pretty final). And so we have Alien Resurrection.

Written by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly), Alien Resurrection stepped up with yet another completely differently feel from any of the films before it. Tack on Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s unusual vision, and we have quite the little sci-fi. It also helps that by 1997 CGI could almost make the digital aliens look like they belonged – enough so that I wouldn’t complain about it.

Resurrection will never be hailed at the same levels of the original two, and it doesn’t deserve to be. It’s not a great movie, but it is a fun movie. You’ve got Joss Whedon’s one-liners crossed with the three-movies-deep mythos of the aliens, and all that adds up to an entertaining hour and forty minutes. It’s not going to blow your socks off, but it will probably at least keep your attention.

I like it.