Alien: Resurrection

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Released: 20th Century Fox Films, 1997

The argument could be made that they needed a way to cap this one off, just like the argument could be made that it was necessary to have Sylvester Stallone appear in a street fight in Rocky V. Sigourney Weaver returns to star as Lt. Ellen Ripley -- or rather, a clone of her, as the events in this film take place two hundred years after the close of Alien 3. Once again there's a bunch of mad scientists trying to domesticate the title's infamous killer bugs, and once again those scientists don't have too long to live. In some ways, this is an easier film to watch than Alien 3, because director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and company have given up all pretense of trying to imitate the original. The downside is that the series has completed the arc from scary bug-hunt to mindless action film. Winona Ryder makes a supporting appearance but wasn't worth what she was paid for; Weaver and her take-no-prisoners attitude are about all that are.