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The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Alien: Resurrection can be found here.
No. Alien: Resurrection is the fourth movie in the Alien franchise, preceded by Alien (1979),Aliens (1986), and Alien³ (1992). The screenplay for Alien: Resurrection was written by Joss Whedon. Alien: Resurrection was followed by two more movies, AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004) and AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem) (2007). Alien: Resurrection continues Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)'s story begun in Alien, whereas AVP and AVPR were written as prequels to Alien.
Two hundred years. Lt Ripley is returned to life through cloning.
The tattoo signifies that she was the eighth attempt at cloning a model of Ripley from the original Ripley's DNA.
The Aliens take on host characteristics, as indicated by the quadrupedal Alien that came from an animal host in Alien 3. This is thought to take place on a genetic level, which would mean that at some point there would be mixing/exchanging of Alien and host DNA, i.e., the Alien embryo takes up cells from the host, and incorporates parts of the DNA into its own cells. If the blood sample used to clone Ripley was taken while the Alien was in the middle of this intricate process, the resulting DNA sample would contain the DNA of them both. As indicated by the seven failed clones -- grotesque Alien/human hybrids -- it was very difficult to separate the two, even with late 24th century cloning techniques.
The nuclear explosion at the end of Aliens could feasibly have destroyed the ship, or the subsequent radiation could have rendered the eggs useless. Although it is not clear just how far the ship was from the colonists' camp (Hadley's Hope), Bishop (Lance Henriksen) refered to the colony as becoming a vapour cloud the size of Nebraska.
No explanation was given but most viewers assume that it's just an error made by the writer or actor. In keeping with the storyline, either Gediman (Brad Dourif) is mistaken, the name has changed after 200 years, or Fury 16 is a nickname for the original Fiorina "Fury" 161
Weyland-Yutani is mentioned by Dr. Wren (J.E. Freeman) when he said "...Weyland-Yutani, Ripely's former employers. They once had contracts with the military." In a deleted scene included in the Special Edition, Wren says that Weyland Yutani was bought out by Wal-Mart (yes, that Wal-Mart).
In a surprising display of their intelligence, two of the aliens attack and kill a third alien, causing its acid blood to eat through the floor.
According to the FX crew, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet didn't like the static, mechanical appearances of the previous films' eggs and wanted them to be more interesting. Possible explanations based on the storyline have included: (1) the cloning process changed the mechanics of the eggs, or (2) the egg is a living entity in itself with basic perceptional senses such that it can sense the presence of a nearby host. Thus, the vibrations made by the crew of the Betty as they surface from the flooded kitchen awakened the eggs and made them stir before opening.
The Alien under water probably didn't show much interest in Call (Winona Ryder), since she was an android. She must have taken an alternate route, not visible from the elevator shaft. The elevator shaft where the Betty crew resurfaces looks pretty much like a dead end, so it is likely Call swam back into the kitchen after the Alien got out of the water. Perhaps she used a flooded air shaft used to vent off the air (visible when they swim through the kitchen). She may have been able to crawl one floor up, where she could get out and open the door from the other side. Or maybe there was a service elevator used to transport food or an emergency escape tunnel leading to higher floors. The reason that she did not drown can be explained by the fact that she is an android, able to hold her breath longer, having a lower oxygen consumption than humans, or not requiring air at all.
Christie (Gary Dourdan) sacrificed himself to save Vriess (Dominique Pinon). He is hit in the face with acid, Vriess is hanging onto the ladder and gradually losing his grip, so Christie cuts himself loose and hits the water. However, the exact means of his death is not explained. Viewers have suggested several possibilities: (1) The weight of the dead Alien that was latched on to his foot held him underwater, and he drowned. (2) The acid was eating through his skull. While the water would possibly help neutralize it, it might have been too far along, so he cut himself loose before he lost consciousness and died. This would also explain why he cut himself loose in the first place, knowing that he didn't have long to live and didn't want to die while Vriess was still strapped to him. (3) There were more aliens swimming around underwater, and they grabbed him when he hit the water. (4) The force with which he hit the water may have been hard enough for him to lose consciousness and drown. (5) It's possible that he didn't die, that he got out another way (perhaps the same way Call got out), made it to a lifeboat, and escaped on his own.
She says that she is programmed to do so, and there is a solid basis for this. The famous science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov already proposed in 1942 that, for proper functioning, all robots should obey three laws:1: A robot may never harm a human being, or cause a human being to be harmed by inaction.2. A robot must obey orders given by a human being (unless these orders are in conflict with law 1).3. A robot must protect its own existence (unless this is in conflict with law 1 and 2).These three principles have been widely recognized throughout the genre of science fiction, and have become known as the Three Laws of Robotics. It is most likely that the androids in the Alien continuity (except for Ash in Alien) are programmed according to these laws. Bishop mentions in Aliens that it is 'impossible for him to harm, or by omission of action, allow to be harmed, a human being', which is a paraphrase of the First Law. Call is also acting according to the second part of the First Law: if she does nothing to stop the scientists from creating the Aliens, the entire human race may die.
Yes. Initially, Call was just going to cut out the alien that was in Ripley's chest. When she saw that the alien was already cut out by the scientists, she made no further attempt to kill Ripley. She then learned the Ripley wasn't entirely human (mixed DNA with Queen), she did not see Ripley as a human, as she repeatedly pointed out that Ripley was "one of them" and would turn on the others at any time. Not viewing Ripley as human would have allowed Call to terminate her without violating any of the Laws. In addition, Asimov's Foundation series of novels devised a "zeroth" Law of Robotics: "A robot cannot harm humanity, or through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. This law overrides the First Law." According to this restriction, Call could kill Ripley if doing so would prevent harm to humanity as a whole.
It is confirmed in the movie by Gediman: the Queen laid her eggs, which spawned Facehuggers who would "impregnate" a host. But then "she started to change, she started to have a second cycle (of eggs). This time, there is no host. There are no eggs. There is just her womb, and the creature inside of it. That is Ripley's gift to her, a human reproductive system!" In other words, the DNA exchange worked both ways; Ripley got Alien characteristics, and the Queen got a human womb and human ovaries, enabling her to self-impregnate and spawn Alien/human hybrids. An early version of the script confirms this: GEDIMAN: Multiple reproductive systems. Complete asexual reproductive cycle, self-impregnating, we found six different sets of ovaries in her. Egg laying is the first cycle, immature. Redundancies, redundancies... she'll bring forth legion.
As the Auriga, bearing at least a dozen Aliens plus a Queen, approaches Earth, the survivors make their way to the Betty as a means of escape. Ripley is pulled down into the Alien nest just in time to see the Queen giving birth, thanks to the reproductive organs it got in the DNA exchange with her. The newborn Alien, who possesses a faintly human-looking face, promptly kills the Queen and accepts Ripley as its mother. Ripley climbs out of the nest and continues on into the Betty where Vriess is attempting (poorly) to pilot the craft. Ripley takes over the controls, and Call goes into the bay to close a breached hatch. As she struggles to close the stuck hatch, she turns around and comes face-to-face with the newborn Alien. The Alien closes the hatch for her, and Ripley is able to launch the Betty away from the Auriga, which has been set to crash when it reaches the Earth. Because the bracers are unstable, Distephano (Raymond Cruz) goes into the bay to tell Call to turn on the auxiliary pump; the Alien kills him. Not recognizing Call as human, the Alien picks her up just as Ripley comes into the bay to see what is taking them so long. Ripley orders the Alien to put down Call, and it obeys. Mother and newborn then embrace. Ripley notices the cut on her hand and tosses some of her acid blood at a viewing window. The blood eats through the window, sucking out the air and the Alien along with it, while Ripley cries as she watches her "baby" destroyed. As Vriess and Johner (Ron Perlman) manage to pilot the Betty into the Earth's atmosphere, the Auriga crashes, hopefully destroying all Aliens aboard. In the final scenes, Call and Ripley view the Earth through a viewing window, marveling at its beauty and wondering what comes next.
According to the introduction of director Jeunet, the Special Edition is not the Director's Cut. The Theatrical Cut is his favored and authorized Version. The SE is mainly made for completists who really want to know everything. Thus, the SE only features more background-knowledge about characters, which were cut from the Theatrical Version with a reason, since they're probably not very interesting to non-Alien-Fans. A detailed comparison between both versions can be found here.
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