4. Alien Resurrection (1997)
If you were told that the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the director of Delicatessen would be bringing another Alien film to the big screen, chances are you'd probably be rather excited. Certainly their combined experience should produce what would be the crown of the series, but fifteen years ago that isn't what happened. Perhaps one reason it's failure stands out, is that the film has so many aspects that should have made it a success. We saw a new side to the titular Xenomorph; they showed signs of intelligence rather than just instinct but this was perhaps underused once they had escaped their prison. Brad Dourif is often highly rated for good reason (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Deadwood), and his Dr. Gediman brought a whole new definition to "admiration", but perhaps this was the wrong actor/character combination. That being the case however, the opposite is true of Leland Orser and his somewhat traumatised Purvis, as this was the exact same role he played two years earlier in Se7en. Although it didn't quite live up to Whedon's (or even our) expectations, it has to be said that the film does have a few decent moments, Ripley #8 (or should that be 9?) discovering her predecessors being a great example. In a rather bittersweet reversal of script doctoring, Whedon has also stated that his original ending was changed, which allowed his fans everywhere to rejoice at no longer having to associate him with that rather unsightly hybrid.
Whedon Hallmark: The female leads of Ripley and Call are perhaps the most fully rounded and human of all the characters, even though neither of them technically are....