film / 1997
Alien Resurrection
Military scientists clone Ripley to recover the queen inside her, creating a human-alien hybrid who must escape when the captive creatures break free.
Verified facts
- Runtime
- 1h 49m
- Director
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Released
- 1997
- Origin
- United States
PlotGeeks explainer signals
Why read this explainer
Keep Ripley 8 distinct from the woman who died in Alien 3. Her inherited traits and memories complicate the loyalties she chooses during the escape.
PlotGeeks note
The clone chamber exposes the suffering behind Ripley 8's creation. Her later protection of Call shows the connection she chooses when the Newborn claims her as its mother.
Connected knowledge
Connected in PlotGeeks
Related explainers and browse pages for Alien Resurrection.
- Appears in Alien and Aliens order
See where Alien Resurrection belongs in the listed reading and viewing orders.
- Explore Identity
Discovering or revealing an identity can change a character's relationships, status, or chances of survival.
Timeline
Major events
- Ripley 8 awakens
Cloning recovers the queen but also produces a changed Ripley.
- The aliens escape
The specimens sacrifice one of their own and overrun the Auriga.
- Call reveals herself
Her android identity reframes the group's argument about artificial life.
- The Newborn reaches the Betty
Ripley destroys the creature that treats her as its mother.
Story in 60 Seconds
The short version
Two hundred years after Ripley's death, scientists aboard the USM Auriga clone her and extract a queen alien from her body. The surviving clone, Ripley 8, has enhanced strength, acidic blood, and a psychic connection to the aliens. Mercenaries from the Betty deliver kidnapped humans for hosts, but the aliens escape containment and overrun the ship. Ripley joins the mercenaries, discovers failed clones of herself, and kills them at one clone's request. She also learns that crew member Call is an autonomous second-generation android who wants to destroy the aliens and stop the Auriga from reaching Earth.
Spoiler sectionEnding ExplainedShow ending detailsHide ending details
Call sets the Auriga on a collision course with Earth to destroy the aliens aboard it. The altered queen gives birth to a Newborn that kills her and recognizes Ripley 8 as its mother. When it follows the survivors onto the Betty, Ripley uses her acidic blood to breach a window and expel it into space. The Betty escapes as the Auriga crashes into Earth. Looking down at the planet, Ripley admits it is unfamiliar to her, leaving the clone's future open after she protects the survivors.
Original context
Why it matters
A stranger looking down at Earth
Ripley's uncertainty about Earth leaves the clone's life unresolved after the escape. The experiment has given her memories and abilities without supplying a home she knows.
Key turning points
Ripley finds the failed clones
The laboratory confronts Ripley 8 with the suffering that produced her. Destroying it makes escape from the ship part of a rejection of the military experiment.
Character links
Who connects to whom
Character motivations
Choosing whom to protect
Ripley's genetic connection to the aliens gives the Newborn a claim on her attention. She nevertheless acts to save Call when it attacks the survivors aboard the Betty.
Explore the story
Creators, themes, and characters
Reading and watching order
Where this story fits
Films
Alien and Aliens order
Watch the first four Alien films in release order. They form Ripley's original screen sequence, with Alien Resurrection continuing through a clone two centuries later.
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