Alien Resurrection – Kill It with Fire!

Alien Resurrection was a bizarre attempt to reinvigorate the Alien franchise after the divisiveness of its predecessor. Written by Joss Whedon, it twists itself into narrative knots to revive the series' long-standing heroin Ellen Ripley. Honestly, it suffers for it.

This variation of Ripley is a badass, as well, but she's also weird and barely resembles the character she's embodying. Combined with a sub-par script that is packed full of terrible one-liners, nonsensical twists, and stock characters, Alien Resurrection fails just as miserably as Alien 3 in getting the series back on track.

It's a shame because the film is casted well. It also boasts decent effects, gnarly kills, and even showcases a few things the Xenomorphs have never done before. The atmosphere is just lacking. There is a dearth of tension. Perhaps, that is a sign that the franchise just lingered too long. There was nothing left for Alien Resurrection to add.

Hence, why it suffered the worst domestic box office of the series ($47.8 million). Critics, too, were lukewarm on it. It sits at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes with 85 reviews. Some things are just better left dead.

Now, sit back, illegally import a Death by Design from Holy City Brewing, and watch out for Ripley's elbows in the paint! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Chumpzilla, Capt. Cash, and Bling Blake are attempting to clone Sigourney Weaver, so every generation can treasure her onscreen magic for eternity!

This Week’s Segments:

• Introduction/Plot Breakdown – Hell gives birth! (00:00)
• Lingering Questions – The Double Turn Podcast clones "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and then ... Forget Alien 3, should this have killed the Alien franchise? (49:34)
• The "Kill Me" Trivia Challenge – Capt. Cash challenges the field to trivia about the movie. (1:18:29)
• Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We continue "Hops and Xenomorph Flops," with Capt. Cash's favorite movie (and the one he finds to be the most scientifically sound), Prometheus! (1:29:17)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—the director's disdain for popcorn fare and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, Amazon Music, and more!