Alien: Resurrection – Ripley 8 Available Now From NECA

Alien: Resurrection - Newborn Alien Preview by NECA

Ewwwww.....

Why? Why? Whhhyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Is that a stand in the back?

Sweet, a new Pumpkinhead figure!.... Oh wait....

nice. Not a fan of the Newborn concept (...or most of anything from Resurrection) but it's a pretty cool design. I'll definitely be picking it up.

I saw Pumpkinhead for the first time recently, and shit, you're right...definite big-time resemblance, there.

It is indeed.

Well I can't say I'm a fan but it does look nice.

Pumpkinhead is another alien-human hybrid. It makes perfect sense. This adds considerably to AVP continuity.

Yeah, i feel you....

I don’t care what anyone says, this is one of the best Alien designs of the entire franchise. It’s creepy, it’s repulsive and truly frightening how it looks so expressive when well lit, but then under low light its face looks like a menacing skull.

This is also coming from a guy who loved Alien Resurrection. Sure this design is drastically different than anything that’s come before or after it, but that’s part of the reason why it’s so cool.

Also I’m confused how so many are in love with the figure yet hate its design in the movie. It’s not as if NECA changed the design. I wonder what H.R. Ginger thought of when he first saw the Newborn?

I would have to guess he wouldn't approve of it as a part of the lineup. His alien designs were pretty strictly biomechanical whereas the Newborn is pretty much just organic. This is obviously conjecture and I don't know if he ever put forth an opinion or if he was even aware of this design.

I thought Resurrection was lame and I definitely thought the Newborn was lame but credit to NECA for listening to those that wanted this.

Same universe....works for me

They kind of did. I'm surprised NECA shy away from sculpting her chest area, which in the movie is clearly female. This figure looks...flat, looks like they didn't want to offend people. Not NECA like.

THAT! I'm also a big Giger fan, and while I have not seen anything written about Resurrection from Giger, but from his previous works, I'd be very surprised if he approves of it or would associate himself with anything like it.

it looks more like the alien from ID4 but not Pumpkin head

They did sculpt it, it's just noticeably smaller. I doubt NECA is concerned with offending people when you look at past figures like the trilobite from Prometheus or Henrietta from Evil Dead.

I did a little bit of digging and found that H.R. Giger actually thought Alien Resurrection was an "excellent film."

Here is a direct quote from Giger himself.

"The creatures in ALIEN: RESURRECTION are even closer to my original Alien designs than the ones which appear in ALIENS and ALIEN 3. The film also resurrects my original designs for the other stages of the creature’s life-cycle, the Eggs, the Facehugger and the Chestburster. ALIEN: RESURRECTION is an excellent film."


In fact it appears the only thing he didn't like about Resurrection was that he wasn't given a credit for the film which he expressed very clearly in a letter to FOX in 1997.

It seems even the Father of the Alien design himself gave the movie and the creatures (which would include the Newborn,) his seal of approval. I think that kind of speaks volumes.

If you want to read the full letter you can find it here:
Letters of Note: The Alien Father is H.R.Giger

Well, like I said- I love the design. it's very cool. Pretty much all the design work on Resurrection is amazing- from the costumes to the props to the ships... but none of that added up to a movie I actually liked or really enjoyed. I think i was down with it up until the newborn showed up- and then it was just WTF? Pregnant Queen and a monster with mommy issues was a bit too outside the mainstream for my tastes in the franchise (...and the part where Gen.Perez reaches into his head and pulls out a piece of brain...sheesh)

If they make Annalee Call I will actually cry tears of joy. I just want a Winona Ryder action figure!

I'm glad Giger liked it...but the newborn creature itself is pretty awful on screen IMO because it's so abstract from the designs of the creatures we came to love.

It's not a discredit to Giger. Sometimes it's actually beneficial for an artist to have an outside voice to critique and refine their work (such as a producer in the music industry) as it can really bring out the brilliance in their vision.

Look at all of the designs Mcquarrie had for Star Wars in the early stages that were fine tuned through George Lucas's own visions. Many stuck close to their roots (like Darth Vader) while others morphed into something different altogether (Chewbacca) with an arguement being there that it morphed into something better than the original concept.

Alien Resurrection is the one film in this series outside of the awful Prometheus prequels that I refuse to revisit, and it's solely because of this creature design and the way it was handled onscreen, which was nothing short of disappointing. I remember enjoying and being okay with many of the elements of it (such as Ripley's resurrection and newfound "abilities" not to mention the awesome water sequence) but once we got to this creature and the final payoff, I was remember just being completely checked out of it.

I love the NECA Alien line, and love the look of the newborn, but I’m not sure I could stomach having that thing on my shelf.

The point I’m trying to make is that according to Giger this is creatures featured in Alien Resurrection are the closest to his vision. There are so many fans of the Alien franchise out there who say that Giger probably hated the designs in particular that of the Newborn because it wasn’t bio mechanical in nature and was a far departure from his work, however anyone who says that is wrong because the creator himself confirmed the contrary. Whether you like the design or not is one thing, but to say the Newborn is abstract from what we’ve come before is not accurate. It’s cut from the same cloth, just like the Deacon or the Trilobite because of the fact that it’s pulled from and inspired by the work of Giger.

I dunno, George Lucas says his edits to the original SW trilogy make it closer to his vision, but I highly doubt he ever envisioned blinking ewoks, Vader screaming NOOOOOOO and whatever that big nosed singer was in Jabba's palace. The creators just talk up their upcoming work so it builds hype. I could be wrong though

That quote sounds more than a little sarcastic, considering how far removed the “newborn” alien is from the aesthetics of Giger’s artwork.

Yes, it’s amazing how unmemorable all of the designs are...

well, OK- to people that pay attention to that sort of thing in a movie...