Customer Reviews

Alien Resurrection: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This score is more MUSIC than it is scary sounds to enhance the mood of the film (as the score for all the other films in the series goes), don't get me wrong this has plenty of the scary sounds and stuff that is as much a bench mark as the aliens or Ripley to the film franchise. But this score is much more melodic and thematic than it's predecessors. The opening track starts off and sets a recurring theme throughout the score. It makes a very depressing feeling that conveys Ripleys never ending plight. The music is as depressing as it is terrifying at times. No, I don't scare easily but listening to this score in the dark, at night, gave me goosebumps and scared me quite a bit actually. This film has neat flurrys of breakbeats and electronica brilliantly reflecting the time it was made (around '97) it wasn't TOO advanced to be a good score and it wasn't TOO old fashioned either. Snippets from the main action peice "They Swim" are still used in trailors for other films. Collatoral Damage being the latest to use it. This is a well enduring album. And even people who have never seen the alien films would like this.

I have listened to this wonderful soundtrack and I think it is superb!! I now know that the ALIEN movies rock! The tone of the music fits the movie. I especially like " Ripleys Them" Because it reflects on what has happened with Ripley through-out the movie. The cloning, learing, remebering and also meeting her clones. I would also like to say that the movie was excellent aswell. The cast did a great job, acting their hearts out. Jean-Pierre Jeunet should be proud of the music and his film.So if you aren't an Alien fan, you sure as heck will be after you listen to the soundtracks! ~ Jenna ~

John Frizzel's score teeters between Horner's "Aliens" and Goldenthal's "Alien 3". It has disturbing brass power and melodic string usage to a military and sometimes atonal rhythm.
The CD's magnum opus is "They Swim...", a six-minute crescendo of chase music that goes through several wild combinations of
orchestral blasts before finishing.

Despite this CD's overall goodness, I strongly suggest trying to find the score's 2CD release. "They Swim..." borders on 10 minutes in that cut.

John Frizzel did what he could with what was given to him, creating - through his music - all of the emotion in the film (Weaver and Rider's performances helped somewhat). The score never quite hits it's potential, it seems to be waiting for something. It's action cues never are up to par with Goldsmith and Horners score, but matches Goldenthals in the balance of emotional music and action motifs. The score is enjoyable despite it's flaws. The re-tooling of Goldsmiths theme for Ripley serves the character well. And there are several segements of action music, that by themselves are quite spectacular. Like the film that it was commisioned for- it never quite reaches the level the audience wants- leaving you begging for more. (which is not a good feeling at all) An honest effort to bring back the beast, I'm sure, but sadly, nothing more than an interesting failure. Buy it for the highlights, but don't expect a glorious resolution in the end.

Hello everyone. I am an avid collector of film scores, especially rare or out of print promotional items. With over 200 scores in my collection, I know my subject well. Among the collection is a copy of the 2CD Complete Score for Alien Resurrection by composer John Frizzell. To be honest, the 2CD release sounds exactly like the standard cut only twice as long. But there are some tracks definitely worth listening to such as "Main Title (Original Version)", "Ripley Reborn" (which contains a lengthy segment of Jerry Goldsmith's two-note motif from the original Alien film), "Ripley Returns", and "I'm a Stranger Here Myself (Alternate)". Overall, I do not consider the talents of John Frizzell to be the same caliber as James Horner or Jerry Goldsmith, but his score works well in a film that has been considered the weakest in the Alien franchise. Buyers will be sure to get PLENTY of noise and tense percussion and not a whole lot of beautiful music....but that may be exactly what some people want. If you can manage to locate a copy, I recommend picking it up just to say "I have the TWO-CD release"! Here is a track listing:

CD1:
1. Main Title (Original Version) (2:13)
2. Ripley Reborn (1:23)
3. Main Title (Film Version) (2:15)
4. Post-op (1:22)
5. Quite a Grip (1:07)
6. Her Majesty (0:49)
7. The Prophecy (1:08)
8. The Knife (0:42)
9. Docking the Betty (1:20)
10. The Facehuggers (2:12)
11. A Little One-on-One (1:19)
12. After Hours on Deck (2:11)
13. A Fast Learner (0:34)
14. Call Finds Ripley (2:59)
15. Mess in the Mess Hall (1:17)
16. The Sacrifice, The Aliens Escape (1:42)
17. The Trap (1:23)
18. Evacuation (1:15)
19. Ripley's Escape (2:24)
20. Wayward Weaponry (0:28)
21. Elgyn Killed (3:05)
22. The Appearance of Ripley (0:47)
23. Sticking Together (1:20)

CD2:

1. Santa Claus in a Wheelchair (0:40)
2. Where the Meat is (2:07)
3. Small Talk (0:14)
4. Ripley Meets Her Clones (3:23)
5. 'Kill Me' (1:16)
6. A Waste of Ammo (1:38)
7. What's Inside Purvis? (2:19)
8. No Backstroke (0:31)
9. They Swim (8:49)
10. The Auton (1:46)
11. The Chapel (3:15)
12. The Clone and the Robot (1:39)
13. The Abduction (3:50)
14. Purvis Erupts (1:24)
15. The Newborn (3:31)
16. 100 Yard Dash (2:08)
17. Ripley Returns (1:28)
18. Baby on Board (2:39)
19. The Battle with the Newborn (3:13)
20. "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" (1:56)
21. "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" (Alternate) (1:57)
22. Ripley's Theme (2:11)
23. End Titles (1:01)
24. End Titles (Conclusion) (2:29)

I can say "Alien Resurrection: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" was definitely worth the purchase. I got it before I thought I would too, so 10 points for shipping. I downloaded it to my iPod and listen to it with the other _Alien_ albums. I think that in the future I will purchase from this seller again. I have nothing bad to say about this album, it was not scratched, the case was in very good condition, and the jacket was not damaged in any way.

The action sequences of this record are what you should be buying it for. John Frizzell's dark, opera-ghost-house music comes to its right there. His driving "Alien" brass motif whips up the tension, while the synthesisers mimicking Alien screeches and growls are real ear candy. He also puts Ripley's theme - which was handed down all four movies - into an attractive new rendering.

There is a decent narrative to the album as well, starting out ominous and foreboding and ending in full-fletched bombastic action. Really, we could have done without Handle's opera piece. Not that it is boring music, but it distracts from the whole while not being able to fit in at all. The booklet heralds it as breathing space for one of the scariest moviescores in decades, but the bragging in the booklet is top-notch and best taken lightly.

In reality, John Frizzell's score is certainly adequate, yet hardly a competitor to the other "Alien" scores. In fact, it leans too much on synthesizer-produced sounds for that.
Alien Resurrection the movie was by far not as clutching and gripping as its forbearers, and its heroes were trigger-happy play-arounds instead of the desperates that came before. Frizzell's score undoubtedly suffers from this. How to make a clutching powerhouse score like James Horner's "Aliens" with the opera of Goldenthal's "Alien3" when the movie it's meant for fails in all except a small choice of scenes?

That is what undoes the record I think: its comparisons with the Other Three. Listen to it and not compare overtly much and you will have a great album in your hands.

Given the circumstances, John Frizzell's "Alien Resurrection" is still a filmmusic album with the power and suspense to score.

This one gets three stars

Bram Janssen
The Netherlands

Although many people thought the soundtracks to the other movies where better, I can't fault this one - the score was truly superb; the best of the series in fact. Highly recommended.

I liked the soundtrack. I've listened to I all the way through over 20 times. I havent got bored of it yet.

not as great as aliens or as classic as alien, but it's not a bad score for an alien flick, nice and subtle, good music to relax to...