Alien3 (1992)
The bitch is back
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover, Ralph Brown, Daniel Webb, Christopher John Fields, Holt McCallany, Lance Henriksen, Christopher Fairbank, Pete Postlethwaite
Director: David Fincher
Running Time: 114 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 18
Action, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
On DVD Those aliens just won't take a hint, will they? Six years previously, Sigourney Weaver's increasingly mannish Ellen Ripley banished another of the monstrous space-swines into the cosmos, before once again heading off for a bit of a kip.
So the fact that she now finds herself slap-bang in the middle of a third chapter is a sure-fire sign that something survived. Only, if you've watched 'Aliens', you'll be pretty sure that nothing did. And there, with the convenient appearance of at least one new face-hugger aboard Ripley's craft, lies the first major problem with 'Alien3'.
Problem 2 is the lazy script-writing which for some reason deems the relationships Ripley formed with Newt and Hicks (Carrie Henn and Michael Biehn) in the last movie surplus to requirements. Within minutes of this movie's opening, those two have been killed off - it's a real blow for fans of that second film, and one this movie struggles to recover from.
Ripley's craft has crash-landed on an all-male maximum security prison planet, governed by a highly disagreeable Brian Glover and populated by a charming mix of murderers, rapists and - probably - politicians. Surprise surprise, these nasty-pieces-of-work soon find themselves being picked off one-at-a-time by the very beast introduced onto the planet by our heroine's ship. Oops.
David Fincher - making his big screen directorial debut - handles the picture with impressive style, but the deeply detestable subject matter renders much of his good work pointless. When the alien gives chase it's as scary as it ever was previously in the series, but the major difference this time is that you'll struggle to feel any empathy for its prey.
If Ripley was a survivor in 'Alien' and a fighter in 'Aliens', in 'Alien3' she's a cold-hearted quitter, operating entirely without even the smallest smattering of hope. It's understandable given what the character's been through, but hardly makes for good cinema. When even she herself openly wants to die, why should we as an audience care if she doesn't?
DVD Extras: Original theatrical trailer and a 'Making of' doc.
It's Got: Ripley shaving her noggin. Apparently the only thing worse than the aliens are the head lice.
It Needs: Characters we can care about and a plot that works.
Alternatives: Alien, Aliens, Alien: Resurrection
Summary: Marvellously directed and well-acted, but a dirty and wholly unrewarding experience, containing major plot-holes thanks to a complete disregard of what went on in the previous movie.
Review by Gary Panton
Review Date: 21th August 2003
Image Gallery
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External Links
Alien3 at the IMDB
Comments3 Comments |
| I regard this film has one of my all time favourites. I adore the dark moody sets of the prison colony. Almost film noir the cast are good and theres plenty of jumpy moments. The alien creature at times doesn't look to good hence why it is barely seen . A atmospheric little number and not very commercial. |
| Comment by:- | | 28 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| Watch the Director's cut - the production team (inc Weaver) fannied around so much with the cinema release as to make it unwatchable. The DC fills in the gaps and tells a much better story, and one in which the viewer's empathy for the prisoners is much greater as they take a lot more interest in their own survival. Its almost ridiculous to observe the gulf of difference between the two versions. Watch especially the 'conference in the cavern' scene near the end - its like a different script. Fincher does a good job of cobbling together the scraps of decent material left to him from the cutting room floor to assemble this far-superior (IMHO) offering. |
| Comment by:- | | 24 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| Would have scored 10/10 if Hicks was still freaking alive. |
| Comment by:- | | 12 October 2004 | ip: logged |
