Alien 3 appreciation thread (1 Viewer)

[Charles de Lauzirika]

Great thread! Just a few comments...

I know a lot of "Aliens" fans bemoan the way Hicks and Newt are quickly dispatched in "Alien 3's" opening credits. Personally, I think it's a very bold way to state, "All bets are off." If these two characters -- in whom we've invested an emotional bond -- can be killed off in the film's opening seconds, then who knows what to expect in this latest entry? I love that daring statement of unpredictability from the get-go. But think about it even more and you realize that their deaths are really for the best: The seriously-wounded Hicks is pretty much worthless for any further action on this planet...and what's Newt going to do the whole time? Shatter glass with her piercing scream? She doesn't know Fury 161 like the back of her hand, as she did with LV-426, so she becomes baggage for Ripley to drag along. Not to mention Newt's role would have to be re-cast, since Carrie Henn had aged about six years at that point.

Some people have mentioned the CG "shots" don't seem convincing. There is actually only one CG Alien shot in the entire film: The very quick shot of the Alien's head cracking before exploding at the end.
Everything else is either the Boss "mo-motion" rod puppet or Tom Woodruff-in-a-suit.

I remember seeing "Alien 3" opening day at the Avco Theater in Westwood. The first thing I thought as the lights came up at the end was, "Gee...too bad Fincher's never going to work again." I thought his direction and overall style were brilliant -- but that his vision was not going to be appreciated by the masses. I'm so glad to have been (eventually) proven wrong.

 

[Paul_D]

But think about it even more and you realize that their deaths are really for the best

I think that's what disappointed many fans. The deaths make sense, but only because the story is so small-scale and limited. It's just one more creature out to get Ripley - not dramatic in the context of the first 2 films. Incidentally, I've now seen the Worprint of Alien3, and it's certainly better than the released version. But IMO the main problem is the story, and that ain't no easy fix. Now if there'd been an outbreak on Earth, or maybe more desolate alien ships had been discovered, that would be taking it up a notch, and would've allowed for Hicks and Newt to live.
I think that's why Alien: Resurrection was such a colossal failure. Fans, disappointed with the 3rd installment were expecting the filmmakers to do what the previous film hadn't, and all they were lumbered with was "yet-another-creatures-on-the-loose-on-a-ship" boreathon.
If they make a fourth, they need to reinvent the wheel, or it'll die just like 3 and 4.

 

[Steve Christou]

If they make a fourth, they need to reinvent the wheel, or it'll die just like 3 and 4.

Paul, I know many fans want to believe the third one never happened, but you're subconsciously (or purposely) ignoring it too.

 

[Brian Kissinger]

For many of the reasons listed above, I liked Alien 3 too. However, it's another movie that gets bumped down my list because of what could have been. I like the movie, especially the style, but the movie certainly could've been so much more. I'm a bit with Paul on this one. There are parts of the story that just don't work for me. This is one of the first movies I saw that I realized I was really beginning to tire of the classic horror movie formula: Step 1.Here is the cast, Step 2. Kill them off one by one, Step 3. The main character (which is whoever gets the majority of screen time) manages to defy all odds and kill the villain.

I liken it to They Live, another movie I greatly like, but can't help but be a little sad when I watch it because you can see what it could have been.

 

[Chuck L]

I am not going to go into much discussion because I see no reason in repeating basically a lot of what has been said.

I too was a fan of this film from the first showing. I loved the dark nature of the film and every thing about it, and believed (and still do) that the film serves as a natural progression of Ripley and the Alien.

I would even be as bold to say that I believe that this is my top favorite out of the four movies. While the first is a classic in every form, the second to me was just a little to heavy handed by a director that I honestly don't give a shit about. While I love the second film, the third, for me is just pure and natural beauty.

The fourth film on the other hand would have worked for me had it not had two aspects...one the newborn, and two, the shoplifter in the film. She really had a numbing effect in every scene that she was in and wasn't needed.

 

[JonZ]

I've always enjoyed Alien 3 too.....


...to a point.

I think Ripleys suicide jump is SO BADLY done that its a perfect example of how a terrible ending can really ruin a movie.

 

[Angelo.M]

This is a terrific thread.
I dig Alien3 and consider it to have been severely underrated in its day. Fincher's decision to create a mood piece following Cameron's blitzkrieg was gutsy and brilliant, if imperfectly executed. I don't think the script provided enough characterization, particulary for the bit players (something Cameron and co. pulled off brilliantly in Aliens, giving the marines personalty/character, even those that had relatively little screen [or 'life'-] time in the film). Fincher's prisoners seemed a bit monochromatic and carbon-copied, so I found it hard to generate sympathy for them (or even tell them apart from one another) during the otherwise-well-done 'chase' sequence in the film's final act.
I love what Fincher did with Bishop; he nearly subverted the character, which was a great touch.
I once thought that Ripley shouldn't have been a part of the third film, and that they should have taken the opportunity to bring the franchise in another direction with Newt and/or Hicks. Having seen the fourth film, I think more and more about that nowadays.
--AM

 

[Andy Olivera]

Angelo, there was actually a good deal of character developement, as well as other footage, cut from the final product. If anyone is interested you can find all the deleted scenes from the workprint here...

 

[AaronChauncey]

Count me as another who enjoyed this film. I like the dank, dark, claustrophobic setting. I think killing off Hicks and Newt adds more to Ripley's hopelessness and give her even more of a "nothing left to lose" attitude.

I hope that future fims make use of the "host attributes" that A3 did. I know that the toy line had some clever alien-animal hybrids.

 

[Dave Simkiss]

I think there’s a lot more Alien 3 fans out there than most people realise, I have seen a massive rise in it’s cult status in the past couple of years.

Ever since the DVD got released and I got to see a decent quality version of Alien 3 for the first time since the cinematic release I’ve been an official Alien 3 nut. (The video release didn’t fare well with Alien 3’s muted colour palette and the less said about the UK Laser the better)

As someone fascinated by ‘troubled’ film productions the history of Alien 3 couldn’t be more interesting. I truly hope it’s all covered in this upcoming 9 disk set.

As any Alien 3 fan worth his salt knows the film has a ton of material cut before the theatrical release - as can be seen in the workprint, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg (possibly a slight exaggeration) between lost ox burster subplots and super face huggers Im pretty sure Fox could fill a whole disk with just deleted/alternate scenes.

Fox if your reading, please, please release all the Alien 3 footage possible, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering what could have been. If you have lots of little snippits that you feel don’t warrant a ‘deleted scene’ tag - just stick them all together in a montage.
I have a good deal of faith that Fox (hopefully with the participation of Fincher) will give Alien 3 the SE treatment it deserves.

 

[Eric Bass]

Angelo, there was actually a good deal of character developement, as well as other footage, cut from the final product.

well more power too them. Personally I have to turn it off or break out laughing every time it's so bad.

 

[Joshua_Y]

I too, love Alien3. I think its a really nice change from Aliens. Aliens is still my favorite, but another action movie Alien would kinda be dull, cause you cant really top Aliens.