Review #1,242: 'Alien 3' (1992)

After the overwhelming success of James Cameron's follow-up to Ridley Scott's creature feature classic Alien, the direction in which the franchise could go from there was a mystery. Surprisingly, 20th Century Fox made the risky move of hiring an untried director who had made a name for himself in music videos, but didn't have a feature to his name. That man was David Fincher, and the experience almost turned him off movies for good. Frustrated by studio interference, constant script rewrites and budget issues, Fincher turned his back on the film once it hit the editing room, and has since disowned the film completely. The result was a box-office disappointment which received mostly negative reviews, possibly the result of an unyielding, miserable tone, or the fact that the final product was stitched together from scenes shot during an incredibly problematic production.

Even in a series that includes Alien: Resurrection and Prometheus, Alien 3 is still very much the dark horse of the bunch. Fans mostly loathe the film, but there are some who believe the film to be some sort of unrealised masterpiece. After all, this was made by the director who would go on to helm Se7en, Fight Club and Gone Girl, although you would never guess it. I sit somewhere in between. 2003's 'Assembly Line' cut (which Fincher refused to take part in) establishes some much-needed coherency, bulking up the role of Paul McGann's character and introducing more fluidity to the story. The new cut certainly doesn't cover up the movie's main issues, but it is a refreshingly downbeat spectacle, reasserting the alien's genetic superiority and terrifying prowess after Cameron's entry blew a small army of them away in spectacular fashion. There are also some terrific performances by a mainly British cast.

Alien 3 didn't do itself any favours by killing off fan favourites Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Newt (Carrie Henn) during the very first scene. After narrowly escaping with their lives following the events of Aliens, an alien egg inexplicably found itself on board their ship, hatching while the crew slept in stasis. An escape pod containing Hicks, Newt, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the mangled android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) is launched when a fire starts on board, eventually landing on 'Fury' 161, a penal colony and lead-smelting works housing sex offenders and murderers of the worst kind. Led by the imposing Dillon (Charles S. Dutton), the inmates have also turned to God. They are all bar-coded and shaven-headed due to a lice infestation, and look like they haven't seen the sun in years. Ripley, the only survivor, confides in prison doctor Clemens (Charles Dance), who is willing to perform an autopsy on the dead to ensure no alien lives inside of them. He also displays a bar-code.

Of course, it isn't long until another alien has hatched and is hunting down any poor sap in its way, as it seeks to reproduce and overrun. Writers David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson made the correct choice in returning to the series' routes with a lone alien stalking its prey. Cameron went bigger, but you can't really go any bigger than that. Fincher stages some scary set-pieces, particularly one involving a terrified Paul McGann and very close encounter for Ripley. The main issue lies in between these moments, with the film too busy establishing the new setting, introducing an all-new cast of characters, and bridging the gap between the end of the second movie and the beginning of this to gather any real momentum. Fury 161 is also a horrible place to spend over two hours in, especially with the threat of rape and murder at every turn. With the Assembly Cut now the definitive version, Alien 3 is certainly not the complete mess it is still considered to be by many. It's rough and ugly, yes, but this arguably adds more grit and ferocity to the terror. It's hard to think of what could have been had Fox realised the talent they had on their hands.


Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Ralph Brown, Danny Webb, Lance Henriksen
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie