Alien 3 - The Director's Cut (Two Disc Special Edition) [1992]

On the DVD: The clarity of the digital picture throws light into some of Fincher's darker recesses, but is unkind to the primitive computer animation (the CGI alien is never convincing). Compared to the Alien DVD there are few extras, although a "making of" featurette that covers all three movies is included.

The films events take place immediately after the end of Aliens. Ripley, the lone survivor of a crashing escape capsule awakens on a prison colony inhabited by sex criminals. Whilst recovering from the crash she attempts to find out why the spacecraft malfunctioned and if anything else survived the crash. As the truth about her circumstances becomes clearer she is compelled to act or all her previous victories will be rendered meaningless.

I believe that Alien3 works on more levels than it has been previously given credit for and is not dissimilar to David Fincher's more recent film Seven. Both Seven and Alien3 have a depressing and claustrophobic atmosphere. Like Seven, Alien3 also features such themes as evil, sin and redemption.

Certain elements established in the previous Alien films come into play here and are twisted into a fully functioning religious allegory. In the previous films the goal for the main characters was to escape from the Aliens with their lives while fending off corrupt characters who wanted to keep the creatures to suit there own purposes. In Alien3 the goal for the main characters is not survival but to kill the last of the creatures at any cost. The characters have no weapons at their disposal but reluctantly accept the situation as there last chance to find redemption. Alien3 is more about not letting evil succeed then the art of survival.

Of the three films this one focuses more on the drama (rather then suspense or action) and is more psychological. The characters are portrayed with considerable nuance; they lose confidence, become frustrated and are at times indecisive. Some of the scenes are moving, others are horrible but the film is never sentimental. Even the films most stirring scenes have a cynical edge to them. A film such as this needs good acting and Alien3 doesn't have a poor actor in it. Elliot Goldenthal's soundtrack is also great.

One thing the film does not have though is a sense of discovery. You see the Alien in the first half of the film and there is no Alien queen or huge set to look forward to. The film is visually stunning but you know you've seen all they have to show you in the first half. However these are not things the film really needs. This is one of my favourite films and I think its great.


excellent version of a great film   March 25, 2004
Mr. A. E. O'loughlin (London, UK)
11 out of 15 found this review helpful

'Alien 3' is to my mind the best of the alien saga. Fincher has purposely opted against making yet another gun toting, high action film, instead delivering a dark, bleak and menacing film of a style we have come to associate with him (particularly due to 'Seven'). This time Ripley crash lands on a backwater prison planet home to a skeleton crew of penal workers. Without the aid of weapons or postmodern technology, the single alien this time round is far more deadly and menacing than the hordes of them in 'Aliens'. The bleak backdrop of 'Fury' 161 and the dark, abandoned prison-mining complex serves as the perfect setting for the most profound, beautiful and ultimately distressing film in a series characterised by these qualities.

The title of this disc is misleading. Fincher apparently refused to contribute to this work (supposedly because he considers his first work to be largely compromised due to difficult editing and outside intervention). What is presented here is the original assembly cut (the finished work before theatrical editing). This is a fascinating insight into how Fincher originally intended the film to be. Not only is there over half an hour added to the film, but some of the story has been drastically changed. The opening has been extended (featuring visually stunning scenes of the 'Fury' landscape which were not in the original), the explosives scene has been extended and altered, and original dialogue has been added.

All this makes for a vastly improved, extended film which serves to clarify some of the more obscure sections of the plot which added to the popular feeling of frustration when alien 3 was originally released. It is not often that a 'director's cut' or 'special edition' really improves the an original cut, but here Fincher's original vision creates a far more lucid, complete and beautiful work. Some of the additional speech is slightly fuzzy (presumably it was abandoned after the original editing), and the touched up cgi simply serves to display the primative nature of the special effects here (after all it was only 1992!). But all in all this is a worthy purchase for anyone who doesn't already own the box set.


At last the real Alien3!   April 4, 2006
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

In 1992 I went to the cinema to see Alien3 having seen the previous two only on video. At the time,the excellent extended version of Aliens had just been released,Alien3 had a lot to live up to. Initially it was amazing, a scary credit sequence and the wonderful trashing of Jim Cameron's 'happy ending'(always the weakest part of Aliens).Then it all started to go wrong. Despite incredible sets and great acting from Weaver, Dance and Hutton the story just didn't work and some of the effects were embarrassingly bad. You got the sense that there WAS a good film in there but we just hadn't been given it. 11 years later and the extended version reveals the near masterwork Alien3 should have been.This version is a worthy successor to the works of Scott and Cameron. The subplot of the religious cult on Fury 161 fully fleshed out, the alien effects properly developed, the outside walk by Charles Dance used in the trailer but cut from the movie and the caging of the beast sequence a revelation not even hinted at in the original version. The film proceeds at a slower and more effective pace, the dank world of Fury 161 is delved into in much greater detail, lice and all.
This is a wonderfully dark 3rd act where arguably the series should've ended (unless they do the alien homeworld movie Alien3 was once going to be).The excellent documentary films on disc 2 are a masterclass in how NOT to make a film and show what inspired ideas were wasted in the development of the film. It's a great pity David Fincher himself is not interviewed but considering his experience in making the film this is hardly surprising.This is by far the best and most surprising of the Alien special edition set- a butchered film returned to it's full glory THIS is what the DVD format was made for!


A sequel to Alien, not Aliens   July 3, 2000
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

After Alien and Aliens, expectations were high for the third in the series - too high. Viewers everywhere hated it, damning it for being too boring or too dull, having no guns or marines, only including a single alien (and one that looks too much like a regular animal - it was more frightening to think of them as being similar to us), having no hive scenes, having an all-male-but-one cast, having Sigourney Weaver with no hair, for killing off Corporal Hicks and Newt, and for placing a almost inescapable barrier to more sequels at the end (inescapable unless you want to damage a nearly flawless series with something way too open-ended, of course).

But Alien 3 is an excellent film. Sure it isn't as exciting as Aliens, but compare it to any other film and it is brilliant. We were expecting an Aliens sequel, but instead we got an Alien sequel. Alien 3 has an atmosphere that no other Alien film has matched, a malevolent and filthy air that has now become a trademark of David Fincher (the director). The music isn't bad, and heightens the excitement/fear/interest at all the right moments. There's plenty to think about: Dillon's (excellently played by Charles Dutton) 'new life' speech during the alien's hatching is well presented, there is the question of Morse's immortality (I was hoping that he would pop up in Resurrection), and there's much to suggest that Ripley is re-enacting the life and death of Jesus. The cast (tragic British accents aside) may not be as well selected as Alien and Aliens but there are some great performances from Weaver, Charles Dance and some of the prisoners.

There are, of course, many ways in which Alien 3 could have been better. Hicks, from Aliens, could have been included as a wounded accessory to Ripley (there's a rumour that Michael Biehn was approached but said no). Some say the decision to let Weaver in on the producing of the film was a mistake (apparently it was she who said "no guns"). Also, the special effects are poor compared to Aliens, with the alien being added via computer to pre-recorded scenes in many cases. But the setting, however dull it may seem, is not bad - an under-populated prison of bewildered and frightened prisoners (as in Ridley Scott's Alien).

Overall Alien 3 is a very good film, and acts as a good conclusion to the series (ignoring Alien Resurrection). As a stand-alone film it is still good, although knowledge of the story so far would be helpful. It is, however, not a sequel to Aliens in terms of action and special effects (maybe the Alien series will never again meet Cameron's work in the second film), but as a continuation of the Alien saga Alien 3 does a good job.


Quick Reviews   July 4, 2006
carlosnightman (A Seat)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful

The third entry in the Alien series is famous more for its script re-writes, disputes and problems rather than anything that happens in the movie, and has since been slated by fans and critics who expected much more. On the DVD documentaires we can see all these problems, the ideas that were thrown out, and how different the film could have been. On this purchase we see a different cut of the film, one which is superior to the theatrical edition we know, featuring a few cut scenes which did not deserve to be cut. Eventually Fincher got the director's job and did everything he could to make an entertaining and coherent film which would stand well with the others in the series, all the while looking over his shoulders as ravenous producers repeatedly stepped in to make changes. What is left is a disappointment from one perspective, but a thoroughly good movie from another. Hicks and Newt, surviving characters from Aliens are killed off, rendering their escape from that movie nearly pointless, and setting the gloomy tone for the movie. Bishop is destroyed and has no wish of being remade as a second grade model. After the excitement of the previous film, here we have one alien, and lots of talking. In this way it disappoints. However, watching it as the story of Ripley, of her never-ending nightmare, of a triumph of lighting, atmosphere and darkness, it works well. The tunnel chase scene is also one of the best horror movie moments of the decade. Therefore it is nowhere near as bad as many say it is, but it had the potential of being much better.

Ripley's escape pod crashes on a prison planet, Fury 101. She is the only survivor, human survivor, and is brought into the prison causing much disruption. The inmates are all men, most murderers and rapists, sentenced to life, but they have adopted religion to get them through each day. There is no way off the planet, no weapons, and it seems a certain creature is loose. The Corporation hears of her survival and prepares to come 'rescue' her, but Ripley is more worried about survival as the Alien begins to pick off the inmates. However, a twist reveals that the Alien may let her live.

Weaver is again very good, as are the rest of the cast, particularly Charles S. Dutton and the late Brian Glover. Unfortunately the rest of the cast all look identical, and most are killed without emotion. The score is good, the sets are impressive, and everything is dark and shadowy. The alien itself has changed, but the CG is poor. Many complained the film is too depressing, and if you like your films bright and with a happy ending then this is not for you. For fans of the series, most are split over its merits. I only really enjoyed it after a few watches.