Alien 3 (1992) 20th Century Fox/Sci-Fi-Horror-Action RT: 145 minutes (Assembly Cut) Rated R (strong monster violence, gore, language, attempted rape) Director: David Fincher Screenplay: David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson Music: Elliot Goldenthal Cinematography: Alex Thomson Release date: May 22, 1992 (US) Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover, Ralph Brown, Danny Webb, Christopher John Fields, Holt McCallany, Lance Henriksen, Christopher Fairbank, Carl Chase, Leon Herbert, Vincenzo Nicoli, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Brennen, Clive Mantle, Peter Guinness, Deobia Oparei, Phil Davis, Niall Buggy. Box Office: $55.5M (US)/$159.8M (World)
Rating: *** ½
Most people are shocked when I tell them Alien 3 is my second favorite movie in the series (after Aliens). Some are horrified that I have the unmitigated gall and questionable taste to put it ahead of Ridley Scott’s 1979 original. I then remind them they’re talking to a guy who loves other unpopular horror sequels like Exorcist II: The Heretic, Halloween III: Season of the Witch and Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning. It doesn’t make my case any stronger; it merely reaffirms my identity as a man of singular taste.
I liked Alien 3 well enough to see it three times during its theatrical run. It was so different from the two films that preceded it. It was certainly different from the movie promised by the teaser trailer which premiered the year before attached to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It indicated the action would take place closer to home. The narrator states, “In 1992, we will discover on Earth, everyone can hear you scream.” That’s the movie audiences wanted to see. That’s not the movie they got. Apparently, the three-quel went through many script changes and directors including Vincent Ward (the medieval time travel fantasy The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey) before filming commenced in early 1991. By that time, the action had been relocated to an all-male penal colony on a desolate planet.
By then, Ward was out and David Fincher was in. It was the first feature film for the music video director who previously helmed Madonna’s “Express Yourself” and “Vogue”, both of which won him consecutive MTV Video Music Awards for Best Direction. He had his work cut out for him. He started without a finished script that would ultimately be credited to David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson with story credit going to Ward. It was a difficult shoot, but Fincher managed to have it done on time for its May ’92 release date.
Alien 3 has been around for over 30 years, so I feel comfortable talking about it in detail. This is the one where Ripley (Weaver, Ghostbusters) dies at the end. That bummed everybody out. I was sad too, but it’s the ending that makes the most sense given her character’s circumstances. A happy outcome would have been both anticlimactic and self-defeating not to mention unbelievable. It’s this type of boldness that makes Alien 3 the unique cinematic lifeform it is.
The story picks up right where Aliens left off with Ripley and the other survivors in hypersleep heading home after their ordeal on LV-426. They’re not alone. They have a stowaway of the alien variety. It causes Ripley and the others to be ejected from their spacecraft in an escape pod. It crash lands on Fury 161, a foundry/maximum-security prison populated by dangerous criminals- murderers, rapists, child molesters and mental defectives. Ripley is the sole human survivor. In yet another move that angered fans, Hicks and Newt (the characters played by Michael Biehn and Carrie Henn in the previous installment) are killed.
Obviously, it’s not an ideal situation for Ripley being the only woman among a group of violent criminals in a place effectively cut off from the rest of the world. The inmates, led by rapist/killer Dillon (Dutton, Q&A), have formed a quasi-religious community. They see Ripley’s presence as disruptive, a temptation they might find too hard to resist. The warden (Glover, An American Werewolf in London) orders her to remain in quarantine under the care of medical officer Clemens (Dance, The Golden Child) until a team from the Company arrives to evacuate her.
As you might expect, an alien has also found its way to Fury 161. It’s loose in the facility and the victims-to-be have no weapons to protect themselves against the vicious alien intruder. A sickly Ripley bands everybody together to eliminate their mutual enemy.
For some reason, the alien refuses to attack Ripley even though she gives it ample opportunity. It turns out she’s pregnant with an Alien Queen. Her fate is sealed. She’s going to die when it bursts from her chest. Not wanting it to reach that point, she contemplates taking her own life and the Queen along with her. First, she’s obliged to deal with the Xenomorph killing everybody off.
It should be noted that this review of Alien 3 applies to the longer Assembly Cut of the film. It contains about 30 minutes of footage the studio cut from the movie prior to its release. It’s one of the reasons Fincher eventually disowned it. It’s definitely the better version. It fills in a few plot holes like the fate of an inmate who simply disappears from the film after witnessing the killing of another by the alien. It also includes scenes of the planet’s exterior when Ripley is found on the beach by an inmate.
Alien 3 got a bum deal from audiences and critics. I think it’s brilliant. I love that it’s so dark and depressing. Moodiness doesn’t usually play to the masses, especially when it involves a series as loved and revered as Alien. Fincher makes an auspicious debut with the three-quel. He gives us a preview of the visual mastery that would define future projects like Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac. The cinematography by Alex Thomson, who took over for the ailing Jordan Cronenweth two weeks into filming, is dark and sometimes dizzying. A bait-and-chase leading the alien to a trap is especially thrilling.
It might not be as fast-paced as its predecessor, but Alien 3 doesn’t lack for action even though it’s more of a thriller than anything else. The special effects, once again, are top-notch. Stan Winston wasn’t available this time so Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis assume FX duties. They’re mostly of the practical variety (miniature models, puppets, actors in alien costumes) with a few scattered CGI shots. They look great.
The cast does a phenomenal job. Weaver turns in an affecting performance as Ripley, a changed woman since losing a surrogate daughter and gaining an alien one. The actress convincingly portrays all five stages of grief as she struggles with depression and loss. Sporting a shaved head, she looks tough but vulnerable. It’s a surprisingly complex performance. She’s aided by a great supporting cast of actors made up to look like the scum of the universe.
Alien 3 may not have wowed the masses, barely making enough at the box office to cover its $50M budget. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad film. It’s not. It’s a misunderstood and underappreciated one much like the titles I mentioned in the opening paragraph. Still, I don’t expect to change anybody’s opinion on the subject. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. I might suggest you watch the longer version and reevaluate. You might be surprised.
