Alien 3 (1992) [PILF-2562]

The Movie:
Alien 3 is a mixed bag at best, with many fans of the earlier films rallying against it as a tarnishing entry to the franchise, and others not quite sure what to think of it. There might be a few out there who even enjoy Alien 3, but I am unfortunately not one those people.
But it's not like I'm a hardcore fan of Aliens or Alien either, so I don't really have a huge fanboy bias against this film, it just doesn't work.
After the brilliantly designed ending of Aliens, which sort of mirrors the end of Alien, you'd think that Newt and Ripley would go at it again against the aliens, but here's where this film makes its first mistake. Instead of playing off of the chemistry developed through the entire runtime of Aliens, these characters, sans Ripley, are killed in a horrific crash that opens the film. Wow, talk about taking the easy way out when it comes to reinventing the wheel for a sequel film.
On top of taking out the majority of the likable characters from Aliens, the supporting cast is filled in by a group of psychotic prisoners who have found religion as a means of saving themselves. It works, but it doesn't quite make for a very entertaining plot premise - which by the way is essentially a meaner, grittier, darker take on the plot of Alien. That's my main issue with not only Alien 3, but Alien Resurrection - they recycle the plot of the first film and just swap out the setting. It's like someone took the script of Alien and played mad libs with it. I mean, a faster, scarier version of the Alien tossed in with a dysfunctional, incompetent crew to assist Ridley in her attempt to escape? This doesn't really make for a very exciting film if I've already seen it once before, and it was done waaaaaaay better.
The ending isn't too fantastic either - I guess I'm not one for downers, and Ripley's suicide was completely contradicted by Alien Resurrection, so it doesn't even feel like it's consequential if you view the series as a whole. That's just my opinion, and I'm sure the film is wide open to interpretation.

Video:
Letterboxed into a 2.35:1 frame, Alien 3 looks fine on Laserdisc, not really anything exceptional, but without any serious issues. Color reproduction seems adequate, after seeing both the theatrical and extended cut on DVD, looks faithful to what I can only assume is the theatrical color scheme. Skin tones look natural and the cold, icy look of the film is exactly what it should be - cold and icy. I have little to no other complaints besides a little signal noise present throughout the film. Sometimes it's worse than others, but it fits the look and feel of Laserdisc.

Audio:
When it came to theaters in 1991, Fox granted it a 70mm blow up print for general release. While I never got to hear this 6 track magnetic release, as it was released 4 years or so before I was born, I can only assume that this THX certified AC-3 5.1 track faithfully reproduces what lucky audiences got to hear in 1991. Directionality is somewhat minimal, with the rears only being used to carry bits and pieces of the score, and a few sound effects, mostly echoes and the like. Where this track really hits home is in low frequency reproduction. Bass is frequently herd throughout the film, enhancing the immersive quality of the film. Consider this AC-3 soundtrack the highlight of this disc.

Overall:
A bad movie, combined with an adequate video transfer and a great AC-3 soundtrack make for a rather hit or miss Laserdisc. Tread lightly around this disc, and only pick it up if you really like the film, or, like me, you just want to complete your THX mastered AC-3 Alien Laserdisc set.

I read you flcl4evr !
Thank you for the detailed review!

I will go on record with favoring Alien 3.
David Fincher gave it a spin only he could muster.
Charles Dutton gave a command performance that only he could deliver.

In agreement about the regret that the survivors of the Shulaco met their demise so early in the story and during the intro credits to boot !
However my fascination took off with the discovery by Ripley of her unwanted cargo and the way she went about "dealing" with it.
Hooking up the demolished "Bishop" was a clever revisit to the original film.
Also the convict Doctor's attempt at find out the "truth" just lured me further into Fincher's enterprise.
I did not expect the climax at the lead works nor Duttons sacrifice.
My fascination was peaked by the combat suits worn by the escort of the medical team.
I have reviewed that last few segments a few times to get clear with what they were wearing and just love their original design.
The underdog all star cast was the icing on the cake, Pete Postlethwaite was sublime in this film.

I have not met anyone who cared for A3.

My hat is off to Fincher for taking on the challenge to begin with and seeing it through to its finality.
A director of renown now, with many top notch achivements under his belt.
David Fincher created an epic climax to the tirilogy, and he had big shoes to fill.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts on this review thread.........

Another well considered and thorough review from flcl. Thanks for that.
Well, that would be me.
Bravo. There don't seem to be many of us.

I love it. Alien is special, but after the incoherent shouty darkness of Aliens (not to mention the cringeworthy one liners and stupid gender politics), the considered medium paced A3 is a joy. Ditching the knees-bent-advancing-with-guns behaviour in favour of concentrating on the convicts' society is terrific. More proper science fiction, less Monster flick in a corridor - excellent.

I'm relieved that the Sulaco's passengers were killed off. Part of me wishes that they done away with Ripley too, but that was never going to happen.

Yes. Dutton and Dance particularly, but Paul McGann (in the longer version) also.

And then there was Resurrection. Oh dear.

My LD is Alien 3 (1992) [EE 1090], which is ... fine ... but I prefer the longer version of the film in later formats.

Alien 3 is where the franchise stopped.

i like aliens, i didn't care too much about 3 but i really think it should have stoped with the first one.

glad they didn't Bastardize blade runner.
yet

Alien 4 was fun in different ways (like a replay for fans with visual twists).

Alien 3 scored low on my ruler until... I watched the director's cut on DVD.

A whole different movie, more religious, more symbolic, more engaging. The studio butchered/simplified it before theater release, David Fincher actually did an excellent (original) job!

Try to catch the DC if you can.

Julien

Thanks for the advice !
Never caught the DC..........
Happy to relay my thoughts once viewed !

I actually liked a good portion of Alien resurrection but Ms. Ryders miscasting along with the generated creature at the films ending just looked silly and steered me too far from the "alien feel". Maybe I could stand a re-watch, it's been awhile. I like doing reassessments.

The surrounds are split-surround so it should be doing what was released on the blow-up 70mm. I only saw ALIEN 3 once in Dolby Stereo SR and it sounded cool at the time at UCI Tower Park screen 1 on Wed, 23.9.92 price was £FREE as I was ex-projectionist and managed to get in for free, Time was 02:30pm.

The LCR mix on the film sounds about right with discreetness and the Fox opening starts off in mono and then widens and expands outwards around you is the coolest opening to ALIEN 3.

The mix at times can be a bit toppy bright if not EQ'd the ALIEN hissing sound that is geese and I think chickens recoding if I can recall from the behind the scenes extras on the DVD-Quad ALIEN box-set? That type sound high pitch really bends my ears, its creepy natural sound recoding that gives you the chills in the cinema.

The bass range across the LCR is ample enough if you've got matched LCR and all are placed at equal height and are EQ correctly would or should give you that chest kicking sound in the range from 60Hz to 130Hz on some few tones. The LFE.1 is hardly used its over-used its just used as and when its used along with opening when you see the "Sulaco" with stage left low bass pan and centre is carrying a different mix stage right music I think music is carried on the centre as well as left and deeper low end support on the LFE.1 that should be within a few db of the stage channels it shouldn't be boomy otherwise you have you're levels set way too high.

There is a slight over boast on the contrast or gamma level, as few scenes that have brilliant whites with some blue in the background gives a slight blotches of green around the whites its not major I've seen far worse transfers, but it could have been avoided.

I might buy the ALIEN 3 on Laserdisc again (THX AC-3) as I used to have copy of this PAL version.
http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/18756/EE- ... en-3-(1992)


I'll only be buying it again for Dolby AC-3 but not this week I have other things to attended to, enjoy your ALIEN 3, I know when I can get into it I can watch it at least 5 times in one evening.

Finally caught the Directors Cut !

Added a bit more flavor in regard to the convicts background.
The bovine twist was totally unexpected as there was no hint of them in the original edited version.
In agreement with Julien's post mentioning the more spiritual, engaging, and symbolic aspects of the DC and thus quite a different film experience.

Loved the performance even more from Charles Dutton and the supporting cast !

David Fincher is a standout director and his prowess is clearly demonstrated during that difficult undertaking.

Apologies! Earlier post typo: the Sulaco not Shulaco ! Doagh!!!

Thanks again for this thread flcl4evr ...............

It also explains how the ALIEN got free when it was caught then set free again.

Right on !
Totally forgot that part, was nearly confused until it made sense what was going on ...
Let's hear it for Director's Cuts !!!

i agree BUT only if it adds to the film.
sometimes it's just too much and makes the film too long and dosn't add anything to the story

I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the movie. Also, it makes me feel very old that you weren't even born when this movie came out. I was 14 when the first Alien movie was released theatrically.

I've always had a soft spot for Alien 3, perhaps because it's the underdog. Alien is undoubtedly the best, but after that I tend to find I watch 3 more than Aliens as I'm not a great fan of action flicks. As for Resurrection, well I just pretend it never happened.

It's not a Directors Cut, Fincher wasn't involved.

http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=1405

The Director's Cut is not a Director's Cut !?!
There needs to be an investigation !
Perhaps a fact finding committee ...... LoL
False advertising comes to mind........

Thanks for that link bubski .........
Very infomative

I don't think they actually say Director's Cut anywhere on the discs. Here in the UK all the DVDs and Blu Rays have marked it as the "Assembly Cut," which is basically what it is with a little visual and audio enhancement. It's probably the closest to what Fincher would have produced.

I would suggest to everyone who likes this movie a lot for it's exceptional story, atmosphere, looks, music and acting to watch the assembly cut on newest Blu Ray because, on a contrary to the former Quadrilogy DVD, it has a very improved and polished audio!
I also understand a typical US-american anxiety towards this really magnificent film. All Alien movies are made by very sensitive writers, directors and craftsmen. Ripley "kicking some a**" (what a stupid phrase, sorry) was just one aspect of it, in the second, military driven movie which also worked very well with a big part of US population with active fetish for firerarms. I'm sure, if Fincher, Cameron, Coppola and Peckinpah make movies without someone getting killed, most of US general audience is bored to death and their movies flop. That's what happened with the last two geniuses anyway.