Review of Alien 3 by Birgitte S.C.

Science Fiction - Running Time approx. 111 min. - colour

Studio....................................20th Century Fox
Director...............................David Fincher
Executive Producer............Ezra Swerolow
Produced by........................Gordon Hill, David Giler & Walter Hill
Co-producer.......................Sigourney Weaver
Visual Effects....................Richard Edlund, A.S.C.
Alien Effects.....................Alec Gilis and Tom Woodruff Jr.
Edited by............................Terry Rawlings
Story by.............................Vincent Ward
Screenplay by....................David Giler, Walter Hill, Larry Ferguson
Music by..............................Elliot Goldenthal

Cast Ellen Ripley..........Sigourney Weaver
Clemens..............Charles S. Dutton
Dillon.................Charles Dance
Bishop................Lance Henriksen

Alien3 is the third movie of the Alien Saga, a sequel to Alien and Aliens. Alien3 is later followed by Alien Resurrection.

Story

After Ripley escaped from the planet LV426 in Aliens together with Newt, Hicks, and Bishop, the escape pods are ejected and they crash on a distant planet called Fiorina. This planet is inhabited by inmates of the former prison Fury 161. Newt and Hicks didn´t survive the crash and that Bishop is damaged beyond repair.

Soon a dog and an inmate get killed under mysterious circumstances. A fully grown alien appears in the infirmary, killing everybody, except Ripley. What shet she feared is true: the alien is back and she is carriying an alien embryo, a queen.

Now Ripley and the inmates have to try to kill the alien that it on the loose, with no weapons of any kind...

Birgitte S.C.´s opinion:

Alien3 is mostly known as the worst of all Alien movies that almost killed the Alien franchise. A victim of "production hell", this movie disappointed many fans.

I agree that it could have been better, but if you consider all the difficulties during the production (especially around David Fincher, whom the people from 20th Century Fox didn´t completely rely on), it was the best David Fincher could come up with. Personally I don´t find it such a bad movie, probably because it was the first Alien movie I have seen, so I didn´t have any expectations when I first watched it.

The story is going deeper than the average science fiction movies, exploring a "heavy" theme: how does Ripley - who knows she´s dying - handle this knowledge? That is the basic storyline of the movie, which is very well woven into the entire movie.

You can see the several stages Ripley is going through during the movie: first denial, then anger and finally she accepts her coming death. Ultimately that makes her decide to kill herself and the chestburster along with her. This is perfectly portrayed by Sigourney Weaver, who is as acting great, as usual.

This story, in combination with David Fincher´s dark mood, the sequence from the point of view of the alien and the wonderful sound track makes Alien3 my favourite episode of the Alien Saga.

Favourite scenes:

- the funeral of Hicks and Newt with the speech of Dillon mixed with the birth of the chestburster out of the dog
- the Alien coming real close to Ripley without doing her any harm.
- the chase through the corridors from the point of view of the Alien
- Ripley´s suicide

Favourite (and famous) quotes:

- "I don´t know why you´re talking to me. You don´t wanna know me, Lieutenant. I am a murderer and a rapist. Of women."
"Really? I guess I must make you nervous then."
(Dillon and Ripley)

- "What´s this `Eighty Five´ thing?"
"Lot of the prisoners used to call him that. We got his personnel charts out of the computer a few years ago. It´s his IQ".
(Ripley and prisoner David about Aaron)