Featured Audience Ratings

• xGary X

  
  When an alien presence causes the Sulaco to eject the cryo tube chamber, it crash lands on a obscure technologically backward all-male prison colony. The third alien film was not particularly well received at the time, most citing David Fincher's inexperience as a feature… More
  When an alien presence causes the Sulaco to eject the cryo tube chamber, it crash lands on a obscure technologically backward all-male prison colony. The third alien film was not particularly well received at the time, most citing David Fincher's inexperience as a feature director as prime culprit. It does on occasion resemble his music video heritage, but it also has some of the very stylish and atmospheric visuals that would become his trademark. It's true it does not measure up to the earlier films, but not much does. It has some interesting ideas, namely the evolution of a different kind of alien according to its specific host, and the fact that it will not attack an organism hosting an embryo. Sigourney Weaver is as always a strong and human protagonist while there is solid support from Charles S. Dutton who dominates the screen whenever he appears, but the best supporting character is Charles Dance's medical officer. Unfortunately he is disposed of too quickly and the last half of the film suffers for the fact. The effects have also fared worst of all the Alien films because of the early use of CGI and some studio butchery has left the middle section feeling incoherent and incomplete. The special edition rectifies this as the original plan to capture the alien makes a lot more sense and we see more of prisoner Gollic, but the pacing is not as tight and it it loses the alien birth/cremation scene which is probably the best in the entire film. As a whole, taken on its own merits, it is a stylish and well made sci-fi horror with a Gothic spin that deserved a fairer shake than it got.

• Matthew Y

  
  This is a different cut of the film than the theatrical release and can be found on the amazing Alien Quadrilogy DVD box-set, one of the greatest box-sets in DVD history. Alien Quadrilogy contains a theatrical version and a director's cut of all the films. This film in… More
  This is a different cut of the film than the theatrical release and can be found on the amazing Alien Quadrilogy DVD box-set, one of the greatest box-sets in DVD history. Alien Quadrilogy contains a theatrical version and a director's cut of all the films. This film in particular gains the most from the contrast of the original and the new cut. At first I was shocked at how superior the theatrical cut was (considering the studio took over the film and forced the cut down director David Fincher's throat, causing him to publicly disown the film.) over Fincher's version. The opening sequences are laughably bad in Fincher's version where the prison men are running slow-motion to the crash site and find Ripley thrown from the wreckage to land safely? on the beach. The alien emerging from the steer was also an odd alteration from what the theatrical cut suggested and the back and forth editing with it and the funeral ceremony simply does not carry the impact Fincher thought it would. That being said this edition does pick-up as it goes along and does benefit from the added footage to craft a more coherent and enjoyable film. I'd prefer to take what works for both versions and cut together my own but I lack the technical knowledge or drive (I'm sure there's some copyright law that would prevent it anyway). I strongly recommend watching Alien3's director's cut because of what a different direction it can take at times, especially if you're a fan of the series.