Featured Audience Ratings

• Al S

  
  Its my least favorite of the series and dosent deliver like the other two did, but Director, David Fincher does a fine job in the directing chair just the story is not the best.

• Samuel R

  
  I understand when people were disappointed with this film due to some of its ideas. However, I do believe that as a stand alone film, its impressive.But overall,although Alien 3 isn't the strongest in the Alien franchise, it deserves its place as part of it and doesn't… More
  I understand when people were disappointed with this film due to some of its ideas. However, I do believe that as a stand alone film, its impressive.But overall,although Alien 3 isn't the strongest in the Alien franchise, it deserves its place as part of it and doesn't deserve its constant panning.

• Emil K

  
  Far from the disaster that too many critics and audiences considired it was. Alien 3 was a debut film for master director David Fincher and he certainly made it look and sound something completely unique. Yes, Alien3 is a cold and very dark as a film, but it also is the most… More
  Far from the disaster that too many critics and audiences considired it was. Alien 3 was a debut film for master director David Fincher and he certainly made it look and sound something completely unique. Yes, Alien3 is a cold and very dark as a film, but it also is the most visionary and experimental of all the Alien-films. It has this great apocalyptic feel in it and FIncher does not seem to give a fuck about entertaining people. You could say that all the massive disagreements between producers, crew and Fincher did not harm this film as much as they could have. In my opinion Fincher walked out as a winner from this one. Even if the result was not as good as he wanted it to be, Alien 3 remains as a good looking piece of art from one of the wordl's most gifted directors. Where two first Alien-films were just pure entertainment, this is the only one of them that can be called more of an art. Composer Elliot Goldenthal made also one of his best works as a composer here to date. All in all, Alien3 is definetly a winner and would have been a perfect ending for Alien-saga if they only would leave the iconic monster alone after this. Unfortunately they did not.

• Matt G

  
  The whole religion aspect pretty much ruined the film for me. Not enough Fincherness.

• KJ P

  
  Okay, so what they decided to do was have Ripley's ship crash land on a random planet, where a maximum security prison is holding extremely aggressive inmates, with no weapons or way of defence. Right off the bat, this idea is redundant. There are too many things wrong with this… More
  Okay, so what they decided to do was have Ripley's ship crash land on a random planet, where a maximum security prison is holding extremely aggressive inmates, with no weapons or way of defence. Right off the bat, this idea is redundant. There are too many things wrong with this film to call it a fun time, but the acting is pretty decent and the scope of the film is impressive. The looks gross, with the CG Alien effects, the first person shots gave me a headache, I was laughing at how poorly the dialogue was written, and the conclusion is way too stupid to call this a sequel to the first two films. Is this a terrible movie? No, but I would never recommend it. "Alien 3" is a waste of time, money ad talent, which is sad, because there was a little bit of hidden potential.

• Everett J

  
  I'm re watching the Alien series to get prepared for the prequel, "Prometheus". I can honestly say, I have no recollection of any of the movies(well I remembered some of "Aliens"). So each movie has been a new movie to me and has allowed me to watch with a… More
  I'm re watching the Alien series to get prepared for the prequel, "Prometheus". I can honestly say, I have no recollection of any of the movies(well I remembered some of "Aliens"). So each movie has been a new movie to me and has allowed me to watch with a fresh eye. On that note, "Alien 3" is the worst of the first three(haven't gotten to the fourth one). Ripley(Sigourney Weaver) awakens from her hyper sleep on a prison colony. She's the sole survivor, as a new breed of Alien has killed the remaining survivors on her ship. She also has one growing inside of her, yup she's pregnant with an alien. The alien on the ship begins to kill the prisoners, and since Ripley is the only one who knows how to stop it, helps them in their quest to kill it. Oddly, the effects are cheesy and less realistic than the first two. Also, the story just isn't that good, seems like things could have gone in a different direction and been great. David Fincher("Seven") directed this as his first feature and he has come a long, long way. This is probably his worst movie, but then again, he has directed some great modern classics. Hard to believe the guy who directed "Fight Club", "Social Network", and "Benjamin Button" would make this, but hey, nobody is perfect. The movie is watchable, but not re watchable.

• Phil H

  
  Great look, gorgeous alien design, the movie grows on you, despite the problems this flick has grown to become just as popular as the first two films, almost a cult amongst the franchise. The brown/orange metallic hues in the set design, the vast barren wastes of the planet, the cold… More
  Great look, gorgeous alien design, the movie grows on you, despite the problems this flick has grown to become just as popular as the first two films, almost a cult amongst the franchise. The brown/orange metallic hues in the set design, the vast barren wastes of the planet, the cold empty foreboding sets of the facility and the dark earthy gritty feel of the film really appeal to me and makes the film stand out on its own. Only down side to this film these days is the very obvious use of bluescreen and stop motion models for the alien, does tend to stick out like a sore thumb I'm afraid but it still works. Another great cast roster just like the first two (although you lose track of some characters) and a really hard hitting emotional plot make this a very unique animal in all the right ways, the ending is heart breaking just like the revelations of 'Newt' and 'Hicks', powerful and masterfully created by Fincher, kudos.

• Saskia D

  
  The animated special effects were a joke. Why not stick with something that works? The "love-interest" was totally unnecessary, WHY? Ripley still kicks ass. Sigourney officially made it on to my favorite 'bad-ass-women-list'.

• Tim S

  
  As a fan of this series, I'll fully admit that this was the first Alien film I ever saw. I didn't find it all that scary at the time (I think was about 10 or 11) but I was fascinated by it. Who knew that David Fincher would go on to be such a fantastic filmmaker? It's… More
  As a fan of this series, I'll fully admit that this was the first Alien film I ever saw. I didn't find it all that scary at the time (I think was about 10 or 11) but I was fascinated by it. Who knew that David Fincher would go on to be such a fantastic filmmaker? It's just too bad his first film out was a misstep, one that he since has had absolutely nothing to do with. Alien 3 is infamous for being the worst film in the Alien series, but I don't think that's very fair. In my honest opinion, I believe that not only was the original story the wrong direction to take and that both Vincent Ward AND David Fincer were completely wrong for it, I think what David did with it under the circumstances is remarkable. If you look at the film on its own and try to ignore the films that came before or after it (a very difficult thing to do), then Alien 3 is a perfectly acceptable film. I've actually grown very fond of the 2003 Special Edition cut of the movie, which makes a little more sense as a story. There's some fantastic camera and lighting work as well as some great performances from a variety of different theatre actors, but as James Cameron put it, it's a slap in the face to fans of the previous films. It's a shame that this movie happened... that it was drawn up and executed the way it was, but we have to live with it. So I'll just try and look at the film on its own merits and forget that it's the third sequel to one of my all-time favorite films. Again, that's a difficult thing to do, but it's the only way I know how to cope with it.

• 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.

• Film C

  
  I actually preferred this Alien movie to the first two, which is a shock considering the high percentage of the first to movies. Although the storyline is very much the same just set on a different planet with a different cast once again, i very much enjoyed this movie! It was funny… More
  I actually preferred this Alien movie to the first two, which is a shock considering the high percentage of the first to movies. Although the storyline is very much the same just set on a different planet with a different cast once again, i very much enjoyed this movie! It was funny with some familiar faces that i enjoyed watching, alot funnier and i thought a bit more intense compared to the first two. I think if your a huge fan of the first two then you probably will think this is the worst of the ongoing franchise. Its still certainly worth a watch!

• Brett A

  
  I've heard that this movie had a bad reputation, but I had to know for sure. Turns out it shouldn't have been a bad movie. Its just not the blockbuster that Aliens was. I'll admit the original version was bad, but the director's cut of Alien 3 is powerful, haunting… More
  I've heard that this movie had a bad reputation, but I had to know for sure. Turns out it shouldn't have been a bad movie. Its just not the blockbuster that Aliens was. I'll admit the original version was bad, but the director's cut of Alien 3 is powerful, haunting and intelligent. But why is the director's cut so much better? It turns out that there are 30 more minutes of footage included. Did I mention that virtually all of what allows this movie to make sense is in those scenes? And all of the emotion? This film is a fitting end to Ripley's saga.

• Sergio G

  
  Why better than Alien? Because it's the perfect ending of the saga. It might look repetitive but the idea of putting Ripley within a maximum security prision where no women is allowed is enough scary to keep you on the edge of your chair. Now, add an alien half Rotwailler. Jeez!… More
  Why better than Alien? Because it's the perfect ending of the saga. It might look repetitive but the idea of putting Ripley within a maximum security prision where no women is allowed is enough scary to keep you on the edge of your chair. Now, add an alien half Rotwailler. Jeez! Bishop come back for a few secs. I liked that!

• Drake T

  
  Returns to the roots of the original as a suspense/tension building thriller. This was by no means a bad movie, just pales in comparison to it's predecessors. Unfortunate since the premise and first half of the film felt quite promising, but things soon dwindled and a… More
  Returns to the roots of the original as a suspense/tension building thriller. This was by no means a bad movie, just pales in comparison to it's predecessors. Unfortunate since the premise and first half of the film felt quite promising, but things soon dwindled and a disappointing climax, poor suspense, ruins the experience. This movie also needed some likeable characters, all these undeveloped half-wit convicts hanging around Ripley did nothing for us.

• Sophie B

  
  Wasn't as good as the last one as it had no weaponds but the story and twists were good. BALD!

• Carlos M

  
  Frustrating and poorly made, this third chapter has an intriguing beginning, but the development lacks the unbearable tension of the first film and the unstoppable action of the second one. The final act is like a tiresome slasher movie, while the CGI of the creature is atrocious.

• Jacob E

  
  *WARNING, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THIS FILM AND ALIENS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. When it comes to loathed sequels, this movie pops up a lot for some reason. Personally, I don't think its that bad, but most people would tell you otherwise. Admittedly, its not that… More
  *WARNING, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THIS FILM AND ALIENS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. When it comes to loathed sequels, this movie pops up a lot for some reason. Personally, I don't think its that bad, but most people would tell you otherwise. Admittedly, its not that good in comparison to its predecessors (Alien and Aliens) and it had impossible expectations to live up to. Alien breathed new life into monster films and Aliens actually managed to top horror near-perfection, so no matter how good Alien 3 is, it will always be hated. As for the plot, Ripley's ship crash lands on a prison planet with an isolated male population who are very unnerved by her arrival, especially when people begin to show up dead around the facility. But Ripley begins to realize that someone else may already have a chestburster in them... Okay, this movie was specifically designed to be a cash cow for 20th Century Fox. The possibility of a sequel almost seemed impossible at the end of Aliens considering the Derelict had been wiped out in the explosion and the alien queen had been ejected out the nearest air lock. But Alien 3 should have been completely sequel proof considering the following (HERE ARE THE AFOREMENTIONED HUGE SPOILERS): 1. The Alien running around is blown to bits 2. Ripley kills herself in a furnace with the last possible chestburster (and an Alien queen at that) inside of her body This movie should have been a full proof end to the franchise, and for that, it deserves some credit. Yet somehow they still made a sequel...

• Lenny M

  
  James Cameron called this movie "a slap in the face" to the Alien Franchise. In terms of plot you could say that the franchise had "jumped the shark" but the movie was still enjoyable. It says David Fincher directed it but I don't think a lot of his input… More
  James Cameron called this movie "a slap in the face" to the Alien Franchise. In terms of plot you could say that the franchise had "jumped the shark" but the movie was still enjoyable. It says David Fincher directed it but I don't think a lot of his input was used. It might not have been on par with the previous movies in the franchichise, a good watch nevertheless.

• Daniel M

  
  Alien 3 is one of the most misunderstood movies of the 1990s. Prompting mixed reviews when first released, it has become a convenient shorthand for badly judged studio interference, a case study for those who continue to argue for director’s vision over studio money-making. Most… More
  Alien 3 is one of the most misunderstood movies of the 1990s. Prompting mixed reviews when first released, it has become a convenient shorthand for badly judged studio interference, a case study for those who continue to argue for director’s vision over studio money-making. Most reviews of Alien 3 heap the blame onto the studios but fail to acknowledge any positive aspects. Whilst it is undoubtedly messy and confusing, there is much about Alien 3 which deserves rehabilitation. The production problems of Alien 3 are very well-known; one might almost call it the definition of development hell. After the success of Aliens, 20th Century Fox commissioned two further sequels, ending up with Ripley leading a full-scale war against aliens who were mass-produced by expatriated Earthlings. This idea was eventually scrapped when Vincent Ward was hired as director. He envisioned a story about a community of monks living on a wooden planet, with Ripley’s battle with the Alien representing a clash between God and the Devil. By the time David Fincher came on board, Ward’s story had been pared down through further rewrites. The monks were now prisoners who had converted to Christianity, and the planet was noticeably un-wooden. Fincher began shooting without a completed script, and when production wrapped his cut was effectively dismembered by the studio. Being a newcomer, Fincher was not given final cut, and therefore had next to no control over the finished product. Reading through all this, you would expect Alien 3 to be every bit as dismal as David Lynch’s Dune or Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm. In both projects the director’s artistic intentions are in direct conflict with the commercial ambitions of the studio, a conflict which is clearly visible on screen and which produces a film of profound incoherence and annoyance. Just as Dune was attempting to cash in Star Wars, so several scenes in Alien 3 seem to have been shot with a quick buck in mind. The final act, which involves death using molten metal, is clearly derivative of Terminator 2. In fact, the film which Alien 3 most closely resembles is The Exorcist III, William Peter Blatty’s conclusion of The Exorcist triptych which was compromised by studio reshoots. As a result of these reshoots, the same character ended up being played by two different people: Brad Dourif in Blatty’s sections, Jason Miller in the rest. But despite this problem, the film still adds up and Blatty’s vision remains largely intact. In spite of everything, Alien 3 is not a totally derivative cut-and-shut sequel. There is more substance here than we would expect, and much in its visual style which hints at Fincher’s future greatness. One of the film’s most impressive and startling qualities is its complete and utter nihilism. While neither of the previous films gave you any indication as to who would survive, Alien 3 is incredibly cavalier in its treatment of characters. It makes no bones about who gets killed and how, creating a vein of much-needed unpredictability. Newt, Hicks and Bishop are all dead in the first two minutes, and Charles Dance’s character cops it just when you think he’s known Ripley long enough to live. Ridley Scott’s original was a depiction of blue-collar space, full of dark corridors and grimy machinery. Alien 3 takes this one step further; you really feel, standing in the prison, that you are in the bowels of interstellar existence. Of the three sequels, Fincher’s vision is the closest to Scott’s original. To some extent this is unsurprising, since Cameron’s sequel was a deliberate departure, and Alien Resurrection is a clear example of a director being out of his depth. But there is more similarity than just the dark, grimy visuals. Just as the Nostromo was an interstellar haunted house, so Alien 3 has architecture like a cathedral. The prison has echoey rooms and corridors, which are dimly lit often using candles, and is inhabited by people whose form of Christianity brings out inordinate levels of guilt (or at least self-pity). Much of Alien 3 is a clouded Christian allegory, an element which survives from Ward’s original concept. Ripley’s arrival ‘from the stars’ to a planet resembling Earth sets her up as a Christ figure. Her presence as a woman amongst an all-male population leads many to view her suspiciously, believing her to be a temptress who will lure the masses away from the righteous path. The warden’s order that she shave her head is an attempt by the powers-that-be to make her blend in, to prevent trouble from occurring. Brian Glover’s character is a modern day Pontius Pilate, desiring order and harmony over doing the right thing. With this allegory in place, the alien becomes the devil figure whom Ripley must defeat, a balance reinforced by Ripley sacrificing herself (in the original cut) to prevent evil spreading through the hands of corrupted men. The twist, however, is that Ripley is carrying this evil inside her; the alien won’t kill her because it recognises the queen growing in her chest. This shifts things closer to Eastern doctrines, in which good and evil are intertwined and one has to cancel out the other. It is a real stretch to compare it to The Last Temptation of Christ, but there is the same hint of a Christ figure having the same desires (and potential for sin) as the rest of us. In a Guardian article for the 30th anniversary of Alien, David McIntee described the evolution of Ripley as one “from maiden to mother to crone”. The Ripley in Alien 3 is battle-hardened and weary of the world around her. She is more cynical and wracked with guilt, because of what has happened to her friends and because of what she carries. Incubating a queen is the physical expression of a bitter irony: she is giving life to the very thing she has devoted her life to destroying. Her position is ultimately fatalistic: she is fighting a losing battle to keep evil from the world, and her choice to go out fighting is a last desperate bid to aspire such devotion in others. On top of its allegorical connotations, Alien 3 contains a number of visual tricks which supplement its dark mood. Fincher’s decision to shoot the chase scene from the alien’s point of view is ingenious. As the alien scuttles along the ceiling, we become disoriented from seeing the prisoners fleeing upside down, giving us some sense of the blind fear they experience. A lot of the alien CGI is cheap and obvious, but the mechanical sections (including the scene in the nest) are generally well-played. The weakest parts in Alien 3 are those which play against this dark tone for broader, mainstream appeal. In the midst of a thrilling chase scene, we don’t need characters running into each other in a broadly slapstick manner. Much of the acting is ripe, with Glover over-enunciating every line and many characters being reduced to twitches and other nervous tics. The first 45 minutes, which includes an attempted rape scene, is a complete scramble: it gives us very little clue as to the tone or style of the film, and threatens at points to throw us out of its world completely. Like Event Horizon after it, Alien 3 is a flawed but underrated film with intelligence and insight buried under layers of dumb action and bizarre plot points. It doesn’t stand alone like the previous two films, and it isn’t as consistently scary as one would have hoped. But given the right circumstances and the right amount of patience, the artistic visions of Ward and Fincher begin to bubble to the surface. In the end it is a troubling but strangely rewarding effort, with individual moments of brilliance and much in between to be admired.

• Alexis N

  
  The best one so far. More blood because they don't have any guns what so ever. The alien is CGI, I liked the puppets better. This one was more exciting and fun.. anytime you throw some sex starved prisoners in with aliens and a rad chick who can't be killed you have gold.

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