"Top 50 films of the 90's Selection"
"Top 10 films 1992 Selection"

"You're all gonna die. The only question is how you check out. Do you want it on your feet? Or on your fuckin' knees... begging? I ain't much for begging! Nobody ever gave me nothing! So I say *fuck* that thing! Let's fight it! "

The film opens throwing out the window everything from Alien and Aliens, and leaving you with Ripley in an isolated prison in the middle of space, and all this in the first 15 minutes! Oh, and let's not forget, this is Fincher first film, the man knows how to make and entrance.

'Alien³' has all the trades of a Fincher film, the greenish…

[Review is for the "Assembly Cut" as found on the Blu-ray set.]

I decided to watch this again more or less on a whim and while I'm glad I gave it another look I can't say that my feelings about this fascinting, frustrating film has changed all that much. That said, the "Assembly Cut"—an attempt to recreate director David Fincher's original cut of the movie made without his participation (or, I'm guessing, his approval)—offers a substantial improvement over the theatrical version. The first hour or so felt more confident and the world more fully developed. It was also the first time I've really been able to forgive the film for killing off all those characters we'd come to care about…

I loved Alien. I loved Aliens even more. I was really disappointing with Alien 3. The one thing that really disappointed me the most was that, aside from Signourey Weaver as Ripley, there are no other characters I liked or even cared about. The first two films had such likable characters and for there to be no one to really root for, it's kinda heartbreaking. Not only that but, while some special effects look good, others look blatantly cheesy. The script does'nt use the story nor the characters to their full potential and it all amount to a messy script. Above all else, the magic from the last few films just isn't there here. The thrills and chills just are'nt…

Man, does Ripley have a streak of bad luck, or what. The universe had 60 years to figure things out; for us, it’s been thirteen in between the first movie and this. For Ripley, however, we’re talking just a few weeks during which her entire life turns into crap.

Perhaps the Alien universe could be some sort of a film school graduation project, a template for any director to imprint with their own ideas and style. I watched Alien³ marathon-style right after the first two movies, and it couldn’t be any more fascinating to have them juxtaposed this way. Cameron replaced horror elements with balls-to-the-wall action and almost caricatured protagonists; Fincher instead throws in his trademark explorations of despicable people,…

Alien3 -- stylized for no good reason as Alien "cubed" -- is a big bowl of dumb following two sci-fi classics. Despite being the directorial debut of modern master, David Fincher, Alien3 has few shades of his promise. The film was a famous mess from a production standpoint, with constant infighting behind the scenes. And it shows. FIncher has since gone on to disown this film, calling it a miserable experience. A sharp turn from the previous two films, this sequel drops Ellen Ripley into an isolated prison colony where she and the inmates must fight to stay alive without any weapons to fend off the creatures. Whether by Fincher or someone else in the production, Alien3 strikes a nihilistic…

You definitely won't hear me say that "Alien³" is better or even on par with its two brilliant predecessors. It's not. It's not even playing in the same league, but nevertheless this third entry in one the greatest Sci-Fi franchise ever accomplished is a sublime movie in its own right and the negative reputation it developed over the yeas is undeservedly harsh. Part three isn't as suspenseful as "Alien" or as spectacular as "Aliens", but at least the script doesn't aim to be an ordinary imitation of the first two and continuously attempts to add new ideas and twists to the formula. David Fincher's film has multiple trumps, including the depressing setting, grim and nightmarish set pieces, plausible and versatile…

Alien3 is widely regarded as the nadir for the series, and its easy to see why. Reading a bit, the film had a really troubled production (various script edits and director shifts), and ultimately, while I can see some shades of director David Fincher's future mastery here, this seems most likely a combination of first film jitters and studio interference, leaving things a bit of a muddled mess.

Where the earlier two films took their time setting up the characters and atmosphere, Alien3 seems to want to jump right to the bloodbath, beginning by killing off pretty much everyone who survived Aliens (this happens in the opening credits, so probably doesn't count as a spoiler). What proceeds is basically Ripley…

By the time ALIEN³ was tardily released in 1992 (ironically delayed because of the ending's similarity to that of ALIENS director James Cameron's TERMINATOR 2), the previous films had become classics and amassed a fanatical audience desperate to see the saga continue. Sky-high expectations didn't help matters, but ALIEN³ also did itself no favours by indifferently killing three popular characters during the opening titles, and taking such an opposite approach to Cameron's exhilarating thrill-ride. Reducing the threat back to a sole alien, in an environment devoid of guns, was perceived as a backwards step for those expecting the militaristic punch of ALIENS to continue. Music video wunderkind David Fincher (making his feature debut) even de-feminized Sigourney Weaver by shaving her…