Alien 3

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

David Fincher's first film! It's got quite a nice visual style to it but it's a famously troubled production. I was very young when it came out and didn't see it until later but I do distinctly recall seeing the teaser on a VHS that promised on Earth everyone could hear me scream. That never eventuated.

People shit on this film an awful lot but for all its problems there's still enough that goes right (somehow, I've seen those great making of doco's and it amazes me it was even finished) that I quite like it.

The biggest reason is the cast. This film has a fantastic cast that really bring these characters to life. The alien is a little different this time around. Puppet rod alien! I guess this is where they establish the lore that it takes on the form of whatever was its host. Now in the theatrical cut I recall it was a dog, but I watched the extended cut on bluray and it's now a bull.

The extended cut has a lot of nice extra stuff that really does help flesh out the characters more, it does make for a slower film though. But I like it. It's been a while since I've actually gone back to the theatrical. I should do that soon.

I don't like the way the second unit stuff wasn't shot in anamorphic and they stretch it out. It's also never as scary as the other two. But it has this whole religious fate thingy going on. And makes what we all thought was a pretty difinative end for Ripley.

So David Fincher has disowned the film, had nothing to do with this workprint release and seems to refuse to talk about it today. He's obviously not proud of it, but I think it was probably a steep learning curve for him which informed the rest of his career, so you can't stay mad at it.