Alien³ (1992)

Director:

David Fincher

Writers (WGA):

Dan O'Bannon (characters) and
Ronald Shusett (characters) ...

Release Date:

22 May 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

In 1979, we discovered in space no one can hear you scream. In 1992, we will discover, on Earth, EVERYONE can hear you scream.

Plot:

Ripley continues to be stalked by a savage alien, after her escape pod crashes on a prison planet.

Plot Keywords:

Planet | Prison | Crash | Space | Survivor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Sigourney Weaver	...	Ellen Ripley
Charles S. Dutton	...	Dillon
Charles Dance	...	Clemens
Paul McGann	...	Golic
Brian Glover	...	Andrews
Ralph Brown	...	Aaron
Danny Webb	...	Morse
Christopher John Fields	...	Rains
Holt McCallany	...	Junior
Lance Henriksen	...	Bishop II
Christopher Fairbank	...	Murphy (as Chris Fairbank)
Carl Chase	...	Frank
Leon Herbert	...	Boggs
Vincenzo Nicoli	...	Jude
Pete Postlethwaite	...	David

Also Known As:

Alien 3 (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for monster violence, and for language.

Runtime:

114 min | 145 min (2003 Special 'Assembly Cut' Edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Italy:T | Finland:K-15 (director's cut) (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Brazil:16 | USA:R (Certificate #31302) | Mexico:B | India:A | Australia:MA (director's cut) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (DVD rating) (2003) | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Brandywine Productions

Trivia:

First-time director David Fincher disowned the film, citing constant studio interference and actually walked out of production before editing began.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Morse closes the channel door, trapping the alien in the piston chamber, he hollers "I'm going for the lead!" out of sync with his moving lips.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Computer Voice: Stasis interrupted. Fire in cryogenic compartment. Repeat, fire in cryogenic compartment. All personnel report to emergency escape vehicle launch pod. Deep-space flight will commence in T-minus twenty seconds.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Manbearpig (#10.6)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

IN THE YEAR 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)

One of the worst betrayals of a franchise in cinema history

*** SPOILER ALERT*** This review WILL reveal story elements and other spoilers, stop now if you do not wish to know such information!!!

"Alien" was an accidental masterpiece. O'Bannon, Scott and some inspired acting all added up to one of the best monster movies (even it WAS just a guy in a suit in the final analysis) of all time. As a teenager of that time, I can tell you it was seminal to our appreciation of horror AND sci-fi! "Aliens" was sheer genius and one of the most FUN movies to just roller-coaster through! One of the best sci-fi action pictures ever (that's 2 feathers in the cap of this franchise).

"Aliens3" brought the sleek bullet-train of the franchise smashing at 130 mph right into a mountain. Never in the history of motion pictures has a deus ex machina so flagrantly betrayed a fanbase. Let's see, you the viewer sat through 4+ hours of gripping excitement and chills...only to have the utter bad-ass heroes, including at CHILD who was one of the coolest young characters ever written for the screen simply wasted OFF SCREEN?????? Oh, but we're being ARTSY here so it's OK. Never mind that the Queen had NO EGGSAC left to make anymore eggs (and clearly wasn't carrying any on her body). Never mind that Burke never had a chance to bring any eggs to the second drop ship, him being busy with dying and all.

The BEST I could come up with was Bishop having had secret(possibly even to himself) programming to stash a few eggs on the second dropship when he piloted it down. Of course...where did he GET them? The medical bay only had the two facehuggers. Again, DEUS EX MACHINA. Oz, The Great and Terrible!!! Or in simpler terms LAMENESS beyond anything I've seen on the screen.

As if all that wasn't insult enough, the followup to all this heroism is a world of villains and freaks you actually WANTED to see die off anyway? Real good cinematic triumph there Fincher. Again, lame and horrid. Just a sad attempt to make money at the cost of art.

As far as I'm concerned, the school of thought that says "Aliens 3" and "Alien: Ressurrection" were simply hypersleep nightmares had by the survivors (most likely Ripley) is the ONLY explanation for this TRAVESTY.

End of Line.