Alien Three (Collector's Edition)
by David Fincher
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brian Glover, Charles Dance, Charles S. Dutton, Paul McGann, Sigourney WeaverDirector: David Fincher
Brand: Fox
Producer: David Giler
Writer: David Giler
Writer: Dan O'Bannon
Writer: Larry Ferguson
Writer: Ronald Shusett
Writer: Vincent Ward
Writer: Walter Hill
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-06
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Alien Three (Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: Misunderstood classic gets new life on DVD!
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading the enormous amount of negativity at this third entry in the Alien series, I feel highly compelled to step in here and defend this marvelous 1992 sequel to the 1986 predecessor "Aliens" entitled simply "Alien 3" and as I write this, I have to say that while this movie definitely has some troubling flaws, this is a very strong and amazing movie and one of my favorite science-fiction movies of all time.
Ellen Ripley, who is now in cryogenic suspension on board the spaceship that she got on to escape the colonized planet after saving Newt from the alien that hitched a ride on board. Unaware of it though, the alien that she defeated was in fact a queen that laid a small egg in a hidden compartment onboard the ship. The alien that hatched onboard which happened to be a `facehugger' on board causes an acid spill which causes an electrical fire and the resulting fire causes the escape pod where the survivors of the previous movie to be separated from the mother ship. After crashing into the ocean on a desolate planet, Ripley finds herself once again the only survivor on a totally unknown world. After being revived in a high-security prison called Fury 161, Ripley finds herself being the only woman in a prison with a religious cult comprised of convicted criminals like former rapists and murderers. Now being imprisoned on the planet, she learns her greatest nightmare of all and how much of a big sacrifice must be made in order to destroy the aliens once and for all. However, Ripley has no idea that the alien isn't her only enemy anymore.
The acting once again is top-notch. Sigourney Weaver once again scores another touchdown as the ever awesome heroine Ellen Ripley as she did in the previous two Alien movies. This time Ripley's journey is a lot more personal than ever before and Weaver perfectly brings out the emotional turmoil of Ripley. Charles Dutton brilliantly plays former murderer Dillon who leads a religious cult and makes a really action-packed fight against the alien creature in the climax of the film. I also really like British actor Charles Dance's role as the troubled character Clemens and seeing how he got to where he was as a doctor at the prison facility.
The movie feels so much different from the previous two movies. I almost view this as almost like a return to the utter suspense of the first Alien movie and away from the tons of action that dominated the second entry in this series. The colors too are a lot more `orange' where as I often view the others having a more `greenish' look to them. This also has a much more of a Gothic industrial tone to it than the previous ones. The alien creature was also a lot different than in "Aliens" and that it was born from a dog (on the theatrical version) and runs on four legs and is much faster.
While this is a great movie, this tends to suffer from some problems which likely has caused a lot of fans of the previous two to really shun this movie. While I can't blame them for killing off two important characters from the previous movie, my biggest problems are different. The greatest flaw with this movie is not it's storyline nor the deaths of Newt and Hicks but it's excessive used of dropping F-Bombs right and left. Swearing doesn't bother me necessarily but the F-Bomb is WAY overused here and it really tends to detract from the films enjoyability. I also wasn't too thrilled at the whole prospect of the prisoners being nothing more than just `live bait' for the alien to kill off one by one. However at the same time it was pretty interesting using the `no weapons' idea since the prison does not allow any weapons on it's premises.
The "Collector's Edition" is fantastic in many ways. The deeply flawed theatrical release is much better in its remastered form but the "Special Edition" is light years ahead of its old theatrical counterpart. With the film being extended to two hours and thirty-five minutes, with some old footage replaced with previously unreleased footage, along with extended and previously unreleased scenes, "The Special Edition" of "Alien 3" really helps to mend a lot of the problems that plagued the original version and the result is a movie that is almost as great as the first two movies. It's darkly poetic, dramatic, intense and sheds new light on Ripley's fate and provides greater insight into the character Clemens. The only problem I had was the ending which where the climax scene had new CGI effects and the result in all honesty looked a lot more fake than it did in the original version. Despite this minor quibble, the "Special Edition" of this movie is light years better than the original and the result is a flawed movie that really is lifted much higher in rankings to rank up there with the 1979 original. It'll never top "Aliens" for me but "Alien 3" really benefits from it's revamping. To all of the people who strongly detested this movie to begin with, I would strongly recommend that if you have the time, watch the "Special Edition" because it really helps to correct a lot of the mistakes of the original and it makes the characters a lot more three-dimensional. I have come to appreciate this movie a lot more since seeing it on its newest form.
The second disc is a real treat. The extras on disc two are really good and along with the first disc, warrant purchasing "Alien 3". I at first found that this was a movie that was not easy to digest especially due to its troubling loss of two of the main characters from the previous movie "Aliens" from 1986. However I have since over time have come to really enjoy this movie and have felt more sorry for the crew after seeing a deep insight into how troubled the movies making really was. You can also see the mixed reactions towards the finished film from the crew members who were involved in it's production. Perhaps the most memorable thing I learned even if it's not from the DVD itself was how much agony David Fincher went through when directing this movie. He was pushed into this movie's directing late into it's production and the result was enormous tension between him and other producers which resulted in agonizing almost non-stop work in directing this movie. Upon this I felt sorry for him that he had to go through all of this and that he was pushed into this late into it's production and how interference from Fox Studios really made things go awry for him. Perhaps it's why he hasn't embraced it since its release nor has he done a commentary on it but I have to credit him that his work on this is nonetheless absolutely fantastic and the result was worth it to me. The second disc also has a really spectacular time lapse shot of the crew building the movie set over a period of months. It's really a lot of fun to watch, seeing the studio ground going from looking like a concert stage being set up to nearing completion. There are even more where that came from too on this DVD.
To me while it isn't the best of the series by any means, "Alien 3" is a really excellent and satisfying conclusion to the storyline of Ellen Ripley and her war against the predatory alien creatures. To me, "Alien 3" makes a great conclusion to the Alien movie storyline. To me, this is the true conclusion to Aliens at the same time, I often think of 1997's "Alien Resurrection" as more like some wacky spin-off of some sort and a cash-in on the saga that had almost nothing to do with the previous three movies and I agree. While I'm not saying that it was terrible, it wouldn't have been a bad idea of they had simply closed the series on the third one.
I give the makers of this newest DVD two flaming thumbs up for doing such a great job at giving this misunderstood classic a second chance on DVD. The movie itself is a great film but the newest edition on this marvelous two-disc set makes this movie so much better than it was ever before. I strongly recommend that for those who enjoyed this film that you go and buy this DVD today. It's so awesome that it warrants trashing the old Disk and throwing the VHS into the local thermal depolymerization plant!
Summary of Alien Three (Collector's Edition)
Lt. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the lone survivor when her crippled spaceship crash lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet's maximum security prison. Ripley's fears that an Alien was aboard her craft are confirmed when the mutilated bodies of ex-cons begin to mount. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley must lead the men into battle against the terrifying creature. And soon she discovers a horrifying fact about her link with the Alien, a realization that may compel Ripley to try destroying not only the horrific creature but herself as well.The least successful film in this series was directed by stylemaster (and content-underachiever) David Fincher. Ripley, the only survivor of her past mission, awakens on a prison planet in the far corners of the solar system. As she tries to recover, she realizes that not only has an alien gotten loose on the planet, the alien has implanted one of its own within her. As she battles the prison authorities (and is aided by the prisoners) in trying to kill the alien, she must also cope with a distinctly shortened lifespan that awaits her. But the striking imagery makes for muddled action and the script confuses it further. The ending looks startling but it takes a long time--and a not particularly satisfying journey--to get there. --Marshall Fine
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