Alien 3 (Special Edition) (DVD)

...true in most people's eyes Alien 3 is the worst instalment of the series. But we are all entitled to our opinions, and for me Alien 3 knocks ten bails out of Aliens which some consider to be the best.

In Alien, the viewer is treated to a low budget horror sci-fi tale in which a claustrophobic view of life in the great expanse of space was its most chilling. In Aliens, James Cameron took the story far off whack, in went an enormous ...
...a sci-fi horror. In Alien 3 a then little known music video director by the name of David Fincher again took us into a big area and made it claustrophobic.


Again Ripley has floated through space; except this time something very different has happened. At the end of Aliens Ripley, Newt, Hicks and a very badly damaged Bishop escape the Alien threat destroying both the planet they dominate and the space craft they invaded. Ripley ... more

It's sad but true in most people's eyes Alien 3 is the worst instalment of the series. But we are all entitled to our opinions, and for me Alien 3 knocks ten bails out of Aliens which some consider to be the best.

In Alien, the viewer is treated to a low budget horror sci-fi tale in which a claustrophobic view of life in the great expanse of space was its most chilling. In Aliens, James Cameron took the story far off whack, in went an enormous budget and it became more of an action movie than a sci-fi horror. In Alien 3 a then little known music video director by the name of David Fincher again took us into a big area and made it claustrophobic.

Again Ripley has floated through space; except this time something very different has happened. At the end of Aliens Ripley, Newt, Hicks and a very badly damaged Bishop escape the Alien threat destroying both the planet they dominate and the space craft they invaded. Ripley places all her three colleagues in a cyber sleep. The view of this being that when they awake they will have been saved by a recovery team; this however is not the case.

When Ripley awakes she finds herself on an Alien world, Newt and Hicks are dead believed killed on impact with the planet, and Bishop has been chucked onto a scrap heap (for those unfamiliar Bishop is a robot). Ripley has woken on a distant planet, which has been turned into a prison colony. Some of the residents are there because they committed the most offensive crimes, others are there through choice. Ripley strikes up an instant relationship with the planets Doctor, Clemens. He helps her to adjust to this new world, although her stay is thought to only to be temporary. When Ripley hears of the demise of her fellow travellers she is dogged by memories of the past. She knows something is wrong! A visit to see Bishop on the rubbish dump confirms this, he tells Ripley that an Alien was aboard the space craft with them, and that it caused them to crash on the planet killing both Newt and Hicks.

Ripley tries desperately to explain to the prison residents of their impending doom without telling them what to be afraid of. Her theory is that if she tells them it's an Alien they will think she is mad, of course they think she is mad anyway. When Golic, one of the inmates is believed to be involved in the murder of a fellow prisoner he tells tales of a dragon, they too believe that he is mad and section him into the medical bay of the prison. Ripley again tries to explain to the others of the impending doom, and as one by one the inmates and their captors are eliminated its only a matter of time before she is taken seriously.

With the Alien firmly in her sights Ripley takes control and plans the Aliens death once and for all, however what she does not realise is that the greatest fear lies within.

Alien 3 takes us back to familiar territory, the millions of aliens we encountered in Aliens are all gone, and we are back down to one very predatory creature. The terror and suspense works better this way, it builds up depth and a clarity that Aliens just does not have. Fincher masterfully takes us on a dark and sinister trip; filmed in almost total darkness for most of the movie he gives us another return to the terror of the original. But better still here we have a clear and precise story, with no excursions into action style territory as in its predecessor. And what an amazing and moving story it is too, from the minute the movie starts things are pretty bleak. You are never given a moment to think about the niceties. That bleak feel continues until the final minute of the film where there is a glimmer of light. You may even find yourself watching with a tear in your eye.
I think that Alien 3 fell down because it attracted the wrong audience with Aliens. In 1986 action and high body counts were the order of the day we had a string of movies with only the briefest of stories Cobra, Rambo, Terminator, Commando, had all had copious amounts of wanton violence and gone down a storm at the box office. Aliens tried to cash on in this and succeeded, however it alienated true Alien devotees. When Alien 3 tried to get those original Alien fans back, the action fans voted with there feet. Although it was not a flop, it remains the most criticised of the movie franchise. Another dislike was that with the exception of a couple of the cast the movie had returned to an entirely British cast, which was always frowned upon in the United States.

In the cast we have a great variety; Alien 3 launched a great number of careers. Some of the cast although had acted for years had never hit the big time and now were given a chance to shine.
Ripley was again played by Sigourney Weaver this time she was a much tougher and exacting character, she displays no fear to the alien attacks and has clearly had enough.
Charles Dance plays Clemens a disgraced doctor who has committed himself to a prison hell; dance was already a greatly respected and established actor with a fascinating resume that included The Golden Child, White Mischief, First Born and For Your Eyes Only.
Virtually unknown to the screen at least in the States was Brian Glover, a familiar face in the UK with appearances in Doctor Who, Porridge, Minder and All Creatures Great and Small. This was Glover's big break, but was also his last as people came to know him and respect his talent he fell ill and died of a brain tumour. Glover plays Andrews the tough prison governor who believes Ripley is insane, but at the same time somehow displaying qualities that lead the viewr to think that he might just believe her.
Before he became Doctor Who, Paul McGann was best known for his role in Withnail & I. Here McGann plays Golic a low life prison resident who has one concern only, himself.
Morse was played by Daniel Webb, the character Morse is possibly one of the most evil of the inmates, who comes through with a much warmer side, although he earlier plans to rape and murder Ripley he soon becomes her most trusted friend. Daniel Webb had worked mainly as an extra until Alien 3, he has gone on to appear in Our Friends In The North, Still Crazy, Frenchman's Creek, and more recently Hotel Babylon. Alien 3 really launched his career and he has never been out of work since.
Next is Charles S. Dutton who plays Dillon, he is the religious voice of the movie. Everything is bought into a religious context and tried to put into perspective, on Earth Dillon was a rapist and murderer but on his prison planet he had truly found God. Dutton had struggled with his career too, but Alien 3 launched his career and is now a regular face in both Cinema and television.
The real find of the picture however had to be Pete Postlethwaite, although a talented Actor he had never been allowed to shine. Alien 3 spring boarded his career and he had soon moved on to bigger and better things including In The Name Of The Father, The Usual Suspects, and now The Omen. His character of David is one of the most warming, he really cares and really wants to help, and he adds humour and diversity to the film.
Finally we have Lance Henrikson as Bishop, who plays another striking role. In a dual role he plays both the caring android and the uncaring manager of Weyland Yutomi, who created the Bishop android. Weyland Yutomi are the agency that triggered off the whole situation from the first film. The goal for him has always been to get a preserved alien to use in warfare.
I guess I should not forget Clive Mantle who has a very brief role but and went on to play Mike Barrett for several years in both Casualty and Holby.

The DVD itself comes filled with goodies. The first and most notable is the directors cut of the movie, nearly 20 minutes of extra footage adds depth to the characters and time to emotionally bond with some of the smaller roles.

There is an Audio Commentary, A featurette made as the movie was being made, a multi angle segment allowing the viewer to become the director of a crucial scene of the movie, a documentary on H R Giger's recreation of the Alien creature; Giger explains how he turns the Alien from a sexual object to a close relative in movement to The Panther, we also have Photo Galleries, Storyboards, Trailers, and workshops.

The movie has been digitally remastered to a fantastic level, and the soundtrack is in 5.1 Dolby Digital.

You can purchase Alien 3 from Play.com and Amazon for around £7.99.
 

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