Review: ALIEN 3, June 16, 1992

[chris_walsh]

Me being me, of course I still have the issues of my high school's paper, the Hawk Talk (of James Madison High, home of the Warhawks -- political reference! But I digress). My senior year (1991-1992), I edited its Entertainment section (and wrote for almost every single other section, except Opinion; I think the guys who edited that didn't like me

Comments

[kradical]

Minor nit: the magazine is Cinefantastique, not Cinemafantastique. :)

[chris_walsh]

Correctable, and corrected. Thanks.

[swashbuckler332]

I don't know if this has been addressed since you originally wrote this, but the reason the creature in Alien³ looks so different from its appearance in the previous two films (not counting the translucent cowl on its head, which didn't appear in Aliens) is because it gestated in a dog (or ox, depending upon which version you watch) and is therefore primarily quadrupedal. This is based on the idea that the alien appropriates genetic material from its host during implantation, which explains its basic hominid shape in the first two films.

[chris_walsh]

Which I just didn't get at the time. I may have been too busy being bothered and annoyed by the film. (Though parts of Alien3 have grown on me over the years, most notably Elliot Goldenthal's score, and obviously Fincher's proven he's a hell of a filmmaker.) I think I read the explanation of the change in look years later.

[tinhuviel]

Thank you for this. I feel like such an outcast and minority, when I tell people that Alien 3 is my second favourite of the series. I think it's closer to the spirit of the Alien atmosphere than the second movie, and don't even get me started on Resurrection, which shall always be at the bottom of any Alien movie ratings I do.

There was nothing wrong with this film, except for the incessant meddling of people who don't know dick about the franchise and what it's all about. David Fincher is one of the best directors out there, and I hope that someday, he will re-embrace this classic and maybe even work to restore it properly, after the artistic rape it endured under its producers.

[chris_walsh]

I still remember seeing the teaser trailer that implied Alien3 would take place on Earth, which some studio people seriously suggested after the film had been mostly shot*. "Really! We can re-edit it and dub to say it's on an isolated part of Earth!" I wonder if those were the same execs who thought Big should end with Elizabeth Perkins' character reverting to childhood, too. SOME IDEAS ARE BAD IDEAS.

The work print version of Alien3 has been seen, which is at least closer to what Fincher intended before he had to fight for what he got into theaters.