Alien 3 Has Not Gotten the
Respect it Deserves.

Release: 1992
Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: Dan O'Bannon (characters), Ronald Shusett (characters), Vincent Ward (story), David Giler (screenplay), Walter Hill (screenplay) and Larry Ferguson (screenplay)

Starring:
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley
Charles S. Dutton as Dillon
Charles Dance as Clemens
Paul McGann as Golic

For some reason, and I really don't understand what that reason is, Alien 3 gets a bad rep within the horror community. Maybe some believe it doesn't live up to the standards of the first two films, Alien and Aliens. Well in my opinion, it lives up to the Alien name, maybe even surpasses it.

Alien 3 is by far the most dramatic of the Alien trilogy (that’s right, I said it, TRILOGY…I don’t count the fourth one) and in my honest opinion Alien 3 has some of the best performances of the whole series. Everybody does really well in this film. Charles S. Dutton really should have gotten an Academy Award for his role as the bible thumping convict Dillon.

The story picks up where its predecesor left off with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, always great), and the other survivors from the previous installment, floating through space on their way back home to earth. A fire breaks out aboard the ship causing it to crash land on some distant planet formerly used as a maximum security prison. When the prison closed, several inmates who found God along with a few guards decided to stay and maintain the place.

The crash leaves only one survivor, Ripley. Actually three if you count the alien inside her and another one that starts to kill off the local population very soon after arrival. Most of the men on the prison planet have not seen a woman in years so Ripley’s mere presence causes an uproar and some bad behavior among the lonely men.

Meanwhile a whole new kind of creature starts to make its way though the residents of the prison facility, taking victims one by one. At first the deaths seen like accidents, then are blamed on Golic, the resident psychopath. Everyone gets the picture of what’s going on after the warden gets killed. The only thing left to do is devise a plan to kill the Beast before it kills all of them and before the company team sent to "rescue" Ripley gets a hold of the situation.

What follows is non stop action in one of the most exciting and dramatic movies you will ever see.

To really get the whole picture though, you need to watch the unrated extended edition. The quantity and quality of material cut for the theatrical release is really amazing. The unrated extended edition delves further into the relationship between Ripley and Clemens (Charles Dance in another great role) and Golic is much more sadistic which enhances the story ten fold. Characters that were basically extras in the theatrical release, such as Boggs and Rains, have bigger parts and more impact.

I really cannot believe how much was omitted for theatrical release, not just in Alien 3 but in all of the Alien movies. It is quite a shame. Get the extended unrated versions, and watch Alien 3. I highly recommend it. Questions or comments about Alien 3?  contact us!

Take me to Horror Movie Reviews!

Take me Home!

---

---

Talk About This on The Ossuary Forums!

Horror Movie Freaks is the FREE eZine from Best-Horror-Movies.com that will give you the new horror releases, the new horror news and the new horror reviews that you CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT!!

Subscribing is easy, painless and free.
Do it NOW!!

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg Furl Google Simpy Spurl TechnoratiY! MyWeb