|
 Alien 3 has arguably remained the most notoriously contentious Alien film among fans of the franchise. Alien & Aliens continue to be regarded as flawless masterpieces (as they should) while Alien Resurrection continues to remain nearly universally panned in professional circles (as it should). Alien 3 is a little bit more slimly. It's production was loving chaotic and filming began even without a finished script. It was the first feature film of David Fincher who the studio, at the time, had no confidence in which ultimately led them to dictate Fincher around while scandalously making the call on the final cut. Alien 3 received mostly mediocre reviews upon release while James Cameron even went as far as calling it offensive for killing off Newt & Hicks offscreen. Nobody now believes Fincher didn't know what he was doing as his immediate followup was Se7en which went on to become one of the most memorable films of the 1990's while remaining a revered director ever since. Nevertheless, it became a box office success and managed to receive an Academy Award nomination for Special Effects. It's almost quite evident that Fox began to gradually hold this view as well, as they released the "Assembly Cut" of Alien 3 in 2003 with over 30 minutes of restored & unused footage  —much of which Fincher was likely reluctant in removing for the theatrical release in 1992. Apparently Fincher remained so vehemently disgusted with his entire experience on Alien 3 as he was the only director of the franchise that refused to participate in Fox's release of the Alien Anthology set along with disowning the film itself.  The Assembly Version is just over two and a half hours long (the theatrical not even making two hours) with a lot of buildup. Having recently seen the Assembly Cut for the first time, it has completely changed my views on Alien 3. Not only does it restore 30 minutes of much needed footage (most of which on character development), it essentially revamps the structural narrative of the whole film—mostly on the first and second acts. Everything is much more fleshed out and scenes progress much more naturally into the next. Overall, Alien 3 thematically is a much more gritty and darker entry of the franchise than Aliens. It instead shy's away from the action oriented focus of that film towards more of the horror focus of the much beloved original. There is an overwhelming sense of dread throughout—from the offscreen deaths of Ripley's comrades from Aliens (including a 10 year old girl) immediately, the prison environment, to the death of Ripley herself. Despite these, I enjoyed the sense of unity among the inmates throughout against hopeless odds specifically through the tortured soul of Charles S. Dutton's character—including saving Ripley from gang rape, refusing Ripley's request to kill her upon discovering her impregnation, to ultimately sacrificing himself in order to trap the alien. It worked. Alien 3 still has some excellent & genuinely suspenseful scenes in the dark with clever use of camera work as well. The theatrical cut is definitely underwhelming next to the Assembly Cut and I highly suggest you give it a watch if you haven't. It may not be as good or memorable as the first two installments, but this cut serves as a satisfying conclusion to a series that should NOT have been resurrected with a fourth (and apparently now, a fifth with the the District 9 guy directing grandma Ripley  ).It also gave us one of the most memorable scenes of the franchise:  And the only survivor native to Prison Planet Fiorina 'Fury' 161: Foulmouthed Morse! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du4IoVgOJdU Immortan fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Jul 18, 2015 |
#
¿
Jun 28, 2015 09:45
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:16 |
|
|
Neo Rasa posted:I sort of liked how the gore early in the movie implies the Alien being slightly calculating, but then during the climax the gore portrays an Alien that operates primarily by running into people so hard they explode.  Alien 3's "xenomorph" in addition to being a quadruped creature, is notable for casually taking it's time on victims rather than giving a quick fatal strike. It made for some intense scenes (and screams!) in the claustrophobic catacombs of the prison when it attacked or had some poor bastard dangling from an air shaft while gauging his brains out. Baronjutter posted:Anyone who doesn't like Alien 3 didn't watch the right version, the Assembly Cut is really awesome and right up there with 1 and 2. gently caress that Canadian-South African idiot for ret-conning 3 out of his stupid reboot which will most likely have great CG but be really disappointing.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2015 00:38
|
|
|
Stare-Out posted:Don't want to start an Alien 3 derail in this thread of all places, but it really needs to be stated how drat good the music in Alien 3 is. I like this live version a lot. Okay thanks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbXN96n5mLY My favorite has to be the first two minutes of track 4 which is Agnus Dei—which was really powerful given the context of the religious inmates. It plays after the flammable toxic waste they use for flushing the alien out of the air shafts ignites prematurely due to it's intervention causing a few inmate deaths along with an inmate selflessly locking himself in a room with the alien to trap it (his screams can be heard from behind the door). It really captured the inmates struggle and ultimately the realization of the situation they're in. I love the Assembly Cut.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2015 22:37
|
|
|
computer parts posted:This isn't true because I've seen and enjoyed Aliens but not seen Alien. What the gently caress? You need to fix this ASAP. 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2015 07:46
|
|
|
I said come in! posted:I share the same opinions as you do. I actually rewatched Alien 3 a month ago, the assembly cut, and enjoyed it a lot still. Great film. Of the three Alien movies, Alien 3 is the one i've watched the most, followed by Alien, and then Aliens in a distant 3rd. I don't know what it is about Aliens, but I just could never get into it at all. Aliens is a well made film but it's just so drastically different from the first and third films. There's just something off-putting about turning the most deadly & terrifying creature that intelligently stalked and killed members of a spaceship into exploding redshirts getting steamrolled by machine gun fire en masse. Aliens saving grace was the queen. I still love Aliens I just prefer the first & third before it.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 2, 2015 00:23
|
|
|
I'm ridiculously so much more hyped for Prometheus 2 than Alien 5 (especially if the latter retcons Alien 3).
|
|
#
¿
Jul 11, 2015 03:32
|
|
|
second-hand smegma posted:I agree with all this. The assembly cut is better but I'm so used to watching the theatrical cut that there are a few standout scenes that feel like missed opportunities. I like the Assembly Cut version of her falling because it places an emphasis on why Ripley is sacrificing herself more without shoehorning in the chest burster to make sure a retarded audience knows why she's doing it. It's smarter.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2015 04:18
|
|
|
 Original AVP script author Peter Briggs responds to Sigourney Weaver's claims about killing off Ripley due to "planned" AVP films + other stuff!! http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayl...aliens-20150723 quote:"Maybe they were in a panic about 'Alien 3'…I have no idea. And so when I hear Sigourney Weaver recounting her killing off Ripley in 'Alien 3' because she’d heard Fox were talking about doing 'Alien vs Predator,' despite the fact our project was first spoken about and initiated well over a year (not even counting Vincent Ward’s involvement!) after her movie had gone into active production, I really have to roll my eyes at her claims," Briggs said. And then he goes even further:  At least he shares my views on the A3 Assembly Cut 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2015 04:46
|
|
|
AVP Requiem is a guilty pleasure. "That's crazy, the government doesn't lie to people!" and the blond girl getting impaled by the Predator frisbee alone was worth it. 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2015 07:56
|
|
|
Snowman_McK posted:It's just such a fantastically mean spirited movie. Which was kind of cool after Paul Anderson's AVP In the unrated cut it shows the little kid in the beginning graphically die from a chestburster.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2015 20:49
|
|
|
Baronjutter posted:I sat through Salo because it's an amazingly made movie but I turned off AvP2 because it was just gross and made me feel disturbed/uncomfortable. I've gotten more and more timid in my entertainment tastes these days, I really don't like movies where lots of innocent people and kids get graphically killed for shock value. Hell I find it hard to even kill in video games any more. If there's a way to do a no-death run I'll do it. You wuss. It was a fun B movie. Also, the whole Predalien concept was less retarded than the girl using an Alien's head for a shield and tail for a spear in the first film and that's saying something.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2015 01:08
|
|
|
blackguy32 posted:The underwater scene with the Aliens is pretty baller. That's really all I remember about it. Yeah, but Resurrection also had the most unforgivable scene in the whole series where that stupid "Newborn" thing killed the Alien Queen.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2015 04:03
|
|
|
SMG can you compare your analysis of the Newborn killing the Queen in Resurrection to Cuddles killing the Engineer in Prometheus?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2015 09:36
|
|
|
Excited for the sequel. I hope the Deacon makes an appearance.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2015 23:56
|
|
|
Chairman Capone posted:Ending Prometheus with Noomi Rapace and David flying away on the mission to find the homeworld, only to then cut back to show an almost-but-not-quite Alien get born in the most hamfistedly over-dramatic way ever, is one of the biggest wet fart endings ever. I don't understand why a director like Scott would cut the legs out of his own ending like that. Everything about that scene was tits. gently caress off. And the Deacon looked great. It was a nice surprise to see it look different from the xenomorph, you know, the thing we've seen in 4 Alien films and 2 AVP films already?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2015 04:59
|
|
|
Clipperton posted:reminder that the engineers in prometheus were coming to kill humanity because we killed jesus I thought it was rather implied that it was because we started making up our own religions instead of worshipping them (the Engineers)?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2015 03:46
|
|
|
I just watched Alien Resurrection again for the first time in over a decade and holy  its bad. Even the Predalien in AVPR isn't as ridiculous as the Newborn.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2015 21:47
|
|
|
Blomkamp is withholding the subtitle of Alien 5 because it's supposedly a major spoiler. It's probably going to involve time travel fuckery or some such nonsense.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2015 01:59
|
|
|
I wasn't aware that Alien 3's visual effects were nominated for an Academy Award until today. 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2015 07:11
|
|
|
Don't get me wrong; for I think it's great that it received the nomination. I just figured that the infamous shots of the sock puppet looked unanimously bad even for audiences in 92'; and that the only reason they made it into the theatrical cut was due to its notoriously hosed production. Despite this, I do appreciate how the Alien's head in this one returned to the smooth, translucent dome of the original instead of that ghastly ridged mess that was so ubiquitous in Aliens.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2015 08:41
|
|
|
Xenomrph posted:One of the changes Ridley Scott made for his "director's cut" was he changed the audio of the Derelict ship's distress/warning signal. In the original deleted scene it's all weird and distorted, and sounds unsettlingly like an elephant being strangled underwater or something. It's weird as gently caress and super unnerving. The Director's Cut of Alien is so much better. The added scene showing the Alien hanging on the chains right before it kills Brett is a truly subtle  moment.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2015 23:56
|
|
|
I'm actually relieved that Blomkamp's fan fiction movie got scrapped. It's quite apparent that it was most likely going to end up as the Terminator Genisys of the Alien franchise: stupid retcon plot, elderly protagonist as an action hero (seriously, grandma Ripley fighting Aliens?), and most likely a lovely script considering Blomkamp was writing it as well. Any attempt to remake Aliens will inevitably be a dismal failure. I'm glad 20th Century Fox got some sanity here. Just let the Alien Franchise focused on the Xenomorph's end with Alien Resurrection. Its been overdone. At least Prometheus and its sequels offer something new.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 4, 2015 23:04
|
|
|
Lurdiak posted:There's no reason to assume they can't have such discussions in their own language. Xenomrph posted:And just like with Jesus, the sacrifice is meaningless, because mankind still continues to sin and destroy itself even after his sacrifice. I bet you two look even more autistic IRL than the Newborn did in Alien Resurrection. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
|
|
#
¿
Nov 7, 2015 05:57
|
|
|
Xenomrph posted:SMG is right (and with that, the first seal holding closed the doorway to hell was opened, and a low, mournful tolling of a bell could be heard echoing over the hills). Except the "capital-A Aliens" (  ) did come from the black goo in one way or another. Ridley Scott confirmed this and said the Prometheus sequel will explore why the Engineers created this "evil biology" (black goo).
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2015 23:03
|
|
|
Xenomrph posted:Do you have a link/quote on that? I remember him saying the Deacon and the Alien are "genetic cousins", with the implication that the Black Goo was derived from the Alien. It was in one of the interviews he did while promoting The Martian. He even said that he originally viewed the original Alien in 1979 as a biological weapon. Of course, those eggs were in an Engineer ship as well. The black goo was confirmed to be a biological weapon in Prometheus. It also appears to be able to create more than one kind of creature. Okay, it didn't show the actual origin of the original capital-A Alien in Prometheus, but it's pretty explicit about where this is going in addition to Scott's comments. The more intriguing part for me (and hopefully for everyone else) is more backstory on the Engineers.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2015 23:36
|
|
|
Lurdiak posted:But why did a little fish come out of Holloways' eye? Maybe it was too liquored up?
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2015 23:46
|
|
|
Timby posted:Oh, gently caress. John Logan is rewriting Paradise Lost. He's been nominated for an Academy Award three times so...
|
|
#
¿
Nov 12, 2015 10:06
|
|
|
Timby posted:He was rewritten almost completely by Bill Nicholson on Gladiator, only retaining a credit because some of the dialogue he wrote for Commodus remained; Michael Mann did an uncredited top-to-bottom rewrite of The Aviator; and I have no idea how he got a nomination for Hugo because that movie's strength is in its visuals. Nothing will please goons.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2015 00:59
|
|
|
Those screenshots remind me of how good the lighting was in Alien 3.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2015 09:08
|
|
|
Hbomberguy posted:I'm gonna have to look up that bluray set now. I'm more of a DVD/VHS fan because of the appeal of low-res aesthetic where your mind fills things in, but I'm a sucker for good BTS stuff. Xenomrph is right, the picture quality on the Alien Anthology BluRay set is something else. It's much better than your standard BluRay. It's quite apparent hat they spent the most time on Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3 Assembly out of the four.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 14, 2015 09:03
|
|
|
Covenant sounds better than Paradise Lost IMO.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 15, 2015 07:32
|
|
|
I hope the adult Deacon is in the sequel.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 16, 2015 21:23
|
|
|
BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:Alien Covenant plot synopsis: Uhhh, didn't David leave LV-223 at the end of Prometheus in the Engineer ship? What planet are they talking about?
|
|
#
¿
Nov 21, 2015 04:03
|
|
|
Michael Biehn confirmed that Blomkamp's Alien movie would've pulled some Terminator Genisys retcon bullshit by bringing back Newt and ignoring Alien 3 & Resurrection. http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/11/23/michael-biehn-blomkamps-alien-5-would-have-brought-back-newt Shameful.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 24, 2015 02:01
|
|
|
I didn't see it.  But I agree with it. 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 24, 2015 02:18
|
|
|
Y Kant Ozma Diet posted:Blomkamp is one of my favorite working directors. He gets poo poo for how overtly political his films are but I don't give a gently caress. It No, he gets poo poo because his last two films were incoherent disasters.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 24, 2015 07:13
|
|
|
Hbomberguy has always been terrible at this SMG thing.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 28, 2015 12:00
|
|
|
Predator 2 & Predators aren't near as bad as Alien Resurrection or the AVP films. I enjoyed Predators much more then the second one because it added some new stuff with a good concept. The dog things the Predators used were badass, the other captured aliens, the blood feud between the Predator tribes, etc. It could have been executed a little better along with a more polished script, but it was great nonetheless and a fine followup to Schwarzenegger's original. Shane Black involved with and directing the next one all but confirms that the Predator franchise won't go full retard like Alien Resurrection, which is a good thing.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2016 23:02
|
|
|
IM_DA_DECIDER posted:That's interesting, I found myself getting less and less enthusiastic about the shots as the movie progressed. Not a fan of Cameron's style I guess. The Blu-Ray looks better in both shots here, sorry.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2016 08:18
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:16 |
|
|
How do people come to Whedon's defense on Resurrection when the entire plot was stale garbage? He should own up to it instead of blaming everyone else. It's also laughable how he was trashing the set designs as well, which were by far the best part about the movie.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2016 05:35
|
|