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Crash landing on an all-male prison planet after an alien attacks the spaceship during the crew’s hyper-sleep, Ripley is found to be the sole survivor. However, there is one more survivor unbeknownst to the inmates – an Alien.

The problem Alien 3 is that we are always three-steps ahead of the characters at all times. We know that the Alien survived and that the violent inmates turned religious zealots are not reverting back to their old God-less ways. While this doesn’t make for a horror-thriller classic like Alien 1 & 2, it does make good for a summer popcorn blockbuster.

Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, critics did not see it that way, panning the film, sitting at 39% on Rottentomatoes. As time wears on, I feel as if there has been a turn in critical reaction to the film for the positive. Especially ever since the “Assembly Cut” (an unofficial director’s cut version released by the studio as a part of the Alien Quadrilogy box set) was released in 2003. To clarify, I watched the theatrical version for this column, but the “Assembly Cut” which runs an additional half-hour has several key plot point additions and differences, just showing how much money was wasted on the film due to a lack of a script.

I found the plot to move quickly and snappily. While the characters are closer to characterizations, not much more was truly needed for what the film was setting out to do – create a fun summer thriller covered in blood.

Weaver gives another incredible performance as Ripley and Charles Dance as a prison doctor and Charles S. Dutton as an inmate all contribute some of the better acted moments to the film.

The action sequences are well shot and edited with a great sense of space and distance. The physical sets are a sight to behold, but the CGI exteriors do not hold up. In fact, the first two films look more credible when it comes to their special effects than this newer edition surprisingly. Luckily, those shots are kept to a minimum.

I can easily see how the troubled script affected the film with plot twists that are unexpected for all the wrong reasons and a finale that does not know where (or how) to end. But otherwise, the production has only seemed to result in more behind-the-scenes turmoil than what actually happens on it.

So many great screenwriters took a stab at writing this threequel that I could write an entire page on it. Instead I will spare you and tell you to look at the film’s Wikipedia page for all the names, to see how each writer’s ideas helped influence the final script.

Released May 22, 1992, Fox overestimated their sci-fi horror franchise, only opening in second place with $19.5 million and $23.1 million over the four-day Memorial Day Weekend. Another threequel, Lethal Weapon 3, was on top. Word-of-mouth quickly spread (the film’s marketing campaign came under fire for making it seem as if the movie was set on Earth, which it was not), dropping 57% in week two – an alarming number for the ‘90s, when films had legs. Quickly falling, Alien 3 wrapped up with $55.5 million ($106 million today). $30 million less than the last installment, a big overseas bump made the movie profitable enough for Alien Resurrection to be released in 1997, although with more diminishing domestic returns.

Fox revived the franchise seven years later along with their Predators property with the maligned Alien Vs. Predator (a sequel was made, but grossed less than half of AvP’s $80 million total, killing the fight-to-the-death series).

Now it looks like Alien will come into the cultural conversation again with the June 8th release of Ridley Scott’s quasi-prequel Prometheus, which with the benefit of 3D and IMAX surcharges can finally make the Alien franchise have a film that has grossed over $100 million (although adjusted for ticket price inflation, the original Alien has made nearly $250 million, a figure Fox will be wishing Prometheus will make given its well-over $100 million budget).

Flashy and flawed but not soulless, Alien 3 is spunky enough to stand alone, but crumbles when compared to its predecessors. Fincher’s (although no one is really sure how big or small his involvement really was) bold move to restart the series within the first minutes creates a suspenseful environment where all of the previous rules are erased. Unfortunately, he does not have many of his own rules to create.

Verdict: Not with us
6 out of 10

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