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Alien3
(1992)
 
This film is probably the least successful of
the Alien series of films. It takes off from the end
of Aliens (1986), with the survivors of the previous
film in suspended animation aboard the spaceship headed home.
However a couple of alien eggs have been laid on board the
ship and there is a "facehugger" around (kind of like a cross
between a spider, crab and disembodied hand, coloured yellow
with a long tail). It tries to get into the suspended animation
capsules but injures itself, causing it's acid blood to burn
the floor, setting off the ship's smoke detector, which causes
the computer to automatically load the suspended animation
capsules into an escape pod and launch it at the nearest inhabited
planet, which just happens to be Fiorina "Fury" 161, a mineral
ore refinery which is also a maximum security, male-only prison
colony, where the peace between the two prison guards and the
prisoners is maintained through the prisoner's home-grown brand
of Christian fundamentalism, lead by the prisoner's leader
Dillon (Charles S. Dutton). While Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the only
survivor of the landing, recovers in the infirmary, and becomes
close to the sympathetic doctor Clemens (Charles Dance), it turns out
that one of the facehuggers got on the escape pod and has already
infected a dog. Soon a fully grown alien creature is loose
in the prison.
This film marked the feature debut of director David Fincher who was then best
known for directing pop music videos and commercials. The film had a very troubled
production history. At one time it was supposed to be set on
Earth, and an early series of teaser posters were printed with
the tagline "On Earth everyone can hear you scream." Acclaimed
science fiction author William Gibson wrote a script for the
film where Ripley spends most of the film in a coma and the
aliens are not featured at all while New Zealand film-maker Vincent
Ward wrote a script set on a wooden planet which is home to
a group of monks who shun all forms of technology and live
a medieval life style. Ward's version was approved by the studio
and creatures were designed and sets were being built when
the studio decided to pull the plug. Famous British novelist
and film-maker Clive Barker was courted by the studio but he
didn't think the aliens were interesting enough monsters. The
final shoot was turbulent enough, and David Fincher has now
disowned the film claiming constant studio interference and
walked off the production before editing began.
The finished
film is very frustrating because it never gets as good as it
should be. It shows signs of very heavy cutting, particularly
in the final third, and it's worth noting that the "Assembly
Cut" available on DVD is half an hour longer than the theatrical
version.
The film is unremittingly grim, featuring a dull colour
palette of mostly brown, grey, and green. Almost all the characters
have shaven heads (because of a lice problem on the planet).
In fact, the theme of the film seems to be how horrible the
prison colony is, and everything else seems to be secondary.
The alien itself seems almost to be an afterthought, and although
the production design is impressive and the film does feature
some striking visuals, the story is severely lacking. With a
few exceptions the characters are too interchangeable and unlikeable
to really care about. The deaths of two well-liked characters
from Aliens is curious, but not very effective. Another bizarre
idea that doesn’t really work is that the alien takes on physical
characteristics of it’s host.
It does have it’s moments however,
and there are some striking elements, in particular a sequence
where the funeral service for the two people killed in the
escape pod crash is intercut with the baby alien bursting from
the dog. It is worth watching, but is more of a curio for fans of the Alien franchise
that anything else.
-Robert
Foster
Other
Thoughts: Mark Moreland
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All contents ©
2004-2009 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
David
Fincher
Writer: David
Giler & Walter Hill, Larry Ferguson, Vincent
Ward, Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett
Starring: Sigourney
Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover,
Ralph Brown
Distributor: 20th
Century Fox
Runtime: 114
min
Rating: R
Release Date: May
22, 1992
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