“Sore throat. Sick to my stomach. Pissed off.”

Justin’s rating: So many planets need to get nuked from orbit, apparently

Justin’s review: Poor Alien³. It seemed like it never had a chance. It was burdened with the pressure of following up two of the all-time best scifi/horror movies, experienced way too much studio interference, and ended up disappointing fans and director alike. It was roasted in the years to follow for its unrelenting grim tone (thanks, ’90s!), unsanctioned murder of two of Aliens’ beloved characters, and smaller stakes than what came before.

Yet there’s been a re-appraisal of Alien³ as a far better product than is commonly remembered. I’m sure that this is in part due to much more disappointing Alien sequels to come, not to mention director David Fincher’s amazing run of movies in the ’90s and beyond.

But part of this re-evaluation is thanks to an officially remixed version of the film, first called Assembly Cut, that emerged in 2003 and then was improved in 2010 to become Alien³ Special Edition. I’d heard some positive things about this version, including that it took a disappointing movie experience and actually made it approaching pretty dang good. So it was finally time to see for myself.

I guess we need to establish what the Special Edition is not. It’s not a completely new movie with a plot and amazing special effects of the like you’ve never seen in this series. It’s not suddenly an action movie, nor was it able to save Newt and Hicks from their untimely demise. It’s still that gritty Alien entry with a lot of shaved heads in a largely weapon-free facility.

Yet this is a different beast, make no mistake about it. Special Edition exorcised some of the scenes, added in more than 30 minutes of additional material, and cleaned up the F/X. Certain plot points have been changed, such as the xenomorph gestating inside of an ox rather than a dog. But best of all, the 25 denizens of Fury 161 are given more time and space to become actual characters. Seeing as how we as the audience should want them to survive, knowing more than the skimpy details of the theatrical cut helps in this regard.

I’ve come around on the setting of Alien³ as an all-male prison that’s seeking to reform itself through faith and hard work. Like the industrial corridors of the Nostromo and the pre-fab colony of Hadley’s Hope, Fury 161 eschews the sleek scifi aesthetic for something more realistic and natural. It’s practically a gothic haunted house itself, just made of rusty steel and chains and hard corners instead of creaky wood. This cut gives us a lot more of a tour of this place, presenting it as a ring of hell itself.

And having the xenomorph emerge as a chief threat in this facility is a great way to bring the series back to the feel of the original movie. The Nostromo crew had nowhere to go and only a few improvised weapons on hand, and so it is with Fury 161. If that’s not bad enough, Ripley’s gender puts her at risk of assault by the prisoners, she’s lost her best allies, and Weyland-Yutani is still coming to try to obtain the alien for its own nefarious use. So maybe the stakes ARE pretty high, after all.

Yet I don’t want to get too rosy in my view here. There’s a lot that still simply doesn’t work with this film. Upon this viewing, I was struck by how uninteresting the xenomorph’s presence is here. The special effects aren’t nearly as good as the previous entry, and other than it gestating in an animal rather than a human, the alien doesn’t have any new tricks or do anything other than pop out of holes to grab people and chase them (with an abysmal first-person perspective, I might add).

I think the most interesting part of this third movie is seeing Ripley at the very end of her rope. She’s always had to prove herself again and again — against unruly employees, an uncaring corporate overlord, battle-hardened marines, and now a gang of convicted felons. But now she’s in Star Trek’s No-Win Scenario. There’s no real escape for her, so the question is whether she goes out swinging against her great foe or if she gives into cynicism, despair, and nihilism.

It’s too bad that Fincher (understandably) declined to be involved in this cut, because it really does him a service to remold this movie into a more visually powerful piece of art that feels more like the style he brought to later movies like Se7en and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

It’s definitely worth seeing for far more world-building, character development, a creepy new antagonist, and a third act that is far more interesting (and changed!) than what we got in theaters. Maybe Alien³ doesn’t deserve a second chance from anyone who was let down by the original, but if you are willing, I think this has a shot at revising your estimation of this black sheep of the franchise.

Intermission!

• Still LOVE that opening Fox logo that ends on an eerie note
• Great shot of the doctor running across the industrial landscape carrying Ripley
• Lice cloak! Lots of lice there!
• The gory interior of the escape pod
• “None of them have seen a woman for years. Neither have I, for that matter.”
• “She… drowned in her cryotube.”
• “Was she your daughter?” is such an armor-piercing question for Ripley.
• We see Newt’s eyes but not her whole face.
• Ripley’s bloody eye is freaky
• “What’s this?” as he holds up the facehugger
• “You don’t want to know me, lady. I’m a murderer and a rapist of women.”
• “I guess I must make you nervous.”
• I like how there’s a bigger focus on the mystery of the xenomorph and the characters’ backstories than the original
• Man, Bishop took a beating in that crash (and before)
• “Take off. I’ve got to re-educate some of the brothers.”
• You can say the s-word, as it’s not against God
• “It was with us all the way.”
• “We’re on the honor system.”
• Don’t call him “85”
• “It’s like a lion, sticks close to the zebras.”
• “Your ass is already on the line. The question is, what are you going to do about it?”
• They capture it. They actually capture it.
• Ripley back in the EEV is a great moment of high tech exposing the monster
• The huge comm dish reminds me of the one in Aliens
• “It’s just down there. In the basement.” “This whole place is a basement!”
• “Don’t be afraid, I’m part of the family.” *grabs a steel bar*
• That’s a lot of molten lead