10 Good Movies That Could've Been Great (With One Simple Fix)
5. Newt & Hicks Survive - Alien 3
The Movie
There's no denying that David Fincher's Alien 3 is one of the most divisive and argued-over entries into any major film franchise.
Upon release, it was pilloried by critics and fans for a number of reasons, not least that Fincher wrestled with Fox executives throughout production to the extent that the end result is a bit of a mess, and Fincher ultimately disowned the film.
But almost 30 years removed from its original release, Alien 3 lives on as a cult classic of sorts, with fans progressively warming to it in recent times, appreciating its incredible production design, Fincher's agreeably unvarnished direction and, of course, Sigourney Weaver's tenacious performance as Ripley.
It's pretty damn far from perfect, especially as Fincher was never allowed to fully see his vision through, but Alien 3 is nevertheless a singular entry into a franchise that's feeling increasingly directionless with each new installment.
The Simple Fix
Put all the production issues aside and there's one major creative decision that made fans sceptical of Alien 3 from the outset - that fan favourite characters Newt (Carrie Henn) and Hicks (Michael Biehn) were given listless off-screen deaths in its opening moments.
Ripley fought so hard to keep Newt alive in Aliens, and her bond with both Newt and Hicks was so well-established in that film, that to throw it away at the start of this sequel felt like a needless clearing of the table, if you will.
Now, nobody's saying that Newt and Hicks absolutely needed to appear in Alien 3, but couldn't they have just been taken out of commission instead?
Why couldn't Newt and Hicks have ended up incapacitated yet still alive in hospital? It would've been a sensible way to keep them alive for potential future movies rather than rashly offing them forever more.
It would've ensured that fans weren't immediately pissed off when the movie started, and were more easily able to get on-board with Fincher's punk rock vision for the franchise, which despite its rough edges, is so close to greatness.