10 Reasons Alien 3 Is A Misunderstood Masterpiece
When was the last time you actually gave the movie a chance?
Lets face it, Alien 3 was a mess. After the success of Aliens, 20th Century Fox planned to move ahead with a third installment, but the project was plagued with problems from day one. From Sigourney Weavers reluctance to return to the role to all manner of screenwriters and directors coming onboard, doing some work, and then leaving, even down to a teaser trailer that indicated the movie would be set on Earth. The Internet is filled with legends and stories about the Alien 3 that never was, whether science fiction author William Gibsons two-part movie that involved Weyland-Yutani creating genetically-altered Alien warriors or Vincent Wards infamous wooden planet. What we ended up with, however, was David Finchers first feature film, a movie that was under such intense scrutiny from the studio that it made pretty much everyone on the set miserable. The final film was re-edited without Finchers involvement or consent and since then, its become almost universally despised by critics and fans alike. Fincher himself has disowned the film and refused to participate in the Alien Quadrilogy set that featured extended cuts of all four movies. So instead of a Fincher-observed Directors Cut of Alien 3, we got whats known as the Assembly Cut. It tries as best as possible to restore Finchers original workprint, before Fox began butchering it. The theatrical version is 115 minutes, whereas the Assembly Cut clocks in at 145, so theres a lot of extra stuff. Its still not as good as its predecessors, but the Assembly Cut is far better than its given credit for, and actually provides a perfect end for the Alien series. Thats right, I said end. Alien Resurrection does not exist in my world. Frequently, Ill make a day of it and watch Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3 back-to-back; they form a very effective, coherent trilogy, which is amazing considering there were three different directors, and given all the problems with the production of the third installment. Here are 10 reasons Alien 3 is an underrated masterpiece...