Worthy finale to Alien Trilogy

Rating: 8/10 (9 March 2007)

ALIEN3 was a revelation. Despite the reaction from some, the well documented interference from the studio, this film succeeded. I was ambivalent about this installment, expecting another overblown, sub-par sequel, like ALIENS. If you had become an ALIEN fan, in 1979, there was no way that any sequel could be little more than a studio cash in. ALIEN3 changed this. It revealed the Trilogy. Fincher's vision is sublime. It is still locked into the spam-in-a-can plot, but everything else is new, and it returns to a more "ALIEN(1979)" feel. Technical aspects aside, the marvel of ALIEN3 is how it transformed the "franchise". Until A3, "Alien" had been the masterpiece that was the original, followed by a somewhat entertaining, but shameful rip off. With ALIEN3, the story suddenly clicked, and operated as a 3-act tragedy. ALIENS actually worked within this framework of a 3 part story arc. ALIEN3 is not a perfect movie. The weakest point of the theatrical release was a somewhat erratic narrative, some cons remained anonymous, and a couple of characters vanished from the story, midway through. Virtually the entire middle act of ALIEN3 was cut from the 1992 release. The recent "Special Edition" restores this, and much more. The cryotubes in A3 are a copy of A1, and do not match those from the Sulaco, in A2. This is an obvious error. Some of the "problems" with the story are due to Studio editing and rushed production. One should read the novel for the background. Like with ALIEN and ALIENS, Foster wrote the ALIEN3 novel during production, with the full, original story draft. Queens have the capacity to start new hives from scratch. When separated from the former hive, or exiled by a rival, the wandering Queen has 3x eggs inside an internal reserve sac, for recolonizing. Including 1x new Queen. These can be deposited very quickly. The eggs were laid in the dropship. The concept does not seem to track with the opening shots, but the Trilogy is not always perfectly logical (In A1 we hear thrusters in space, in A2 the marines are deployed "on shore", without retaining a single hand on board the main Vessel,etc). The EEV crashed on FURI-161, due to a malfunction caused by a collision with equipment that was ejected due to a blown hatch, in the cargo bay. This was not seen, unfortunately. The mix of American, British and Japanese characters was in keeping with the Military being all that the old USA has in the new order, and Weyland-Yutani a Japanese-British consortium, that relies on mostly American and British employees. If anything ALIENS is out of synch, with it's exclusive "American" characters, in the corporate and civilian sectors (not impossible, just less likely than in A1 and A3). Much of the vitriol directed at ALIEN3 came from ALIENS enthusiasts, expecting "ALIENS part-2". They resented the immediate deaths of Hicks and Newt (plus Bishop). The bald "unlovable" convicts. The lack of trigger time ("Let's rock!"). But ALIEN3 revealed that each chapter had it's own style, it's own identity. I don't understand the resentment of ALIENS fans. This movie actually strengthened ALIENS. Not because A3 was bad, but because it was good. ALIENS was epic. It was a fitting 2nd part. ALIEN3 was the final act, and is perfect as a concept in regards the whole, as a story arc. Fans of ALIENS wanted what Cameron saw for a future installment- "Heroic family vs Aliens". Cameron slanted ALIENS heavily towards the long term love interest of Hicks and Ripley, with Newt as "daughter". But this concept really is anathema to the ongoing "Alien" theme. "Crew expendable". Everyone dies. Anybody that Ripley gets to know, is killed, at inconvenient times. The "Alien story" isn't about fairy tales and relationships. It is about death. It is somehow fitting, that the lone survivor of the entire affair is Morse, a psychotic, hapless con. I saw ALIEN on it's initial run. I loved ALIEN3, and appreciated ALIENS more as a result. A3 is a bleak, emotional final act. It serves notice that nobody is "special". That any character, can, and likely will, be taken away, at any time. Even the "Hero". Rather than viewing the Alien story as individual, stand alone blockbuster movies, it ought to be considered a Trilogy. ALIEN in 1979 was incredible. ALIENS was the climax. ALIEN3 is the finale. The inevitable end to a horrifying, thrilling, but relentlessly depressing Tragedy.