"I think it's fair to say that our smoothly running facility has suddenly developed a few problems." Good, but not as good as the first two...

Rating: 7/10 (16 August 2005)

Alien 3 starts on the 'US Sulaco' as an electrical fire enables an automated cryo unit jettison procedure & Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Hicks (Michael Biehn who apparently was paid more for the use of his image in Alien 3 than he did for his entire role in Aliens (1986), nice work if you can get it), the android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) & Newt (Danielle Edmond) spiral towards 'Fiorina "Fury" 161 Outer-Veil Mineral Ore Refinery Double Y Chromosome-Work Correctional Facility', basically an old lead works turned prison planet for hardened criminals. Upon crash landing Hicks & Newt are killed & Bishop is damaged beyond repair but Ripley survives & is rescued by the convicts who now inhabit Fiorina, as they help Ripley a dog belonging to one of the prisoners sees something crawling in the shadows... Ripley is taken to the prisons Doctor, Clemens (Charles Dance) where she is given the OK but straight away Ripley's thoughts turn to the alien & whether once again it has followed her. The dog is now in pain & convulsing as eventually an alien bursts out of it's stomach & when it kills an inmate named Murphy (Christopher Fairbank) Ripley tries to convince Warden Andrews (Brian Glover) that the ultimate alien killing machine is loose somewhere in the complex...
Directed by David Fincher who has disowned the film due to constant studio interference I thought Alien 3 was a fine film, considering it had a hell of a lot to live up to in it's illustrious predecessors Alien (1979) & Aliens it didn't turn out so bad. Alien 3 was also plagued by production problems, a spiralling budget (I bet Fox liked that), $7 million in built sets for a script that was never used, various directors dropping out or being fired & filming being halted by Fox because of the troubles so it's a surprise that it ended up as good as it did. The script by David Giler, Walter Hill & Larry Ferguson is a little slow & virtually relegates the alien to a bit part as Weaver's Ripley takes centre stage. Ripley's character is explored more here than the previous two films, in fact Alien 3 revolves around her more than the alien which pops up occasionally to kill a prisoner until the final 20 or so minutes when it actually has some significance to the on screen action. I thought the ending rounded things off nicely, that was until Alien: Resurrection (1997) was made anyway. I also thought that Alien 3 tries to blend some of the best elements from the first two, the dark haunted house in space feel of the original & the action & chases of the second. Technically I think Alien 3 is marvellous, I love the way Fincher films shots with an almost candlelit pale yellow hue throughout, lots of great angles, cool shots & well composed framing of images. The production design is also fantastic with a realistic looking gritty lead works setting, while the first two Alien films are futuristic in look Alien 3 has the feel of being set in a Victorian factory with it's pipes dripping water, brickwork walls, darkly lit corridors, industrial machinery & chains all over the place, the sets have a huge amount of detail & a lot of time, effort & work obviously went into the look & feel of Alien 3. Unfortunately the alien itself doesn't get much screen time & while the puppet effects are good with plenty of slime the CGI effects look pretty poor these days. There is some violence here but not too much, mostly blood splats on walls although there is a quick shot when the alien bites into someones head. The acting is good from all involved with Yorkshire man Glover being quite likable. It must have been tough making a sequel to two of the greatest Sc-Fi horror films ever made but everything considered I think Alien 3 doesn't embarrass itself at all. Despite being a bit slow in places & making the alien seem like an afterthought on occasion I found an entertaining & watchable film which I enjoyed. Definitely worth a watch for both Sci-Fi & horror fans.