The 'special edition' is quite good.

Rating: 7/10 (13 April 2020)

I've heard nothing but bad things about the notoriously troubled production of 'Alien³ (1992)', as well as the chopped-up product released because of it. However, my take on the piece is significantly kinder. Perhaps it's because the 'special edition' cut (which is the only version I've seen) is more reminiscent of Fincher's initial vision, a slow-burning and often bold horror that attempts to take the franchise back to the 'one alien' style of its first entry. For the most part, it succeeds. It has a dark, near nihilistic tone and a distinctly 'grungy' aesthetic. It also has a bevy if decently developed side characters and a few genuinely suspenseful sequences. Charles Dance is particularly good in the piece, and the film wisely does some relatively ballsy things with his character. It isn't perfect, of course. It's slow and never reaches the heights of its predecessors. Still, it stands on its own as an engaging thriller. Perhaps the initial cut really is as bad as they say, but this version is actually pretty good. 7/10