Beautifully dark movie

Rating: 10/10 (5 December 2008)

This movie was a tall order after Ridley Scott and Jim Camerons previous masterpieces. This movie was taken in a completely different direction which is why its so good. Director David Fincher did not have the element of surprise as in the first Alien film, we all know what the monster looks like, and no guns and flame throwers like the second Aliens. This film is set in a dark sullen prison setting where you can almost feel the isolation, complimented by the fantastic music from Elliot Goldenthal. Ripley crash lands on Fury 161 and finds out after a series of accidents involving the prisoners that a face hugger has managed to stowaway on her EEV, the monster escapes and plants an embryo in a dog ( an ox in the directors cut) resulting in a hybrid alien. Unfortunately the prison holds no weapons so its down to the prisoners led by Ripley to save themselves.
The cast in this film are very strong and are made better by the excellent lighting and camera work. There is an element of CG work with the alien in some scenes but this is minimal and there still have the original Alien models in the film.
There is a couple of slight differences in the films depending on whether you watch the directors cut or the original release, i prefer the directors cut but you can choose your own favourite.
Well worth a place in your DVD collection.