Theatrical Release: 3 / Special Edition: 8

Rating: 8/10 (22 April 2010)

Alien 3 sucks. But we already know this.
What everyone don't know is that there's a Special Edition of Alien 3, which runs about 30 minutes longer. And after seeing that, you really start to like the movie you've disliked for almost 20 years. And it's this version that this review is about.
Today there are Special Editions, Director's Cuts, Extendeds and Unrateds of every other movie being released. Many of them really don't add much; A few seconds of gore here, a pointless dialogue there. In other words, new editions are most of the time just a way for the company to cream out more money.
Then there's the re-releases that really makes it a whole other experience: Kingdom of Heaven, Payback, The Abyss, The Lord of The Rings-trilogy, to name but few. And of course, Alien 3.
I won't go into everything that's been added and deleted for the A3SE. But one of the gem-scenes is the Golic character, who mysteriously disappeared in the A3TR. Here we find out what actually happened, and his story is so much more than just another inmate being alien food. Why it was cut out is beyond me.
The pit bull-scene is deleted, instead we get a way cooler version that includes an ox.
More of the outside is shown, and basically all characters gets fleshed out (no pun intended). Especially Dillon.
All changes are not for the best though. The stuff about how dangerous it is for Ripley as a woman is hammered in too much. And like the TR, SE still suffers from lack of good action, and you can't deny that it was a mistake to do the 3rd installment without guns, with just one alien, and with characters that you really hate, or at best don't care about.
Still, despite it's flaws, gloominess and seriousness, the A3SE makes the saga complete in a way. It fills the gap that A3TR left.