Alien 3: Assembly Cut. Sci-fi for grownups.

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2010)

Before Se7en and Fight Club but after Alien and Aliens came visionary director David Fincher's Alien³. The third in the popular franchise, but easily one of the most hated, Alien³ is a grim allegorical tale about life, death, sin and redemption. And it is perhaps because of the weighty themes of this film that many fans of the franchise quickly turned their nose up at it.
Directly following the events of Aliens, the film's surviving character's escape pod crash lands on a prison planet filled with Double Y Chromosome convicts who have now found religion. Unfortunately one surviving alien came with the pod and it is not long before it starts feeding off the prison population.
A stark contrast to director James Cameron's flashy sci-fi action romp 'Aliens', Alien³ is more of a grim psychological horror where the optimism of the first two films are crushed under a near nihilistic tone persistent in this one. However it is this dramatic departure from Cameron's sequel is what gives Alien³ an edge above its predecessors. In addition to a grim storyline littered with quasi and overt religious references, Alien³ also features all of the hallmarks that make David Fincher one of the most popular movie directors around today. Those low camera angles, stark lighting and filtered colors reminiscent of Se7en, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, are all present in Alien³, in addition to some very stunning cinematography and a haunting score by Elliot Goldenthal.
The performances of the three main leads: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton and Charles Dance, are amazing in spite of the weaknesses of the screenplay. It is remarkable that despite all this film had going against it, in its highly publicized development hell (that included a script that went through several extensive rewrites before, during and even after filming had finished), the final product is still a masterpiece, albeit a flawed one.
If you watch the 'Assembly Cut' version of Alien³ , which is over 30 minutes longer than the theatrical release, you will quickly understand why it is indeed one of the most underrated, but also one of greatest sci-fi monster flicks ever made, and why it quite suitably completes the trilogy in the most fitting manner. Although many complain about the doom and gloom of this feature, this final installment in the trilogy is also the most uplifting. Looking beyond the downbeat nature of the film, Alien³ is still essentially a story about hope, and the putting aside of differences to selflessly help achieve a common good. In other words, this film is about redemption. Alien³: Assembly Cut is not only one of the best films in the franchise but it is also one of David Fincher's best efforts to date. 9 out 10.