Very under-rated movie (plot details mentioned)

Rating: 8/10 (2 March 2008)

Due to a fire on board the Sulacco returning home after the events in Aliens, an escape pod is released containing the survivors. The crash landing on Fury 161, a former penal planet for dangerous criminals who have now found religion, leaves Ripley the only survivor. But something else came with her, and the horror is about to continue....
Alien 3 was directed by David Fincher, who went on to make Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac. This was his first movie, and you can see the beginning of his style here. The movie is bleak, atmospheric and like most other Fincher movies, gloomy and at times very dark.
The script for the movie was written by Walter Hill, David Giller & Larry Fergusson. The story itself is credited to Vincent Ward. His version involved a wooden planet and monks, instead or prisoners. There are also various scripts and stories written by such people as David Twohy (who wrote Pitch Black), Eric Red (The Hitcher) and others. I don't know how much of their ideas were actually used, apart from Ward's story idea, but I think the writers do a good job.
In Alien, Ripley was simply the only one to survive, in Aliens she becomes almost like a surrogate mother to Newt's character. Here, after surviving everything that's happened to her in the first two movies, she's left crushed and devastated by losing everything she fought for in Aliens, It's a brave move to take the character and make her want to die, after everything she's been through, but it is understandable, and I think it does work.
Of course it does help that Sigourney Weaver gives another compelling performance as Ripley. It is notable how in all of the Alien movies, the character shows different sides to her, yet is always believable.
As for the supporting cast, there is good support from Charles S. Dutton, Brian Glover, Charles Dance, Lance Henriksen, Ralph Brown, and in the special edition cut by Paul McGann. His character's role was cut out of the theatrical version, but in the special edition, with the restored footage, his character makes sense.
There are faults with the movie, and most of those are to do with the Alien creature. NOT the actual design of the creature, which as has been pointed out does not come from a human host, as in Alien/Aliens, but from a different creature (dog in theatrical creature, cattle of some kind from the special edition). But I do think some of the special visual effects of the creature chasing after the prisoners are a bit weak.
The ending too does come in from a bit of criticism. As has been noted it does have a similar ending to Terminator 2, but I like the ending. Ripley sacrificing her own life to kill the Alien queen growing inside her is a brave decision to make for the film-makers, and I think it works well.
The idea of using prisoners is an interesting choice within the movie. These men are presented as dangerous murderers, rapist, the worst kind of prisoners forced to face something that is more dangerous and scarier than themselves. While it is difficult to make the prisoners sympathetic or likable, thanks to some good performances, you do find yourself hoping some will survive. Having said that however, the decision to have them all bald (due to a problem with lice on the planet), does sometimes make it hard to work out which characters are still alive or dead at times.
Whilst the theatrical version was okay by itself, the movie is far better in the special edition. Restoring the sub-plot of Golic's (McGann) almost worshiping of the creature gives added depth to the story. I will say however, the theatrical ending, with Ripley holding onto the Alien queen as it bursts out of her chest as she falls into the incinerator is better than the special edition one.
I think Alien 3 is under-rated in the series. While I still think Alien is the best one, I actually prefer this one over Aliens. Whilst Aliens may be more exciting and action-orientated, the atmosphere and bleakness of Alien 3 make it a braver movie and a much more interesting one.