Three times better than any of the later 'sequels'...

Rating: 7/10 (5 March 2010)

While there's a lot of haters out there I never quite understood why they didn't save their anger for the truly stomach-churningly awful Alien(s) vs Predator movies. Maybe it's because while Alien 3 was watched by fans of the original and the sequel, those AVP movies were mainly aimed at a barely-sober teen audience who couldn't care less for the originals and who think that Paul W Anderson is the new Stanley Kubrick... Anyway, Alien 3 is more than just a stylish exercise for David Fincher (it's certainly better than what Fincher's up to nowadays): it's a tight, very dark and suspenseful sci-fi flick that features a great ensemble cast of character actors. All this can be said about the (superior) original, and it's certainly closer to Alien than to Aliens - which is a good thing, because what happens when you try to top Aliens' action and over-the-top characters can be seen in the later 'sequels'. I also liked the story about Ripley being stranded on a planet with only hardened male criminals; it's not just the same old story all over again. I've always seen this one as a very solid end of a great trilogy and still like to pretend it was the last one. I do believe if it came out today it would be much more appreciated - as the state of sci-fi movies and sequels in general has much deteriorated since Alien 3 originally came to cinemas.