The Assembly Cut reveals Alien³ to be quite good

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2015)

Six years after the success of Aliens, Alien 3 reared its head. Directed by no one less than newcomer David Fincher, the result was altogether quitepeculiar. And one need only inquire a little about the film's production to see why.
After a nice manipulation of the 20th Century Fox logo by composer Elliot Goldenthal, the film immediately kicks you in the balls. The escape vessel carrying Ripley, Newt, Hicks and Bishop crashes on a prison planet in the ass end of nowhere. Ripley is found unconscious on the beach, but Newt, Hicks and Bishop have all died. If you want reason no. 1 why some viewers like to pretend Ripley's story ended with Aliens, there you have it. The prison is home to inmates who are trying to find God. Needless to say, some find the presence of a woman most unsettling. Ripley discovers what happened from a friendly inmate played by Charles Dance and now has to learn to cope with life in the prison facility while waiting for a rescue ship. What nobody realizes however, is that our friendly neighborhood alien queen left a little surprise for them before she died at the end of Aliens.
Alien 3 is a strange film to review. It shares a lot of elements with its predecessors: there's a single alien wreaking havoc on the inmates; Ripley has to slowly assume a position of authority and get everyone to work together, etc. But there's something decidedly different about this third outing and I think it's mostly to do with the humor, which is of the gallows variety. Make no mistake, the story is very dramatic. (spoilers) Ripley discovers her fellow passengers (including potential love interest and surrogate daughter) have died; she's forced to shave her hair due to lice issues in the prison; she discovers there's an alien inside her, the list goes on. And yet, there are times I'd label this film a comedy, albeit a very dark Fincher-ian one. It's mostly because of the inmates; whether it's the spiritual Dillon (Charles S. Dutton) giving speeches or some of the inmates acting crazy, it's a very funny film at times. Consider the scene where the warden is killed. He's always seen carrying a small black ball. When he's dragged up into the ceiling by the alien to everyone's surprise, the same ball drops to the floor moments later and one of the inmates carrying a chair appropriately responds with a resounding "Fuck!"
Also, the film's definitely got its own style and themes. Even if you consider Alien 3 to be overall inferior to its predecessors—which I do—at least the final product's something that has got its own feel. Whether it's the dark humor or its many religious overtones, it's clear that they tried to do something new rather than rehashing ideas or turning the series into a boring formula and milking it for all its worth. (We'd have to wait until the Alien vs Predator movies for that) While the troubled production (many writers, countless script revisions, Fincher complaining about studio interference, etc.) ensured the film itself was also troubled, a revised version dubbed the Assembly Cut changed and clarified a lot of things. The consensus is now that this is the version to watch. Needless to say, it's the version I've seen prior to this review and I imagine I would've disliked Alien 3 quite a bit had I seen the theatrical cut first. One of the more noteworthy changes has to do with the ending: apparently, in the original version, while Ripley falls into the lava, the alien bursts out of her chest, but Ripley holds on to it to ensure they both die. This however completely negates the difficult choice Ripley faces before when talking to Bishop: have the alien taken out in an operation after which Ripley will live on or sacrifice herself. She doesn't trust the company. She fears they'll keep the alien alive for research purposes instead of killing it. However, if she agrees to the operation, chances are she'll still be able to live a happy life. Finally, she refuses and decides she'd rather die knowing for certain the alien threat would die with her. Having the alien burst out of her while she's falling only indicates that she made the right choice as she was moments away from death. Had she accepted Bishop's offer, she'd still have died and the alien would be in the company's hands. The ending in the Assembly Cut is definitely more bittersweet as the alien does not pop out of her chest, indicating that she might have lived happily ever after. Not to mention the fact her Christ-like pose as she falls befits Alien 3's religious vibe.
All in all, I definitely like this film. Despite it not being as tightly woven as its predecessors, there's still a lot to appreciate. Whether it's the great acting, the religious themes or the gallows humor, you're bound to like some aspect of Alien 3. Just make sure you're watching the Assembly Cut.