Very underrated

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2001)

This third installment is often refered to as the worst in the Alien franchise. The film is dark, serious, dramatic, and emotional. In other words, it lacks the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am action of the second film, and it's missing the suspense and mystery of the first movie. But just because it's different does NOT mean it's bad. In fact, the dramatic tone of this film is exactly why I thought it was just as good, if not better than the first two.
The only flaw with the film is that it kills off two of the survivors of Aliens right away. Anyone who goes from watching Aliens right into Alien3 will be upset that the people they came to care about in Aliens are suddenly dead--after living through the excitement of the last film.
Once I was over my disappointment, however, I became enthralled with the tone and atmosphere of this movie. Directed by David Fincher (who later directed "The game" and "Fight Club,") the film is extremely moody. It's dark, somewhat amber-tinted, and very quiet. There are no guns and no aliens leaping around frantically.
Is this such a bad thing? Did people expect to see Aliens2 instead of Alien 3? I liked the fact that there were no guns. I liked the fact that the alien had taken on some characteristics of a dog. And I liked the fact that Ripley wasn't the same "Get away from her, you bitch!" Rambo-type woman as she was in the second film. This was her big send off. The film is almost a tribute to her--and Weaver's performance is heartbreaking.

As we all know, they filmed a fourth Alien film. Stay far, far away from Alien: Resurrection. Watch the first three films and you get a complete trilogy, with a beginning ("Alien" as the introduction), a middle (the excitement and action of the second), and an ending (Alien3 providing the resolution and conclusion).