Technically,
this is for the UK anniversary, as its original burstday in late May was just a
tad overshadowed by that whole Prometheus
thingummy. So if you’ll excuse me...
Alien3
is the closest thing this franchise has to a “cult film”. Though it certainly
made enough money in 1992 to warrant a sequel (eh), it was greeted with an almost universal shrug of adequacy. The
original Alien may have seen its fair
share of unconvinced critics, but that didn’t stop it going down a storm with
audiences the world over. Then Aliens
came along and blew an even larger quantity of socks off.
This
particular sequel has always jostled with Resurrection
for the position of ‘Black Sheep’ in the Alien
legacy. But while its successor was less warmly received due to the combination
of a confused tone, Dan Hedaya’s shoulder hair and that inescapable sense of
sequel fatigue, Alien3
became infamous for much more interesting reasons, with the scripting process
being a biggie.
Plenty
of films have a tough time getting off the ground... and then there’s Alien3. A number of early
drafts were produced, including one from William Gibson that would have
featured Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn) battling Aliens on the Anchorpoint
space station (it sounded so cool), while another written by
Vincent Ward saw Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) crash landing on a wooden
planetoid populated by monks (space
monks!). Somewhere in between, David Twohy produced a draft that introduced
the prison planet concept. Ultimately, producers Walter Hill and David Giler
took matters into their own hands, and cannibalised elements from previous
scripts (particularly those by Twohy and Ward), resulting in the finished
product.
Well,
not quite finished. Filming began
without a complete script and a sizable chunk of the budget already spent. Not
what you’d call ideal conditions for then-first time director David Fincher.
Though his cinematic style is clearly apparent throughout (check out that
camerawork), Alien3 was a
studio production; and with a severe lack of creative control within such
gruelling shooting conditions, Fincher has since gone out of his way to
distance the film from his life, effectively disowning it.
And
that was only the beginning. Straight away, Alien3
incurs the wrath of long-time fans. James Cameron himself described the deaths
of Hicks and Newt as a slap in the face, while Michael Biehn demanded a
significant amount of dough just for the use of his likeness. This negative
reaction to the opening was quite understandable (and don’t ask me how the
stowaway egg/Facehugger(s) conundrum works), but I’ve always approved of how it
fatally kicks Aliens’ happy ending in
the face, Seagal style, and reasserts that grim, hopeless tone which made the
later scenes of Alien so affective.
Adding
to the atmosphere is some powerhouse acting. Alien worked because it was about seven real people – you could
easily relate to its characters. With Aliens,
you had gung ho Sphess Mahreens ramping up the entertainment with their
enduringly quotable dialogue. Now, with a borderline apocalyptic tone,
characters are grander. Weaver is as strong as ever, but it’s those who
surround her that steal the show. Charles S. Dutton is particularly memorable,
delivering rousing speeches with deadly gusto. Brian Glover gets to be slimy in
a convincingly authoritarian manner as Andrews, the prison warden, while Ralph
Brown provides some much-needed comic relief as his beleaguered assistant,
Aaron. Elsewhere, Paul McGann is delightfully unhinged as the psychopathic Golic,
and as you’d expect, Lance Henriksen remains on fine form in his limited role
as Bishop, and even gets to bring out that sinister side which would serve him
so well in Hard Target.
But
it’s Charles Dance who shines the brightest. Clemens provides the prison’s only
source of relatable humanity (unless you’re a death row inmate, I guess), and
the gentle scenes spent between Ripley and Dance’s tragic doctor act as a sort of
calm before the storm. His all-too sudden death marks a turning point in the
story, as we’re thrust into the violent nightmare of Alien3’s second half, and Ripley is once again faced
with the horror she calls her life.
Even
with such moving performances, there’s no escaping the fact that ninety percent
of Alien3’s characters are
bald, white males spurting expletives. And this is a big cast. Outside of those
few aforementioned cases, character development isn’t exactly a factor. It’s
not long before the inmates of Fury 161 all start to blend together in one
enormous cockney mass. Off the top of my head, I can remember Morse, Murphy,
erm, rape goggles guy... Pete... Postlethwaite...
So
there’s a large amount of almost nameless victims; and it does not end well for
most of them. Alien3 is by
far the most brutal saga entry. Throats are slashed to ribbons, skulls are
split open, and there’s even a full-body explosion courtesy of one giant
ventilation fan. As a result, events play out like a slasher movie. At its
heart, Alien was always Halloween in space, but now we’re in
full on The Burning territory thanks
to the level of Alien3’s bloodletting.
Most
of this carnage is brought about, of course, by the titular creature. Original Alien designer H.R. Giger was once again
brought on board for creative input. Not all his new ideas made it to the end
design (he, uh, wanted it to have feminine lips), but the resultant quadruped
beast breathed new life into a familiar foe. Less biomechanical than before,
and with a streamlined appearance (those dorsal tubes were a notable omission),
this Alien attacks the inmates of Fury 161 like a battering ram covered in
sharp sticks. Tom Woodruff Jr. performs well in the suit, and barring a few
dodgy shots, the animatronic effects are expertly handled. While not as scary
as the stealthy monstrosity that stalked the Nostromo’s crew, it’s still great to see the “Xenomorph” back in
full head-biting force after being largely relegated to cannon fodder in Aliens.
The
film’s whole visual style certainly draws attention as well. The grim setting
of Fury 161 is a perpetual blend of dull colours and harsh environments. The
worlds of Alien and Aliens weren’t exactly sparkling clean, but
they sure look a whole lot nicer next to this collection of dank tunnels and
raging furnaces. All the while, Elliot Goldenthal’s beautiful score lends the
film a melancholic quality that clashes appropriately with all the unkempt
surroundings in a manner previously unheard of in the Alien universe. If nothing else, it’s hard not to view Alien3 as the most
aesthetically gripping series instalment.
Above
all, I can’t shower the ending with enough praise. Ellen Ripley’s final act in
defiance of Weyland-Yutani is a perfect curtain call charged with over a decade
of build-up. It’s not just the end of Alien3
– it’s the climax to a whole trilogy! Outside of William Gibson’s awesome
pipedream draft, I couldn’t possibly imagine a better way to finish this
series... which in retrospect, it really
should have been.
Much
of what I’ve mentioned is subject to change, however, depending on what cut of
the film you watch. Each Alien movie
has been revisited at some point for a Special Edition. Normally, this would be
an excuse for the studio to re-insert deleted scenes that were likely deleted
for a good reason, but as we know, Alien3
is a special case. The “Assembly Cut” was introduced for the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set, and it managed
to salvage a significant amount of previously unseen material, and presented
something (supposedly) more in line with Fincher’s original vision by filling
in certain plot holes and adding a degree of extra character development. Even
though there is NO “Director’s Cut”, this is the closest we’re ever likely to
get. Changes include the Alien bursting from an ox instead of a dog, proper closure
to the character of Golic (who just disappeared from the original cut), along
with a more subtle take on Ripley’s final scene.
Those
are just a few differences. More await, and they all add up to create quite a
different beast from the cut audiences first saw in 1992. If you remain
unconvinced by Alien3’s theatrical
version, then the Assembly Cut comes highly recommended. It won’t automatically
make Alien3 perfect – it’s
always been and always will be a flawed work of art – but it should at least
shed some light on why many consider this to be such an underrated gem.
It
may sit in the shadow of its two more successful prequels, but Alien3 has enough memorable
characters, dark storytelling, unique stylistic touches and good old fashioned
ultra-violence to firmly hold its own after twenty years... and counting.
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