Alien 3: Director’s Cut
1992
Starring: Signourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Brian Glover, Paul McGann, Ralph Brown, Danny Webb, Pete Postlethwaite, Lance Henriksen
Director: David Fincher
Runtime: 138 Minutes
Distributor” 20th Century Fox
Rating: R
Whilst a competent enough conclusion to arguably the most stunning science fiction saga ever conceived, Alien 3 remains one of the finest examples of “too many cooks…” with Fox apparently setting out to make a release date instead of a film. Original director Rennie Harlen worked on the project for a year and then passed, citing studio interference. Story writer Vincent Ward left soon after citing “creative differences” (read: studio interference). Michael Biehn was reportedly extremely interested in reprising his role and was snubbed – though incidentally he was paid more money for the use of that one photograph than he was for the whole of Aliens. Signourney Weaver apparently had no interest at all in reprising hers and had to be coaxed with a big fat check.
Having taken Ward’s rather splendid idea of a wooden world inhabited by space monks and by committee turned it into a rather crap idea about prisoners at an abandoned refinery, it became clear that Fox was not simply going to let this one be. After pre-production was essentially shut down for three months David Fincher was finally drafted in at the eleventh hour. Fincher had no script to work with and was handed fresh pages and rewrites on an almost daily basis. Fearing that the only way he could get any control was to just get the shooting underway and get enough in the can that they would have no choice but to let him continue, he rushed the project forward as quickly as he could. The result is a jumbled mess of quite stunning art direction, blistering camera work and a script so awful that it’s almost better to watch the film on mute.
The final result sees Ripley crash-landed in an escape pod on the all but abandoned penal colony Fury 262 after a fire breaks out on the Sulako and the cryo tubes were ejected. Hicks and Newt are dead on impact and Bishop is smashed beyond repair. When the company learns that the shuttle crash-landed, they eagerly dispatch a rescue ship hoping there will be something left to exploit. They are not to be disappointed as it soon becomes clear that the crash was no accident and the rag tag group of psychos turned religious fanatics that remain on Fury 262 are not as alone as they think.
Hailed by many as a spectacular flop, Fincher’s botched vision really is not as bad as it’s made out to be. It was certainly the weakest of the franchise (until Alien Resurrection redefined everyone’s perception of just what exactly that phrase really means), but given the need to not only evolve from, but separate what had come before it, there was not a whole lot Fincher could really do. The claustrophobic terror of predator and prey had been done. The flash-bang, all guns blazing mano-a-mano had been done. With not many angles open to him, the decision to create an almost primitive environment in deepest, darkest space seems in retrospect perfectly understandable. The problem with Alien 3 is not the concept (although that monk idea would have been fascinating). The problem lies squarely with the script, which is simply terrible – hollow, crammed with mindless filler and dialog so completely redundant that the film might seriously work better as a mime. If there was ever an example of excessive cursing being a problem, then this is it. Literally every other line that comes out of the mouth of anyone who isn’t Weaver or Charles Dance is littered with needless profanity. Most of the time it isn’t even littered, it’s nothing but. That would be fine is these people actually had a shred of personality, but save for maybe Danny Webb’s Morse, none of them do. This coupled with the fact that they’re all dressed uniformly and all sport-shaved heads make them positively unidentifiable.
After James Cameron’s superb ensemble banter (God bless you, Hudson), a bunch of bald guys running around in the dark screaming “fuck, fuck, fuck” for two hours is simply unacceptable. Then there is the decision to switch from live action models for the alien to a largely CGI one. At the time the effects might have been impressive, now they look awful, like Die Another Day windsurfing awful, and only serve to totally remove any sense of danger at the most crucial moments.
This director’s cut is a bit of a mixed bag. A lot of scenes are simply extended a few seconds here and a few seconds there with no actual changes to the action. There is more of the rich and retro art design. There is a lot more of the impressively realized complex with a new introduction that explains how the alien actually came to be, birthing from one of the cattle that the compound herds. Charles Dance and Ripley spend more time together, which certainly embellishes their fledgling relationship a little.
On the downside there is a lot more of the prisoners and their excruciating waffle. This cut gives Charles S. Dutton slightly more to do, including ministering the alluded to religion. This unfortunately taints his character and turns him from the most interesting of the bunch, to just another sweary, shouty, babbling clone for the most part. Best of the lot is a deleted sequence that alters the story a little. In this version the initial plan to flush the creature out of the ducts with fire and trap it in the giant disposal unit actually works, only for it to then be set free when Paul McGann’s Golic (the gibbering one in the infirmary) becomes enthralled with the beastie, who rewards it’s savior with a swift puncture wound to the head of course.
The parts where this film works (Acts I&III) are as good as anything in the franchise, but it is such an inconsistent film in the end. It’s a shame really, because it’s a solid concept that shows bravery and more than a little potential, but it is squandered by badly drawn, rushed characters inhabiting a story world that deserves better. It frankly smacks of exactly what it is, a project railroaded by those in charge to ensure it was in theaters long before it was ready.
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