MovieChat Forums > Aliens (1986) Discussion > I’ll never understand Alien3

I’ll never understand Alien3


When you’ve made something as objectively awesome, groundbreaking, timeless and successful as Aliens, why in the name of God’s butthole would you trash it like Fox did with Alien3?

The incredible hair’s-breadth escapes and meaningful character journeys are rendered utterly worthless by 3’s demented decision to kill off everyone, including giving Ripley the indignity of having an Alien queen burst out of her chest.

Normally studios make shit sequels because they get greedy. Not here. They made a small, weird, alienating film that was never going to have the kind of mass appeal of its predecessor, and bricked in the mouths of everyone who loved Aliens and would have followed the adventures of Ripley and her pals to edge of the universe. I expect studios to commit artistic suicide, but financial suicide??

To add to the insanity, Fox hire a newbie, Fincher, to direct, and then do everything in their power to stop him making a good film. Stabbing him in the back, front, tying him up and dunking him upside down in molten lead. Such was the trauma that Fincher, who has gone on to greatness, completely disowns the film.

I know that Sigourney wanted to kill off Ripley, remove all guns and various other stupid decisions, but when a star starts going nutso like that you don’t buckle. Leave her out for a film or two if you have to and wait for her to come to her senses as her career declines (as she surely enough did when she came crawling back for the godawful Resurrection)

To make things worse, when Ridley comes back to make his Alien prequels he farted all over Aliens again with his origin story which rejects the whole queen alien concept. Fox took yet another dump on their masterpiece.

I’ll never understand Alien3. I actually like the Assembly Cut but there’s no way in hell I’ll ever consider it canon. As it is the Alien series ends with Aliens, which is crazy because that franchise could have been a never-ending gold mine for Fox.


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The original plan was a wooden planet inhabited by monks but the studio stepped in, were tight with the cash and turned it into a drab prison with unlikeable characters. I always liked the original idea, had a mediaeval vibe and went back to some of the weirdness of Alien. Could have been a contender.

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I'll never understand people who hate Alien 3. I really love the bleak feel of Alien 3 in contrast to the adventurous/action-packed Aliens. Maybe people were expecting Aliens part 2 and were let down because of it but I like the fact that they went in a completely different direction. To each their own I guess.

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Me too.

I rank them

Alien
Alien 3
Aliens
Prometheus
Alien Covenant
Alien Resurrection

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About the queen... I think that this was not necessarily a great idea in the first place (A little too on the nose with bees and ants) BUT if it is there, I think it makes the most sense that the queen is not an essential element of the Alien "life cycle". Rather, I favor the notion, supported by the original film, that they are very flexible/opportunistic and each individual is capable of reproduction by whatever means is available. You can still have a queen as the "biological factory" option even if it is not depicted in any given story.

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