The Alien Franchise

[thecolorsblend]

I've heard all sorts of horror stories about Alien 3. How bad is it really?

The main issue many people have with Alien 3 is that it undoes the satisfying conclusion of Aliens. Most fans developed an emotional attachment to Newt, Hicks and Bishop, and on that score Alien 3 kicks the viewer in the gut and leaves them with a bad taste in the mouth. It's by far the darkest and goriest entry in the series and the overall tone is very bleak and depressing. The downbeat ambience is arguably one its greatest strengths, but also makes it a difficult film to like. Another problem is that there was a lot of drama behind the scenes. The producers were constantly butting heads with David Fincher, and the end result feels like its pulling in several different creative directions at once. Alien and Aliens are clearly the works of auteur filmmakers, but Alien 3 is the work of an auteur whose vision was compromised by studio interference. It's a bit of a mess really. If you have the option, I recommend watching the Assembly Cut which is more cohesive than the theatrical version and includes some important deleted material.

Is it a bad film? No, I don't think so. It has a good cast, it's generally well directed by Fincher, and the industrial production design and cinematography by Alex Thomson are excellent, albeit extremely grim. It's just a very unpleasant film and one that feels unnecessary after the events of the previous movie. It concludes Ripley's story and offers a decisive ending to the trilogy. But did Alien really need to be a trilogy in the first place? Like The Godfather, Blade Runner and Terminator, Alien is one of those films that should have been a standalone venture. But then a visionary director made a sequel which, against the odds, defied everyone's expectations and turned out to be worthy of the original. Sadly the studios didn't know when to leave well enough alone and persisted with disappointing third entries (it's only a matter of time before Blade Runner 3 is announced). Alien 3 is part of that trend, though I'd say it's still a lot better than Terminator 3.

I watched the first three Alien films on consecutive nights back in September, and when viewed in sequence Alien 3's inferiority to its predecessors is painfully obvious. I'd still rate it above Resurrection, the Alien vs. Predator movies or Covenant, but that's not saying much. There are a lot of things I like about Alien 3, but I could never love it the way I do the first two films. I'll be genuinely interested to hear what you think of it, colors. If the original Alien is a 10/10 then I'd rate Alien 3 a 6/10, which in my book is a marginal thumbs up.

Just a few years ago, Neill Blomkamp pitched an idea to Fox for an alternate sequel to Aliens that would have retconned the events of Fincher's film. It had the support of Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn, but supposedly Ridley Scott torpedoed the project so it wouldn't distract from his prequel films. Here's some of the concept art from Blomkamp's pitch.

I don't know if this would have been better than the Alien 3 we got, but Blomkamp's vision seems to align more closely with what the fans wanted. Especially with regards to bringing back Hicks and Newt.

That's some pretty sick concept art, I have to say. I'd be very interested in seeing that movie.

As to the other tho, it seems weird to blow the dust off the franchise after six years with Alien 3 just to shoot things straight to hell like that. Stupider things have happened, obviously, (Terminator: Woke Fate, I'm looking pretty much right at you) but with a franchise like Alien with so much positive energy behind it and such a dedicated fan following, you'd think you'd have to try to screw it all up.

Anyway. I guess I'll give Alien 3 a day in court. At its core, this franchise is about deadly aliens so as long as there's at least some of that, maybe I can roll with it.

[thecolorsblend]

Hell with it, let's get going on Alien 3.

From the jump, yeah, I see why fans would be upset when popular characters like Newt and Hicks got killed off-screen unceremoniously. Killing those characters off is one thing. Killing them off like that is something else.

Horror movies need the characters to make stupid decisions. Scott's initial film showed them making stupid decisions for plausible reasons. But here, Ripley is stupidly keeping a major secret for no obvious reason so far.

We'll see how this plays out tho.

[thecolorsblend]

Hell with it, let's get going on Alien 3.

From the jump, yeah, I see why fans would be upset when popular characters like Newt and Hicks got killed off-screen unceremoniously. Killing those characters off is one thing. Killing them off like that is something else.

Horror movies need the characters to make stupid decisions. Scott's initial film showed them making stupid decisions for plausible reasons. But here, Ripley is stupidly keeping a major secret for no obvious reason so far.

We'll see how this plays out tho.

I reiterate that I have no investment in this franchise.

So apart from the above caveats, I really have no real objection to Alien 3. It gets a bit dull at times, which is a problem. There's not enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat as there would be with Scott and there's not enough action to keep your adrenaline up as there would be with Cameron. But in the main, as a casual observer at best, Alien 3 comes off as a serviceable sequel and a not terrible way to wrap up the series, as was apparently the intent.

It's hardly mandatory viewing. I'm the guy in the room who sees considerable value in The Godfather Part III. I can tolerate a ho-hum third entry in a series under the right circumstances. But for me, the real films in this series are the first two and everything else is an afterthought at most.

[The Dark Knight]

From the jump, yeah, I see why fans would be upset when popular characters like Newt and Hicks got killed off-screen unceremoniously. Killing those characters off is one thing. Killing them off like that is something else.

This is the best part of the movie for me, and the crux of the oppressive gloom it provides. RIPLEY WAKES UP TO A NEW NIGHTMARE. These deaths hurt, which should be the desired outcome in a horror genre. You should feel uneasy. Other than Ripley carrying a Queen, the Alien typically does not discriminate. It does two main things: survive and kill. If people embrace the concept of Alien 3 they'll have a much better experience. But I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[thecolorsblend]

From the jump, yeah, I see why fans would be upset when popular characters like Newt and Hicks got killed off-screen unceremoniously. Killing those characters off is one thing. Killing them off like that is something else.

This is the best part of the movie for me, and the crux of the oppressive gloom it provides. RIPLEY WAKES UP TO A NEW NIGHTMARE. These deaths hurt, which should be the desired outcome in a horror genre. You should feel uneasy. Other than Ripley carrying a Queen, the Alien typically does not discriminate. It does two main things: survive and kill. If people embrace the concept of Alien 3 they'll have a much better experience. But I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Look, I get that. I can even somewhat agree. I'm not particularly bothered by those deaths. But fans wanted closure on those characters and I can't fault them for being upset about not getting it.

[The Dark Knight]

I get that too, and it's fair from their point of view. Being a casual fan of the series does allow me liberties in my assessments. But I am fascinated by abrupt tragedy without closure, such as the conclusion of 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It just happens, and as Ras Al Ghul said, "death does not wait for you to be ready. It is not considerate, or fair."

"Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight."

[BatmanFurst]

From the jump, yeah, I see why fans would be upset when popular characters like Newt and Hicks got killed off-screen unceremoniously. Killing those characters off is one thing. Killing them off like that is something else.

Agreed, I don't think Alien 3 is a terrible film but the way it pisses on Aliens makes me hate it. Also, the magic Alien eggs getting on the Sulaco makes zero sense. As far as I'm concerned Aliens was the ending of this series.

[The Dark Knight]

Also, the magic Alien eggs getting on the Sulaco makes zero sense.

Hard to deny that. While I'm okay with offing Newt, I don't think I've seen a believable explanation about the egg being on board. 

As far as I'm concerned Aliens was the ending of this series.

The third film seems to be a niche product. I'm not a huge Alien 3 fan, so don't interpret my postings that way. But I do appreciate the thematic decisions and overall atmosphere. The first two are absolutely the best, and all I really need if push comes to shove. They have more polish.

[Silver Nemesis]

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Christopher Nolan has revealed his love for Alien 3. When speaking of his fondness for the Fast and the Fury franchise, and the problem of having to make each sequel bigger than the last, he references Fincher's attempt to make Alien 3 smaller than Aliens. Around the 34:00 mark:

"You don't want them smaller. It's the Alien 3 lesson that Fincher learned. You can do it but it's not going to make anybody happy, even though personally I love that film, a lot more than he does I think [...] I've never dared mention it to him. He's very aware of the flaws and he's very aware of the appalling experience he had making it, and how put upon he was, and I can truly only imagine. But his talent shines through in that movie. I came out of that film and had a conversation with the guy I was with and right away I said, 'I've just seen the new Ridley Scott – I know who the new Ridley Scott is, and it's David Fincher.' And I wasn't wrong. It's there in the movie, whether he knows it's there or not. But his talent is absolutely there."

https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/happysadconfused?selected=VIA9917702756

[Silver Nemesis]

A new Alien TV series has been announced. It'll air on FX and Ridley Scott is serving as executive producer.