Alien 3

Watching Alien I couldn’t believe how ahead of its time it was , and the jump from Alien to Aliens was wild . How they established the world building so effectively and the character progression was really cool to see . I think Aliens might be up there for Terminator 2 for me personally in terms of movie sequels after watching(which makes sense given how James Cameron was behind them). Alien 3 on the other hand… was definitely interesting. It had a lot of ideas that I think were executed poorly due to limitations of the time but I appreciated what it tried to do. I think Alien and Aliens might be one of my new favorite horror movies , I can’t believe I had put them off watching them for so long .

Edit: one day later and just watched Alien 4, what the actual fuck???????????????????????????????

Alien3 is available to stream on ITVX in the U.K. and I thought I’d give it a watch as I hadn’t seen it in ages.

Well, my memory is clearly failing as I had somehow mentally merged 3 and 4 together, so watching 3 again from the start was a revelation.

It’s quite a ride. I stopped halfway through to check out the Wikipedia entry on it, and my god its development story was a train crash. That translates to the screen, it has a feel of a long play music video, but without the music.

Weaver looks ace with short hair, but there aren’t the ‘suit up’ moments you got in Aliens. Charles Dance is class. Brian Glover wasted with some ridiculous accent. Charles Dutton made the most of a small part. Pete Poslethwaite wasted.

I’m looking forward to doing Alien 4 now, it can only get better.

You’ve come to appreciate it over the years haven’t you? Kind of a dark, under appreciated gem isn’t it? The grim, tired, and hopeless atmosphere sort of fits beautifully into the third installment of the series doesn’t it? We just weren’t ready for it to be over were we?

Seriously though, when was the last time you watched it? It was always the one that got trashed and obviously it wasn’t anyones favorite; and it’s impossible to be compared to the one-two punch of Alien and Aliens but as I got older my feelings toward it have absolutely shifted. I’d love to hear what you think.

I've just rewatched it, and it's a perfect conclusion. Alien was the horror of encountering something dangerous, Aliens was the action in response to the danger, and Alien 3 is the acceptance stage. Imagine you're told you've got a cancer - you're first shocked and horrified, you try to fight it, and finally you accept your mortality. Ripley and the audience goes through the same stages through these 3 films.

It's also a better ending to the story than Aliens, where the xenos were portrayed as these rubber dolls that can just be shot and killed and good guys can save the day in the end. That just doesn't sit well with the gritty dystopian industrial atmosphere of the universe. Alien 3 in my opinion is a much better conclusion - the xenomorph is destroyed through great effort and chance, but Ripley ultimately has to sacrifice herself, 'cause xeno is like a plague, and everyone that contracted the plague has to die. The religious theme that Dillon is playing in the film also fit incredibly well with this theme of facing your mortality. Ultimately horror for us humans is that we die, and unlike other animals we know that we'll die. Any horror antagonist like the Alien is just a reminder of that mortality - you can't stop it, it's gonna get you and you're gone, that's what's so scary about it. It's the concept of death itself.

I would personally rate Alien > Alien 3 > Aliens, and i don't consider any other movies canon, they just don't feel the same and don't fit well with the incredibly grounded theme.

What's your opinion of Alien 3?

Before arriving at the Alien 3 we all know, the studio had been through 9 other screenplay writers while searching for the perfect sequel to James Cameron's Aliens.

In the late 80s, William Gibson was the first writer to pen Alien III, but the studio felt his work was too political. There weren't enough scary monsters or action for their liking, so they instead looked for someone else to write the third film.

(Gibson's unproduced work would later be adapted into a , , and even an )

In 1989, they assigned the task to Eric Red, a relatively new screenwriter with only two (horror) films to his credit at the time - The Hitcher (1986) and Near Dark (1987).

But while working under heavy pressure from the studio, the script that Red produced was largely ridiculed. With plot holes, poor writing, and some confusing creative decisions, Red eventually disowned his work, labeling it a "piece of junk".

Needless to say, the studio quickly moved on.

I figured I'd highlight/paraphrase the story in bullet points for people to read and form their own opinions, as I felt there were some interesting concepts.

Thanks to , you can read the script for yourself:

Disclaimer: I have condensed a lot of the story down. If you want to get a better/more detailed look at certain scenes, I suggest checking out the script.

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• It opens with the Sulaco drifting through space.

• A tiny rescue ship bearing the US insignia - the Tulsa - docks with the Sulaco.

• We're introduced to the protagonist Cpt. Sam Smith, leading a squad of five Green Berets.

• Their names are Simpson, Avery, Anderson, Wilson, and Cassidy.

• While searching aboard, Simpson slips on white blood and finds Bishop's severed limbs.

• Exploring the Hypersleep Chamber, they see three broken pods with alien eggs sitting in them.

• Ripley, Newt, and Hicks have all been .

• The squad is then ambushed by a Xenomorph, who was hiding in the rafters above.

• It cuts to a midwest American town called North Star - cornfields, farmhouses, silos, etc.

• The town is situated inside a space station named (confusingly) the Sulaco Space Station.

• Cpt. Sam Smith wakes up in his bed with a prosthetic right arm.

• He's covered in bandages and scars, and can't remember anything.

• We meet his family: John Smith (dad), Mary (mom), Karen (sister), and Mark (brother).

• His father is/was a general in the military.

• John explains to Sam that he's been in a coma for two weeks.

• He also lies and tells Sam there was a fire on the ship which killed his squad. Sam is the only survivor.

• They need to debrief the colonel about what happened, so Sam and John jump in a pickup truck.

• After driving for a bit and reminiscing, their truck pulls into a barn.

• The barn is an elevator that takes them down, underground.

• The floor/level they arrive at is Sector C, dedicated to the military and science division.

• They meet with Sgt. Chong, Col. Sinclair, and Dr. Rand in a cafeteria.

• They question Sam, but Sam can't answer because he can't remember anything.

• John and Sam step outside for a cigarette, when bodybags filled with mangled androids fall off the back of a military truck, right in front of them.

• Returning to North Star, John and Sam go to a bar.

• They almost get into a fistfight with farmers because they dislike the military, so decide to leave.

• Driving back, they spot military personnel loading cattle onto trucks.

• The next morning, Sam travels to the Holographic Hall of Records to learn more about the incident with the fire aboard the Tulsa.

• The clerk tells him the tapes are classified.

• As he leaves, he's tailed by two agents in suits with sunglasses and walkie-talkies.

• Sgt. Chong suddenly pulls up beside Sam and offers him a lift home.

• Their truck runs low on fuel, so they stop at a gas station.

• The gasman is none other than Simpson, one of the Green Berets who supposedly died in the fire aboard the Tulsa.

• Simpson doesn't recognize Sam and behaves very strangely, but Sam remembers Simpson.

• Simpson has a small stitched incision behind his ear.

• Angry and confused, Sam storms back into the Holographic Hall of Records, aiming a gun at the clerk and demanding the tapes.

• The frightened clerk hands them over.

• Sam enters The Stage, a room inside the Hall of Records that has laser projectors in the ceiling.

• He plays the cassette and watches as a 3D holograph of the Xenomorph dismembers him and his squad aboard the Sulaco.

• He ends the tape early and begins to weep.

• Later that evening, Sam confronts his father outside their house about the truth.

• John explains he lied to protect him, as they would have lobotomized him as they did to Simpson.

• John drives off, and Sam spots another military truck across the street loading pigs into it.

• Sam sneaks aboard the truck, hiding among the pigs.

• Eventually, the vehicle arrives at Sector C.

• The rear end lifts like a dump truck, spilling the pigs and Sam down a dark chute.

• It's too dark to see, but he hears screaming animals, so pulls out his cigarette lighter.

• He's in a breeding room. Facehuggers are latched onto animals. There are corpses everywhere.

• There are pig aliens, cow aliens, dog aliens, cat aliens, and even chicken aliens.

• Sam escapes the breeding room via an air vent in the ceiling.

• He crawls through the shaft and escapes into a locker room.

• He retrieves some coveralls from a locker and disguises himself as a scientist.

• Navigating the military facility, Sam stumbles across a lab.

• He sees his father John and Dr. Rand. Sam hides, not wanting to be noticed.

• Dr. Rand is injecting John with an unknown substance.

• We cut to a microscope POV. Black cells are attacking and assimilating red blood cells, like the in Prometheus.

• They all move to a lecture room.

• Dr. Rand explains to other scientists that the alien's cells can not only assimilate organic matter but also inorganic matter.

• She demonstrates with a black cell absorbing a metallic molecule.

• Dr. Rand throws up the idea of having a living, organic jet fighter, or a Xenomorph tank.

• They then all move into an arena the size of a basketball court.

• John spots Sam but says nothing.

• Dr. Rand tells her audience that they have successfully domesticated an alien.

• A Queen Xenomorph lowers from the ceiling and its restraints are removed.

• Dr. Rand pats it on its snout. At first, it doesn't respond. Then it punctures a hole through her head and attacks the audience, King Kong style.

• The arena doors start to close. Sam makes it out, but his father doesn't.

• Sam watches through the door as John resigns to his fate.

• Outside, special forces arrive and Sam uses his military ranking to take command.

• They access the security room and look at the CCTV.

• They see that the Queen Xenomorph has taken its victims - dead and alive - to a warehouse area and has begun cocooning them.

• He sees his father John and Sgt. Chong is in there. They're both still alive.

• The Queen Xeno then goes into a corner of the warehouse and begins to die.

• Sam sneaks into the warehouse via an air vent. John and Chong escape their cocoons.

• Suddenly, a six-foot Xenomorph rips out of one of the cocoons.

• This introduces a new reproductive method; cocooning victims to produce fully-formed, adult () Xenomorphs. Similar to Eggmorphing.

• The Queen wakes up and more adult aliens rip out of their cocoons to attack Sam, Chong, and John, but the trio escapes through the ceiling vent.

• Sam drops a hand grenade into the Queen's mouth and blows her head up.

• Back in North Star, power in the town begins to falter, and there are small earthquakes.

• Military trucks arrive at a housing complex in a cornfield. It belongs to Captain Wilkes.

• PFC Charles, who headed the truck team, tells Wilkes there's been an incident at Sector C.

• Farmers - angry about the power and earthquakes - also arrive at Wilkes' home and demand to know what's happening.

• Back in Sector C, Sam, John, and Chong lead a team of Green Berets to storm the warehouse and kill the remaining aliens inside.

• When they do, however, they find the warehouse empty. There's a massive hole in the wall.

• Sam and his team return to the arena, where they find Colonel Sinclair cocooned up.

• Sinclair begs to be killed, so John lights him up with a flamethrower.

• A bit further on, the team is ambushed by aliens. Lots of death, both human and Xeno.

• Eventually, the team gets split up: Chong is separated from John and Sam.

• Acid blood melts through an airlock, and Chong is sucked out into space and killed.

• Sam and John notice the Xenos are crawling out through the airlock hole, unfazed.

• They're on the outside of the space station, climbing and heading for North Star's dome.

• The soldiers get into spacesuits and quickly follow the aliens out of the hole.

• There's a tense battle in space.

• All the soldiers are attached to a line, trying not to float off.

• Acid melts through one soldier's spacesuit and they explode.

• There are too many. The aliens manage to enter North Star through a vent.

• Inside North Star, it's nighttime.

• Wilkes and his soldiers are waiting by the elevator/barn to Sector C.

• When the elevator arrives, aliens pour out and attack them.

• Old Man Jenkins, who owns a gas station, hears his dogs barking outside.

• He goes into a cornfield to investigate, where he's killed by a Xenomorph.

• Facehuggers storm into a 7-Eleven and subdue the employee behind the counter.

• In the Town Hall, there's an emergency meeting about the flickering lights and tremors.

• Angry farmers are still demanding to know what's going on.

• Sam bursts through the main door and asks the farmers for help.

• Meanwhile, back at the Smith Household, Sam's family - Karen, Mark, and Mary - are surrounded by aliens.

• Karen manages to kill one alien with a Winchester Repeater off a mantlepiece.

• After some initial resistance, Sam convinces Briggs - who leads the farmers - to work together.

• John calls the phone switchboard operator and asks them to instruct all townsfolk to go to the main road in town.

• The phone operator tells John she can't get through to his family. No one's answering.

• Sam and a few Green Berets jump in station wagons and drive to the Smith house.

• Karen, Mark, and Mary retreat to the basement of the house.

• One of the aliens manages to get in, but Mary kills it with a chainsaw.

• Sam and his troops arrive just in time. They kill the other aliens and rescue the family.

• As they drive back, they see a military compound covered in hundreds of empty cocoons.

• They see a black swarm on the horizon, hundreds of aliens.

• The military and farmers have barricaded/fortified the main road in North Star.

• The swarm attacks the town. The defenders shoot from behind furniture and sandbags.

• There is seemingly no end to the Xenos.

• Sam instructs the defenders to fall back.

• Two farmers riding motorcycles kill an alien in a McDonald's parking lot with a shotgun.

• The defending humans are forced back to the front of the Town Hall.

• Desperate, Briggs gets into an eighteen-wheel truck and mows lots of Xenos down.

• Their acid blood melts the windscreen and burns Briggs' face.

• He crashes into a gas station, his truck covered in aliens, and he pulls out a grenade.

• Aliens tear at Briggs in the cab when the grenade goes off.

• The gas station explodes, killing a huge number of Xenos.

• Sam and John kill the last remaining aliens.

• They notice the town is in disarray - fires and destruction everywhere - and begin to tear up.

• John radios for help. At first, no one responds, but then a frigate called the Omaha replies.

• Later in the day, families are boarding military rocket ships shaped like silos.

• They're being transported off the space station.

• John, Sam, and the family are back at their house having dinner in the kitchen.

• A mosquito bites John's leg.

• John's arm starts to irritate him from when Dr. Rand injected him back at the lab.

• Sam asks what Rand injected him with.

• John begins to transform. While doing so, he explains to Sam that he was a test subject for a serum made from alien cells to create stronger, more resilient humans.

• Outside, the mosquito that bit John's leg also bites a cow in the family-owned barn.

• Unknowingly, Karen tries milking the infected cow. Acid pours from its udders and melts the bucket. It transforms into an Alien Cow.

• John turns into a fifteen-foot Xeno/human hybrid with little control.

• Sam, Mark, and Mary run out of the house. Karen runs out of the cow barn.

• They all jump in the family pick-up truck, and the Alien Cow chases after them down the road.

• Meanwhile, the mosquito starts to mutate into something more vicious and alien-like.

• It bites a rooster, and more cows in another field, continuing to spread the virus.

• The mosquito is super fast, quickly infecting creatures all across North Star.

• Three Alien Cows block the road that Sam and his family are driving down.

• Sam pulls out a rocket launcher and blows them up.

• Suddenly, the space station begins to fall apart for no clear reason.

• Shops and homes collapse randomly, fissures open in the streets, and gas mains explode.

• A fissure in the road forces Sam to brake hard.

• As they turn to look at the town, they see a two-story tall, black amorphous blob made of mutated humans infected by the Alien Mosquito, screaming, and covered in talons and sharp teeth.

• Sam hits the gas and drives off, but the station continues to break apart.

• Girdirs and huge steel support structures rip up from beneath cornfields.

• They make it to one of the ship silos, but they're forced to make the last part on foot.

• Mutant John, the half-human, half-Xeno abomination, manages to catch up with them.

• Sam pleads with his father to spare them and let them go.

• Despite an urge to kill them, John finds the ability to control himself and spares his family.

• Sam, Mary, Mark, and Karen board the ship inside the silo.

• Mutant John watches them, shedding a genuine tear as they leave.

• Their shuttlecraft flies out of North Star into space, and they see the huge, amorphous alien blob melding with all the other alien organisms - including John - as well as the space station itself; the metal beams, and support structures.

• The Sulaco Space Station eventually fuses, restructures, and turns into a gigantic, biomechanical alien mass floating in the endless void.

• However, just as Sam and his family think they've escaped, their shuttle has also been infected by the alien virus.

• Their craft begins to morph. Sharp teeth and talons appear on the floor.

• As if reclaiming what belongs to it, the infected ship begins to pull back toward the giant alien mass - the Sulaco Space Station.

• While dodging the infected parts, Sam programs four nuclear missiles aboard the military shuttle to fire into the open mouth of the alien mass.

• Sam and his family then get into space suits and evacuate the shuttle.

• The infected shuttle falls toward the alien mass, and while doing so, the nuclear missiles are launched.

• There is a blinding light as the missiles destroy the former space station.

• Sam, Karen, Mary, and Mark are floating through space, all holding hands.

• The rescue ship that John contacted earlier, the Omaha, arrives shortly after to beam them up and save them.

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Well, that's it.

I felt the story was overall incredibly bonkers - a bit too predictable and cliche at times - but there were some interesting ideas explored.

I got some heavy Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem vibes while reading through the script.

What did you think?

Recently, I watched Cancelled Movie Report's two-part video series in Vincent Ward's Alien III draft and it's gotten me curious about how people feel about the draft in question, whether they've read it for themselves or are only passingly familiar with some of the concepts and details from it. I'm a fan of Fincher's Alien 3 so it's always been intriguing to see all the different versions of what could've been and how ideas from them survived in the end result.

I think the religious angle of Alien III is absolutely inspired and I really enjoy the parallels of the xenomorph with a Biblical demon or divine force of nature, including the comparison between hosting a chestburster with harbouring an evil spirit that requires exorcism. The scene where the xenomorph pursues the monks into a wheatfield is something I deeply wish we could've got on-screen, I know a version of it exists in Alien: Covenant but I feel it doesn't have the same effect with infant neomorphs. Other highlights include the assault in the communal bathroom where the xenomorph's string of kills causes the faucets to run red with the blood of monks and the colour- and texture-shifting camouflage of the xenomorph, which admittedly I feel half-and-half on (good idea in moderation in my books, so-and-so execution in the draft).

I know William Gibson's Alien 3 is all the rage for good reason and I do agree with it, but I'm just so drawn to the idea of a rural and deeply religious settlement falling into the shadow of a lone xenomorph and framing it as something demonic or supernatural from their perspective, all the while exploring themes of faith, judgement and redemption, religious horror etc. I don't even really need (or particularly want) the inclusion of Ripley, Newt, Hicks etc. to sell me on the idea, it could exist as an isolated incident.

also I've always been a fan of the idea of chestbursters not necessarily 100% always bursting from the chest and erupting from other places in the human body, such as what happens with the abbot's head near the end of the draft

By that I mean, make a sequel that destroys everything fans love about the property. Kills off beloved characters, maybe even one or two children in the opening act, leaves you with no one to root for, nothing to hope for, and has a highly talented director behind the camera!

I'm thinking a version of Terminator 3 which opens with a young John Conner being killed, ends with Sarah Conner also being killed, as the nukes fall all over the world with no hope for humanity. (Yes, I realize I'm combining elements from several Terminator sequel attempts!)

What franchise do you think could be utterly destroyed like this, and how?

Let’s be totally honest Alien 3 isn’t terrible, yes it has some very questionable aspects to it such as killing off certain characters but realistically imo it really isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. I personally think a major reason why it’s so disliked among many is because it follows such a phenomenal movie like Aliens

It talks about Alien 3. Admittedly not the best in the Alien franchise, but maybe misunderstood for what it tried to achieve. More of a play on human nature than the struggle between Ripley and the alien. I enjoyed it as a film. Anybody else?