Product Details

• Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover
• Directors: David Fincher
• Writers: David Giler, Dan O'Bannon, Larry Ferguson, Ronald Shusett, Vincent Ward
• Producers: David Giler
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Letterboxed, THX, Widescreen, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: December 2, 1997
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (352 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630472229X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #386,496 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The least successful film in this series was directed by stylemaster (and content-underachiever) David Fincher. Ripley, the only survivor of her past mission, awakens on a prison planet in the far corners of the solar system. As she tries to recover, she realizes that not only has an alien gotten loose on the planet, the alien has implanted one of its own within her. As she battles the prison authorities (and is aided by the prisoners) in trying to kill the alien, she must also cope with a distinctly shortened lifespan that awaits her. But the striking imagery makes for muddled action and the script confuses it further. The ending looks startling but it takes a long time--and a not particularly satisfying journey--to get there. --Marshall Fine

From The New Yorker

The latest and perhaps the last of the science-fiction horror series that began with "Alien" in 1979. Here, the heroine of the previous films, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), crash-lands on a godforsaken planet whose population consists of a couple of dozen mean-looking convicts running some sort of dilapidated foundry. She has, unwittingly, brought one of those nasty, dripping, sharp-toothed aliens with her in the spacecraft. The script (by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson) is designed to keep us asking ourselves the fundamental questions: Who will get eaten by the alien? In what order? Is the next one going to be too grisly to watch? Unfortunately, the director, David Fincher, doesn't seem to have the skill to make even the simplest action sequence coherent, or the patience to give the audience the narrative information it needs. Although he's a gifted imagemaker, the images never quite add up. In the long climactic sequence, in which Ripley and the cons try to maneuver the beast through a maze of passageways, Fincher's fractured style becomes maddening: we're trapped in these elaborate sets and have no better idea where we are than the monster does. And our interest expires long before the alien has hissed its last. Also with Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, and Lance Henriksen. Cinematography by Alex Thomson. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alien 3 - Much better than I remembered it to be!, January 19, 2004

By 

K. Wyatt "ssintrepid" (Cape Girardeau, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alien Three (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

I remember the long wait between the release of this movie and "Aliens" and the great amount of anticipation that was built up around this movie considering how extraordinary the first two films were and just imagining how great this one was "going" to be. Then its release date came and it received generally bad reviews and collectively, the majority of the fans were highly disappointed by it, including myself. That being said, I was quite reluctant to spend the money on this DVD but after reading some of the other positive reviews I decided to give this film one more chance and now, after having watched it again I would have to say I've completely changed my mind.

Alien 3 just wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be from that one time viewing in the theater so many years ago and in fact, stylistically, it's a movie that was ahead of its time. Ultimately, I think what turned so many people off of this film when it was released is that it was so dramatically different from the first two that it initially just didn't seem as though it belonged in the mythos that is the Alien legacy. The one thing about this film that does make it drag is its pacing. What the director appeared to be reaching for was the same feel that "Alien" engendered but in the end, in reaching for that intense atmosphere didn't always work and only resulted in the pace slowing down and too little suspense. As stated above though, thematically it was just years ahead of its time and I believe, were it a movie that were originally released more recently, with some minor changes, it might've garnered much more success in the theaters.

Performance wise, Sigourney Weaver does just as wonderful a job with this film as she did with the first two and, not to mention, she co-produced the film, further showing her support for the script and this addition to the Alien mythos. Charles S. Dutton's role in the film is "over the top," as his acting usually is and it fits quite well with the character.

David Fincher, who took up the directing mantle for "Alien 3" deserves a fair amount of credit for the thematic style of this film, bringing the original story and screenplay to fruition. Twelve years ago, I would've said don't ever let the man direct again, but this second viewing of "Alien 3" and after seeing some of the other films he's directed since, I would definitely have to say that he is a very good director!

This Collector's Edition release comes with two options, the original 1992 Theatrical version or a 2003 Special Edition. One note of caution, the Special Edition doesn't really add too much to the film, but of the small portion that is added, it helps to set up the story that much better. The THX certification and 5.1 Dolby Surround is perfect for the film, bringing out the score beautifully!

The Premise:

As Ripley, Hicks, Newt and Bishop are slumbering away in hyper sleep, hoping to next wake up near Earth, the ship suddenly encounters problems of the alien kind. Being the good futuristic starship that it is, it kindly ejects Ripley and the bodies of her companions on a prison planet. Ripley awakens to find herself on this prison planet and not long thereafter, prisoners start showing up dead and Ripley herself finds that her worst nightmare has come true...

What follows from there, as stated above, is most certainly not the best of the Alien series but it is most definitely a lot better movie than my initial assessment of it had been. I would definitely recommend this film to any and all fans of the Alien series, as I believe it plays an integral part in the mythos. {ssintrepid}

Special Features:

-1992 Theatrical version (Deleted/Extended Scene Index) & Alien vs. Predator Teaser Trailer
-2003 Special Edition (Deleted Footage Marker)
-"Development: Concluding the Story" Featurette
-"Tales of the Wooden Planet: Vincent Ward's Vision" Featurette
-"Pre-production, Part III" Featurette
-"Xeno-Erotic: H.R. Giger's Redesign" Featurette
-Still Photo Galleries (multiple)
-"Optical Fury: Visual Effects" Featurette
-"Music, Editing and Sound" Featurette
-"Post-Mortem: Reaction to the Film" Featurette
-"Production, Part I" Featurette
-"Adaptive Organism: Creature Design" Featurette
-"Production, Part II" Featurette
-"Production, Part III" Featurette
-"Furnace Construction: Time Lapse Sequence"
-E.E.V. Scan Multi-Angle Study with Optional Commentary

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An underrated film gets a second chance with great new DVD, March 1, 2004

By 

Crazy Jim (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alien Three (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

"Alien 3" has always been given the harshest treatment of any of the Alien films. Having to follow up Ridley Scott's suspense masterpiece and Jim Cameron's action-adventure juggernaut of a sequel is no easy task. I have always looked at David Fincher's third entry as sort of a misunderstood child in the Alien franchise. Perhaps going from the thrill-a-minute gun-blazing epic that was "Aliens" to a sort of a dark and gloomy European-style "cat and mouse" film was too much of a sour note for most of the fans and critics to handle. From the hectic details of the production to the less-than-stellar way in which the film was received, many saw "Alien 3" as being a mediocre final nail in the coffin of the Alien series. I have always had a special place in my heart for this film and now with its latest DVD release, it is finally getting the treatment that I feel it honestly deserves.

With this latest edition of "Alien 3" on DVD as part of the "Alien Quadrilogy" boxed set, you not only get the controversial 1991 theatrical version but a never-before-seen "alternate version" of the film that includes over 30 minutes of new footage. Included in this new version are several new sequences including an alternate opening sequence and several lost "character moments". In this version, the alien is born through a dead bull, instead of a dog. We also get more of an insight into Charles Dutton's Dillion as his role as a sort of religous leader is defined a lot deeper. There is also a number of sequences showing what happened to Paul McGann's "Golic" that were omitted from the original version. The "alternate ending" isn't very different from the original one but there are a few subtle changes. For the record, this is not a "director's cut" as David Fincher had nothing to do with this DVD release at all.

"Alien 3" is in my opinion, a lot better film that it ever gets credit for. Charles Dutton's perfomance alone is better than anything seen in the terrible "Alien: Resurrection". Elliot Goldenthal's musical score is absolutely brilliant and is not mentioned nearly enough when people talk about this movie. In my opinion, the music may have been one of the things that I enjoyed the most about the movie. The lack of firepower has always been something that the die-hard fans have always complained about but I never saw it as a problem. Maybe today's audiences just aren't into the whole idea of trying to outsmart the creature in a tunnel maze rather than just blowing it up with a grenade launcher. "Alien 3" also displayed a far better use of performances. I was a big fan of the character interactions between both Ripley and Clemens as well as Ripley and Dillion. From an acting perspective, Weaver is given a lot more to do, this time around. Not that her performance in the other two films was ever bad but she really takes over here. I have always felt that this was a good way to end the series but Fox's decision to release a fourth film in 1997 shows that perhaps, many people didn't agree. This one is superior to "Resurrection" on every level.

This DVD is packed with bonus features including a full-length commentary for both versions of the film with numerous members of the cast & crew. As previously stated, director David Fincher is noticeably absent. We also get a whole bunch of featurettes that cover nearly every aspect of the film's production. These do a great deal to show the frustration that the crew had to deal with when working on this film. It also shows all of the different concepts for the script and overall design of the film that were abandoned. For any of the fans who truly enjoyed "Alien 3", this is certainly a definitive collector's item.

43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best in the series, but definitely not the worst, June 4, 2001

By 

Michael Pappalardo (Ronkonkoma, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alien 3 (DVD)

Nope. Alien: Resurrection holds the title as thje worst Alien movie. This film simply should have been the END of the Alien series, or at least for Ripley. As far as I am concerned, this IS the last movie, because Resurrection is not a part of the Alien series, it is more of a 'wacky spin-off adventure'.

In this violent, but sometimes poignant film, we see the survivors of the Sulaco, Ripley, Hicks, Newt and Bishop peacefully in hypersleep, drifting home. Unfortunately, they had failed to realize something very important. When the Queen managed to get on the dropship, she had also laid an egg where she hid on the ship. While drifting back to earth, the egg hatched. The facehugger tried to get into Newt's capsule, and the shattering glass pierced the creatures, its acidic blood eating through the floor causing a fire. Then the terror begins yet again...

The Sulaco's emergency prep drops the cryo tubes into an EEV(Emergency Escape Vehicle) and ejects it out into space, with the facehugger still on board. IT plummeted into the gravitational pull of Fiorina 'Fury' 161, a double-Y chromo prison facility. The EEV plummets into the ocean with disastrous results.

Be prepared to break any emotional attachments you made to the surviving characters. The landing was quite grisly. The inmates lift the tattered EEV out of the ocean and into the junk pile, bringing RIpley, the only survivor, to the medical facility. However, as the EEV is placed in the garbage heap, one of the in-mate's Rottweiler is aroused by movement in the EEV...it is the facehugger.

Shortly thereafter, we see a brand new breed of alien. With the replicated genes of a dog, this alien runs on all fours, is incredibly fast, and is by far the meanest Alien we have ever seen in this movie series yet! When the Warden does not beleive Ripley's story, even after some of the inmates are turning up murdered, it is up to her and her new found friend, Dr. Clemens, to try and convince them all what they are dealing with, but it may already be too late, as Ripley herself is carrying with her a horrible secret, that not even she knows about yet...

Although this movie got bad reviews, and is my least favorite among the trilogy(I do not consider Resurrection a part of the series), I definitely think that the Runner, or Dog Alien, is probably the best alien in all the movies. Unbeleivably vicious and just, to quote Superintendant Andrews, 'Generally Unpleasant', the beast has a mean streak and often toys with the prisoners, making this the darkest and most violent of the trilogy.

The bad parts about the movie are obvious. After seeing the Colonial marines in action, it is tough to see the events of this movie. You will miss the marines. Another very troubling aspect is the deahts of Hicks and Newt, whom Ripley had strived so very hard to rescue in the last movie, only to have their lives sorrowfully taken from them. Seeing Hicks die, as my favorite character from Aliens, was upsetting. The acting isn't exactly top notch, but you will grow to like a few of the prisoners, namely Morse and Dillon. Not the best in the trilogy, but it definitely brings a good closure to the series. Unfortunately, Alien: Resurrection ruined this closure by bringing us a rather poor plot and extremely poor acting, not to mention a whole new take on the Aliens, which i felt was stupid and unnecessary. Keep Alien 3 as the final movie. Watch Alien: Resurrection if you are in the mood for a 'wacky spin-off', because that is all it is.