Alien 3 (UK)

Well a good DVD. I like this film after seeing it several times. It has a lot a depth, that I find surpasses even the first ( ALIEN ) film in the saga. However, most Alien fans tend to prefer the first 2 movies. The disc sound and picture quality is excellent. However, the extras are slight : A small featurette on "the making of" is all. There are no deleted scenes - a pity because there are so many that could have been added. And surely a commentary track would have been nice. Oh well - I guess they didn`t make the effort. Pity

What can you say about this film? Doomed from the outset.. (how could it actually succeed as a film after the first two?). It does make a good try at being acceptable however. Its just a bit boring. Direction is good, making a very stylistic and individual feeling film (sometimes described as brown!). It tries to recreate the claustrophobic tension of the first film, but fails for several reasons. At least the transfer is reasonable. Image quality cannot be faulted, showing a clean and extremely clear, vibrant picture. Sound is also impressive, capturing all the yorkshireness of the entirely yorkshireman cast. However, the features are p*** poor. Animated menus are very nice, but cant support the disc on its own. The making of documantary is poor and more a featurette than anything else. A reasonable disc, not worth purchasing unless your a big fan of the Alien series (i.e. me).

What i think about the alien 3
When alien 3 came to theathres it was a quite a big suprise to me, because i didn`t know to wait it.in the year 1993 it came to video and some my friends rent it, but i don`t understand why i didn`t want to watch it, maybe the old commandore 64 was too interesting machine.so i saw the alien 3 first time from the cable tv called filmnet, but i didn`t liked it.i think it was too gothic for me in that time and when there was no guns it didn`t feel interesting.well, i was young then, but nowdays i have started to like it more and more.it`s not as good as the alien and aliens, but it`s got it`s own kind of attraction.the director is david fincher who was really young while he directed the alien 3 and it was a another suprise for me.fincher is known from the movies like the game, seven and fight club.i really started to like fincher when i saw the fight club in the theathre and it`s now one of my favourite movies.after looking some fincher movies i have started to understand his talent as an director and i would say that he makes a great art.there must be many who doesn`t like alien 3 at all, because there`s not so much action or the story feels boring, but i understand them.everybody doesn`t like every movie and that`s ok.the music of the alien 3 is very extraordinary cool and it`s made by elliot goldenthal who made also great music to the movie called interview with the vampire.there are many scenes where the music is very different kind of than in the rest 3 alien movies.specially that rape scene, when some sort of rock screaming music starts to play and it sounds cool.jerry goldsmith made the classical score for the alien, james horner made an incredible army music for the aliens, but elliot goldenthal made the most interesting music for the alien 3.sometimes the music is very very beautiful and sometimes the melody is so brutal or exciting.i think that the music is the most important thing in the movie with the story.many times the music is the key to the success.what about the actors, do they success in their roles?yes they do and there`s own casting from the u.k and u.s.a.sigourney weaver is allways great (even with the bald), but also charles dance played clemens part very good, brian glovers strong british accent was really great and charles dutton as dillon was to me yaphet kotto as a little bit meaner.one of the coolest things in alien 3 are the lightnings and the sets for the fury 161 jail of claustrophobia.special effects are nice and the new dog type of alien is a good change in alien movies.the beginning of the movie is awesome and end is good, if it would have ended.one thing i don`t quite understand why did dwayne hicks and newt had to die, because they were so important characters.i would have really liked to see hicks helping ripley on his mission, but sadly the story goes other ways.is it somekind of ripley`s destiny or curse so that all her friends dies always.i don`t know, but anyway the alien 3 is worth of looking and it gets better every time i see it.

The transfer
The bitch is back and this time on alien 3 dvd.it`s presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and the quality of the picture is almost the best i have ever seen on dvd.i didn`t have any expentations of alien 3 dvd`s video quality, because it`s so very gloomy and dark movie.usually many dvd`s dark scenes didn`t look as sharp as i had thought, but this time alien 3 made a great job in picture quality.the colors are really excellent and the video looks so good that the alien 3 movie started to feel like a new movie.it seems that more further we go in alien movies the better the picture gets.i also noticed some new effects in few scenes and it looked much better than on the vhs.the next great thing is the audio, which is uses the usual dolby digital 5.1 and it also got full points, because it sounds so damn clear and good.the powerful unusual musical score was able to hear better than on the vhs and the special effects were also better.so the video and audio are very good, but what about the rest.the extras of this dvd aren`t unfortunately as good as in alien and aliens, but there is luckily something nice to look.the making of alien 3 gives you some interviews with the actors and directors from many alien movies, the alien 3 production video material, but nothing very special information.it runs a little bit over 20 minutes and with the music around it entertains quite nicely.after the making of alien 3 there comes a cool trailer with the bishop`s countdown music and it`s much better trailer than the original theatrical trailer, which was quite poor.the menus are really strange and cool, but the alien and aliens menus were much better.i really recommend this dvd to the fans of alien movies and even this dvd doesn`t lean to the supplements it`s actually worth of it`s price and i was really glad after i had watched the alien 3 dvd.

This instalment in the Alien Saga is far better than Resurrection in my opinion and is largely underrated. The film is good addition to the series and it had a tough act to follow from it’s predecessors. It certainly has the best ending in the series but a premise that is a bit of an insult to Aliens with Newt and Hicks killed off.
It is a shame that the film had to be edited so much, the extra material would have really added to the film and it doesn’t even appear on this DVD as deleted scenes. The sequence after the explosions in the tunnels where the prisoners trap the Alien inside the toxic waste dump would have made the film a bit more exciting.
The added features are very disappointing after the quality and quantity of Alien and Aliens features. We get a naff trailer that tries to be like the original Alien trailer but fails and an average making of documentary that does give you a bit of background info into the making of the film. Also at the end of it is a better trailer that actually contains some shots of the scenes deleted from the film…(for the last time!)
The film itself has a very good video that doesn’t go too dark in the tunnel scenes, the audio is effective if not remarkable. The score is brilliant one from Elliot Goldenthal.
The film is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is a vast improvement on the pan & scan version.
Not the best Alien by a long shot but it is definitely not the worst.

This film is very underatted and unfairly slated by critics and fans. In my opinion, although it is not as good as the first two, this is a very good film with some very interesting ideas. Ripley and co crash land on Fiorina 161 which is a prison planet and only Ripley survives. It also appears that a facehugger managed to sneak on board and impregante a dog examining the ship wreckage. Soon, an alien is born and goes on the rampage. And Ripley has an even nastier surprise in store for her. This film is far more downbeat and bleak than the first two and this works. The cast are excellent, the visuals are wonderful and the plot is pretty good. However, some of the CGI effects for the alien are terrible and easy to spot. Fortuneatly, most of the alien shots used traditional methods and the alien point of view is a wonderful idea. Overall, a flawed but fine film.

The DVD is reasonable for this film but perhaps could have had more. The picture is anamorphic widescreen and is very good. The Dolby Digital sound mix is also good. In the extras department, reasonable but could be better. We get a 20 minute featurette which focuses on all 3 films although most of it is about Alien 3 of course. This featurette is quite good and contains plenty of behind-the-scenes footage particulary a piece on the alien effects. There is also interviews with not only all the main characters from the film but people from the other two including Ridley Scott, Tom Skerrit and Verionca Cartwright from the first and Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton and Lance Henrikesen from the second. We also get a trailer and there is another trailer which is part of the featurette. The menus are nice but not as good as the ones on the first two discs.

Overall, this is a pretty good film which is presented on a fine disc. Some more extras such as a commentary from director David Fincher, a photo gallery, an isolated score and deleted scenes could have been included but that`s just nitpicking. What we get is a rather good package which is worth a rental and maybe a purchase as well.

This is a movie that I feel has been savagely criticised by everybody who thinks they know about movies but I actually like this movie, nothing special but has its own merits.

In David Fincher`s first (I think?) movie he really sets out his syle for the world to see and does a good job with what he has to work with. You can see he has carried through the style for his latest movies...

However, a quick side note has enyone else noticed that most of the scum of the universe were British?

Anyway...

The picture is good, sound good buf the features are poor. A crap trailer and an average "making of" surely they could have come up with something better.

Overall, the movie has its redeeming features and is no where near as poor as people let on and definately not as bad as "Alien Ressurection".

David Fincher`s contribution to the Alien saga opened to general dissaproval from both audiences, and critics.

Although to be honest I think they were a little harsh.
It is undoubtably the bleakest of the quartet, but also the most personal, it also has more to do with basic human emotions than the other three, which could have been the main reason it deterred it`s target audiaence. It starts with the discovery of the Nostromo and the subsequent discovery of it`s three passengers, two of which have died in the journey through hyper-sleep.

The survivor is Ellen Ripley (obviously) the herroine from the first two films, and Sigourney Weaver does a great job potraying her. The story takes place on an all male prison in space, and Ripley becomes the target of unwanted sexual advances, and general hatred from the other inmates.

Fincher goes back to Ridley Scott`s idea and returns to the premise of just one "Alien", an idea which for the most part works a treat. There`s some great set-pieces and while not an over abundance of gore, when it arrives it certainly does not dissapoint. All in all "Alien 3" is a very worthy addition to the saga, certainly a lot better than the dreadful "Alien Ressurection".

The picture quality on the disk is a joy to behold, the blacks are really black with no sign of digital artefacting or grain, the sound is also more than adequate.

The extra`s are well, theyr`e ok there`s a featurette and the theatrical trailer.

In my opinion this is a very good film, backed up by picture quality only dvd can offer.

What can you do with a movie that succeeds two of the best in the genre ever made. You try to mix them up i guess. Though it fails to carry the `excellence` of the two previous movies it is still a very good show and well worth seeing.

Feature:

Alien 3, a good try from David Fincher who went on to make better films (Se7en Fight Club) but fails in where the first two suceeded. Fincher tries to meld the first two films together but doesn`t pull it off well. Sigourney Weaver tries her best with a poor script from David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson. It also features poor special effects.

Sound:

Good sound and good use of Dolby Digital 5.1

Picture:

The picture is good and holds up well considering that the movie is very dark.

Extras:

No effort made, only a short trailer and a standered Making of

Intro- This is where the Alien franchise started to its downfall thanks to constant interference from Fox who insisted on changing the script and bugging first time director David Finch (who went to direct Se7en and the cult classic Fight Club) when filming is done. As a result of this, the entire franchise is completely ruined. It did have some potentials but it was Fox`s interference which plummeted the franchise towards hell.

In the 3rd (and unanticipating film), Ripley finds herself this time in an unknown planet dominated by baldy male prisoners who haven`t seen a woman in ages. Sleeping in the odd chambers from the previous film, a face hugger attacked Ripley an planet a queen embryo into her and the Sulaco ejected her out along with the rest of the survivors.

Video- Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen the transfer is quite flawless. This appears to be the cleanest of the 4, the details are spot on and the contrast is just right. The downside is that the image looks rather soft at times and there are a few flecks which appear infrequently. This is the first Alien film to mostly rely on animatronics rather than have a guy in a suit like the first film and the first to briefly use cgi. Bad move.

Sound- Like with the first two Alien films, it is also presented in DD 5.1. This mix is more restrained of the 4. Because of the lack of gun fire, this mix will disappoint you. There is some nice ambient noise and some rumbling bass. The score tries to replicate Goldsmith`s for the original but it pales in comparison.

Extras- The extras are getting worse as we move along the series, there are no galleries like the 1st and 2nd film instead we get a 20 min "Making of" featurette. Despite it saying making of Alien3, it is actually a retrospective featurette released around the time of the 3rd film. Here, it discusses the entire franchise from 1st film to 3rd. Features interview with Ridley Scott (with his trademark beard!), Sigourney Weaver and many others.

Overall- A disappointing film which did have some potential. If you buy the Quadrilogy, you get a wealth of extras. Please note, that Fox had to remove some of the Quadrilogy featurettes at the least minutes because they contain liable materials which the studio are obliged to remove.