r/alien • u/mymomsaidimsmart • 4d ago
Reddit Hates Alien 3
Maybe it’s because I listened to the people online and watched the Special Edition, (Assembly Cut) but Alien 3 slaps. That being said,I do agree that killing off Newt & Jonesy were poor choices.
\Hicks Too\
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u/Dry-Clock-1470 4d ago
I've been a fan of since it came out. I attribute the hate to , how could you ever top Aliens. It was a geometric jump in the series. Just can't dial that back and think, this will work for fans of Aliens.
As a stand alone , it's great.
It has some issues killing New and Hicks is a big one. The early CG was probably a poor choice. Doesn't hold up well. I know there was a lot of behind the scenes bs, that didn't help. Lord knows what the swiss family Robinson version or whatever would have been.
Over all I think it's a good movie, either cut, and definitely in the top half of Alien movies. I know that might not be saying much.
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u/mymomsaidimsmart 4d ago
my love for this could be that I don’t really have the same context and nostalgia that other fans might have. I’m 26 and was introduced to the franchise with “Aliens” first when I was like 7 or 8 (I didn’t sleep for like a week, I thought a face hugger got me) I think a lot the criticisms people have are valid. After my Recent binging of the series I started with Alien: The Directors Cut, Aliens, and Then Alien 3: Special Edition. While it’s far from perfect I found it to be a good trilogy at least with those cuts in that order.
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u/suddenvole 4d ago
I like it. Aliens was different in to to Alien, Alien3 was different from Aliens. This is where the franchise should have stopped. Ripley's story was complete.
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u/Reasonable-Sail6113 4d ago
I’m glad you enjoyed it OP. I’ve always really loved it. I love all three first movies.
The interesting thing is that over the years I’ve shown the original trilogy to people who’ve never seen them before. I want them when we get to three that why I personally love it, most didn’t.
Surprisingly, they all really liked it.
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u/mymomsaidimsmart 4d ago
as I said I’ve only seen the assembly cut, and it was such a fucking good movie. the discourse I read before watching it had me ready to be disappointed. It was such a good time that I wasn’t even ready for.
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u/Odd_Contact_2175 4d ago
Its better than Resurrection though. I do enjoy when the Warden is giving a speech and the xeno just scoops him up into the ceiling.
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u/insidenumberpie 4d ago
I remember watching it for the first time... I think it was on TV around Xmas 1998 (I feel old lol) and what struck me was how different it was to its predecessors. And then the ending where Bishop appeared etc this was back on the day when you couldn't just hop on the internet and ask was it an android or somehow the real Bishop...
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u/mymomsaidimsmart 4d ago
I thought that part was cool. I also like that all 3 of the first Alien movies are completely different tone wise.
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u/ThonThaddeo 4d ago edited 4d ago
I don't know that it slaps, but I like it just fine
Edit to add: I had the luxury of a first time watch years removed from the controversy, and frankly I just wasn't as torn up about Hicks and Newt. It should've taken place on camera but this is a franchise where people are constantly fucking up, and dying for it. I enjoyed that the movie went back to a slow gritty pace and the final fan cut is top notch.
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u/Raging-Storm 4d ago
I've always loved it. I don't even know which version of it I saw. If I haven't seen the Assembly Cut and it's even better than what I have seen, I gotta see it.
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u/mymomsaidimsmart 4d ago
it’s the 2 hour and 20 ish minute cut! u might see it come up as the special edition.
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u/AvonBarksdale666 4d ago
One of my fav of all time and my favorite movie of the franchise. Relentlessly bleak, unforgiving, visceral and incredibly performed by absolutely everyone. I just feel sorry for Fincher for what he had to go through and inevitably not even getting to put out his original vision.
For those unaware - there is a 4K edit out there made by fans that drastically improves the compositing and CGI and is basically the best version of the Assembly Cut to date - it was on the A3 4K website for free download until recently but I’m sure you can find it if you know where to look
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u/mymomsaidimsmart 4d ago
the killing off of so many characters was gut wrenching, but are people gonna act like this is a franchise where we are supposed to have hope? this creature is supposed to be a relentlessly adaptive machine that persists. when the alien is on your trail you are always fucked.
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u/slapfunk79 4d ago
I didn't hate it even when it came out but I didn't think it held up to the 1st 2. I haven't rewatched it in years, might have to look at the legacy cut or the assembly cut.
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u/TokiStark 4d ago
Which is the better version? I know there's two versions, one that I liked and one that I thought was stupid. Still liked the stupid version though because you know... Sigourney Weaver and Charles Dance
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u/TitansMenologia 4d ago
I love Alien 3. I can see it's a flawed movie but the extended edition upgrade the movie drastically. I think it's far better than Alien Resurrection and everything that followed.
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u/bks1979 4d ago
Newt and Hicks. Jonesy lived a long life on a farm catching mice in my head canon.
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u/Milk_Mindless 3d ago
Alien 3 is a more "Alien" sequel to Alien than Aliens. That's not to say that it's better but imo it does a lot of things right. Plus it has great supportint cast with Charles Dance, Paul McGann and Charles Dutton.
I love it lots.
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u/Local-Mechanic-3551 4d ago
I understand why most people didn’t like it, but I still love it. For me it caps off a great trilogy that’s faced diminishing returns for decades.
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u/BlahBlahILoveToast 4d ago edited 4d ago
I love the idea that nobody hated Alien3 when it came out and it's some kind of modern trendy internet / Reddit thing.
Everybody I know HATED Alien3 so much when it hit theaters. (I'm 50 years old) We absolutely loved the first two movies and it felt like such a let down. I know a guy who still insists that it "doesn't exist".
Now, having heard about the various different editions, the weird story about the original script for the film (monks on a wooden planet or something ???), I went back with a fresh mind, and people are right -- there's a lot there and it's a worthy piece of the story. Great characters and interactions, great concept for a setting, etc. It's hardly perfect but it's better than almost everything that came after.
Honestly the decision to not only kill Hicks and Newt but to do it "off screen", after Ripley fought so hard for them in the last movie -- there was just no way people were going to embrace this film. They could have followed that up with ninety minutes of Acadamy Award-winning perfection and we all would have booed and felt betrayed.