Alien 3
(from the ALIEN QUADRILOGY)
Disc
One: Picture: B Sound: B+ Extras: C+ Film: B+
Disc
Two: Picture: B- Sound: B- Content: B
After
directing a notable set of Music Videos, David Fincher made his feature film
directing debut with Alien 3 (1992),
the film that was to be the end of the Alien
franchise. The film opens with drastic
events that still shock audiences that have seen the previous films. However, Fincher had major clashes with the
studio and his cut of the film was whittled down so much, that Fincher washed
his hands of the film since the theatrical release ran its course.
Where the
previous DVD of the film offered only the theatrical cut of the film, this new
DVD tries to do a reconstruction of the version Fincher was trying to make,
though absolutely lacking his participation on any level. Unlike the version we have had for over ten
years, which seemed too short and even over-snipped in places, the longer
version is much better, smoother and more well-rounded. Now, it only feels a couple of minutes too
long, but is still not Fincher’s cut either way. It does offer Fincherisms that show it was
his work and runs 30 minutes longer.
This
time, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) has her hypersleep unit jettisoned, when she
lands up on a nearby planet that turns out to be housing dangerous prisoners
and tons of junk. It also turns out one
of her companions was yet another one of the nearly indestructible title
creatures. The prisoners have found
“religion”, which they will need, since even the prison-keeps have no weapons
or guns. The alternate is just
surviving, but how to deal with the creature.
What could have been a disaster in most cases turns out to be a most
worthy third act, with Ripley waking up from one nightmare, only to be in a
distinctly new one.
One
complaint was the lack of character development of the cast, all British male
actors, but there is more of it in the longer cut, which helps immensely. Particularly good is Charles Dance as the kind
doctor Clemens who saves Ripley from being left for dead, unseen in the same
junk area her EEV unit landed. His only
previous work in the genre was his work on the British TV series Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected in
the late 1970s, though he soon after showed up in one of the best of all James
Bond films as a “baddie” in For Your
Eyes Only (1981). There are also
many good comic turns that do not become cartoons among the rest of the cast,
which is not easy. Charles S. Dutton
transforms into Dillon, the head of the “converts” and de facto leader among
the prisoners either way. He generates a
ton of energy for the constantly angry, radical, intense, beyond disgusted man,
who knows how bad his life and things in general are though his
well-spokenness. It also makes for an
interesting contrast as far as strong African-American male characters are in
films, with George Romero’s original Night
of the Living Dead (1968) in mind, and certainly as compared to Yaphet
Kotto in the first Alien.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is of the solid Panavision
camerawork. The longer version is, much
like Anchor Bay’s recently reconstructed version
of Michael Mann’s Manhunter (1986),
laced with substandard footage that should have never been cut in the first
place. With that said, the best footage
looks about as good as that of the previous DVD and is only rivaled by (again)
the first Alien for picture
fidelity. The cinematography by Alex
Thomson, B.S.C., is exceptional, and was begun by the late, great Jordan
Cronenweth, B.S.C. in the first week or so.
Though he became sadly ill, the cameraman behind Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) and Phil Joanou’s
impressive State of Grace (1990), and that feel haunts the film. Thomson is also superior and one of the few
British lighting cameramen who could have taken over. His remarkable work includes John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981), Nicolas Roeg’s Eureka (completed 1983), Michael
Cimino’s near-classic and much imitated Year
of the Dragon, Ridley Scott’s Legend
(both 1985), Peter Medak’s The Krays
(1990), and Kenneth Branagh’s 70mm production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1996). These films contain remarkable amounts of
unforgettable, distinctive shots and images that are some of the best and most
influential of the last few generations.
The Lord of the Rings films
would be unthinkable without his work, and he is the greatest hero of Alien 3 behind the scenes, even ahead
of Fincher. That says something.
The only
5.1 mix here is, sadly, Dolby only.
Once, the shorter version was scheduled for a basic DTS LaserDisc
edition, before the sudden upsurge of DVD cancelled that release. Alien
3 also happens to be the last major multi-channel magnetic 70mm Stereo
Dolby release before Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3 was introduced the same summer with
Tim Burton’s Batman Returns. That was a 4.1 Dolby magnetic SR mix, which
was first available as 5.1 on the previous DVD.
The only LaserDisc of the film did not have any 5.1 mix at all. The legacy of that great analog process,
first used on Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop
(1987), had a glorious five-year run even after the debut and collapse of
Cinema Digital Sound (CDS). That system
was used on a few films like Dick Tracy
and Terminator 2 before the system
failed to catch on and Fox did not option it for Alien 3. This also sounds
like the same 5.1 mix from the last DVD where only the shorter cut
existed. That includes an annoying
problem with the music at the beginning of the film which was not a problem in
theatrical playback or even on the PCM CD Stereo surround 12” LaserDisc. It is just when the EEV unit flies by the Fiorina
161 prison colony planet. There is a
peak of the music by Elliott Goldenthal before the planet is identified. The Dolby mix simply does not capture all the
music in full, because it is too lossy.
That is why no DTS here is a great disappointment and we are skeptical
that a newer Dolby mix that might possibly fix the problem, but unless there is
a D-VHS release, it is going to be a while.
As far as
extras go, Disc One also offers a brand new commentary by Cinematographer Alex
Thompson, Editor Terry Rawlings, VFX Designers Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff
Jr., Visual Effects Producer Richard Edlund, and actors Paul McGann and Lance
Henriksen
Disc Two
offers 11 new featurettes, including:
1)
Development - Concluding the story
2)
Tales Of The Wooden Planet - Vincent Ward’s original vision
for the film
3)
Pre-Production III - The making of Alien 3
4)
Xeno-Erotic - H.R. Giger’s redesign of the
Alien creature
5)
Production: Part One,
6)
Part
Two, and
7)
Part
Three
8)
Behind-the-scenes on the production of the movie
9)
Adaptive Organism - Creature design
10) Optical
Fury - Visual effects
11) Music,
Editing & Sound and
12) Post-Mortem
– A reaction to the film
plus E.E.V. Bio-Scan - A multi-angle vignette with optional commentary by Alex
Gillis
… The Art of Alien 3 with conceptual
art portfolio, production gallery & visual effects
… Furnace construction time lapse and storyboard archives
The
programs manage to cover every major point but two: 1) Fincher made Fox (and
likely Rupert Murdoch in particular) uncomfortable with the religious themes,
which become more trivial (like many other things) in Alien Resurrection and 2) that despite the chaotic circumstances in
which Fincher arrived, he pulled off a decent film, especially in that long
workprint cut. The absence of Fincher’s
participation can be felt throughout, while the archival footage of him at work
is the best thing here.
When Aliens came out, the film was noted as
a feminist triumph of Weaver’s Ripley character, but Alien 3 takes this farther with issues of who owns reproduction and
it is an issue beyond the Abortion debate.
It has to do with how much the individual controls their life and on
what levels, plus the constant issue of empowerment, which gets challenged in this
particular film more thoroughly than expected.
Now, when people take the time to watch the film, they see how good it
really is. With the longer version now
here for the first time, the film will finally get the kind of respect it
should have had in the first place.
This set of
Alien 3 is available as a double DVD
set or as part of the nine DVD Alien
Quadrilogy that includes all four films and a bonus DVD. The reviews for those segments are available
at the links that follow their names below:
Alien
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=670
Aliens
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=671
Alien Resurrection
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=673
Alien Quadrilogy (Bonus DVD)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=674
- Nicholas Sheffo
