Countdown to Prometheus Part 3: "Alien 3"

When your first installment epitomizes pure horror and the second is a full-fledged thriller, what genre is left for a third?  Comedy?

By the time the second Alien film made waves at the box office (and even garnered Sigourney Weaver a rare Oscar nomination for a science-fiction film), 20th Century Fox realized it created a monster–and not just the one with two sets of jaws.  Pre-production plowed ahead for a third installment while the producers and writers struggled to imbue the franchise with a fresh direction, or a finished screenplay. 

The final product (whose title deceptively looks like Alien cubed) returns the series to its horror roots, borrowing heavily from the first installment as a consequence–a single monsters roams and inflicts death on a a bevy of people, one at a time.

The debate continues over which of the two earlier features is the best (for me, it depends on the mood I’m in.  Today it’s Alien), but all would agree that series is bifurcated: there is Alien/Aliens…and then there are the rest…

Alien 3 spawned the franchise’s downward spiral; it was the first bomb in terms of box office and perception.  For all of its negativity, Alien 3 is not a bad film, but a mishandled one.  Whatever plans the filmmakers had to deviate from the earlier films were lost in the final concoction.  The film is a cheap retread of Alien without the tension or believable characters.  Even Sigourney Weaver appears disengaged, leaving her character’s final sacrifice devoid of meaning or emotion.  The real surprise, in hindsight, is that Alien 3 was directed by David Fincher, who has later become an Hollywood A-Lister producing classics (Seven, Fight Club).  The behind-the-scenes documentaries (provided aplenty in the blu-ray and DVD collections) reveal some of the struggles he and the production crew faced.

Even in the early stages of pre-production, drafts of the script called for third installment to pick up immediately after the conclusion to Aliens.  During the marine ship’s return to Earth, a fire causes the escape ship to jettison to a nearby planet.  Ripley revives to learn that all of the remaining passengers perished in the crash.  Yes, the film begins by killing off Ripley’s allies–even her newly adopted daughter, Newt–a morbid opening that set many fans aflame in anger. 

This twist was intended to return Ripley to her loner status and insinuate that she will be forever plagued by death as long as the evil extraterrestrial roams.  When the bodies of Newt and Hicks are cremated, there is no other reference to their deaths or the impact the losses have on Ripley.  The film literally disposes of the last film’s excess baggage in favor of placing Ripley among a new troupe of human fodder for the alien villain. 

The death of Newt, specifically, negates the impact of the second film, which centered around her inevitable rescue.  The tragedy was truly surprising and atypical for a summer feature, but Newt’s death feels like unfinished script element that never came to fruition, save for allowing Ripley to more freely choose her fate at the film’s end.  

There are many scenes in Alien 3 that feel like leftover plot holes.  Ripley is found and taken in by a prison colony.  She befriends and becomes romantically entwined with Clemens (Charles Dance), the colony doctor.  There conversations (which are almost inaudible in all television and home video versions) don’t stretch beyond Clemen’s and Ripley’s curiosity in each others past.  There is little humor or chemistry, and when Dance is inevitably killed by the beast at the half-way mark (right before his meaningless revelation of his history), there is no sense of loss or consequence.

Fairing only slightly better is the Ripley’s camaraderie with Dillon (Charles S. Dutton), the prisoners’ religious leader. When the two meet, Dillon asks “Do you have any faith, sister?”  “Not much”, Ripley coolly replies.  There is a tease that the two will engage a debate of the prevalence of God, and his divine plan during their time of crisis, but there is no further intrigue. 

The rest of the cast include a fine mix of British and American actors, including Peter Postlethwaite (The Lost World, Usual Suspects, Inception).  Unlike the earlier features, the characters lack any distinguishing qualities–their shaved heads doing the audience an additional disservice. Other than the maniacal Boggs (whose scenes were severely cut in the final version) there are no standouts.  When the alien wipes them out, we couldn’t care less. 

Script issues aside, there are some technical qualms, including the film’s editing.  In one sequence, Ripley returns to her crashed ship to search for the remains of her android comrade, Bishop.  As she rummages through the wreckage, the camera and music imply she’s being watched.  Is the alien about to attack?  Seconds later, it is revealed to be only Clemens.  The fault with this sequence–other than the tired “fake scare” tactic–is the scene is never fully established, and first-time viewer struggle to understand what’s happening rather than languish on the lame false alarm, which is just forced.  Did anyone really think we would suspect the alien was going to kill Ripley within the first half hour?  This isn’t a Hitchcock film!  

This brief sequence epitomizes the main faults with Alien 3–it’s not frightening and resorts to cheap movie cliches rather exude the craft and patience of the two earlier movies.  When the alien begins knocking off convicts, there is no time to ponder when the horror will occur.  The alien flat out slaughters each victim without any warning, and even the revelations aren’t very shocking.    

One of the film’s sole surprises is that Ripley was impregnated while still on the marine ship and the fully grown alien won’t attack her.  When Ripley goes to confront the alien, the scene cuts away before we can see the end result.  Were the film-makers afraid to show too much of the alien?  The potential to give the creature more to do than just bite every human being it finds is tossed aside.  The alien has become a predictable menace.  It lives to kill–not to eat to survive.

During the conclusion, the convicts attempt to lure the alien through a series of corridors into a trap.  There is no establishment of space, so there is no room for suspense.  When one man is killed off, we have no idea if the alien is any closer or nearer to the Ripley and the trap.  We do know that almost everyone will be killed off before Ripley squares off against it.

Alien 3 is the unfortunate product of a rushed production.  Fincher left the production in frustration before completion and the final product left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth (audiences and film-makers alike).  Almost nothing in the film works.  The dialog is trite–the convicts all have a sailor’s mouths that lack the poetry found in a Mamet or Tarantino film.  “No fucking way.”  However, underneath Alien 3’s failures, there are hints of an interesting film to be had.  A completed script would have fleshed out characters and allowed Ripley to contemplate about many things such as the loss of her friends, her cursed existence or the futility of bearing an alien fetus.

However, the potential to try something different was tossed aside for the sake of making a release date.  The alien xenomorph had now become a bona fide franchise with toys and merchandise.  (SPOILER ALERT) Ripley dies in the end, but there is always more money to be made.

Next…

Witness the resurrection…