Review of Alien 3

Video

This is widely regarded as the weakest of the 4 Alien movies but I simply don’t understand. For me this was only bettered by the second outing, Aliens. Hopefully this review will tell you why.

I first got hold of this movie on VHS and was very impressed with the picture quality. Needless to say that the DVD improves on an already impressive picture. This is one sharp transfer. Being an Alien movie there are allot of dark scenes and the DVD handles these as it should. The clarity and depth of colour is impressive and serves as a great example of one of the many benefits of DVD. Filmed in 1992 it is also a great message to other studios that it isn’t just brand new releases that should have stunning transfers.

From the opening scene the tone of this film is dark and grim. This is carried through in the visuals superbly. The whole look is best described as dangerous and hostile. I really got the feeling that this was not a place I would want to be.

This was a blockbuster movie and as such has the suitable blockbuster creature effects. The difference here, for me, was that some imagination had been used for the Alien. The idea of the characteristics of the Alien being determined by the host, in this case a dog, is a really nice touch. Anyway, the effects are pretty much faultless as you would expect but for me it is the overall look and feel of the movie that works so well.

Audio

So, the tone is set well by the visuals but we all know that visuals are nothing without decent audio to back it up. And boy are the visuals backed up!

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is impressive, creating a convincing sound stage all around you. The hissing of the Alien is pure evil whilst the echoes in the tunnels really do portray the scale of the prison complex well. There are numerous spot effects that I could mention but needless to say they are all very well done.

The score complements the action very well. It also lends allot to the atmosphere and is one of my favourite movie scores. It is slow and quiet when it needs to be but also loud and aggressive when called however it always retains an air of foreboding about it, menacing throughout.

The most impressive thing about the sound is the way it all hangs together to create the desired atmosphere. Audio and video in perfect harmony? Indeedy :)

Features

Another disc another disappointment. There is a behind the scenes featurette and some trailers but nothing to really get the blood pumping. I would have liked to have seen an audio commentary from the director David Fincher as he took allot of flack for a movie that never got that credit that I felt it deserved. Another missed chance.

Conclusion

I still remember when I went to see this at the cinema. It was the first time where the actual movie studio intro ran into the movie. The way the 20th Century Fox fanfare ran on into an eerie whine then ended abruptly made an impression on me as it set the mode for the movie superbly. You get the feeling that bad things are going to happen right from the start and they do. Allot of people complained that the start made a bit of a mockery of the efforts to survive in Aliens but I disagree, it serves to remind you that there is not always a happy ending.

The movie has a totally different tone to the others. This is probably what harmed it when it was on general release, after all it followed after the action movie that was Aliens. This one was probably too much of a leap for some people to like as it would be constantly compared to a totally different type of movie in Aliens, the more mainstream effort from James Cameron. It would have been stupid for anyone to attempt another Aliens style action so this particular style of movie was exactly what was needed.

The supporting cast are really only there to support the 2 stars, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the Alien. A new dimension is added to the Ripley character by certain personal demons that she has to face in the movie, this is no bad thing as it helps round out a pretty one dimensional character.

This film was not supposed to be another Aliens, it was meant to be a chilling end to a great movie series and it succeeded. The whole movie is loaded with atmosphere and is just what the series needed.

Oh, and by the way, a great quality DVD :)