Acclaimed director David Fincher's
promising career was lucky to survive this astonishingly wrong-headed,
almost universally-despised second sequel to Alien
(1979). The film careens into oblivion virtually from the beginning, as Lt.
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the only survivor of a crash-landing on a
hellish, God-forsaken prison planet. Not only does the crash kill little
Newt, completely obviating the entire point of the superior
Aliens (1986), but Fincher then compounds his
betrayal of that film's fans by having Ripley attend the girl's gruesome
autopsy and barely bat an eye as the child's chest is bloodily ripped open
with a steel bonesaw. Things just go downhill from there, as the rather
unthreatening rapists and murderers harass Ripley and curse a great deal
before being torn apart by large fans, having their heads crushed by the
unconvincing CGI alien, and finally volunteering to be murdered by the beast
rather than letting the evil Company get hold of it. Fincher does the best
he can with a terrible script, and there are some nice supporting turns by
Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, and Brian Glover, but nothing could redeem
the film's first 15 minutes. By the time Ripley takes a suicidal swan-dive
into a vat of molten lead, cradling a baby alien as it explodes from her
chest, many viewers will not know whether to reach for the remote control or
a warm bath and a razorblade. A loathsome experience by any standard, Alien
3 still made enough money for Weaver to return as a Ripley clone in Alien
Resurrection (1997). | Sigourney Weaver | Ellen Ripley |
| Charles S. Dutton | Dillon |
| Charles Dance | Clemens |
| Paul McGann | Golic |
| Brian Glover | Andrews |
| Ralph Brown | Aaron |
| Daniel Webb | Morse |
| Christopher John Fields | Rains |
| Holt McCallany | Junior |
| Lance Henriksen | Bishop II |
| Pete Postlethwaite | David |
| Vincenzo Nicoli | Jude |
| Niall Buggy | Eric |
| Chloe Webb | |
| Philip Davis | Kevin |
| Peter Guinness | Gregor |
| Carl Chase | Frank |
| Leon Herbert | Boggs |
| Clive Mantle | William |
Genre/Type - Science Fiction, Horror, Sci-Fi Action, Monster Film, Sci-Fi Horror
Produced by - 20th Century Fox / Brandywine
Release - May 22, 1992 (USA)
Released by - 20th Century Fox
Running time - 114 min.
Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)
Southern Comfort (1981, Walter Hill)
Johnny Handsome (1989, Walter Hill)
Red Heat (1988, Walter Hill)
Streets of Fire (1984, Walter Hill)
48 Hrs. (1982, Walter Hill)
The McGuffin (1985, Colin Bucksey)
is followed by: Alien Resurrection (1997, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
is preceded by: Aliens (1986, James Cameron)