So here's what's up. I'm a huge fan of Aliens, and also quite dig the original Alien, but haven't seen Alien 3. Reviews on IMDB reveal many rants and some raves. Is it worth checking out?

Alien 3 had the potential to be the perfect third installment to the series, but Fincher's idea of it got so pushed over and fucked up by the studio that he has entirely disowned the film, and refused to provide a commentary for the DVD releases, or do as little as even aknowledge it anymore. no matter the slaps it delivered to the face of 'Aliens', at first it felt as if it were up to something great. that golden Fincher feel. then it just went absolutely down hill. clearly by studio edit tampering. typical Fox for you. fuck them.

Alien 3 isn't a terrible film, it's just...weak.

In what would have been a trilogy of A+ films, Alien 3 is a B-.

Alien3 has perfect visuals are far as the series is concerned. A great, dark, gothic, prison colony with brooding corridors and plenty of places for the Alien to hide. The prisoners themselves are slightly slightly 2-d and obvious cannon fodder but that's not really a major flaw. The problem is that the early CGI alien looks really really crap and the climax in which they try and capture the alien is really badly done. The first person mode is also dumb.

It's still worth watching and miles better than the shitty Alien Resurrection but don't expect anything as good as the first two.

If anything watch the Assembly Cut, which is probably the closest to what Fincher originally intended before the studio stepped in trying to make the movie more "profitable". It's quite a bit better than the original version.

All the Aliens fanboys on imdb talk shit about this movie because they think it ruined the series, but honestly I like the dark and destructive feel of Alien 3. It's Alien, not Disney, it's not supposed to be happy and nice.

Wasn't as good as Aliens, but I enjoyed it.

Alien Resurrection on the other hand...

I just started watching the Alien series and i feel in love with the first one.

Unfortunately i realized that the rest weren't directed by Ridley Scott, and started watching the second one and.....the magic wasn't there.

I don't know, everything was just like.....are they fucking stupid? and like.....how much cornier can this dialogue get?

SO to sum it up i cannot help at all in determining whether you should watch number 3......yeah......

the climax in which they try and capture the alien is really badly done.

Yeah. that just went on and on and on, of people running and slamming doors and shit. so stupid. I feel bad for Fincher having to be credited with that shit. sure, he shot it; and did a great job at it. but the final product was just...meh...it's more of initially good work pieced together poorly, than it is a bad film. again, fuck Fox.

see it just for dutton.

"you do not want to know me, I AM A MURDERER AND RAPIST OF WOMEN!"

Yeah. that just went on and on and on, of people running and slamming doors and shit. so stupid. I feel bad for Fincher having to be credited with that shit. sure, he shot it; and did a great job at it. but the final product was just...meh...it's more of initially good work pieced together poorly, than it is a bad film. again, fuck Fox.

To be fair, on their part they had to rush it. It had been in production for several years, had had two directors previously, countless scriptwriters and had cost a fortune before the final script went into production. Fincher may had done a better job if he had all the resources he wanted bu because he was such a novice director coming onto a massive project he couldn't expect complete creative control. He did the best with what he had i think.

Only if you recognize that Alien 2 was the best.

Only if you recognize that Alien 2 was the best.
Indeed.

Aliens was made of pure win and badassery.

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Definitely watch the Assembly Cut version, the theatric version doesn't make any sense. Could have been great but ended up being weak.

The Alien series is awesome but it definetly peaked at Alien and then Ressurection was not the best.

Alien Resurrection makes me want to stick my dick between two slices of bread.

Indeed.

Aliens was made of pure win and badassery.

http://www.totse.com/community/images/icons/icon14.gif

Ah, yeah, it was called Aliens. My mistake.

The whole cargo-hauler vs. Alien queen fight at the end was ultimate badassery.

The whole cargo-hauler vs. Alien queen fight at the end was ultimate badassery.
It being barely eclipsed in awesomess by Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness, at the beginning, where he "....finds himself a prisoner in a castle, and gets thrown into a pit with a zombie. He kicks the zombie's ass with his chainsaw, climbs out of the pit, kicks some more ass, yells at some villagers, scares the shit out of this old guy, and then insults their hospitality."

;)

Alien 3 isn't a terrible film, it's just...weak.

In what would have been a trilogy of A+ films, Alien 3 is a B-.

Yep...this is one of the few times I agree with you. Also, as someone else mentioned, Alien 3 has some awesome elements that were lacking in the first 2 entries, and I sometimes find myself in the mood to watch part 3 over the other movies.

Alien: Ressurection wasn't "terrible" either. Entertaining, at the very least, and it defiintely had a few cool scenes (I'm particularly thinking of the underwater scene).