ALIEN 3

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STARRING: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover, Ralph Brown, Danny Webb, Christopher John Fields, Holt McCallany, Lance Henriksen

1992, 115 Minutes, Directed by: David Fincher

Description: Ripley, the only survivor of her past mission, awakens on a prison planet in the far corners of the solar system. As she tries to recover, she realizes that not only has an alien gotten loose on the planet, the alien has implanted one of its own within her. As she battles the prison authorities (and is aided by the prisoners) in trying to kill the alien, she must also cope with a distinctly shortened lifespan that awaits her. — Amazon.com

Some would say the worst movie in the series.

This third installment tries to recapture the mood of the first Alien movie and ends up being slow moving and pretentious at times. Dark and brooding, Alien 3 throws up both religious and moral issues. The scene during which one of the prisoners gives a funeral oratory claiming that life comes from death while the alien is bursting from the chest of a dog is a powerful scene that stays in the mind.

Ripley has to choose between altruism (dying along with the alien) or self-interest (letting the sinister Company remove the alien and use it as a weapon).

Director Fincher (who later directed the horror classic Seven) weaves a stark and beautiful kind of horror that lingers in the mind long after you've watched the movie. This movie warrants a viewing despite the negative reaction of die-hard fans to it.

While you might think from the plot synopsis that this is the last film in the series, it was actually followed by a fourth film (Alien Resurrection) in 1997.
 

• Read an extended review of Alien 3.
• Read the script.
• Download the trailer.