Alien³

As an audio-visually powerful, toned-down, existential drama about seeking forgiveness and God in a God-forsaken place, this movie is excellent, but half way through it’s like out of nowhere Fincher remembers (or more likely the producers forced him to remember) that he is filming the new Alien and not a sci-fi adaptation of something by Dostoyevsky. So, all of a sudden he forgets about everything that came before and then launches into an absolutely regular, uninventive kill-fest that loses all of the atmosphere built up in the first half. And this goes for both the regular version and the director’s cut, which is the better of the two, but just a better version of the same and not “something completely different" as many reviewers suggest. (13/01/2010)

The last 15 minutes was the first thing I saw of the Alien saga and now, after all those years the circle finally closes. Fincher’s (probably) depressed soul made its rather significant mark on this part and even though the story is a little slow in places, there is no shortage of nerve-wracking moments. P.S.: I have never had a bigger jump-scare moment than I did during the final credits. (06/07/2009)

Fincher's feature debut was clearly plagued by the studio's pansy wallet and promotion, which is quite visible even years after the film managed to reclaim its well-deserved reputation. Regardless, this goes hand in hand with the trend for each director to approach it radically differently, which is also done here to great effect. The atmosphere of a penal colony, where nothing works, is definitely something to behold, especially when you look at the local population, who have clearly done a number of unpleasant things in their lives. As an added bonus, there’s also decent Goldenthal music, great camera tricks with the FPS look, and a cut-out Ellen Ripley. 4 ½. (The rest I leave to the possibilities of the expanded edition.) (28/05/2009)

The Alien franchise is remarkable for the fact that every director has made his mark on his episode. Scott's imagination and Cameron's belligerence have been replaced by the heavy blanket of depression master David Fincher. Welcome to the bleak world of ex-convicts from which there is no escape. The third episode is not worse than the previous two, it’s just different. (13/04/2003)

The first time in this cult franchise we have two key elements playing the main role. The first one is undoubtedly the Alien itself, and the second is the depressing and oppressive setting along with the morality and psychological profiles of the convicts – serial killers, violent criminals, pedophiles. David Fincher doesn't waste anything in his debut and his camera escapades (the Alien’s POV) are already a signature. Unfortunately, the monster is again only one and also annoyingly computer-generated when shown in full. Compared to the second installment, there is a slight downgrade, but the atmosphere is brilliantly depressing, and the play with lights is amazing. For example, the lighting of the background during the autopsy is worth mentioning. The emphasized faces alternating with short shots of the scalpel's sharp macro details are incredibly suggestive. Likewise, the prisoners have very well written characters, and the ending, as presented by Fincher, is not particularly surprising. Definitely a progressive and the most peculiar Alien. (01/11/2003)