Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9974 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-05-15
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Directed by stylemaster David Fincher, who went on to greater things with Seven and Fight Club, Alien 3 was the least successful of the Alien series at the box-office. 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 realises that not only has an alien got 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 life span that awaits her. But the striking imagery makes for muddled action and the script confuses it further. The ending looks startling but it takes a long time--and a not particularly satisfying journey--to get there. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

On the DVD: The clarity of the digital picture throws light into some of Fincher's darker recesses, but is unkind to the primitive computer animation (the CGI alien is never convincing). Compared to the Alien DVD there are few extras, although a "making of" featurette that covers all three movies is included.

DVD Description
Trapped within four prison walls, the mother of all horrors is amongst them once again - three times the suspense; three times the danger; three times the terror.

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical Trailer
Making Of Featurette
Czech\Danish\Finnish\Hebrew\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Customer Reviews

better than 4, avp or avp2
with great character moments, some of the most powerful scenes in the hole series and with a darker more sinister plot Alien 3 is definetly a movie worthy of being in this legendary series

Both Versions of the Film - you decide which is best.
Dont believe the hype, the Special Edition version of Alien 3 is not as good as the original version. I happen to think that Alien 3 was always an under-rated film and that it lived up well with the previous 2 Alien movies. That being said, the Special Edition is worth a watch (especially for Alien fans) but the wonderful thing about this DVD is that you get both versions of the movie and a disc full of extras ... a must for any fan.

The third Alien film is a little more like Alien, as opposed to Aliens. The cinematography is impressive, the acting enjoyable, the characters believable and the sound track haunting. There is only one Alien but this doesnt spoil the entertainment. Alien will always be a greatest movie of the franchise, Aliens will always be a more hollywood rollercoaster (and enjoyable movie) but Alien 3 lives upto its fine predecessers. Shame that the following films were not as good.

The original version of the movie is certainly the best although the special edition has many extra minutes and whole new scene's. The story differs a bit too with a complete new beginning. The alien comes out of a cow instead of a dog. Despite enjoying the different version, the original version is just slicker and better edited. However, I shouldnt complain as with this DVD I have the chioce to watch whichever version I want. Good DVD.

Mediocre addition to the Alien franchise
David Fincher is a highly talented director and gave us two classic films with Seven and Fight Club but his earlier effort, Alien 3 is an incredibly disappointing addition to the brilliant Alien franchise.

The story is interesting but inconsistent. The spacecraft Ripley, Newt, Bishop and Hicks escaped on at the end of Aliens was carrying an egg (how?) and the newly hatched facehugger got into Ripleys pod and impregnated her with another creature. When the spacecraft crash landed on a prison planet, Ripley was the only survivor but the facehugger survived too and impregnated the prison dog. This is where things start to unravel, firstly, Facehuggers die when they have laid their eggs so how come this one lays two? Secondly, how come the alien inside the dog hatches before Ripleys when it was laid afterwards? And thirdly, how come it grows to be a full sized alien in the space of what seems to be 24 hours? Anyway, the creature soon starts to kill the inhabitants of the colony so Ripley (sporting a mean shaved head) is forced to team up with the violent, XYY chromosome prisoners to kill it. Unfortunately, the maximum security prison has no weapons (again, why?) and so begins a slightly tedious game of cat and mouse amongst the maze like tunnels.

The setting looks great. The prison has that same gloomy, foreboding sense of doom that Fincher does so well but unfortunately the alien itself is rubbish. Its movements are clumsy and Fincher should have stuck with the anamatronics of Aliens rather than the shoddy CGI of 1992. Sigourney Weaver holds the whole thing together with a nice supporting role for Brian Glover who doesn't get much screentime before he meets his maker. The script is pretty bad in parts but generally Alien 3 is an entertaining watch if you can ignore all the plot holes. If this had come before Aliens it may not be so universally panned by critics.

Like this? Try Alien, Aliens