Alien 3 (or Alien³, as it is sometimes written) is one of those movies that exists in significantly different forms. It has its basic theatrical cut as well as an extended special edition, which Fox is careful not to call a "director's cut" because it is still far from what director David Fincher wanted to make. Depending on the version you watch, what you are going to get is either a well-made mediocre film or a well-made decent film -- a film that completely lacks or a film that has a few good qualities.

I re-watched Alien³ several times for this review, and I found myself struggling to find something to say about it. I tried recalling the major plot points for the first two-thirds of the film and could think of few. After a while, I realized that the first two-thirds of the movie are fairly plotless. The cryogenically frozen characters from Aliens crash onto a planet which serves as an all-male prison and mining facility and is also very monastery-like. From the opening on, it is mainly just a lot of arguing among virtually everyone in the compound. There is, of course, some good gore here and there, but the ubiquitous disagreements take front seat until the film's final act, when the inhabitants accept the reality of the alien and are forced to do something about it.

If you watch the theatrical version of the film, you will almost certainly be disappointed. If you watch the deleted scenes, the scenes that are kept in the special edition, you will notice a common link: they're all the best parts! In the theatrical version, the characters are not given the chance to develop, so in the many arguments that take place, we are unable to feel for any character except Ripley -- that is, if you have seen at least one of the preceding Alien films. Many of the arguments do not include Ripley anyway, though, and so are totally pointless. The film does pick up near the end, but the trip there is not worth it. I have no idea what Fox was thinking when they took a conflict-based story and tried whittling it, sometimes drastically, into another suspense thriller. That simply is not what Alien³ is.

The extended cut, however, has a little more to offer. It is about thirty minutes longer, so there is time to fully establish the setting and develop the characters. There is also much more dialogue that is actually meaningful, as opposed to the bare minimum required for the already sparse plot. The best of this new dialogue consists of Johnathan Edwards-esque ("Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God") speeches, which bring up Fincher's leitmotif of our world being a dismal place -- a dismal place in which we are all prisoners. The religious theme culminates into a metaphorical attempt to cast the Devil into the Lake of Fire. There is a good alien birthing scene, too (from a different host, even), juxtaposed with a surprisingly beautiful sort of burial. Combined as they are, these two scenes bring up the theme of death and rebirth. How did this stuff not make it to the theaters?! Strangely lacking, though, in this version is what is probably the most interestingly touching detail in the final scene. Bottom line: there is no perfect version of Alien³. From the time Fincher was on board, its basic shape had already been molded by Fox and the directors that had dropped out in frustration with the studio. If you watch this extended version, though, you do get to see a decent version of the film.

I say that both versions of the film are well made because of the care apparently taken in the little room Fincher had left in which to direct. Even the theatrical version of the film has some striking images, and you can always count on Fincher's trademark ominous environments. This was his first shot at directing a major film, so neither version is quite as disciplined as it could be, but all scenes suggest he's working as carefully as he can. There's a reason he came into demand after this film was released.

Alien³ could never exist on its own, and it is marred by a bad theatrical version, but the uncut version is an acceptable addition to the mythology as a whole. Hopefully, as we get farther and farther away from its silver screen release, it will come to gain more acceptance. It's true that none of Alien's sequels are as good as the original, but when you start off that good, you have a lot of room to err.