Alien³ (1992, Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dance)

The third instalment in the four-part series sees Ripley’s escape pod from Aliens crash land on a penal planet, the landing leaving her the only survivor (the crew and Newt die in the crash). Rescued by the staff, she knows that something else survived but neither the governor Andrews (Brian Glover), medical officer Clemens (Charles Dance) nor the criminals, led by Dillon (Charles Dutton), believe her until the killings begin. The battle for survival starts but on a penal colony, lethal weapons are few and far between and Ripley must use all her previous knowledge to kill the intruder. But while it seems she succeeds, she is harbouring a secret that will prove her downfall…

Fincher, who went on to direct Se7en, Fight Club and The Panic Room, made a decent fist of the action. In fact, the orginal story came from Vincent Ward, diector of the sublime The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey, and he was slated to direct this but his only legacy is the colour-bled textures. Weaver is much more world weary and cynical in this film than the previous two, and once Ripley’s awful secret is revealed, her dilemma between life and destruction for her nemesis is truly dramatic.

production details
cast
Sigourney Weaver as Lt. Ellen Louise Ripley
Charles S. Dutton as Leonard Dillon
Charles Dance as Jonathan Clemens
Pete Postlethwaite as David Postlethwaite
Ralph Brown as Francis Aaron
Paul McGann as Walter Golic
Danny Webb as Robert Morse
Lance Henriksen as Lance Bishop
Brian Glover as Harold Andrews
Deobia Oparei as Arthur Walkingstick
Niall Buggy as Eric Buggy
Christopher John Fields as Daniel Rains
Peter Guinness as Peter Gregor
Vincenzo Nicoli as Alan Jude
Christopher Fairbank as Thomas Murphy
Phil Davis as Kevin Dodd
Paul Brennen as Yoshi Troy
Clive Mantle as Clive William
Carl Chase as Frank Ellis
Hi Ching as Company Man
Leon Herbert as Edward Boggs
Danielle Edmond as Rebecca “Newt” Jorden
Holt McCallany as Ted “Junior” Gillas
Tom Woodruff Jr. as Lead Alien (uncredited)

crew
Director: David Fincher
Script: David Giler, Walter Hill, Larry Ferguson, Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett, Vincent Ward

GB, USA | 114 minutes | 1992