Friday, March 25, 2011

Script review – “Alien 3” (1991) by David Giler and Walter Hill

Everyone likes the first two Alien movies – opinion is split on the next two. My own take: it’s definitely the third best, but has some good things, notably the ending. The prison setting is at least different, although I don’t think the movie ever recovers from killing off Newt and Hicks in the first couple of minutes; it gets things off to a really down-beat start. Also, I cared about the crew in Alien and the marines in Aliens but not this bunch – they were just regular folk doing their job (apart from the traitors) but these guys are prisoners; no one is likeable except the doctor and the head religious nut. It struck me as phoney when the prisoners rallied around Ripley at the end (far more believable when people are trying to save their own necks; or a still-alive Hicks would have been useful here). Also too many of them seemed to talk in English accents – Hill and Giler are better at tough American talk. It does have a terrific ending with Ripley pulling the martyr act, and is written in tough, taut Hill style.

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