Is Alien 3 worth watching?

It's a good movie but I don't really think it was necessary considering how well Aliens ended. Without spoiling anything the movie kind of forces unnecessarily depressing plot points in an attempt to make the film "darker". It harkens back to the original's horror theme since there's only one alien and no one has guns. It;'s definitely still worth a watch if you're an alien fan like myself, just stay far away from Resurrection.

Here's a great video that breaks down all the studio meddling Fincher went through while making the movie, obviously watch AFTER seeing Alien 3.

I said no, but heck if you have it right in front of you and you can watch it, go ahead. Alien and Aliens are superb, and I think Prometheus, even though it has some dumb character moments and some bad writing here and there is a great film too. Alien 3 is mediocre to me; it's an 'okay' movie but a bad sequel in my opinion and I'd rather not consider it canon if I could. Resurrection is terrible. I can't wait for Covenant. When it comes to Alien 3, the only things I like are that Fury 161 reminds me of one of my favorite video game settings, which is Butcher Bay, but I don't like it as much as Butcher Bay mind you.

I also like the ending because it plays the log of what Ripley said at the end of the first, and it's just a nice closing in my opinion. I added the spoiler tag along with my edit since I know you may not want to see it. I also just like that Ripley and Bishop are back (albeit, Bishop is in it for only a short time). Though I said I liked that Fury 161 reminds me of Butcher Bay, I still don't care for the atmosphere. I am not into the style or look, and the characters to me are a bore, nor do I like how Ripley's story unfolds in it. It's also just terrible what they do with Newt and Hicks. You also get a computer generated xenomorph in this one, which looks bad.

Edit - Oh, I should say, while I am not a fan, there are those that do really appreciate the Assembly Cut version, so perhaps check that one out if you can. Eh, I wrote 'also' a lot in that. I have a cold though and don't feel like editing it, ha ha. Watch it if you have it, but if you have to rent it, only do so if you really, really want to. I'm disappointed with the recent news that Alien 5 is probably not going to be made. Neill Blomkamp has had less great films than he had great films in my opinion, but I would still love to see him make Alien 5.

I like Alien 3. Is it the gamechanger that the first two were? Hell no. But I like that it goes back to the horror roots, even if it's not very scary. I never understood why it's so hated.

And yeah, compared to Resurrection, it's a masterpiece, haha. (confession, though... I kinda like the Hybrid in Resurrection. It was corny as fuck, but I dug its look)

Watch the Workprint version if you can, it was recut without David Fincher's supervision (who wants nothing to do with the movie), but it was an attempt to get it closer to its original vision and is moderately better. Unfortunately there's not much that can be done about its tone, which can be incredibly jarring after Aliens. If Aliens is Ripley getting revenge for her experience in Alien, then Alien 3 is Ripley's post-revenge malaise in which she realizes that it didn't actually help her resolve her Alien-related trauma.

It's a very dour movie, and it doesn't hold a candle to the first two. But it's beautiful to look at, has some great performances (including Tywin Lannister himself, Charles Dance!), and it's pretty scary if you ask me. Yeah, you should watch it.

Be warned, however -- it has, by leaps and bounds, the worst special effects in the entire series.

I agree with @ntm It is a bad sequel, but an okay movie.
If you love the first two Alien/s movies the 3rd was a real big slap in the face for WHEN it was made, but it's what we have, no going back and changing it, and as such, it's fine. There are some fun "Oh hey, that guy!" actors in it. Some okay practical effects alongside some AWFUL cgi effects, and at least it gives an ending (no spoilers here) that feels like it wraps up the arc of Ripley.

I actually recommend the 4th movie though if you have any friends or family you can watch awful movies with, there almost isn't a second of that movie where there is something on the screen you can just make fun of. It is truly awful. I listened to the directors commentary and even he doesn't know why they choose him to make that movie (not that he can be forgiven because he still thinks he made a good movie, which, no, c'mon guy) but yeah, it's a great movie to get together with your people and just destroy verbally.
A guy gets a hole in his head, feels around in it, picks out a part of his brain, and gives it an over the top wah-wah-waaaaaah look.
Awful, watch it.

Yes.

It's fine.

The movie went through development hell and changed hands way more than it should have, so it's actually kind of incredible that what came out was something watchable, let alone good, even if it's sometimes obvious that it's a little cobbled together. As long as you're expecting a decent movie and not something on the level of its predecessors, I think you'll enjoy it.

Although

Alien 3 completely and totally destroys the "happy" (relative to the rest of the series) ending of Aliens. That might keep some people away from it.

While the movie itself is only OK, I highly recommend watching the uncut "Wreckage and Rape: The Making of 'Alien 3' " documentary that is included with the "Alien Anthology" Blu-ray set. If you ever wondered what goes into the making of a major studio film and how things can go wrong, this documentary is a godsend.

(A shorter version of Charles de Lauzirika's documentary, with studio-mandated cuts, was released in 2003 on "Alien Quadrilogy" DVD box set under the plainer title "The Making of 'Alien 3.'" It's still great, just not as great.)

It's a couple of hours long, why not.

It's great if you have the Assembly Cut. The theatrical version is a mess.

It's not that bad. It isn't a classic like alien/aliens, but it has some cool ideas.

The longer cut is the way to go for sure. It's off-putting but nice to see Charles Dance as a sort-of nice guy for once.

Every Alien film after Aliens is deeply flawed in one way or another, so might as well dive into the deep end. Although I do appreciate how AVP 2 embraced its comic book roots and went over-the-top ridiculous.

It's not a bad movie and there's some cool stuff in it and I think it's interesting to look into the backstory of production and discuss the movie, if you like that sort of thing.

I hate it so goddamn much, especially in lieu of the comic sequels Dark Horse did for it like Aliens: Earth War where Hicks and Newt were major characters.

Yes. Interesting movie and production history.

Not a good movie though. Do not expect to enjoy it.

I was a big defender of this movie for a long time but then I watched it with my fiancée who had never seen it and I realised how mediocre it is. I still love the setting though! Having just seen Covenant I would say that it's good but not great. Better than Prometheus, 3 and resurrection by a long shot.

Alien Resurrection is essential viewing.

It's fine. Just avoid expecting a safe sequel.

I like it, but I'm somewhat of an Alien apologist. It is no where near as bad as some people say, its probably as good as it could of been coming off two bona fide classics. Its the classic case of studio interference. I can't remember who says it on the DVD special features but someone straight up says "we set out to make a release date not a movie".

If you do see it. I'd HIGHLY recommend watching the making of features from the Alien Quadrilogy boxset. Everyone is incredibly candid about why the movie didn't work and its a very interesting watch.

@mercutio123: I have the blu ray box set and never watched the special features. I'm going to watch them now.

I would say to watch Alien 3 only if you have the assembly cut (sometimes called the director's cut or work print cut) available to you. If you have access to the Alien Anthology blu-ray then I would definitely watch it in order to have the context to be able to fully enjoy the special features of Alien 3 on the blu-ray box set. It is a very flawed and extremely uneven movie, but I would say that the theatrical cut of Alien 3 is just straight up bad. Alien Resurrection is a fun bad movie to laugh at, if you are into that sort of thing.

Over-all I didn't like it. But it did something interesting. The feel and the whole atmosphere stays with me more. And I think it was honest to itself to the very ending.

Come to think, maybe that's why I don't like it.....

Yes but go in knowing it's not very good. It isn't abysmal but it does stray into campy, B movie territory quite a lot.

I mean, I like Alien 3 alright. It definitely goes for the tone of Alien, and in some ways ignores Aliens. To me, you're never going to get a movie as good as Alien, but Alien 3 is fine in terms of being entertaining.

Yep, Alien 3 is alright. Alien and Aliens are both top 50 movies ever, Alien probably the best horror film ever (better than the Shining); Alien 3 is maybe top 1000? But there's definitely a few thousand movies worth watching.

Alien 3 is totally fine. 3 and 4 are some of the most 90's movies you can ever see though, 3 being all grungy and 4 being that fake slick neon dirty that became a thing in the late 90's. And to counter your point about watching 4 at least once...

Ron Perlman

Like a lot of people have said Alien 3 is a totally fine movie. Don't hold it up to Alien or Aliens levels and I'm sure you will find it a descent watch.

On the other hand, I know I am in the vast minority here but I unabashedly like Alien Resurrection. It's a bad movie but I've enjoyed every time I've watched it.

I don't know man watch 'em all! You'll get some enjoyment out of them at least so why not?

I watched Alien and Aliens for the first time about 3 months ago. Loved Alien and thought Aliens was good. I then tried to watch the third and I stopped about 25 min in. I was not feeling that film at all and had enough other stuff to watch I didn't feel bad just skipping right past it.

I tried to watch it on three different occasions and fell asleep each time. It's boring as hell and not worth your or anyone else's time. Skip it.

Came to echo the same feelings.

Yeah I remember sitting down to watch the entire series one day and I got through Alien and Aliens no problem but remember turning off Alien 3 after a while. Never went back to it or Resurrection.

I like the Assembly Cut a lot, it is a fantastic very atmospheric movie not a classic but then again not every movie can be. Since you've only just seen Aliens I think it may be easier for you to get over whatever happens in the beginning of the movie.

As misguided studio misfires go, it's far from the worst you'll ever see. It's probably good to just have the cultural context of it.

Like a bunch of other people have said: the Assembly Cut is actually great. The theatrical cut, not so much.

Just to put it out there: I also like Alien Resurrection, but I was a fan of Jean-Pierre Jeunet before he directed it (Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children are two of my favorite movies) so I understood where it was coming from I guess. I think if you watch those movies first, Resurrection makes a little more sense. Putting Jeunet behind an Alien movie was a pretty bold move.

Just my opinion, but....

None of the Alien movies are bad. Some are better than others, the first two are classics in different genres, but none of the movie is bad as a stand alone movie. The is really the shocking realization, series like Terminator have some bad movies in the mix. However, the Aliens series does fairly well in a broad overview. I would even say the only movie that is truly bad is Prometheus, which is more of a tangential off shoot than an Alien/Aliens movie.

I actually like 3 for being very different, just as Aliens as different in tone than Alien.

I thought about this a bit and I think the Alien franchise has progressed in almost the exact same fashion as the Mass Effect series

Alien = Mass Effect: Genre defining classic that has aged amazingly well.

Aliens = Mass Effect 2: A more action oriented sequel that some may argue is better than the first.

Alien 3 = Mass Effect 3: Tries to build on what made 2 great with some serious missteps and an amazingly stupid ending.

Alien: Resurrection = Mass Effect: Andromeda: Clownshoes stupid but kinda funny to laugh at how bad it is.

It's pretty shit. I hated the beginning of it where they, in seconds, threw out all the plot progression that happened in Aliens. My impression of it didn't improve from there, no matter how many accusations of space-racism the characters yell at each other

I was very disappointed with hated Alien 3 when I watched it in theatres all those years ago, but I like it better than Aliens nowadays - I feel like the claustrophobic desperate feel of Alien 3 fits the franchise much better than Cameron's oo-rah marine story I loved so much as a youngster.

I'll echo this. If you watch Resurrection as an Alien movie, it's baaaaaaad. But, as a Jeunet movie, it's entirely watchable (though admittedly still not all that spectacular when held up against his other films).

I like it, its not as strong as Alien or Aliens, I give it a 3/5

It's a bit of a mess but I genuinly enjoy it, maybe it's because I hated the action turn the series had taken with the second film (It's a damn good sci-fi action film on it's own, but it's not what I wanted from an Alien sequel).

If you can, make sure to watch the Assembly Cut, which still isn't what Fincher wanted, but it's a lot better than the theatrical version.

Also some fantastic performances from Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann (who has a big subplot that is barely in the theatrical version) and of course Sigourney Weaver who protrays the grief and weariness of Ripley perfectly.

First off, I like Alien 3 more than Aliens. Aliens is was action movie and that's not what I want from the franchise.

Second: You read plot synopses of each later film to decide if you wanted to watch them? Does that not ruin movies?

I enjoyed parts of Alien 3 during the first and only time I watched it like 15 years ago!

Honestly, the only film I would avoid is Alien VS Predator, and whatever its sequel was called. That movie was not only bad, but failed on delivering the, you know, Alien versus Predator pitch, and it sounds like the sequel was even worse. I'm not saying Resurrection is a good movie (it is not), but I don't think it's harmful to watch either.

Definitely, one way to look at it. I'd still fall on the side that says Aliens Resurrection is better than any & all the Transformers movies and the last two Terminator movies....but yes, it is a bit goofy.

Anyone who says Alien 3 is hot garbage or a bad film is plain wrong. Is the film as good as Alien or Aliens? Absolutely not; its a slow, plodding film that tonally mismatched scenes and a inconsistent pace. That being said, its not bad and honestly its the third best Alien film out there. There are plenty of reasons why it was bad and didn't work but its still a fine movie. I would recommend looking up the "Assembly Cut" of the film and watch that opposed to just the regular one.

I would avoid Alien: Resurrection (unless you just want to laugh at how terrible it is ) and both Alien vs Predator films (which are equally as bad imo).

I, personally, don't look at Prometheus as an Alien film...I don't look at it as a good film either, but that's neither here or there.

It's ok. I don't particularly care for it, especially with how depressingly dark it is. I also despise how it pretty much ruins the ending of Aliens and kills a potentially great plot that could have involved all of the survivors of the second movie. Thinking about how poorly it handled its opening kind of frustrates the hell out of me even now just thinking about it, and I haven't seen the movie in probably over a decade.

The worst thing you can say about Alien 3 is that it squanders everything good about Aliens. Aliens is pretty much the perfect sequel, it moved the franchise forward, introduced a core cast of characters with more of a "movie" style interaction than the realism of the original, but as a result they feel more fleshed out and interesting. Alien 3, instead, moves back to an Alien 1 style of film, and actively, intentionally severs all meaningful ties with Aliens. It sacrifices the gains made in Aliens in order to be a substandard replica of the original, basically.

Honestly, save the two AvPs, all the Alien films are worth watching. I'd even say I like Resurrection more than 3, because at least it's a weird, fun, french B-movie, and it tries to do some interesting things with the xenomorphs. Resurrection is bad, but I feel like it knows what it is and what it's doing, whereas Alien 3 and Prometheus are too messy and incoherent.

If you get a chance, read some of the unused scripts for Alien 3. There were a number of authors involved (even William Gibson!), and while none of the scripts feel quite right, they're a lot more interesting than anything we've gotten since Aliens.

Depends on how deep you wanna go down the rabbit hole! For my money it's a mess of a movie with some great bit and genuinely cool ideas.

It does have one of the greatest horror soundtracks ever though.

Whether you watch it or not, I'd argue documentary/making of material is super interesting since it appears to be one of the very few times people publicly acknowledge that a film is a mess. And discussions are very much of the "what went wrong" nature.

But for the love of good watch Alien Resurection :D it's strange and wonky but man is it fun and does it take the alien franchise somewhere interesting! Also it appears to be something of a "love it or hate it" film, being less dour and nihilistic and more in your face Euro schlock.

P.s. I'd rank the films Alien, Aliens, Prometheus, Alien 4, Alien3

However I'm not a massive aliens fan , can't stand all the Newt stuff.

P.p.s. Is alien isolation still good/worth getting on ps4?

Aliens 3 watch it !!! not that bad.