ALIEN 3 Pre-Release Summary

Quick Jump : Film Quality | Overall Impression | Differences From Theatrical Version

ALIEN 3 Pre-release Summary

All the content on this page was written by JR. I recently had the opportunity to view what appears to be a pre-release version of "Alien 3", rather than an official "director's cut." The video transfer was quite dark and murky rather than a polished product ready for release, but once you got used to watching what is almost a black and white version, it is very interesting for what it shows the original version of the film to be. This version had no film score added to the soundtrack yet, which actually proved to be a help, as the quality of the soundtrack proved to be excellent, allowing the viewer to fully hear all of the dialogue and incidental sounds - especially the winds that whip through Fiorina-161, which made some scenes more effective, and the screams and pleas of convicts being caught and killed by the Alien, which were much clearer than usual (and chillingly effective).

Pre-release : Film Quality

Just a few notes off the bat - the film leader opens with an alternate (early version?) of the "Alien 3" logo and an interesting logo that looks like a W, and might be a W-Y for Weyland-Yutani? Also, there were several scenes that only showed the matte paintings over which other special effects would be later superimposed - for example, when the EEV is hoisted out of the water in the beginning (in this version, there are only the prison buildings in the background, and no EEV being ridden by prisoners), some of the EEV falling to Fiorina-161 (there is only the EEV and no Fiorina), and later when the Company rescue ship arrives on the planet (there is only the antenna without the ship, and later Weyland-Yutani rascals emerging from a blinding white glare, again without the ship). Seeing the theatrical version helps you fill in these gaps. But since this version does seem to include the matte paintings or at least partial effects for unfinished sequences, it made me wonder about all of the special effects sequences which are NOT seen in this version at all - I am unsure of whether they had not been added yet, or whether they were not planned at all until after this version was screened and someone decided changes were needed. A good look at the shooting script would probably resolve most of this, but for this review, I am going to note all of these missing sequences as "differences" from the theatrical version, and treat this version as if those sequences were not planned to be included later.

Pre-release : Overall Impressions

As far as a review of this pre-release version as it's own film, I must say I liked it better than the final theatrical release. There is more character development, specifically with the character of Golic (played by Paul McGann, who later played Dr. Who in Fox's American TV-movie version of the series - and what ever became of that, anyway?), who is the sole survivor when the Alien attacks several prisoners in one of the many dark attack sequences (remember the candles blowing out?), and is initially blamed as the killer by Superintendant Andrews. Also, Charles S. Dutton (Dillon) gets several other sequences to build Dillon into an interesting and complex character - I found Dutton powerful in the theatrical version but the character often annoying, mostly delivering speeches at every turn instead of real dialogue. Here we get to see much more of Dillon's concern for his fellow believers, more of his human side. There are really very few scenes involving Clemens (Charles Dance) that are not already in the theatrical version - his character here is as developed as it gets, and I still find him the most developed character in the film. There is a very exciting and interesting sequence in the middle revolving around the first attempt to capture the Alien and the Company's interest in what is taking place on Fiorina-161, and much more mystery about the Alien. There is a longer, more intense confrontation with all the Company's men at the end. And the original also does a better job (in places) of explaining some of the things that seemed to be "missing" from the theatrical release - surprise, that's because they WERE missing! And most interestingly, it does a better job of explaining the things that always bother series fans about the beginning of the film...by not explaining them at all, rather than showing weird things that didn't quite make sense. We would all still be debating the reasons for how an Alien got on the EEV, but the lack of concrete images as to how in this original version allow your mind to puzzle a bit more instead of balk at what was given. I always found "Alien 3" to be the weakest of the series, but I think that this version is much stronger and stands up well to the others.

Pre-release : Differences from Theatrical Release

These differences are given in the order that they appear in the original version: * The opening credit sequence is different. No, sorry, Newt and Hicks still die and somehow an Alien gets on the EEV. However, the theatrical version shows a cast member name, then cuts to a shot of something happening on the Sulaco or EEV. This version does not have as many of these cuts - most significantly, there is no shot of the open eggs on board the Sulaco, and very few shots of Newt. There is one shot of the facehugger, just as in the theatrical version, but not of it moving on her cryotube and so on, and few of Ripley as well. You can hear the Sulaco computer much more clearly describing the electrical fire and ordering the crew to the lifeboats. It is much more of a mystery as to what is happening - you know there's a facehugger, but you don't know how it got there and who it got. * There is no shot of the EEV crashing on Fiorina-161. * We never see the dog confronting the (second?) facehugger in the EEV after the prisoners have removed Ripley. We do see the dog barking, but we don't know why. It always confused me in the theatrical version how a second facehugger got into the EEV and why it first left Ripley and Newt alone, and then left all of the prisoners in the search party alone, only to settle for a dog. You can make up your own explanation here. * Dillon's funeral oration for Newt and Hicks is delivered as one complete sequence without editing. This differs wildly from the theatrical version, where this is probably the most effective sequence of the film, with Dillon's 'from death another life begins' speech being intercut with the Alien's birth from the dog. Not only do the edits not take place, but there is no Alien birth scene at all, nor is the dog referred to or seen again after the one prisoner notes "what kind of animal does this to a dog?" Just going by the original film rather than the shooting script or later film, you could think that the Alien was hiding on the EEV with Ripley and came down to Fiorina-161 all by itself, and that was what the dog was barking at, and the Alien injured the dog, rather than the whole second facehugger-dog birth storyline of the theatrical version. Again, there is more mystery in the original footage. * Dillon meets with the other "believers" about Golic after the eulogy. The others dislike Golic and believe that he is crazy (and he smells bad, apparently worse than you'd expect in a penal colony overrun with lice), and no one wants to work with him anymore. This idea of Golic's insanity becomes much more important in the original version, and so gets more emphasis up front. Dillon tells the others to lay off their "brother". * When Superintendant Andrews summons Clemens to the meeting with himself and 85, he presses Clemens much harder about Ripley's story and why the Company is so interested in her. He also lets Clemens know that he is well aware that there seems to be a sexual interest between the pair. Clemens says that Ripley told him that she was part of a military mission "that came to grief", and he never pushed for more. * After his comrades are killed by the Alien, Golic is found in the cafeteria, sitting by himself, eating, covered in blood. Given the earlier meeing on Golic's mental health, it makes even more sense why Superintendant Andrews immediately believes Golic to be the killer. * When Ripley and Bishop are talking in the EEV, Ripley asks him if the Company knows that they had an Alien on board, and Bishop explains that they are aware of all information from the Sulaco and EEV computers, and that they know. "And they want it," Ripley replies. I don't recall this in the theatrical version - I thought it was 85, much later, who tells Ripley that the Company gathers all information through "the Network" and is aware of everything. * When Clemens and Ripley are talking in the infirmary, it is much easier to hear the ravings of Golic about "the Dragon" and his conversation with Ripley about whether she's married or not. * After killing Clemens, after the Alien runs away, "Magnificent", Golic keeps repeating in awe. ***** The first attempt to trap the Alien, using the nuclear waste tank, is much longer and more dramatic. The theatrical version gives the impression that the resulting fire in effect ends the attempt unsuccessfully, and the survivors are forced to come up with a new plan. The original version is much more interesting. After the prisoner is killed by the Alien and drops his flare, igniting the flammable liquid with which they were coating the area, the fire spreads through the tank. Dillon and Ripley each go through the fires to save as many prisoners as they can. =====* After they have brought as many to the tank entrance as they can, there is only one prisoner left alive inside, and as he makes his way to the entrance the Alien crawls down the wall in an excellent sequence and cuts him off. The others yell for him to hurry, but the Alien gets him, and as Dillon and Ripley close the doors we can hear the Alien and then the man's screams, and then the sickening sound of his death. ======* Dillon (of course) is quite upset, and delivers another eulogy, this time for all of the dead believers. With the Alien now successfully trapped in the waste tank, 85 tells Ripley they can just sit around and wait 4-5 days for the Company rescue ship to come, then open the doors and kill the Alien. Ripley argues with him that the Company won't kill it. ======* Meanwhile, Morse has been assigned to keep watch on Golic, still locked up in the infirmary. Golic appeals to Morse to free him, since it should now be obvious to everyone that Golic was not guilty of the earlier murders. Morse, agreeing that he has seen "the Beast" himself, releases Golic, and when Golic asks where the Alien is now because he needs to see it one last time, Morse lets him know that it is trapped in the waste tank and he can't see it. For his troubles, Golic clocks him and escapes ("No more smoking for you," he tells the unconscious Morse). ======* Ripley and 85 go to the Superindendant's office and use the computer to tell the rescue ship that Andrews and Clemens are dead. 85 wants to let them know they have trapped the Alien, so he asks Ripley what to call it, and when Ripley replies "call it a Xenomorph", 85 - true to his IQ - cannot type the word. Ripley takes over the keypad and sends the message "Have trapped Xenomorph. Permission to terminate?" Surprise! - the Company freaks out and repeatedly denies the request, telling them the rescue ship will arrive in 18 hours with a medivac team, and helpfully suggests locking down all the prisoners for safety (gee, WHOSE safety, I wonder). ======* Unfortunately for them, Golic is already on the move, killing the prisoner guarding the waste tank (although he is immediately sorry about it afterwards, no help to his now dead comrade). Golic then opens the doors and enters the waste tank, calling on the Alien he now worships (take that, Dillon!) to tell him what to do now. As you might imagine, the Alien enters the area hissing, drops from the ceiling, and kills him. So if you had ever wondered "What happened to that nutty guy they had chained up in the infirmary?", now you know. ======* Meanwhile, Ripley is explaining to Dillon how the communications with the Company prove they will not kill the Alien once they get to Fiorina-161. Dillon doesn't care if they do or not - he just wants to protect those of his believers who are left. Before Ripley can convince him to help her kill it, Morse arrives with the bad news that Golic escaped and let the Alien loose. ======* Now we begin to return to the theatrical release, with Ripley, Dillon, 85 and Morse debating what to do now before Ripley slips away to go the EEV to use the neuroscanner. As a sidenote, this helped clear up a question I always had. A little later in the film, after Ripley uses the neuroscanner to detect the Alien Queen inside her, the Company sends a new message saying they are expediting the team to arrive within four hours. I always wondered why the ship was taking its own sweet time in getting there so that it suddenly needed to go fast. The missing footage helps explain this - the Company believed that the Alien was safely trapped pending their arrival, and had no need to rush. They also did not have to fear about their order to leave the Alien alone being ignored - they thought they were talking to 85 rather than Ripley, and in fact go so far as to remind 85 to look after her. * After Ripley can't get 85 to send the fake message to keep the Company away, she tells him that she's going "just down there, in the basement" to find the Alien and get it to kill her, just as in the theatrical version. However, the sequence where she looks for it and confronts it does not exist. Instead, we next see her approach Dillon and explain that the Alien would not kill her, and tell him she has an Alien Queen inside of her, as in the theatrical version. * The argument over whether to hunt the Alien is a bit longer and makes more sense, given that Ripley definitely knows the Company's intentions and 85 tries to give it another spin. * When the Weyland-Yutani crew shows up in their odd baggie outfits and 85 meets them, there is more dialogue between them. 85 talks with the Japanese scientist and tells him Ripley has an Alien inside of her, to which the scientist responds "We already know that." 85 looks at the flimsy cage they've brought with for the current Alien and tells Bishop II "You're going to need a bigger cage!" I always thought the carrying the flimsy cage around was a bit silly, so I appreciated this sequence. * When trying to draw the Alien into the lead works, Ripley begs the Alien to kill her. It may just be a false impression, but it seems to me there is a lot more talk about Ripley's fate in the original version. * There may be a little more footage of the Alien after it bursts out of the molten lead. In any case, Morse does not tell Ripley to turn on the water - Ripley figures it out herself, tells the Alien "For the last time", and releases the water that causes it to explode. * There is a longer confrontation between Ripley/Morse and the Weyland-Yutani folks. Given that Ripley has been given even more ammunition in the original version not to believe anything the Company says, Bishop II has to do a much stronger sales pitch to try to get her to come with them and let them help her. The Japanese scientist even explains that the procedure to remove the Alien Queen will take only two hours and be painless. We can see Ripley struggling over self-preservation versus her distrust, and we see Lance Henriksen using all of his powers of persuasion as Bishop II. 85 finally hits Bishop II as he does in the theatrical version, cursing him as a droid and a liar, but when Bishop II gets back up he yells "I'm not a droid", even though his ear is pretty obviously painfully detached from the side of his head. I guess the original version is saying he's a person, but there still isn't enough blood or agony for me to 100% believe it...or maybe by this point I just share Ripley's Company paranoia. Ripley finally backs up and closes the gate, refuses the offers of help as Bishop II keeps saying "What are you doing? What are you doing?", and takes the fatal plunge as he screams "No", as in the theatrical version. Thankfully (for me), the Alien Queen is not born as Ripley falls, so there is no need for her to have the presence of mind to grab it as she dies, nor for the viewer to appreciate or laugh about the Queen's sense of timing. There is still the obvious crucifiction imagery as she falls. Though it is harder to see due to the brightness here and the unpolished effects, I prefer this death to the more melodramatic version in the theatrical version. * There are no end credits, as you might expect from a pre-release version. I watched both the theatrical and pre-release versions within a few weeks of each other, and went back over the opening credits and beginning of the theatrical version afterwards. However, there may be other things I have missed. I have tried to be as thorough as possible.

Back [home]