Review of Alien³ (1992) by Jim D — 22 Mar 2014

"IN SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM".

- One of my absolute favorite film of all time is this 1979 sci-fi horror film 'Alien' from the genius director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Prometheus). This movie is seen as one of the most important an influential films in the science fiction genre, and still holds the title of 'most scariest film'. The thrilling fear that Scott was able to create came from the dark atmosphere in the seemingly claustrophobic space vessel 'Nostromo', as a extraterrestrial monster terrorizes the crew. I won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It was destined to become a popular film franchise. Highly memorable is the dining scene. The character of Ellen Ripley, the first leading role for actress Sigourney Weaver (Avatar, The Village), is also the best female character to have appeared on screen and my personal childhood heroine. Next to Weaver, we see a lot of other talented cast members: Tom Skerritt (Top Gun, Poltergeist 3), Veronica Cartwright (Scary Movie 2, The Birds), Ian Holm (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, From Hell), John Hurt (The Elephant Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Yaphet Kotto (The Running Man, Live and Let Die) and Harry Dean Stanton (Repo Man, The Green Mile). 'Alien' is one of the best films ever made and therefore a must see-classic! Make sure you see the 2003 director's cut, which brings an extra to the original story.

The commercial towing spaceship Nostromo is returning to the planet Earth, with its seven crewmembers and cat in cryogenic sleep. Along the way, the ship's computer (Mother) wakes them up after a transmission of unknown origin is detected on a nearby unexplored planet. The vessel lands with some minor damage on the surface and captain Dallas (Skerritt) takes Executive Officer Kane(Hurt) and Navigator Lambert (Cartwright)with him to investigate the source of the signal that is coming from an alien spacecraft. While engineers Brett (Stanton) and Parker (Kotto) are repairing the Nostromo, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (Weaver) and Science Officer Ash follow the expedition from the control room.

Inside the alien spacecraft, Dallas, Kane and Lambert find the remains of a large creature whose ribs appear to have been bent from the inside. Kane discovers a hidden chamber, where thousands of eggs are standing in some sort of mist. When taking a closer look, the eggs opens up and a creature attaches itself to Kane's face. Dallas and Lambert bring the unconscious man back to the Nostromo, where Ripley refuges to open the door, because Kane needs to be in quarantine. Ash violates the protocol and lets the three crewmembers in.

Unable to remove the creature from Kane's face, the group doesn't know what to do. Eventually the creature detaches itself and dies. While the Nostromo leaves the planet and resumes its way back to Earth, Kane awakens and seems to be in good health. Before heading back to cryo-sleep, the crew has one final dinner. Suddenly Kane begins to convulse in pain and a small alien bursts out from his chest, killing him in the process. A great evil now dwells around the ship. Can the crew kill it before it kills them?