Home :: DVD :: Science Fiction & Fantasy :: General  

Alien Invasion
Aliens
Animation
Classic Sci-Fi
Comedy
Cult Classics
Fantasy
Futuristic
General

Kids & Family
Monsters & Mutants
Robots & Androids
Sci-Fi Action
Series & Sequels
Space Adventure
Star Trek
Television
Alien 3 (Collector's Edition)

Alien 3 (Collector's Edition)

List Price: $26.98
Your Price: $24.28
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 .. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 .. 27 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: ok
Review: I liked how the stages were very dark and alone but the acting and computer graphics were terrible.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Alien 3
Review: Pre-Fight Club David Fincher directed this misunderstood entry into the Alien franchise. While it's a flawed film, it does touch on some themes that weren't done in the first two, and there are some effectively creepy moments.

The special effects quota reverts back to the original's modus operandi of not showing the aliens as much as James Cameron's "everything and the kitchen sink" trademark. Which is rather effective and creepy, utilising the old "hiding in the shadows" trick. And Sigourney Weaver is good as the tough-as- nails Ellen Ripley. Still, it's disappointing compared to the first two films, because the action is subdued, the characters are cardboard and the plot is very silly. But there is some good action, and while the nihilistic ending would have seemed to rule out the possibility of a fourth entry, Alien Resurrection carried on the story to bigger, and arguably better effect.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: David Fincher deserves more credit...
Review: ... than he gets for this film. Yah, it has its flaws, but it is a really good example of Fincher-as-stylist. This film brings Lieutenant Ripley to a confined warren of tunnels on a remote prison planet where there are few people, no weapons and the only prospect of escape is a ship sent by "the Company" to "rescue" those who can live long enough. Fincher tries to do several things: he wants to get back to the confined, dread-full environment that made the first Alien film such a nail-biter (check); he wants to give the audience a newfangled Alien (check); he wants to give us characters to care about (check); he wants to bring back the incredible suspense of the original (ummm... well, no); he wants to make an action film (well, ummm... no again). The major flaw in this film is that it took the moody ambience of the first film and tried to inject the adrenaline of the second. As a result, the film builds suspense up until the killing starts, then rushes too fast through to the end. There are probably four times the number of characters in this film as the original, and still only one alien, and yet by the end of the film, we are almost out of survivors to root for. There are too many characters for the audience to get to know, and Fincher kills them off en masse - literally. This time-compressed high-body-count ruins the suspense that had been building and makes the creepy, grungy, industrial-decay setting irrelevant. This is literally the only thing wrong with this film - although it is enough. Fans and critics savaged this film, but truly, this was a good attempt to make a suspenseful film with strong characterization. I suspect someone on the production staff forced Fincher to inject more action into it, thereby killing the mood. All complaints aside, this is still definitely rental material. For fans, go with Alien first, then Aliens. This one is third best as well as number three of the series. Alien Resurrection - don't even get me started. It makes this one look great.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: journal of the plague year
Review: this film seems like common sci-fi/horror fare but in truth it is dense and incredibly symbolic. for me it evokes plague, (particularly the bodies on the wooden cart following the
explosion) and something akin to stigmata, a foreshadowing of ripley's growing connection with the creature (during the eulogy and birth of the alien when a trickle of blood escapes from her nose)
and there is such an air of claustophbia about the picture which is one of the great hallmarks of the series. it is difficult to compare the films, even though all of them are tense and isolated, but i can say it should have ended there-the last film being stylish and aesthetically pleasing but ultimatley without the fire and dread of the first three.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hmmm
Review: I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars on this film. I definately cannot give it 5 because it is flawed. Yes, the seams show with the effects in places, the logic (as far as the aliens go) is off, and yes, the script here is not sure what it wants to say. That being said, you'd have a pretty hard time finding more visually beautiful films from 91 than this one. Simply put, the cinematography/direction here is phenominal (as strangel seems to be the case with all the Alien films). Why people hate this film with a passion, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's because it's tone is as rank and bleak as an old grave. Perhaps it's because it's score is as overwhelming and final as reading the book of Revelations (the bible) for the first time. Perhaps it's because the beloved heroine recognizes her purpose and chooses annihilation. All of the mentioned above are virtues of this film, not flaws, and that cannot be stressed enough. This film is (once you get past all the Hollywood plot BS) about atonement, about salvation, about corporate corruption, about the burn of humanity, about loss, about love (the loss of love), about the criminal justice system (and how it's easy to forget about criminals if a society can simply keep them out of view and hence out of mind), and about life & death (more of the latter than the former). If people hate this film then it's understandable. It is after all one of the bleakest films Hollywood produced in the 90's. However, I'd advise you watch and decide for yourself. I'd give this film 3.6 t0 4.2 stars.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Rocks but not as good.
Review: This movie was second only to Aliens (haven't seen Resurection that opinion might change.) Unlike the first one this movie got right to the point. No lags.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Alien in the Big House
Review: The third in the ALIEN series should be the first one they didn't make. Both ALIEN and ALIENS had something to say, but ALIEN 3 is left with a watered down message and a log journey to the finale.

As we left ALIENS, Ripley was again in cryo-sleep. We open ALIEN 3 with her crash landing by an all-male prison. Also onboard were a couple aliens looking to branch out. One finds brief shelter in the belly of a dog while the other finds shelter in... well; let's just say it knew whom the series was about. And once again, the company is trying to get a hold of a clean specimen for its war division. But, that's all pretty tired by this point and director David Finchner, who would later direct some good films (FIGHT CLUB) does all he can to make it visually interesting. Most of the film seems to take place in a grimy underground that would fit right in Finchner's own SEVEN. And it seems they have removed most of the color wheel with the exception of yellow and orange. In fact, the DVD transfer looks strange as it is so muted.

This third film is only for completists even with a nice DVD package.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: not that bad...
Review: Alien 3 starts right were Aliens left off. Ripley, Newt, Bishop, and Corporal Hicks are peacefully sleeping in their cryotubes on the way back to earth when something goes terrbily wrong. Aparrently, the queen had lain an egg inside the dropship she hid in on the way back to the Suvlaco in Aliens. The egg hatches and cracks through Ripley's cryotube, impregnating her. Meanwhile, the glass it broke on its way to get to Ripley's face cut the facehugger and caused it to bleed. The acids soon starts a fire in the ship and an escape module is jetisined with Ripley and crew (including the facehugger) inside it. The escape module crashes on Weyland Yutani's "Fury" 161, where an all male work correctional facility is located. The ex-cons take care of her (well, some of them do) and Ripley slowly revives to find that Newt and Hicks are dead. Meanwhile, the facehugger that impregnated Ripley came off her face before arriving on "Fury" 161...and survived. After that, it impregnates one of the ex con's dog. Now, without weapons of any kind, Ripley must lead the ex-cons to battle the alien as she did in the original.

Now, I'll admit that this movie does have some problems. First, some of the speical effects are just plain bad. Although there is only about 4 or 5 horrible special effects shots, they really stand out and sometimes ruin the sequence. The close-ups on the other hand look great and scary. (The close-ups are used throughout most of the film.) Another thing people don't like about this movie is that Hicks and Newt were killed. This is actually a GOOD thing because if Hicks survived, he wouldn't be able to do anything because of his wounds. He'd probably be the first one to die. And Newt would probably be raped/mollested by one of the ex-cons. Aside from that, the only other flaw is some plot holes. First of all, the facehugger impregnates Ripley, comes off, and then goes on to impregnate a dog. Now in the first one is showed the facehugger coming off and dieing after it's first victim, but there's nothing that actually says that a facehugger can't impregnate two victims. Maybe it was a different/unique kind of facehugger.

The good things: The alien is a lot more intersting that those in the other two movies. Since it came from a dog, it can run on the walls and ceilings, as well as spit acid into victim's faces. Also, the movie tries to be like the first one, which is good. At the end, it makes an unmissable reference back to the first one. (If you've seen the movie, you'll know what I mean.) Last, the ending is the best in the series. Instead of the usual blowing the alien out of the airlock, here it is burned with gallons of hot lead. Then it is exploded by the cold water from the sprinklers. After that, there is a very dramatic scene in which Ripley kills herself and the psychotic company gunmen do away with some of the surviving cons.

The ending is so great because director David Fincher knew this had to end the trilogy, so he had to make it as dramatic and mermorable as possible, which he did.

All in all, a good flick, third best in the series. If you don't like this movie, please give it another chance. Sure, it can't compete with Aliens; it took away the hard-hitting action. But it's still a great film on its own. Should not be missed. Definetly should be a part of your alien collection.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: good,but cannot live up to its previous outings.
Review: Alien 3 had mixed thoughts when it hit theaters back in 1992. People were not sure what to make out of the alien trilogy's latest installement, probably because it was so dark and gloomy, much like David Fincher's other thriller 'seven'. This is most likely the biggest reason why people did not like it. However Alien 3 is a good film, but had that awkward disadvantage of having to live up to 2 of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made.
The plot returns to the first installemnts horror, run-away screaming style, and a lot less action than Aliens, considering Ripley and her team of inmates have absolutely no weapons whatsoever and must rely on cunning ability to ultimately trap the creature. In the midst of all these goings on, Rpley discovers she has an alien inside of her ready to burst out and bring down all hell. To make matters worse for our heroine Ripley she discovers that a spaceship will soon be arriving to pick her up, and her precious host so that they can use it for their bio-weapons division,witch threatens to erase all of her earlier attempts to destroy the creature. This leads Ripley to not only take action against the monster but herself aswell.
This movie is fantastic in conveing the mood in which the film takes place, a dangerous maximum security prison, in wich the alien lurkes and picks off inmates one by one. The acting is also spot on by Weaver, naturally, but rather becomes a more frightened and 'less tough' hero, like she was in its predessecors.
Ultimately, a fine and disturbingly gory addition to the trilogy, with good directing and spot on acting. Oh yeah, i forgot to mention the creature is as vicious as ever and fans will enjoy how it runs on walls on all fours(with camera as aliens point of view), witch is really quite cool. A good film, if not quite as good as the more satisfying originals.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: ? Can you catch a 22 ¿
Review: Unless you watched all of the Alien film's in a row, I can understand how someone could like this film. There is nothing psychological, witty, or even surprising in 3.


I don't want to offend the Alienites that are hard-core in LOVE with ALL of the Alien movies, so I will be gentle. I was on fire after I watched Alien's, and couldn't wait to put the next installment into the dvd player. But, my friends, I couldn't get over the first five minutes. In those few moment's, it successfully grab's the entire purpose of the second film and throws it into the trash. I understand that by the time 3 came out the young girl (actress) was much too old to appear as young as she was before cryo-sleap. But, why kill her off? And the robot. Why? The soldier who was developing a crush on Ripley. Why? All dead. That made me so out of whack that I just couldn't enjoy the movie. I sat there perplexed in hopes that there would be something better in store for Ripley to take the place of her loss, or if even, to create something more exciting for the story line. I didn't feel the same tensity that was so dominant in the first two films. And coming from the director of Se7en, I am really surprised that the darkness couldn't have overcome that fault. Darkness in a film doesn't mean grit and gore, it means putting together the pieces of a puzzle in a mysterious circumastance. Not found here.

Ripley is marooned with a bunch of religious skin heads that even though are supposed to be under a law of purification, use more "f" words than anything found in all the other films combined. (I thought that was funny and sad, wierd huh.) Anyway, as formula begat formula, anyone that tries to become close to Ripley in any shape form or fashion gets torn into gushy pieces. It became predictable after a while. - Someone is nice to Ripley - They get their face ripped off. I thought I was a psychic by the time the movie was over. Ripley shaves her head, and looks pretty cool. And no matter how much they tried, when you have a bucket-ful of alien's in the previous movie, One single alien (mutanized or not) just doesn't do the trick anymore. Been there - Done that - Seen that.

If your on a mission to watch all of the Alien movies, then by all mean's watch it. But more than likely (if you share my opinion's) you will be sadly disappointed.


<< 1 .. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 .. 27 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates