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Alien 3 Podcast Featuring Vincent Ward & Lance Henriksen

alien3 Alien 3 Podcast Featuring Vincent Ward & Lance Henriksen

This should be fun for all you Alien 3 fans out there. Movie podcast website The Projection Booth has done a monster of a podcast all about Alien 3. It’s 3 hours 15 minutes long and features interviews with writers Vincent Ward and John Fasano who worked on the wooden planet script. The podcast also features Lance Henriksen who played Bishop and Holt McCallany who played Junior – the prisoner with the goggles who tries to rape Ripley. Lastly, the website speaks to Mark Veheiden who wrote some of the early Aliens and Predator comics for Dark Horse.

It’s very interesting if you like hearing about all the behind-the-scenes on Alien 3. They talk all about the movie’s troubled production and the various early scripts and directors such as David Twohy’s prison planet script. Lance Henriksen talks about his role in Aliens and Alien 3 and answers the age old question on whether Bishop II was an android or a human being.  Holt McCallany discusses how he got into acting and what it was like working with director David Fincher. You can download the podcast directly here.



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  1. Beatnation
    Listen the first 20 minutes... can't get through the cinism and the stupid blind hate those guys got for this masterpiece of movie. Seems like they don't really understand the franchise at all, like in the moment they all agree the prisioners should "act" more like bad guys... I mean wtf?? First off, they're a small group isolated by many years, so they found a religion to fill their empty lifes, beside that they stay on that planet where all the rest just go to a new prision.

    Here's a person who understand what this movie means:

  2. Corporal Hicks
    Quote from: Valaquen on Aug 17, 2015, 04:55:36 PM
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Aug 14, 2015, 12:13:35 PM
    Finished this off yesterday. Really enjoyed hearing Verheiden talk about the comics. I can't say I've ever really read or heard anything from him about them (admittedly - not that I've looked).

    :(

    https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/strange-shapes-interviews-mark-verheiden/

    Alright - maybe I've read that and forgot about it. Sorry, Val.  :-[ I'll have a re-read of that later today.  :)


    He didn't really talk about much different in the podcast to your interview. Still interesting though.  :)
  3. Perfect-Organism
    Quote from: Valaquen on Aug 17, 2015, 04:55:36 PM
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Aug 14, 2015, 12:13:35 PM
    Finished this off yesterday. Really enjoyed hearing Verheiden talk about the comics. I can't say I've ever really read or heard anything from him about them (admittedly - not that I've looked).

    :(

    https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/strange-shapes-interviews-mark-verheiden/

    Very cool find.  Thanks for posting that.  It honestly deserves its own thread.  Most interestingly, there was a mention of Verheiden and Nelson putting together some new one-off issues of Aliens.  I've never seen those let alone even heard of them.  Anyone have any insights?  OT.  Oh boy.
  4. Perfect-Organism
    Verheiden speaking was really the highlight of the entire podcast.  After delighting in his rich cynicism from the books (Rasche: New York will never be the same.  Scheaffer: You say that as if it were a bad thing.), we get to see how much of a humble person he really is.  Dark Horse was built by his friends and he is very understanding of how his works were so "tweaked" by DH over the years.  I really hope to see him write another Alien comic in the future.  I can't remember ever reading another Alien book that matched his particular sardonic wit.  It was his work that helped turn Aliens into a full-blown sci-fi franchise at the tipping point just after James Cameron's epic film.
  5. Darkness
    Still haven't listened to it all myself yet.

    I used to refer the CGI thing myself until somebody here told me it was puppets. That was like a decade ago. To the casual movie viewer, it does look like bad CGI.
  6. Valaquen
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Aug 04, 2015, 07:27:42 AM
    I did like hearing Henriksen's take on it all (and his voice is just so soothing). Interesting to hear he thought of Bishop 2 as an android.

    I honestly think he retconned his thoughts on it after AVP., because he always referrred to him as a human being before 2003, then suddenly, it was meant to be ambiguous, was an advanced android, etc etc. I think he tried to keep AVP in continuity and it's affected his memory or something.
  7. Corporal Hicks
    I really enjoyed listening to Fasano vent. I'm not overly familiar with how things played out when the script started to turn into what ended up on screen.

    Otherwise, I'm just not enjoying the actual hosts. They don't sound as if they understand the series/film at all and just come across as complaining.  :-\


    I got to the end of the actor interviews yesterday. I did like hearing Henriksen's take on it all (and his voice is just so soothing). Interesting to hear he thought of Bishop 2 as an android.

    Shame the Holt one didn't really talk more about Alien 3 and his tendency to say Like got a bit distracting. xD
  8. xeno_alpha_07
    Quote from: Hudson on Jul 31, 2015, 10:56:08 PM
    The rape scene music is definitely in Batman Forever completely verbatim (at least it REALLY sounds like it's the same track). Takes place when Robin gets jumped after driving the Batmobile around at night.

    It's also in Goldenthal's 'Titus' score which is often referred to as a 'Remix' amongst fans (download sample here).  Some of the score for Titus has a lot of Alien 3 elements/tones in it.  It's almost like an alternate score for Alien 3 when you listen to most of it.

  9. Valaquen
    Quote from: Alien³ on Aug 01, 2015, 11:09:46 AM
    Quote from: Valaquen on Jul 31, 2015, 05:44:22 PM
    Also thought Clemens' death was a waste of time.

    Clemen's death was there to remind Ripley that no matter how much she longs for peace she won't find it until the species is dead.

    Yeah yeah, the entire opening of the film was dedicated to that. They couldn't think of how to get the character to work in the third act so they wiped the slate again after wasting however many scenes dedicated to him alone investigating the Alien (a mystery to which the entire audience already knew the answer). A waste of my time, I feel. He was only mentioned off-handedly once afterwards.

    Quote from: Hudson on Jul 31, 2015, 10:56:08 PM
    The rape scene music is definitely in Batman Forever completely verbatim (at least it REALLY sounds like it's the same track). Takes place when Robin gets jumped after driving the Batmobile around at night.

    Yeah, there are a few more similar cues and discordant noises that I recall, too.
  10. ts124
    Quote from: Rankles75 on Jul 26, 2015, 04:20:40 AM
    Quote from: Xenomorphine on Jul 26, 2015, 02:01:44 AM
    It's rare to find someone who literally hates it (although, its own director is on the record as saying he does). Most critics of it were simply very disappointed/underwhelmed.

    'Alien' fans, by and large, are not unfamiliar with themes of futility and nihilism. The first two deal heavily in them. Back in the eighties and early nineties, it was probably characterised as the one futuristic science-fiction series you gravitated to if you were fed up with the (relatively) superficial overtones of 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars'. It was only later that stuff like 'Babylon 5' and 'Farscape' began to pick up the same ball and run with it.

    You can count me as one. Absolutely detest everything about it. Shonky FX, pointless characters who exist only to swear with every other word and get killed in largely stupid ways, stupid beginning with the magic egg that effectively killed the series. Just didn't have a single redeeming feature for me...
    Same here. I enjoy very little about the film. I like the Alien design and thats about it. I get that they were going for the "shock factor" by killing off all of the characters, but I felt that it was too soon honestly. There is still so much that could have been explored. I have tried to like it more and be more accepting of it, but the more I try and watch it the less I like it. Also very unhappy with how they treated Giger for this movie.
  11. Hudson
    The rape scene music is definitely in Batman Forever completely verbatim (at least it REALLY sounds like it's the same track). Takes place when Robin gets jumped after driving the Batmobile around at night.
  12. Xenomorphine
    Quote from: Valaquen on Jul 31, 2015, 05:44:22 PM
    Quote from: HuDaFuK on Jul 31, 2015, 03:12:30 PM
    Quote from: Hudson on Jul 31, 2015, 02:40:58 PMThey haven't mentioned how good the movie looks or how good the score is.

    The score in Alien 3 is easily the best in the series, despite having very strong competition.

    Some of it is reminiscent of Batman Forever, which obviously came out later but I saw it long before Alien 3. Kind of tainted it for me.

    The soundtracks to 'Alien 3' and 'Interview With The Vampire' are almost exactly the same, in terms of tone. Completely different arrangements, but if there were ever two soundtracks which could be put together into one epic collection, it'd be those two. You can listen to them back to back and it's almost as if the composer made them for the same film.
  13. Valaquen
    Quote from: HuDaFuK on Jul 31, 2015, 03:12:30 PM
    Quote from: Hudson on Jul 31, 2015, 02:40:58 PMThey haven't mentioned how good the movie looks or how good the score is.

    The score in Alien 3 is easily the best in the series, despite having very strong competition.

    Some of it is reminiscent of Batman Forever, which obviously came out later but I saw it long before Alien 3. Kind of tainted it for me.

    Also thought Clemens' death was a waste of time. Haven't had the time to listen to this podcast yet, though.
  14. Hudson
    Quote from: HuDaFuK on Jul 31, 2015, 08:09:46 AM
    The opening credits in Alien 3 are awesome. That moment when the Fox fanfare crashes into the opening music is spine-chilling.

    Heh, yeah I love that bit. Definitely owning how much of a dark movie it is.

    I'm only about 40 minutes into this podcast so far, listening to it in segments (currently in the Vincent Ward phone convo). They are really hard on the movie. It makes me wonder why they hosted this at all honestly, because they won't shut up about how much they hate Alien 3. The first guest who gets introduced is a really insufferable person, it seems to me at least. He's annoying and really overexaggerates his displeasure with the film, seems to be nitpicking for every little thing (such as the credits!?). Talking about how Clemens's death contributed to the film being "garbage," and that it made his set-up a waste of time. I find Clemens's death to be one of the high points in the entire series. It comes out of nowhere, reinforces how ruthless the movie is, and is well edited for my tastes. I find that scene to be really impactful, not a slap in the face.

    They haven't mentioned how good the movie looks or how good the score is.
  15. Johnny Paintbrushes
    No worries. Warning - it does border on being a little pretentious in places. But I like the vibe he's going for and I think the final line sums up my own feelings about Alien 3:

    "It's missing something... and your brain keeps on trying to fill in the blanks."
  16. Johnny Paintbrushes
    Great interview with Lance Henriksen - the guy comes across really well.

    Narratively, Alien 3 is undoubtedly a mess. But I will always love its moodiness. Scout Tafoya's film is a great piece that explores the essence of the film that Fincher was trying to realise : https://vimeo.com/76672771
  17. Rankles75
    Quote from: Xenomorphine on Jul 26, 2015, 02:01:44 AM
    It's rare to find someone who literally hates it (although, its own director is on the record as saying he does). Most critics of it were simply very disappointed/underwhelmed.

    'Alien' fans, by and large, are not unfamiliar with themes of futility and nihilism. The first two deal heavily in them. Back in the eighties and early nineties, it was probably characterised as the one futuristic science-fiction series you gravitated to if you were fed up with the (relatively) superficial overtones of 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars'. It was only later that stuff like 'Babylon 5' and 'Farscape' began to pick up the same ball and run with it.

    You can count me as one. Absolutely detest everything about it. Shonky FX, pointless characters who exist only to swear with every other word and get killed in largely stupid ways, stupid beginning with the magic egg that effectively killed the series. Just didn't have a single redeeming feature for me...
  18. Xenomorphine
    It's rare to find someone who literally hates it (although, its own director is on the record as saying he does). Most critics of it were simply very disappointed/underwhelmed.

    'Alien' fans, by and large, are not unfamiliar with themes of futility and nihilism. The first two deal heavily in them. Back in the eighties and early nineties, it was probably characterised as the one futuristic science-fiction series you gravitated to if you were fed up with the (relatively) superficial overtones of 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars'. It was only later that stuff like 'Babylon 5' and 'Farscape' began to pick up the same ball and run with it.
  19. james brummel
    I really don't get the hate on this movie.  As a standalone film I find it terrific, it addresses morality, mortality, fate, sacrifice,all sorts of good stuff.  In this podcast the terms "damsel in distress" and "prince on white horse" fairy tale terms are longingly thrown around -- I guess that is the kind of story they want, simple, good vs bad, right vs wrong, they all lived happily ever after.  Wrong movie.
  20. Mike White
    BTW, I posted an "Errata" about the shitty special effects being a puppet rather than CGI.

    If someone can clear up the egg(s) on the Sulaco for me, I'd appreciate it. 
  21. CrespiChickenStrips
    I think the wooden planet idea would have been visually beautiful, but as many have stated, wouldn't really hold up under scrutiny.  Like a modern day Ridley Scott film (zing!)

    Alien 3 is my favorite in the franchise, and contrary to this podcast, for totally non-hipster reasons.  I like the visuals and music the best of the series, and it's my favorite Alien costume design.  The workprint version has only enhanced it, in my eyes.  As is repeatedly said, it's amazing that such a wonderful film can come out of such a clusterf$%^ of circumstances.  Shame Fincher won't talk about it at length.  I might go revisit the "making of" documentary.
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