David Fincher talks Alien 3 (briefly) in this month's issue of Empire Magazine

[BlueMarsalis79]

Wish we lived in the reality where they used both, but otherwise followed your suggestion maybe then the topic here might be, "did it come from the dog or ox?" in the place of the Egg on the Sulaco thread.

[SiL]

Well, now I'm just kind of imagining this pseudo murder mystery with a twist at the end, where Ripley thinks it might be an Alien but isn't quite sure.

Kind of. When you strip out the Alien before Ripley encounters it, you're in the same uneasy space she is. There's all these signs that point to an Alien being there, but she just can't prove it -- and neither can the audience. Then she talks to Bishop and confirms it, and we're just waiting for it to finally appear.

Drops the time to the Bishop talk to about 35 minutes rather than 40+.

Wish we lived in the reality where they used both, but otherwise followed your suggestion maybe then the topic here might be, "did it come from the dog or ox?" in the place of the Egg on the Sulaco thread.

Easy enough to add both. But wouldn't really add much to the narrative. It's fairly irrelevant outside of it's not a human.

[xShadowFoxX]

Well, now I'm just kind of imagining this pseudo murder mystery with a twist at the end, where Ripley thinks it might be an Alien but isn't quite sure.

Kind of. When you strip out the Alien before Ripley encounters it, you're in the same uneasy space she is. There's all these signs that point to an Alien being there, but she just can't prove it -- and neither can the audience. Then she talks to Bishop and confirms it, and we're just waiting for it to finally appear.

Drops the time to the Bishop talk to about 35 minutes rather than 40+.

That's exactly it. That's exactly what I'm thinking.

We still kind of have that in there, but it still shows us scenes of the Alien that are parallel to that. Be more powerful if they weren't there.

[BlueMarsalis79]

I think we are all in agreement on this honestly, I wonder how Terry Rawlings and David Fincher did not see it, I do love Clemens on the beach finding Ripley though and I am heartbroken it is excised in any version.

[SiL]

Who says they didn't?

Quite a few early scripts and edits played with delaying arrival of the Alien. They might have thought of it.

Bur it wouldn't have mattered. It's really easy to sit here 30 years later and do it when there's nothing to risk, but like hell Fox were going to consider a movie with no trace of an Alien in it for over half an hour.

[BlueMarsalis79]

Did they not the first time?

It is about half an hour until we see the Derelict and another half an hour until we see the Alien itself.

[SiL]

Did they not the first time?

It is about half an hour until we see the Derelict and another half an hour until we see the Alien itself.

Facehugger is about 20-30 minutes in, with significant tension and mystery leading to its reveal.

People like to forget that the early stages of the Alien lifecycle are both still the Alien, and originally one of their most remarkable features.

[xShadowFoxX]

I, too, love that Clemens on the beach, finding Ripley. I love that. And the film could've started from that moment rather than in space. Add to the mystery.

[SiL]

35 minutes in, my mistake.

Still, Alien 3 would take 35 minutes to SAY there's an Alien, and another to show any of it.

[BlueMarsalis79]

According to this, the Facehugger's thirty minutes in:

https://wheresthejump.com/jump-scares-in-alien-1979/

As you pointed out, I only saw now.

[SiL]

Yes.

But also keep in mind that's the first movie. By the third we're expecting the thing a bit sooner.

I don't feel it's controversial to suggest a company that wasted tens of millions on unfinished scripts and half built sets wouldn't want to take any more risks than they already were.

[BlueMarsalis79]

No, not at all, just wondering could you cut out half an hour before Doctor Clemens bites it? Or even get it down to forty minutes?

[Acid_Reign161]

I have to be completely honest, I probably wouldn't change anything about the theatrical cut or the Assembly Cut. At a push, if I *had* to nitpick, I'd say the ox-burster scene feels flat compared with how powerful the dogburster scene is. If I were to ask for an additional cut of the movie to be added to a boxset as a bonus, it'd be a finalised version of the workprint. Nothin more, nothing less.😊

[SiL]

No, not at all, the question's just could you cut out half an hour before Clemens bites it? Or even get it down to forty minutes?

You lose about ten minutes of the movie  cutting the Alien beforehand, so Clemens bites it around the 45 mark.

And that's using the AC.

[Acid_Reign161]

No, not at all, the question's just could you cut out half an hour before Clemens bites it? Or even get it down to forty minutes?

You lose about ten minutes of the movie  cutting the Alien beforehand, so Clemens bites it around the 45 mark.

And that's using the AC.

Would I be right in assuming you aren't a fan of 'Aliens: Special Edition'? 😅