I think aside from the performances of the actors-
I believe that honestly,
the prisoners being faceless was kinda the point.
From Ripley's perspective- how many people die
before they all start blurring together?
Dead before the half-way mark.
Personally, I think the cast of Andrews, 85, Clemens, Dillion, Morse, Golic, David, Junior,
Bishop, Michael Bishop-
have as much personality as Burke, Bishop, Gorman, Hicks, Hudson, Vasquez,
Apone, Drake-
and some of the minor characters are more believable-
I think in terms of performance, Rains, Boggs, Jude, Gregor, Murphy, Frank-
I could tell you what they were like as a person,
in the same way I could with the naturalistic performances of the crew of the Nostromo.
As opposed to Frost, Crowe, Spunkmeyer, Ferro-
Which I only remember because of people aping their funny lines for years.
But I don't know anything about them as people;
or remember them apart from those lines, except someone doesn't like cornbread.
Honest to God, I don't see any pacing issues with A3-
although I only have watched the Special Edition for years now-
it's by far my most "comfy" Alien film.