How the Assembly Cut Fixes Alien 3 (Video Essay)

[kwarnke13]

Hey all,

Thought I'd share this video I made comparing the Assembly Cut of Alien 3 to the theatrical cut (mods, if I'm out of line sharing this post, please let me know).

https://youtu.be/zbr9C9dHJkE

I know the title might throw some off, since a lot of people think Alien 3 is unfixable due to killing off Hicks and Newt, amid other problems with the movie. But the basic idea of the video is to figure out which cut is better as is, not to necessarily determine how to fix the Alien 3 story as a whole.

And I know there's a fan edit being worked on combining the best of both worlds from each cut. Looks really interesting.

Anyways, hope you all enjoy the video!

[BlueMarsalis79]

You should do a follow up about the 4K one when it comes out.

[SiL]

Charles shared your link on Threads and praised it for being more accurate then most.

[kwarnke13]

At first, I was like "who's Charles?" and then I looked it up and I was like, oh, holy shit, that Charles lol. Thanks for the heads-up!

[SM]

I remain unconvinced.

[Local Trouble]

I remain unconvinced.

I hear tell that The Special Edition of Alien 3 Isn't Very Good.

[SM]

I have also heard tell of this.

[TheDerelict]

The best cut of Alien 3 lies somewhere between the two versions. For me personally, the theatrical is my preferred choice though I do appreciate the assembly cuts existence.
Never understood the "not being able to tell all the bald English actors apart," line that I heard said over and over again. Even as a child I could tell them apart and that half of them suddenly disappeared because of cuts. This was pre internet as it is today and all I had was a vhs recording of the film from sky movies.
Really was never a problem and some of them are not even English.

Oh, and they are not all white either. Not sure why their skin colour was a problem.

[SM]

Because they're mostly white.  And bald. And British. Even some script drafts don't even bother to name them. I've lost count of the people who get claim to be huge Alien 3 fans but get the names wrong over the years. Which is expected since so many are barely name checked.

If you were well versed with English theatre in the early 90s I've no doubt they'd be easy to tell apart.  For everyone else it took multiple viewings for everyone who wasn't Dillon, Aaron, Andrews or Clemens.

[SiL]

I recognised Pete Postlethwaite because I'd seen The Lost World.

But that was about it.

[BigDaddyJohn]

The best cut of Alien 3 lies somewhere between the two versions. For me personally, the theatrical is my preferred choice though I do appreciate the assembly cuts existence.
Never understood the "not being able to tell all the bald English actors apart," line that I heard said over and over again. Even as a child I could tell them apart and that half of them suddenly disappeared because of cuts. This was pre internet as it is today and all I had was a vhs recording of the film from sky movies.
Really was never a problem and some of them are not even English.

Oh, and they are not all white either. Not sure why their skin colour was a problem.

With time I came to the same conclusion. A blend of both versions is what would please me the most.

Regarding the actors, I had a bit of trouble distinguishing them from one another as a kid, except for Dillon, Aaron, Clemens, Andrews, Golic and Morse. Having watched it many times now I'm better at it.

[SM]

I recognised Pete Postlethwaite because I'd seen The Lost World.

But that was about it.

I didn't recognise any of the actors when it first came out, but did recognise Roland as 'that guy from Alien 3' when I watched Lost World years later.  Ditto the Dr Who TV film with McGann.

[Local Trouble]

I recognized Charles Dance by name only since he'd recently starred in a TV movie adaptation of Phantom of the Opera with Burt Lancaster.

Charles S Dutton I recognized from Roc.

That was it.

[whiterabbit]

  I didn't even know who directed the thing until I joined this website.

[BigDaddyJohn]

A slower pace and the alien being born of a dead ox is what I dislike the most about this version when I think of it.