Umm.. sure, I guess he does. But he has nothing to do with Alien 3. I think you mean David Fincher.
I've always really liked Alien 3. I prefer it to the second and fourth installments. I might even say I prefer it to the original Alien, but that would blasphemous, so I won't. The fourth installment is really kind of a joke in my mind, heh, entertaining though it is. David Fincher is an extremely talented director, and I think that's a large reason why Alien 3 is so successful. He's extremely skilled, and yes, great mood/tone creator.
I've actually purchased the novelization of Alien 3. Think I might enjoy READING the movie.
Sir, don't get me started on James Cameron's Aliens! I think it's overrated. It just rehashed everything in the first movie with more guns and aliens. And f*cking Bill Paxton was just a whiny, obnoxious little b*tch!! LOL
LOL, I also think James Cameron in general is overrated. But anyway... I'd be happy to go into greater depth for why I don't much care for Aliens and why Alien 3 (the Director's Cut, mind you) is actually, in my opinion, quite brilliant. It's too late right now for me to do so, but I shall try to soon...
I mean, everything aside, David Fincher has proven to be an exceptional director. Alien 3 was his first feature length film, which to some degree might be why he was forced to edit it so much for the Theatrical Cut. It's a shame, because that's probably largely the reason for its bad reputation. The DC plays out quite nicely.
It was also Fincher's first "big budget" movie to direct. He was under alot of pressure from studio execs with their various versions of how the script should be.
Fincher said it was also daunting being a young director trying to earn the respect from the seasoned & talented actors who relied upon him for obvious direction.
Okay, I watched the first 2 Alien movies again (pretty much back-to-back). First, briefly, I will say that the original film is damn near superb, aside from one or two editing blunders and some dated effects. One thing that makes that movie work so well is that the dialogue is so natural. It really feels like a crew sitting around BSin'. And that makes it all the more powerful when they have conflicts. Freakin' excellent. Great creepy mood, definitely one of the great sci-fi films of all time.
Now, on to Aliens. I didn't hate Aliens as much this time.. lol. If fact I almost liked it. It's fun to sit back and enjoy it as a big, stupid sequel. I can forgive it a lot now, because the direction it goes in is really the only logically direction it could have gone in. And it is an extremely entertaining sci-fi, action, adventure, horror. HOWEVER... I do still have some gripes about it and I think they are totally legit.
Gripe #1: in typical sequel fashion, Aliens is just a beefed up version of the first movie, and it borrows many things from the first movie (and doesn't really add any new ideas): instead of a crazed robot (Ian Holm from the first film) it's a scumbag company guy who wants to exploit the aliens to the weapons division. Instead of the little cat it's a little girl (and she is great, btw. Usually when there are little kids involved they make you cringe a little, but she's excellent). The detonation at the end... same thing from the first movie. Then the queen alien somehow gets on their ship (just like in the first movie again), and then they expel it out of the ship in very much the same way as in the first film also. Etc.
Gripe #2: Now, another thing that gives Cameron's movies such great mass appeal is that good and evil his films are always very black and white. And I'm not even talking about the humans vs. the aliens. I'm talking about Burke, the scumbag (Paul Reiser) vs. everyone else. He is a complete scumbag all the way til (his) end. And we, as the audience, cheer uproariously when he finally gets what's coming to him. I realize I may be in the minority here, but I don't like that. It's too simplistic and eliminates any character complexity. Even if he had just turned into a crying little boy and said something like, "Look Ripley, I'm sorry I lied and got you into this, please, let's just get out of here alive, nuke the planet from orbit, lets get out of here!" that would have been enough. Then you could still kill him off and you've at least got a more complex character. If they had done something differently with his character then Aliens could have added something original to the mix, but they didn't. But honestly I would never have expected anything of the sort from James Cameron. He just makes big, eye-popping action flicks. He doesn't make us think. And that's why we love him.
Gripe #3 (and this is perhaps my biggest gripe): Why did they send a bunch of f**k-up marines on this mission who just goof around and cut up the whole time? And why would the sergeants put up with it?! You see, to me it would have meant a lot more when the aliens killed them all off if they weren't just a bunch of f**k-ups. And oh my god, Pvt. Hudson (Bill Paxton) is god**** unbearable just about every second he's on the screen!! And I realize it's probably meant to be comic relief or something, but that's not how you do comic relief... making a bunch of marines act like obnoxious prepubescent 16-year-olds. Comic relief should be a bit more subtle, in the dialogue. If the marines had been more subdued, I think it would have made for a better mood throughout the film. But then again, subtly is likely not in James Cameron's vocabulary.
All that being said, I can still really enjoy the movie for what it is, and it is extremely entertaining because of the little girl, Ripley, Hicks, the creepy alien hive at the end, and all the balls-to-the-wall action on the distant planet. It does f**kin' rock.
Now, I look forward to watching Alien 3 again soon...
Regarding Aliens, of course its a beefier version of Alien but it works. Its true, the marines were a bunch of loud obnoxious twats, especially Hudson. The rest were colourful and fun and connected with the audience. I think its some kind of commentary on military anyway, especially the vietnam era. The real story in Aliens was the one with Ripley and the little girl Newt. They lived through some really bad shit and found each other and survived. The extended cut of the movie has more on Ripley's eventual connection to newt. Then came Alien 3, and it pretty much shit on top of that when it came lumbering out of the studio machination factory. Dramatic yes, but ultimately a failed masterpiece since it failed to be scary or fun for that matter. It was just a nihilistic whiney ode to suicidals that populated the era in film, music and literature during the early 90s. So yea IMHO, I think Aliens is a far better movie than Alien 3. And besides, David Fincher has gone on to make better movies since then.
After escaping from the alien planet, the ship carrying Ellen Ripley crashes onto a remote and inhabited ore refinery. While living in the ore refinery until she is rescued by her employers, Ripley discovers the horrifying reason for her crash: An alien stowaway. As the alien matures and begins to kill off the inhabitants, Ripley is unaware that her true enemy is more than just the killer alien.
I actually like all the Alien movies, 3 & Resurrection included. Although I would still probably rank them in chronological order, i.e.
Alien,
Aliens,
Alien 3,
Alien Resurrection.
And I can sit through and enjoy the AVP movies too even though they are pretty bad, I just pretend that I'm a stupid child again and let the magic happen, seems to do the trick.
After escaping from the alien planet, the ship carrying Ellen Ripley crashes onto a remote and inhabited ore refinery. While living in the ore refinery until she is rescued by her employers, Ripley discovers the horrifying reason for her crash.
Jul 3rd, 2010 06:14 PM
The fourth installment is really kind of a joke in my mind, heh, entertaining though it is. David Fincher is an extremely talented director, and I think that's a large reason why Alien 3 is so successful. He's extremely skilled, and yes, great mood/tone creator.
