Alien 3

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Alien 3

R

Released May 22, 1992

1h 55m

Sci-Fi

Horror

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Popcornmeter

44%

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125 Reviews

46%

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250,000+ Ratings

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the only survivor when she crash lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet's maximum security prison. Once again, Ripley must face skepticism and the alien as it hunts down the prisoners and guards. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley leads the men into battle against the terrifying creature.

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Critics Consensus

Alien³ takes admirable risks with franchise mythology, but far too few pay off in a thinly scripted sequel whose stylish visuals aren't enough to enliven a lack of genuine thrills.

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Kathleen Carroll

New York Daily News

One assumes that Weaver received enough combat pay to compensate for playing the now understandably cynical Ripley in this bleak and pointlessly grueling movie.

Rated: 1/4

Aug 6, 2024

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Michael Wilmington

Los Angeles Times

It does succeed in rounding the three movies off, not smashingly but interestingly. It drives us into the wall, throws Ripley into a blind alley from which, at last, there is no escape hatch.

Aug 6, 2024

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Jay Carr

Boston Globe

The monsters just aren't that scary anymore, and so the film mostly just sits there, gloomy and inert, sunk in exhausted myth, looking and sounding Wagnerian but feeling underpowered.

Aug 6, 2024

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Casey Chong

Casey's Movie Mania

[Alien 3] just doesn’t have the same tension and visceral impact that the first two movies did so well.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 15, 2024

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Robbie Roberts

News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)

The movie folds back upon its previous incarnations again and again, never attempting to advance its twice-told tale, content merely to retell once more. What's on screen seems aimed more at making money than making myth.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 6, 2024

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Eleanor O'Sullivan

Asbury Park Press (NJ)

It is dark, cramped, sweaty; Ripley does struggle with external and internal "monsters." But the movie is capable of cheering you, too, for its intelligence, its lack of superficial, groundless flash and for its spare, appropriate use of violence.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 6, 2024

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Diego D

I don’t get the hate, visually is gorgeous for the time and the story line is quite solid and well written.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/23/25

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rocco j

Good script, great concept. Crashing on a prison planet with no real weapons to fight any aliens. Very good acting, I actually believed that these were convicts who committed heinous crimes trying to fight for their lives. Underrated alien movie in my opinion.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/16/25

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Todd M

Although this is an Alien film, I didn't enjoy it that much. It is my second least favourite (second to Resurrection, of course.) This film is the same thing as the first two, but it doesn't have the tension and horror of Alien, nor the action from Aliens, so you're left with the worst of both worlds. It isn't terrible, but it's not my first choice for an Alien film.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/03/25

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Audience Member

Too long, too boring, too repetitive, too bad.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/17/25

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Ben N

Proof that a bigger budget does not make a better movie. This plot is all over the place. There is much more gore and violence than either previous movie. Lt. Ripley being female was never a plot device in previous movies. I appreciated that. This setting was interesting, and thought provoking, but sexualised her needlessly and the tropes were thin. CGI was terrible. The two Alien depictions felt like different creatures. One large and menacing, able to hide very well, faster than eye, the other almost like a scampering dog and very underwhelming.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/25

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Audience Member

The host that allowed Fincher’s career to grow into the perfect organism. A dark, depressing film that alienated and scarred the potential younger audience that the studio had been pursuing commercially for the series. It follows the pattern of talented directors taking their entry in the franchise in a completely different genre: Scott gave a sci-fi story a heavy horror influence, Cameron made the sequel more action focused and Fincher highlights the psychological thriller aspects. Sigourney Weaver always delivers as Ripley, however the supporting cast/characters are weaker in this compared to the past films. While it is a huge step-down quantity wise compared to the two previous modern classics, it still has an intriguing plot and provides insight into one of the current director greats establishing his style.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/04/25

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David Fincher

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Sigourney Weaver

Ellen Ripley

Charles S. Dutton

Dillon

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Alien 3: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the only survivor when she crash lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet's maximum security prison. Once again, Ripley must face skepticism and the alien as it hunts down the prisoners and guards. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley leads the men into battle against the terrifying creature.

Director: David Fincher
Producer: Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill
Screenwriter: Larry Ferguson, David Giler, Walter Hill, Vincent Ward
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox, Brandywine Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 22, 1992, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $54.8M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: 70mm, Flat (1.85:1)

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