Unfortunately Alien 3 has yet to gain the respect it fully deserves. I can say the same for Alien Resurrection. I feel like its ultimately just incredibly harsh criticism that drives the bad rap for these films.
As one reviewer said about Alien Resurrection:
"How people defecate on this so vehemently, I fail to see. Continuity errors? Every movie has some. Unexplainable plot elements? It is sci-fi. You've already accepted that a spider crab can make love to someone's face, have a small creature grow in their chest, burst out of it and within hours transform into a huge slimy predator. I would think a clone with memories isn't such a gigantic leap."
Alien Resurrection didn't feel like a "cash-in" like some people claim. It had amazing visuals, a brand new story with characters that had interesting aspects to them. Ripley was badass with a dash of Alien in her to mix things up and introduced the audience to a story that was full of intrigue and fresh ideas. It was an epic, fast paced gritty thrill ride that will never be forgotten. I don't just accept this film as part of the series I FUCKING LOVE IT!!!!!!!!
Alien 3 was a dark powerful film. It was Ripley coming to terms with everything that she had lost. The Alien creature destroyed her whole life. It killed all her friends and family that she had ever loved and cared about. She had spent years trying to rid this monster out of her life and now she has to stand up, fight, take the queen she embodies and throw herself into a pit of fire. How FUCKING POWERFUL IS THAT! If that isn't that I honestly don't really know what is.
Overall I will defend these films until the day I die. I will defend Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection with my life. They all embolden the true genre which IS science-fiction horror. Open your eyes, Open your ears, allow the true quality of all these films to flow through you. Its all there. You just can't be critical of every little thing. In the end it is hollywood. These are movies. Nothing is perfect nor certain but what I do know is, is that Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection are extremely worthy and not just worthy but masterpiece sequels that I don't think will ever be accepted or embraced like a few of us out there do.
I'm emotionally invested in the first 4 films. After seeing the AVP films...I just couldn't do anything but facepalm my self. Ripley is the conduit to the whole series. There really isn't any point in exploring the storyline of the Aliens without her in my opinion. It was Ripley and her story that we connected with. Why go further if there is no Ripley involved. Prometheus is a prequel and has a REAL reason. I can't wait for it by the way.
But also Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection is one "string" of the Alien universe. That's "Ripley's" story. But were there any other bio-weapons released by the Space Jockey species that could of destroyed other planets in the same universe? Is the xenomorph really the ONLY threat out there in the vast expanses of space?
Thats where I think in the future of filmmaking, maybe other filmmakers could explore. Expand on the mythos of the Alien universe. With the right directors and filmmakers, I think it could happen. There could be other stories told other than "Ripley's". With new characters, new locations, new planets, a different bio-weapon/threat and a whole different story line.
But "Ripley's" story was connected to the original universe that Giger and Scott created. Alien started the whole series and Alien Resurrection capped it off after 4 films. AVP was just a fail. It wasn't connected to the Alien series or the Alien universe. It simply took the Alien creature put it in a COMPLETELY SEPARATE universe and called it their own. Plus it was just UGH....Words can't describe. It desecrated any chance of an Alien 5 that both Ridley Scott and James Cameron were in the talks of doing. It would of FULLY explored Ripley 8's character like some people complain about.
To me Alien Resurrection just capped it off. Fox could of done something even more AMAZING and brought back what people wanted from the 1st and 2nd films. It would of been an EPIC. If James Cameron or Ridley Scott signed on. Ripley was our hero. We fought for her and we rooted for her. AVP was just a fail and it messed up everything. After 15 years of waiting and anticipation Ridley Scott is FINALLY coming back on board and planning to breath new life into a series that has been sitting around for tooooooo damn long.
