This week I’m going to be discussing Audible’s version of William Gibson’s screenplay for the third film in the Alien film franchise, Alien III.
Alien III
What if?
Here is a real curiosity – what might have been if William Gibson’s screenplay had been produced, rather than the much-derided David Fincher film? Fincher, himself, said in an interview with The Guardian in 2009 that, “No one hated it more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me.”
Spoilers!
If you’ve not seen Alien 3 – beware, inevitably, there are spoilers ahead!
The Problem with Alien 3
I did not hate Alien 3, I think it had faults but there are some cracking performances and it tries to be its own thing, rather than aping what has come before – a bold move for a second sequel in a successful franchise.
Some of the worst aberrations occur within the stress-inducing opening credits. It really was an extraordinary decision by Fincher to kill off three much-beloved characters – Hicks, Newt and Bishop – whom we had come to care about during the course of the previous film, Aliens.
Gibson’s screenplay corrects that odd decision but it makes it’s own error by side-lining Ripley (for the reason, see below), in order to bring Hicks to the fore. I’ve always loved Michael Biehn as an actor, however, so I was certainly intrigued to find out how this alternative take on the story would pan out.
Alien III
Cyberpunk author, Gibson, was actually the first to have a go at a second sequel script and he explored the producers’ original notion of a Cold War between the villainous Weyland-Yutani (the notorious ‘company’ of the Alien films) and, a new addition, Weyland-Yutani’s communist arch-foes, the ‘Union of Progressive Peoples’.
Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley was actually side-lined in Alien III at her request, as she was angry with Fox at deleting Ripley’s back-story elements in Aliens. If you watch the excellent Special Edition of Aliens, you can see the key scene which was excised – the revelation about the fate of Ripley’s daughter, which explains Ripley’s attachment to Newt – and it is understandable why Weaver was so upset at the studio’s cut. Its also true that Weaver felt that Ripley, as a character, had progressed as far as she could and that any sequel would likely just re-tread old ground.
That decision, however, would turn out to be the biggest problem with Gibson’s script – quite simply, we miss Ripley. She’s the heart and soul of the Alien franchise and the lacklustre performance of the prequel Prometheus films at the box office just seems to confirm that theory – that Ripley’s absence is fatal.
Nonetheless, there is still much to enjoy in this production. The Alien III screenplay is action-orientated and whilst it never reaches the heights of its predecessors, there are some nice stand-offs between humans and aliens. Whilst, the introduction of the UPP ups the stakes for Weyland-Yutani and suggests why they are so desperate to weaponise the xenomorphs.
Audible’s Alien III
The Audible production of Alien III benefits from the voice talents of Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen, returning to their roles of Hicks and Bishop from Aliens. It’s great to hear these two having fun with their iconic characters. Lauren Leftkow is a decent Ripley, reprising the role from previous Alien Audible productions.
Its origins as a screenplay, make this a short dramatization by Audible’s standards (by contrast, the Audible version of the official movie novelisation of Alien 3 comes in at 7hrs, 30, in comparison to Alien III’s 2hrs, 16), but I always enjoy exploring this xenomorph-infested universe and, if you’re a fan, you will too!