Alien 3: Third Cut

Alien 3 is far from a bad Alien movie. In fact, it is pretty solid and it was the first Alien movie I saw in the cinemas.

By that time I was not yet alienated so to speak :) I watched the first two movies on TV and found them ok. It’s important to understand that Alien 3 is not an adrenaline-spiker like Alien or Aliens. Far from it. Honestly, I think it is a misunderstood art piece.

There’s not much wrong with the Alien 3 theatrical version, and there’s a huge amount that is right about it. The pacing and the suspense are pretty well put together to serve the narrative. Still, there were a lot of issues regarding the characters and their motives. Years later I discovered the assembly cut and was really surprised about the new direction and finally had a more fleshed character narrative. But at the same time, it created a new issue for me. The assembly cut took a lot of aspects from the theatrical version away which I thought were better. At that time I wished there was a middle version between the theatrical cut and the assembly cut.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago I discovered a third cut made by 15MaF. Naturally, I was very intrigued about what he has done with the 2 versions.

After watching it, I must admit this is the version you need to see.

The result is astonishing. Mixing the character-oriented assembly cut as the core structure and adding the best elements from the theatrical cut to create the best version available right now.

I really like the level of the color details changes and regrading of the tunnel chase scene. Not to mention the little after effect filter changes in the deadfall and the alien infirmary close-quarter scene.

The new artwork reminds me of the Nine Inch Nails album cover the downward spiral, which I think is pretty good. I didn't have any issues with the video or contrast quality and the sound mix is also pretty well put together. Most importantly the technical excellence is on point, no weird transitions or wacky sound levels.

I really enjoyed this edit of the movie. I probably will never open my Alien 3 Bluray anymore and let it dust for awhile.

Overall Comment: A full-unalienated cut that goes beyond the thresholds of Ripley.

Audio/Visual Quality: Being available in HD is a good thing to portray the subtle and big differences.

Viisual Editing: Each and every additional material from the Theatrical fit quite nicely unblemished by anything including the special effects. There's absolutely no telling unless you've vigorously watched the latter release, as the lighting was seamlessly fixed.

Audio Quality: Other than the aggressive volume scale, the audio is spot perfect, it could've been better though with subtitles to further adjust the best volume zone for the viewer.

Narrative: I loved how the additional footage made the core elements and structure of the cut improved beyond what I had expected, characters were further explored and given purpose.

Enjoyment: Alien 3 is by no means perfect and hasn't aged well. Contrary to this, I quite enjoyed the film as a whole and even more with this cut, everything just fits perfectly.

I started rewatching this franchise of films recently and having arrived at Alien 3 I decided on this edit and I am glad I did. I'm very happy I did. None of the reused shots, or cuts stood out, which is perfect. I am very pleased with this edit and it'll be my go to when rewatching this film now. The only thing that did stand out as odd to me was the use of the fire fx over the Alien; the fire you got from YouTube/Blender. That was literally the only single thing I found to be off-putting. Everything else was spot on. I really liked how you wove the Assembly Cut with literally everything I liked about the Theatrical cut. Great work.

Alien3: Third Cut - 15MaF

Filesize = 6.8 GB, Video = 1920 X 808p h265, Audio = 640 kbps, 5.1 AC3. No subs.

This is a terrific edit of a film I had previously regarded as flawed and unmendable.
The narrative now flows and makes good sense. Real story telling here.
Video editing is rock solid, no complaints, I like what 15MaF has done.
Audio is another matter. The 5.1 sound is pretty loud, often boomy. The soundscape overwhelms the dialogue most of the time. Conversations are muffled, murky or flat out indecipherable.
This undercuts the story. No subtitles hurts this particular edit.
Alien3 was always drama driven, not the adrenaline overload like its predecessors, and is miles superior to what followed.
I recommend this improved version to anyone still longing for a good experience.
Nice bonuses include cover art and a detailed change list.

I really enjoyed this edit of Alien 3 better than Q2's edit only problem is some people whom I shared this with reported having problems with the audio skipping,stuttering Etc. I didn't have any problems just wanted to let others know. Other than that I recommend giving this a view.