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You've been in my life so long, I can't remember anything else

Whenever I get the flak about never seeing a popular movie, I usually have at least a few minutes of explanation. I try not to be testy, but not every person has seen every popular movie since the silent era.

In the case of Alien 3, I think it was worth waiting until this year to see. The original version came out in 1992. Only now can the proper director's cut be viewed in the Alien Anthology Blu-ray box set. Meaning, the original vision David Fincher had for the film as well as the all of the scenes properly restored, visually and sound-wise. Any prior version just doesn't cut the mustard.

When I was in college, Alien and Aliens were paramount in terms of the four films. Yet when I would talk to fans of the franchise, I was advised to stay away from the third and fourth installments. So I did, until now.

I recently watched all four in sequence (not in one night, mind you), and while I'm not really compelled to watch Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection again right away, I'm glad I have my own opinion of them now.

Like my fandom of remastered albums, I prefer to see a re-released, director's cut of a film that the director preferred. James Cameron's director's cut of Aliens is incredibly good, and I'm glad I waited all sorts of years later to see it. Alien 3 makes way more sense and feels right with what Fincher originally wanted, until the studio wanted him to excise thirty minutes of it.

We all have our reasons for holding off on movies. It's not like we're required to see every movie released every year. There are only twenty-four hours in a day, you know.

Comments

Richard of DM said…
You need to make a list of every popular film you've never seen. Right now. Go on. I'll wait. Okay, you don't have to do that.

Alien 3 has always been my favorite of the series. It is definitely the most interesting though Resurrection comes close for weirdness alone. I will be checking out that director's cut.

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