This April, after almost 5 years of work, a fan has released its' 4K "Legacy Cut" of Alien3, based mostly on the "Assembly Cut" but including some of the alternate footage from the "Theatrical Cut" (the TC improvements like the dog as the host and the chestbuster at the finale) and doing some really amazing work cleaning the problematic VFX of the movie.
This is probably the best version of the movie (even if I would have made certain different choices, such as keeping the facehugger scenes in the opening credits and Ripley being found alive inside the EEV (as it was in the theatrical cut) instead of being found at the beach as in the AC, which never made much sense to me.
What this guy managed to do with the VFX of the movie is just amazing (not the George Lucas route of replacing the effects, but keeping most of them as they were designed, but color correcting and cleaning mate lines).
You apparently have to sign up with an e-mail to see the footage. Not too keen on that.
The assembly cut is all that exists in my mind at this point. Once I got the ALIEN TRILOGY (and then the ALIEN QUADRILOGY) boxed DVD sets, I've never looked back. I love the extended bits of the intro as well as other bits and bobs.
Could the effects be better? Sure, the CGI xeno looks like a product of its time. But overall, I think it looks gorgeous as is. Beautiful grain, texture and steampunk.
You apparently have to sign up with an e-mail to see the footage. Not too keen on that.
The assembly cut is all that exists in my mind at this point. Once I got the ALIEN TRILOGY (and then the ALIEN QUADRILOGY) boxed DVD sets, I've never looked back. I love the extended bits of the intro as well as other bits and bobs.
Could the effects be better? Sure, the CGI xeno looks like a product of its time. But overall, I think it looks gorgeous as is. Beautiful grain, texture and steampunk.
As a fan of Alien3 I think you should check this guy`s Youtube channel on this project (https://www.youtube.com/@projecta34k8). What he did is amazing and I think he managed to do a great mix of the best elements of the Assembly Cut and the Theatrical, creating the best version of the film thus far (even if I`d have done some different choices).
On the effects I don`t think there is any CGI in Alien3, it was relased one year before 1993`s Jurassic Park - I know CGI already existed in experimental form and was used in Tron in 1982, Last Starfighter in 1984, Young Sherlock Holmes in 1985 (first great integration of computer generated image in a realistic way) the Abyss in 1989 and Terminator 2 in 1991 - but Alien3 effects were mostly opticals - i.e. a puppet filmed against a blue screen and inserted in the shots - and this guy really managed to clean the effects and color correct it merging the effects to perfection but keeping them faithful to how they were created.
Submitted my request and got my links for the Legacy Cut earlier today. Easy peezy. Hoping to find time this weekend to watch it but it is my birthday this weekend plus Easter with the family so I think it will be difficult to set aside the time I want. Looking forward to hearing what others will think of this.
I'm pretty sure there are a couple of CGI shots in ALIEN 3 (I can doublecheck the extras on the DVD, but too much hassle right now) -- primarily those of the full xeno, like when it's spotted in the roof, when it moves up to Ripley to check her out or when it escapes the storage room. They kinda stick out like a sore thumb, compared to the wonderful analogue work elsewhere.
According to this vídeo in fact there is one shot on which the alien is cgi (the scene when it cracks with the hot lead), the rest (other than the man in the suit/robotics for close ups) are a puppet filmed in blue screen and pasted with opticals:
I didn't download the links, but after looking at the clips it looks fantastic. I hope that someday it finds its way onto a company-approved DVD--much like how the Spicediver Dune cut got a real release.
According to this vídeo in fact there is one shot on which the alien is cgi (the scene when it cracks with the hot lead), the rest (other than the man in the suit/robotics for close ups) are a puppet filmed in blue screen and pasted with opticals:
You're right. That, and the "bambi burster" in the assembly cut 10 years later. I somehow thought a couple of other scenes were CGI as well, but outside some texture bits and pieces (the molten lava coming off of the alien), there was less than I thought. It's obviously been too many years since I saw those DVD extras.
I've always enjoyed Alien³. I'd be set with the extended version on the Blu-ray had it not been for the idiotic decision to use that godawful CGI Ripley at the end. What the hell were they thinking? It saps all gravitas from the finale.
I've always enjoyed Alien³. I'd be set with the extended version on the Blu-ray had it not been for the idiotic decision to use that godawful CGI Ripley at the end. What the hell were they thinking? It saps all gravitas from the finale.
What!? They replaced Ripley with a CGI version on the Blu-ray release?
Glad I still have the DVD set, then. Never upgraded to Blu.
I've always enjoyed Alien³. I'd be set with the extended version on the Blu-ray had it not been for the idiotic decision to use that godawful CGI Ripley at the end. What the hell were they thinking? It saps all gravitas from the finale.
What!? They replaced Ripley with a CGI version on the Blu-ray release?
Glad I still have the DVD set, then. Never upgraded to Blu.
Just in the "workprint" cut to remove the chest burster. The theatrical cut is still just as we saw it in 1992.
I've always enjoyed Alien³. I'd be set with the extended version on the Blu-ray had it not been for the idiotic decision to use that godawful CGI Ripley at the end. What the hell were they thinking? It saps all gravitas from the finale.
What!? They replaced Ripley with a CGI version on the Blu-ray release?
Glad I still have the DVD set, then. Never upgraded to Blu.
Just in the "workprint" cut to remove the chest burster. The theatrical cut is still just as we saw it in 1992.
I don’t think that’s CGI. Its just a bad effect (and it is the same on the DVD and Bluray) even the theatrical cut with the reshot chestbuster is still not a very good effect (and in the audio comentary the SFX guys mention that they’re embarassed by how bad the effect was) On the “Legacy cut” the guy improved it a bit (reducing the flickering, smothing the mate lines and changing a bit the background).
I've always enjoyed Alien³. I'd be set with the extended version on the Blu-ray had it not been for the idiotic decision to use that godawful CGI Ripley at the end. What the hell were they thinking? It saps all gravitas from the finale.
What!? They replaced Ripley with a CGI version on the Blu-ray release?
Glad I still have the DVD set, then. Never upgraded to Blu.
Just in the "workprint" cut to remove the chest burster. The theatrical cut is still just as we saw it in 1992.
I don’t think that’s CGI. Its just a bad effect (and it is the same on the DVD and Bluray) even the theatrical cut with the reshot chestbuster is still not a very good effect (and in the audio comentary the SFX guys mention that they’re embarassed by how bad the effect was) On the “Legacy cut” the guy improved it a bit (reducing the flickering, smothing the mate lines and changing a bit the background).
I haven't seen the workprint in a while and the replacement Ripley was one of the very few changes I didn't enjoy.
