Nuking the entire site from orbit: The loss of Alien 3

When Alien 4 was first announced, I remember the pleas from fans to turn Alien 3 into a dream.  There was still time to undo the damage. Personally, I was never a fan of the dream idea back then, because I like movies to follow each other and have good continuity.  It seemed weird to me.  Alien Resurrection turned out weirder.  Not only did it not do the dream idea, it went in an entirely different direction which most people disliked even more, in spite of the talent involved.  The problem with the franchise was that the first sequel, Aliens, set the bar too high for any follow up.  James Cameron had an ability to do that back then.  With him gone, the producers seemed lost on what to do next.  Good ideas were rejected or deemed too hard to film.  The pre-production on Alien 3 went through ten writers and five directors until they finally managed to cobble something together based on several different ideas.  The end result is widely regarded as a mess, but really it's the first ten minutes that do all the damage.  Then Resurrection continued to send the franchise downward.  Now, finally, people can rejoice because these last two movies no longer count.  At least that's what it sounds like now that Neill Blomkamp has announced a new Alien project with Sigourney Weaver that reportedly will only be tied to the first two movies.  So is this a good thing?

Part of me is happy about this.  Now, everything that Hicks, Newt, Ripley, and Bishop fought for and accomplished won't be tossed aside so carelessly.  Maybe Blomkamp can get the whole band back together.  The possibilities are exciting to think about.  But, there is a part of me that is slightly bummed out.  It took me a long time, but I've come to really like Alien 3.  I see now the hard work that went into it.  The production design is fantastic.  I believe Roger Ebert called it "The best looking bad film" he'd ever seen.  But it's not just the look of the film; the actors do an excellent job creating memorable characters, from Charles Dance's physician with a dark past, Paul McGann's pre-Who Xenomorph worshiper, and Charles S. Dutton as the inspiring leader of the rag tag group of prisoners. The assembly cut brings out even more good character bits, but mainly this is a story about Ripley and her connection with the Xenomorph.  It will never allow her to have a happy ending. And so, she takes control of this connection in a decisive and dramatic final moment.  Sure, the movie is a downer.  It's all sorts of Kobayashi Maru and not just for Ripley. But it's also an intriguing, gorgeous film with strong characters.  And now it's meaningless, because those characters and Ripley's sacrifice never happened.  Is there a point to watching movies that don't matter anymore?

Maybe they can do something creative to acknowledge these films somehow.  At the end of Aliens, Newt asks Ripley, "Can I dream?" To which Ripley replies, "Yes honey, I think we both can." Then I think about the opening lines of Alien Resurrection, which is something Newt says in Aliens, "My mommy always said there were no monsters. No real ones. But there are."  What I'm saying is, I think it would be neat if Alien 3 was Ripley's dream and Alien Resurrection was Newt's dream.  At least then, they could "exist" without existing.  The movies would still be strong character stories, since they get inside the thoughts and lingering fears of both Ripley and Newt, and thus still relevant.  All while they're on their way to some new adventure we haven't seen yet.  So, after a couple decades, I'm finally on board with the dream idea, but only because of how much Alien 3 has grown on me.  All that said, I'm ready for Alien 5. Let's hope they finally get it right this time. Otherwise, I guess they can always make the next film Hicks' dream...