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William Gibson's Alien 3 Comic Adaptation #1-5
Чужой-3 Уильяма Гибсона
ЧУЖОЙ-3 Уильяма Гибсона. Комикс, воплотивший отклонённый сценарий Уильяма Гибсона для фильма Чужой 3, в некотором роде является артефактом, достойным попасть в коллекцию каждого поклонника вселенной Чужих и просто любителей фантастики!
136 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2020
48 people are currently reading
1133 people want to read
About the author
William Gibson
297 books14.9k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, having coined the term cyberspace in 1982 and popularized it in his first novel, Neuromancer (1984), which has sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide.
While his early writing took the form of short stories, Gibson has since written nine critically acclaimed novels (one in collaboration), contributed articles to several major publications, and has collaborated extensively with performance artists, filmmakers and musicians. His thought has been cited as an influence on science fiction authors, academia, cyberculture, and technology.
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William Gibson. (2007, October 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:30, October 19, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?t...
William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, having coined the term cyberspace in 1982 and popularized it in his first novel, Neuromancer (1984), which has sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide.
While his early writing took the form of short stories, Gibson has since written nine critically acclaimed novels (one in collaboration), contributed articles to several major publications, and has collaborated extensively with performance artists, filmmakers and musicians. His thought has been cited as an influence on science fiction authors, academia, cyberculture, and technology.
---------------------------------
William Gibson. (2007, October 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:30, October 19, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?t...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 328 reviews
August 23, 2019
I'll give this an extra star just because this is a fantastic idea, to turn unproduced screenplays that fans would love to read as comic books. As a long time fan of the Alien franchise, I was really excited to read this. Alien 3 is not a very good movie, even with David Fincher behind it. I will say this script has absolutely nothing to do with the Fincher movie. It's a completely different direction.
This story has a lot of issues. At the time, the studio told Gibson to sideline Ripley so she's in a coma for the entire book. Newt, Hicks, and Bishop thankfully do get some love. The Xenomorphs have these new powers that make absolutely no sense. (Even if they do make for some neat scenes.)
Johnny Christmas's art is pretty good. Christmas made a mistake keeping the same structure as the movie though. The script jumped back and forth between multiple characters and even ships, which can work in a movie because it's easier to tell we've switched scenes. It made this impossible to follow though as the pages bounced back and forth between 10 and 15 different characters. It was often unclear we had switched to a new scene and I was flipping back and forth to figure out what happened. Restructuring the screenplay into a more narrative order would have made for a better comic.
This story has a lot of issues. At the time, the studio told Gibson to sideline Ripley so she's in a coma for the entire book. Newt, Hicks, and Bishop thankfully do get some love. The Xenomorphs have these new powers that make absolutely no sense. (Even if they do make for some neat scenes.)
Johnny Christmas's art is pretty good. Christmas made a mistake keeping the same structure as the movie though. The script jumped back and forth between multiple characters and even ships, which can work in a movie because it's easier to tell we've switched scenes. It made this impossible to follow though as the pages bounced back and forth between 10 and 15 different characters. It was often unclear we had switched to a new scene and I was flipping back and forth to figure out what happened. Restructuring the screenplay into a more narrative order would have made for a better comic.
September 27, 2021
It pains me to write this review, because I love William Gibson. I've read six of his books now, and William Gibson's Alien 3, which brings Gibson's unproduced screenplay for the film to life in a five-issue graphic novel, is by far my least favourite of all of them.
In the actual movie Alien 3, the viewer is told early on that Ripley is the only survivor; Newt and Hicks, two of the main characters from the previous film Aliens, are dead. Ripley goes on to be the central character in the film, as she is indeed for the whole franchise, and rightly so. Gibson takes the story in a very different direction in his screenplay, as Hicks and Newt both survive. However, things fall apart very early on in Gibson's rendition when the reader finds out that, though alive, Ripley is in a coma. She will go on to remain in a coma for the entirety of Gibson's version of the film, and doesn't feature into the story at all.
This is, of course, completely ridiculous, as Ripley is one of the greatest female characters in all of film history; writing an Alien story, set just after a film where she was the main character, that essentially writes her off, is like writing a Terminator 2 screenplay that doesn't have Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's just wrong.
That aside, this book was plagued with other issues. Some panels that occurred shortly after others in time would be captioned "Soon". Why not write "Shortly After..." or something that makes more sense? The art of Hicks, Newt, and Ripley also looked nothing like their actors and actresses from the films; this could be because none of them gave approval for their likeness to appear in this book, but Bishop looks pretty close to his actor in the art...so it gives the appearance that either some of the film actors were involved in this book and some weren't, or that the art just isn't very good, or is at least inconsistent.
Facial expressions in some panels didn't match what was happening in the panel. Two characters would be having a pretty relaxed conversation, but for some reason one of them had a really aggrieved or constipated look on their face, as if something was horribly wrong. I couldn't even tell what was happening in some panels; in one, bright light and lines indicated some kind of explosion occurring behind a character, and yet in the next panel they were completely fine, and no explosion appeared to have taken place. The dialogue in some panels also made no sense, and unrelated scenes in totally separate locales would pop in right next to each other, resulting in an overarching sense of confusion and disorientation.
Many books start out well and fall apart near the end, but this one actually falls apart right at the beginning, not only because Ripley is written off but because the story is painfully political and boring. I don't know how many times weapons reduction treaties and other boring political issues were discussed, but it was far too often. For someone who is a self-proclaimed fanboy of the franchise, Gibson completely missed the mark with the content and tone of his version of the film; it reads like a Cold War thriller that isn't thrilling, which is a completely different tone than the two previous films.
The ending was also very confusing, but by then I was already checked out, so I didn't really care enough to try to decipher it. The back of the book has a sketchbook, which was pretty "meh", and a collection of variant covers. These were mostly "OK", with the exception of the final one, Variant Cover #5 by Christian Ward. That cover is a true work of art; it's absolutely beautiful, and I would have no qualms at all in framing a copy of it and hanging it in my home.
Overall, William Gibson missed the mark in a huge way with his Aliens 3. It's boring, overly-political, confusing, disjointed, and toward the end it takes the Xenomorphs into a strange new direction, essentially copying John Carpenter's The Thing. I can't, in good conscience, recommend this book. At the end of the day, I think the studio picked the right screenplay; though one of the weakest films in the franchise, I enjoyed the eventual Alien 3 film more than this version of the story.
In the actual movie Alien 3, the viewer is told early on that Ripley is the only survivor; Newt and Hicks, two of the main characters from the previous film Aliens, are dead. Ripley goes on to be the central character in the film, as she is indeed for the whole franchise, and rightly so. Gibson takes the story in a very different direction in his screenplay, as Hicks and Newt both survive. However, things fall apart very early on in Gibson's rendition when the reader finds out that, though alive, Ripley is in a coma. She will go on to remain in a coma for the entirety of Gibson's version of the film, and doesn't feature into the story at all.
This is, of course, completely ridiculous, as Ripley is one of the greatest female characters in all of film history; writing an Alien story, set just after a film where she was the main character, that essentially writes her off, is like writing a Terminator 2 screenplay that doesn't have Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's just wrong.
That aside, this book was plagued with other issues. Some panels that occurred shortly after others in time would be captioned "Soon". Why not write "Shortly After..." or something that makes more sense? The art of Hicks, Newt, and Ripley also looked nothing like their actors and actresses from the films; this could be because none of them gave approval for their likeness to appear in this book, but Bishop looks pretty close to his actor in the art...so it gives the appearance that either some of the film actors were involved in this book and some weren't, or that the art just isn't very good, or is at least inconsistent.
Facial expressions in some panels didn't match what was happening in the panel. Two characters would be having a pretty relaxed conversation, but for some reason one of them had a really aggrieved or constipated look on their face, as if something was horribly wrong. I couldn't even tell what was happening in some panels; in one, bright light and lines indicated some kind of explosion occurring behind a character, and yet in the next panel they were completely fine, and no explosion appeared to have taken place. The dialogue in some panels also made no sense, and unrelated scenes in totally separate locales would pop in right next to each other, resulting in an overarching sense of confusion and disorientation.
Many books start out well and fall apart near the end, but this one actually falls apart right at the beginning, not only because Ripley is written off but because the story is painfully political and boring. I don't know how many times weapons reduction treaties and other boring political issues were discussed, but it was far too often. For someone who is a self-proclaimed fanboy of the franchise, Gibson completely missed the mark with the content and tone of his version of the film; it reads like a Cold War thriller that isn't thrilling, which is a completely different tone than the two previous films.
The ending was also very confusing, but by then I was already checked out, so I didn't really care enough to try to decipher it. The back of the book has a sketchbook, which was pretty "meh", and a collection of variant covers. These were mostly "OK", with the exception of the final one, Variant Cover #5 by Christian Ward. That cover is a true work of art; it's absolutely beautiful, and I would have no qualms at all in framing a copy of it and hanging it in my home.
Overall, William Gibson missed the mark in a huge way with his Aliens 3. It's boring, overly-political, confusing, disjointed, and toward the end it takes the Xenomorphs into a strange new direction, essentially copying John Carpenter's The Thing. I can't, in good conscience, recommend this book. At the end of the day, I think the studio picked the right screenplay; though one of the weakest films in the franchise, I enjoyed the eventual Alien 3 film more than this version of the story.
December 27, 2020
ALIEN 3 is a 1992 American science fiction horror film directed by David Fincher and written by David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson from a story by Vincent Ward. It stars Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ellen Ripley and is the third film installment in the Alien franchise.
In September 1987, Giler and Hill approached cyberpunk author William Gibson to write the script for the third film the Alien Franchise. Gibson by his own admission was a big Alien fanboy wanted to do his thing and develop his own ideas, which involved a bigger part by Bishop and a lesser involvement of Ellen Ripley. Gibson was aware that the producers might just want a chance of a spark of the big cyberpunk-writer that would be a novel aspect to the franchise.
Looking the movie and reading the graphic novel in 5 chapters there is no similarity between the movie and this first movie script by a great writer. Where the movie brings Ripley to a world of prisoners accompanied by of course an Alien critter and shows her demise while protecting the human world from this Alien menace the graphic novel does not.
While being homeward bound the Sullaco gets raided by the "Union of Progressive Peoples" (U.P.P.), who are attacked by a facehugger hiding in the entrails of Bishop's mangled body. The soldiers blast the facehugger into space and take Bishop with them for further study. The Sulaco continues its voyage and then arrives at a space station–shopping mall hybrid named Anchorpoint. This unarmed station becomes a labratory for the folks from Weyland-Yutani's bioweapons division.
And of course when the aliens get released hell hath no fury but a bloody alien. It is an decent read and the comic is easy to follow and while it takes its time does deliver a decent Alien story but perhaps not spectacular enough for the folks who run the franchise even if Alien and Aliens were tough acts to follow.
An interesting bit of Alien franchise was delivered in this short comic series and while I would not have missed out on anything had it never been published it is an interesting exercise and bit of Alien history that is perhaps best enjoyed by Alien franchise fans. Who like their contemporaries from other tv or movie franchises always feel that their personal likes are more important than the ones actually holding the reigns of the franchise. A nice little footnote to an otherwise interesting franchise.
In September 1987, Giler and Hill approached cyberpunk author William Gibson to write the script for the third film the Alien Franchise. Gibson by his own admission was a big Alien fanboy wanted to do his thing and develop his own ideas, which involved a bigger part by Bishop and a lesser involvement of Ellen Ripley. Gibson was aware that the producers might just want a chance of a spark of the big cyberpunk-writer that would be a novel aspect to the franchise.
Looking the movie and reading the graphic novel in 5 chapters there is no similarity between the movie and this first movie script by a great writer. Where the movie brings Ripley to a world of prisoners accompanied by of course an Alien critter and shows her demise while protecting the human world from this Alien menace the graphic novel does not.
While being homeward bound the Sullaco gets raided by the "Union of Progressive Peoples" (U.P.P.), who are attacked by a facehugger hiding in the entrails of Bishop's mangled body. The soldiers blast the facehugger into space and take Bishop with them for further study. The Sulaco continues its voyage and then arrives at a space station–shopping mall hybrid named Anchorpoint. This unarmed station becomes a labratory for the folks from Weyland-Yutani's bioweapons division.
And of course when the aliens get released hell hath no fury but a bloody alien. It is an decent read and the comic is easy to follow and while it takes its time does deliver a decent Alien story but perhaps not spectacular enough for the folks who run the franchise even if Alien and Aliens were tough acts to follow.
An interesting bit of Alien franchise was delivered in this short comic series and while I would not have missed out on anything had it never been published it is an interesting exercise and bit of Alien history that is perhaps best enjoyed by Alien franchise fans. Who like their contemporaries from other tv or movie franchises always feel that their personal likes are more important than the ones actually holding the reigns of the franchise. A nice little footnote to an otherwise interesting franchise.
August 21, 2022
Many will say that Alien franchise went downhill with Fincher's "Alien 3". I liked it, still remember the scene where xenomorph is breathing in Ripley's face, his jaw out, saliva dripping. However, third part of Alien was a troubled production to say the least, but one thing that was interesting is that first version of the script was written by William Gibson, fresh of his "Neuromancer" success. Luckily, studio rejected his treatment of Alien franchise. However, somebody thought it would be good to make a comic book out of unproduced movie script. And why not? Alien franchise is a milking cow, no matter what.
This whole thing was a mess, from the beginning. Wrong choice of artist/writer in Johnnie Christmas whose vision for this was off rail, panels go back and forth and the drawing at times looks lazy, especially when it comes to drawing faces. However, not even more experienced artists and writers could manage to pull this adaptation off. Ripley is in a coma, xenomorphs have weird new ability which makes it look like this is Carpenter's "The Thing" rip off.
I love Gibson's work, but writing a script for an Alien franchise was a total misfire from him.
P.S.
It's unclear whether the idea of comatose Ripley came from Gibson or studio because there are both versions of origin on internet. Whoever came up with that idea should've known better.
This whole thing was a mess, from the beginning. Wrong choice of artist/writer in Johnnie Christmas whose vision for this was off rail, panels go back and forth and the drawing at times looks lazy, especially when it comes to drawing faces. However, not even more experienced artists and writers could manage to pull this adaptation off. Ripley is in a coma, xenomorphs have weird new ability which makes it look like this is Carpenter's "The Thing" rip off.
I love Gibson's work, but writing a script for an Alien franchise was a total misfire from him.
P.S.
It's unclear whether the idea of comatose Ripley came from Gibson or studio because there are both versions of origin on internet. Whoever came up with that idea should've known better.
February 7, 2021
I wanted to read (or watch) Alien 3 since 2011 when I was studying film and media in Vienna and I just found out about the troubled history of this movie.
The biggest problem with this book is simple, it's an ineffective adaptation of a unused (mediocre) screenplay. There were several situations that would have been really creepy and epic but it didn’t translate at all into the sequential artform. Also you have to live without the great music score that would lift all that up too.
Right in the first act it struggled with unnecessary dialogue to explain the political situation, making it seem like a political thriller rather than a horror story. I liked it at first but quickly the jargon became too much.
The last act devolved into some rehash of the second movie, a suspicion I had going into this sadly getting confirmed. The art was okay but sometimes you have a hard time recognizing the characters as the ones from the movies which also takes away from the overall experience.
This would have worked better as a movie! The book sadly only manages a 2.5 out of 5 stars.
The biggest problem with this book is simple, it's an ineffective adaptation of a unused (mediocre) screenplay. There were several situations that would have been really creepy and epic but it didn’t translate at all into the sequential artform. Also you have to live without the great music score that would lift all that up too.
Right in the first act it struggled with unnecessary dialogue to explain the political situation, making it seem like a political thriller rather than a horror story. I liked it at first but quickly the jargon became too much.
The last act devolved into some rehash of the second movie, a suspicion I had going into this sadly getting confirmed. The art was okay but sometimes you have a hard time recognizing the characters as the ones from the movies which also takes away from the overall experience.
This would have worked better as a movie! The book sadly only manages a 2.5 out of 5 stars.
September 23, 2022
Well, tre să recunosc: ăsta a fost chiar mai slab decât ce crede lumea despre filmul final care e Alien 3.
Prima jumătate e plină de conversații despre politică, tratate și aspecte diplomatice care cred că mă puneau la somn instant, dacă nu aș fi avut deja jumătate de litru de Cola în mine. Urmează un număr în care în final o vedem pe Ripley, chiar înainte să o bage într-o comă în care va rămâne pentru tot restul poveștii. Încă un număr în care îi vedem sporadic pe Hicks, Newt și un Bishop reparat, și în final, în ultimul (al cincilea) număr avem parte de o confruntare scurtă și dezamăgitoare. Băieții aruncă în aer stația spațială pe care se petrece acțiunea (similar cu Alien și Aliens) și sunt salvați de o navă de coloniști care se întoarce spre Terra.
Cam atât.
Din ce țin minte, urma un al patrulea film în care omenirea urma să se confrunte cu xenomorph-ii chiar pe Pământ și ăla ar fi fost finalul poveștii, iar ultimele două filme trebuiau filmate back-to-back, să mai taie din cheltuieli.
Din fericire, unul dintre șefii de la 20th Century Fox a citit cu atenție scenariul lui Gibson și a zis că „e un scenariu foarte bine scris, atât doar că e foarte neinteresant”. Și a avut dreptate. Venind de la tatăl cyberpunk-ului, omul care ne-a dat Neuromancer, Count Zero, Virtual Light, Idoru, Burning Chrome (toate niște cărți extrem de bune), aveam așteptări destul de ridicate. Dar tot ce putea merge prost merge prost în povestea asta care n-are nici acțiune, nici concepte noi, nici direcții noi, și pe deasupra n-o are nici pe Ripley.
Acuma, adaptarea nu e nici ea cea mai fericită. Indicațiile temporare („curând” fiind cea mai bizară) sunt aiurea, dar grafica lui Christmas este de-o banalitate mai înfiorătoare decât xenomorph-ii: cu excepția lui Bishop și a cicatricii lui Hicks (dar nu Hicks în sine), e extrem de greu să recunoști pe cineva, și mare parte din timp ți-l petreci încercând să îți dai seama cine e cine, și ce face fiecare.
Despre personalitățile (sau numele) personajelor nu mă întrebați, n-aș fi îmn stare să zic nimic nici ca să îmi salvez viața, toți sunt o apă și un pământ, literalmente n-ai cum să-i deosebești, niciunul dintre ei n-are o fărâmă de zvâc care să-l scoată în evidență (Hicks, Newt și Bishop încluși aici).
Dialogurile se limitează la infodump-uri interminabile despre politică și diplomație (pentru că DA, ASTA VREAU SĂ VĂD ÎNTR-UN SEQUEL LA UNUL DINTRE CELE MAI TARI FILME DE ACȚIUNE, JOCURI DE ȘAH ȘI FUCKING DIPLOMAȚIE INTERSTELARĂ!) sau chestii basic de comunicare („fă-te-ncoa, dă-te-ncolo!”).
Scenele de acțiune sunt ocazional interesante (dar puține - citisem că sunt vreo 4 scene majore de acțiune, dar dacă au fost, n-au fost majore, așa că par a nu fi deloc), dar scurte și parcă nu au miză, nu schimbă nimic.
Xenomorphii dezvoltă niște abilități bizare, îi vezi ieșind la iveală de sub pielea oamenilor, ca și cum ar fi niște „puppet-masters”... nu știu, m-a pierdut complet la faza asta.
Toată povestea pare a fi mai degrabă un episod dintr-un serial SF de categorie B, ceva ce încearcă să se ridice de șireturi la un nivel la care evident nu-i capabilă să ajungă. Am o convingere puternică a faptului că Gibson n-a văzut primele două filme din serie sau n-a înțeles deloc despre ce e toată treaba, pentru că scenariul lui e la kilometri distanță din toate punctele de vedere față de celelalte.
Nu regret că am citit povestea, îmi doream de ani de zile să știu care erau variantele celelalte ale scenariilor (vreo 6 la număr, dacă număr bine) din care a fost asamblat filmul final. Dar sunt mulțumit că nu a fost ăsta lozul câștigător. Filmul regizat de Fincher mi se pare net superior (cu toate problemele de producție pe care le-a avut) față de scenariul lui Gibson.
Ce aș vrea să văd în continuare e un comic făcut după scenariul lui Vincent Ward pentru Alien 3, despre care se spune că e „unul dintre cele mai faine SF-uri neproduse vreodată!”.
Prima jumătate e plină de conversații despre politică, tratate și aspecte diplomatice care cred că mă puneau la somn instant, dacă nu aș fi avut deja jumătate de litru de Cola în mine. Urmează un număr în care în final o vedem pe Ripley, chiar înainte să o bage într-o comă în care va rămâne pentru tot restul poveștii. Încă un număr în care îi vedem sporadic pe Hicks, Newt și un Bishop reparat, și în final, în ultimul (al cincilea) număr avem parte de o confruntare scurtă și dezamăgitoare. Băieții aruncă în aer stația spațială pe care se petrece acțiunea (similar cu Alien și Aliens) și sunt salvați de o navă de coloniști care se întoarce spre Terra.
Cam atât.
Din ce țin minte, urma un al patrulea film în care omenirea urma să se confrunte cu xenomorph-ii chiar pe Pământ și ăla ar fi fost finalul poveștii, iar ultimele două filme trebuiau filmate back-to-back, să mai taie din cheltuieli.
Din fericire, unul dintre șefii de la 20th Century Fox a citit cu atenție scenariul lui Gibson și a zis că „e un scenariu foarte bine scris, atât doar că e foarte neinteresant”. Și a avut dreptate. Venind de la tatăl cyberpunk-ului, omul care ne-a dat Neuromancer, Count Zero, Virtual Light, Idoru, Burning Chrome (toate niște cărți extrem de bune), aveam așteptări destul de ridicate. Dar tot ce putea merge prost merge prost în povestea asta care n-are nici acțiune, nici concepte noi, nici direcții noi, și pe deasupra n-o are nici pe Ripley.
Acuma, adaptarea nu e nici ea cea mai fericită. Indicațiile temporare („curând” fiind cea mai bizară) sunt aiurea, dar grafica lui Christmas este de-o banalitate mai înfiorătoare decât xenomorph-ii: cu excepția lui Bishop și a cicatricii lui Hicks (dar nu Hicks în sine), e extrem de greu să recunoști pe cineva, și mare parte din timp ți-l petreci încercând să îți dai seama cine e cine, și ce face fiecare.
Despre personalitățile (sau numele) personajelor nu mă întrebați, n-aș fi îmn stare să zic nimic nici ca să îmi salvez viața, toți sunt o apă și un pământ, literalmente n-ai cum să-i deosebești, niciunul dintre ei n-are o fărâmă de zvâc care să-l scoată în evidență (Hicks, Newt și Bishop încluși aici).
Dialogurile se limitează la infodump-uri interminabile despre politică și diplomație (pentru că DA, ASTA VREAU SĂ VĂD ÎNTR-UN SEQUEL LA UNUL DINTRE CELE MAI TARI FILME DE ACȚIUNE, JOCURI DE ȘAH ȘI FUCKING DIPLOMAȚIE INTERSTELARĂ!) sau chestii basic de comunicare („fă-te-ncoa, dă-te-ncolo!”).
Scenele de acțiune sunt ocazional interesante (dar puține - citisem că sunt vreo 4 scene majore de acțiune, dar dacă au fost, n-au fost majore, așa că par a nu fi deloc), dar scurte și parcă nu au miză, nu schimbă nimic.
Xenomorphii dezvoltă niște abilități bizare, îi vezi ieșind la iveală de sub pielea oamenilor, ca și cum ar fi niște „puppet-masters”... nu știu, m-a pierdut complet la faza asta.
Toată povestea pare a fi mai degrabă un episod dintr-un serial SF de categorie B, ceva ce încearcă să se ridice de șireturi la un nivel la care evident nu-i capabilă să ajungă. Am o convingere puternică a faptului că Gibson n-a văzut primele două filme din serie sau n-a înțeles deloc despre ce e toată treaba, pentru că scenariul lui e la kilometri distanță din toate punctele de vedere față de celelalte.
Nu regret că am citit povestea, îmi doream de ani de zile să știu care erau variantele celelalte ale scenariilor (vreo 6 la număr, dacă număr bine) din care a fost asamblat filmul final. Dar sunt mulțumit că nu a fost ăsta lozul câștigător. Filmul regizat de Fincher mi se pare net superior (cu toate problemele de producție pe care le-a avut) față de scenariul lui Gibson.
Ce aș vrea să văd în continuare e un comic făcut după scenariul lui Vincent Ward pentru Alien 3, despre care se spune că e „unul dintre cele mai faine SF-uri neproduse vreodată!”.
June 1, 2021
Good call on not picking this up for the third movie, its not a bad horror story, but its certainly not Alien material. There's some major flaws here, some that could even ruin the franchise in the process, for one there's the new Alien transformation, which makes absolutely no sense, its like Gibson didn't even watched the previous movies, the red-eyed Alien was totally random, and not using Ripley for the entirety of the story, goddamn... she's the main hero of the series dude, you don't just leave her on the capsule the entire movie.
I'm a huge fan of the entire saga and I regard Alien 3 as the second worst movie in the series, so if Gibson's screenplay doesn't top that, I can't have many good things to say about it, other than its not a bad read, its just not Alien.
I'm a huge fan of the entire saga and I regard Alien 3 as the second worst movie in the series, so if Gibson's screenplay doesn't top that, I can't have many good things to say about it, other than its not a bad read, its just not Alien.
August 5, 2019
Pretty dissapointing Aliens story. No Ripley slow plotting and weird aliens that aren't the aliens. Kinda see why this wasnt made into a film
August 4, 2019
You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.
Following the incredible success of both the original Alien (1979) movie directed by Ridley Scott and its sequel Aliens (1986) directed by James Cameron, it was only a matter of time before another project was set loose at the box office to further explore the horrifying world filled with xenomorphs. Unfortunately, the third installment knew more problems than mankind could ever deal with, as issues during production arose from left and right, shooting began without a script to help it, and countless screenwriters and directors were recruited for this movie. In his directorial debut, director David Fincher sees himself attributed the burden to launch this sequel and suffers through an underperforming and poorly-received movie that however didn’t stop him from later releasing some of the best movies cinema has ever witnessed.
What is Alien 3 about? This unproduced screenplay is author William Gibson’s second draft for the movie. While both his first draft (can be found online here) and his second draft were turned down by studios, he was now invited to produce a graphic novel based on the second script for fans to discover what he originally planned for a sequel to Aliens. Set during the Cold War, the story begins with the Union of Progressive Peoples intercepting the spaceship Sulaco, carrying Ripley, Hicks, Newt, and Bishop. Within the ship, another deadly passenger happens to also be patiently waiting, looking for the perfect opportunity to reign havoc. While two of the most powerful governments are looking to develop a weapon of mass destruction, their project will have to be put to the side as they try and deal with the nastiest alien threat they will ever face.
If you think Willaim Gibson’s screenplay is anything like the movie, think again. The script utilized for this graphic novel completely reimagines the franchise’s direction and invites readers to forget anything they’ve learned about the creatures to even enjoy this adventure a little. One of the biggest change is how Ripley, while present in this story, isn’t the main protagonist and is actualize quickly disposed of—not literally—halfway in. It was already a big move in the movie when Ripley was quickly made the center of attention as the rest of the crew was removed from the picture, but this time around, fans won’t have any known figures to truly follow as they are forced to reacquaint themselves with new figures who are completely uninteresting.
If that wasn’t enough, the story also gives the xenomorphs new abilities that are absolutely insane. They aren’t just creatures that look for incubators in living beings in order to grow at an exponential rate, this time around they also have mutating powers that appear out of the blue, making them threats à la Terminator. As much as I love when a world expands and the story brings in new key components to play with, this seemed like an extremely ambitious idea that steered the original plotline into directions that are beyond anyone’s understanding. Would it have made for a better movie than what we got with Alien³, I doubt it.
The artwork that accompanies this story is still decent with excellent and vibrant colouring that offers clear visuals that make it easy to follow the action. It’s in the structure of the story that it, however, suffers immensely with the story alternating points of view too often for anything to seem fluid. From one page to another, the story can shift perspectives, leaving no room for the reader to really grasp the context. With a lot of elements left aside for readers to deduce—actually, to guess—the artwork could never save the story even if the artists wanted to. Even the design of the xenomorphs is different and that’s something you just shouldn’t touch.
Alien 3 is a high-reaching proposal that completely reshapes the xenomorph’s lore with new creatures, characters, and environments, without staying loyal to the original premise.
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
May 27, 2019
I was hoping for the sequel that Aliens really deserved and there are moments in this, but it is still kind of a mess. Gibson says in an introduction that it was his first attempt at a screenplay and "work for hire," and he does a pretty good job, but there are some weird things here that just don't fit with the earlier iterations of the story (such as the alien lifecycle, which is quite a bit different this time out). Also, it's quite strange that Ripley is not really present at all, other than as a comatose survivor of the Sulaco who is off to the side of things through most of the book (Newt makes more of an impact before being shipped off for home). Bishop and Hicks have the most to do, along with a new cast of characters, including some Marxist space colonists on their own space station and the crew of a Weyland-Yutani space station in danger of being mothballed. The script could still use some work--it isn't always clear who's who or just what the heck is going on (there are a couple of alien burst out scenes that look like they belong more in John Carpenter's version of The Thing than anything Alien-related). The artwork is pretty good throughout, though can be a bit sketchy at times. Also interesting to see how this first attempt (with some revisions and polish) ultimately evolved into the weirdness that was David Fincher's Alien 3.
April 30, 2021
The art.
The art, the art, the art.
Old man complaint time, but still a fact: Most comic-book artists these days can't draw faces to save their lives. Look at any random current issue of Batman, Superman, or Spider-Man, and you'll see that the artist probably avoids drawing any male brunettes when the title character is out of costume, because you wouldn't be able to pick Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, or Peter Parker out of the crowd. Every male face looks the same, and so does every female face. Sometimes the male AND female characters have the same faces. This is a long-winded way of saying that I often had no idea who was who as I read this book.
Artist Johnnie Christmas, who I have never heard of before this adaptation or since, was responsible for translating William Gibson's more-of-the-same (Evil corporation wants Xenomorph) into comic-book form, and so he naturally made it a visual-heavy story. You get the occasional massive info-dump of dialogue, but, for the most part, you have to follow along and learn who is who, through the visuals. And, aside from the scarred face of Hicks, and Bishop, who Christmas went out of his way to make photo-accurate, I spent most of the time wondering "Who the hell was that that just spoke/killed somebody/got killed?" There is what I assume is meant to be a big crowd-pleasing moment towards the end when someone shows up and does something, but it just stopped me dead because I assume that it was another character that did it, because THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE. After I finished the book, something made me page back through it, and then I discovered that what I thought was character A was really some bit player that had almost nothing to do with the story, and who had made no impression on me at all.
I hated ALIEN 3 when it first came out, because it seemed like a letdown after the multi-Alien carnage that was ALIENS. Now it is a favorite film of mine precisely BECAUSE it was so different from what came before. (And after, for that matter...) This is just more of the same old Alien story that we've read/seen a million times now, and the muddled art and adaptation do Gibson's story no favors.
The art, the art, the art.
Old man complaint time, but still a fact: Most comic-book artists these days can't draw faces to save their lives. Look at any random current issue of Batman, Superman, or Spider-Man, and you'll see that the artist probably avoids drawing any male brunettes when the title character is out of costume, because you wouldn't be able to pick Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, or Peter Parker out of the crowd. Every male face looks the same, and so does every female face. Sometimes the male AND female characters have the same faces. This is a long-winded way of saying that I often had no idea who was who as I read this book.
Artist Johnnie Christmas, who I have never heard of before this adaptation or since, was responsible for translating William Gibson's more-of-the-same (Evil corporation wants Xenomorph) into comic-book form, and so he naturally made it a visual-heavy story. You get the occasional massive info-dump of dialogue, but, for the most part, you have to follow along and learn who is who, through the visuals. And, aside from the scarred face of Hicks, and Bishop, who Christmas went out of his way to make photo-accurate, I spent most of the time wondering "Who the hell was that that just spoke/killed somebody/got killed?" There is what I assume is meant to be a big crowd-pleasing moment towards the end when someone shows up and does something, but it just stopped me dead because I assume that it was another character that did it, because THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE. After I finished the book, something made me page back through it, and then I discovered that what I thought was character A was really some bit player that had almost nothing to do with the story, and who had made no impression on me at all.
I hated ALIEN 3 when it first came out, because it seemed like a letdown after the multi-Alien carnage that was ALIENS. Now it is a favorite film of mine precisely BECAUSE it was so different from what came before. (And after, for that matter...) This is just more of the same old Alien story that we've read/seen a million times now, and the muddled art and adaptation do Gibson's story no favors.
July 12, 2020
The complete review with pictures can be found here: https://amanjareads.com/2020/07/10/al...
William Gibson's Alien 3 graphic novel is basically a story board for the never completed third sequel in the Alien movie franchise.
I'll be honest, I rewatched the first Alien movie a couple years ago when it played at a local theater but I haven't seen the second one in probably 20 years. Yikes, I'm getting old.
I didn't expect to need to know everything from the first two movies to be able to enjoy the third one. Maybe if you're a super-fan and know more of the extended lore and characters Alien 3 might be more enjoyable for you.
However, if you're like me and only a casual fan, this one will likely be challenging.
Alien 3 does a deep dive into the politics of the Alien universe. The book drops the reader into the middle of conversations packed with dense dialogue about companies and political parties we're supposed to recognize. But I sure didn't. So I was lost, the whole time.
From what I can gather there is a military contracted company aiming to weaponize the aliens somehow. Obviously, there are others who think this is a mistake. Most of the book is spent observing conversations between assumed to be powerful people I don't recognize and therefore don't care about. It's pretty dull.
Gibson literally drops the reader into the middle of these conversations. There's no exposition, no prologue, no lead up, nothing that gives us context about who anyone is or what they're doing.
Issues 4 and 5 finally add in some nice horror visuals but it's far too little too late. I didn't care about any of the deaths in the book because I still have no idea who any of the characters are or why I should care. There was no development for any of them and Ripley is in a coma the whole time. She gets maybe two panels of page time in the whole series and she's asleep.
What I remember loving about the first Alien movie is how suspenseful it is. It's scary on that primal survival level. And then when you do see the alien the design is incredible. The deaths are graphic. It's all about tension and visuals. This book had neither.
The beauty of a a horror graphic novel is that you have no constraints. You should be able to make it as gory, graphic, and over the top as you want. No need to worry about practical effects or CGI. Anything can be drawn! But for this book they chose to draw people sitting around conference tables.
The cover art, although beautiful...
...is misleading. Yet another case of a comic book that I should've just hung on my wall instead of reading it. Sigh.
If you are an Alien super-fan and have read this please let me know if you found it more interesting than I did! If you're not an Alien super-fan you can probably pass on this one.
William Gibson's Alien 3 graphic novel is basically a story board for the never completed third sequel in the Alien movie franchise.
I'll be honest, I rewatched the first Alien movie a couple years ago when it played at a local theater but I haven't seen the second one in probably 20 years. Yikes, I'm getting old.
I didn't expect to need to know everything from the first two movies to be able to enjoy the third one. Maybe if you're a super-fan and know more of the extended lore and characters Alien 3 might be more enjoyable for you.
However, if you're like me and only a casual fan, this one will likely be challenging.
Alien 3 does a deep dive into the politics of the Alien universe. The book drops the reader into the middle of conversations packed with dense dialogue about companies and political parties we're supposed to recognize. But I sure didn't. So I was lost, the whole time.
From what I can gather there is a military contracted company aiming to weaponize the aliens somehow. Obviously, there are others who think this is a mistake. Most of the book is spent observing conversations between assumed to be powerful people I don't recognize and therefore don't care about. It's pretty dull.
Gibson literally drops the reader into the middle of these conversations. There's no exposition, no prologue, no lead up, nothing that gives us context about who anyone is or what they're doing.
Issues 4 and 5 finally add in some nice horror visuals but it's far too little too late. I didn't care about any of the deaths in the book because I still have no idea who any of the characters are or why I should care. There was no development for any of them and Ripley is in a coma the whole time. She gets maybe two panels of page time in the whole series and she's asleep.
What I remember loving about the first Alien movie is how suspenseful it is. It's scary on that primal survival level. And then when you do see the alien the design is incredible. The deaths are graphic. It's all about tension and visuals. This book had neither.
The beauty of a a horror graphic novel is that you have no constraints. You should be able to make it as gory, graphic, and over the top as you want. No need to worry about practical effects or CGI. Anything can be drawn! But for this book they chose to draw people sitting around conference tables.
The cover art, although beautiful...
...is misleading. Yet another case of a comic book that I should've just hung on my wall instead of reading it. Sigh.
If you are an Alien super-fan and have read this please let me know if you found it more interesting than I did! If you're not an Alien super-fan you can probably pass on this one.
July 15, 2019
So a few things - I'm a big fan of William Gibson, Neuromancer is one of my favorite books and I love the Alien franchise (give or take a few movies in there). I'm in the minority, but I also like the Alien 3 we got in theaters. I understand people's gripes with it, I miss Hicks and Newt too, but I watched the crap out of it in the 90s on a banged up VHS when my parents weren't looking and it holds a strange place in my heart. That being said, I always wanted to know what William Gibson's script would have looked like. So I read this comicbook as it came out, pumped up and ready to have my mind blown. Well...my mind was blown but not in a good way. Maybe the cold war backdrop would have been more meaningful back when it was written, but now it just seems cliched. The xenomorphs have become things from another planet, and specifically for the comicbook version, the layout and plotting from panel to panel was so confusing. When you take a complicated plot with multiple characters who are all drawn to look exactly the same and have forgettable names, and put them all in a comicbook together that jumps all over the place, I had no idea who was who or what was happening. Ripley's not even in it. I liked the individual covers though, but man, what a weird take. By the end of it, I didn't know what had happened, and I read it twice to try and make sure I didn't miss anything.
September 25, 2020
I will admit that this book has been a bit of a legend to me - and I guess from reading the preface and the comments it seems the same to a number of others too.
As I have said before Aliens was one of those films that is heavily connected to my time at University. So to know that William Gibson was commissioned to write a sequel to it - and one that continues the story so perfectly has always intrigued me.
Yes knowledge of this story exiting has been circulating for a while but apart from a few I guess there was never any real substance to the stories. That is until not only did it find a publisher but one in graphic format.
And so here it is and I must admit it certainly feels like it continues the story and not only that but it has the same atmosphere and pace as Aliens so reading it was great fun. It is a shame though it just brings home what sadly could have been - and more importantly questions why they decided the take the franchise in a totally different direction.
So for any Aliens fans out there I would highly recommend it
As I have said before Aliens was one of those films that is heavily connected to my time at University. So to know that William Gibson was commissioned to write a sequel to it - and one that continues the story so perfectly has always intrigued me.
Yes knowledge of this story exiting has been circulating for a while but apart from a few I guess there was never any real substance to the stories. That is until not only did it find a publisher but one in graphic format.
And so here it is and I must admit it certainly feels like it continues the story and not only that but it has the same atmosphere and pace as Aliens so reading it was great fun. It is a shame though it just brings home what sadly could have been - and more importantly questions why they decided the take the franchise in a totally different direction.
So for any Aliens fans out there I would highly recommend it
November 28, 2022
This is the unused William Gibson screenplay for Alien 3. This was contracted to be written and then the Screenwriter's Guild strike happened. Many things contributed to this not being used but that can be read in the preface. What is for the reader here? This is the true adaptation of the events of Aliens, including what happened with the survivors and the Aliens' extension deeper into the lives of humanity. Jonnie Christmas did the art here and it is very good. The words are of course Gibson's first screenplay attempt and as it is allowed for a non-Guild writer to submit one single screenplay before being considered only to a Guild member, this one is a good one. I think anyone who enjoys the movies should read this to see another take on Alien 3 and what it could have been. I love the movie and yet I would have like to see this version put on screen as well.
Danny
Danny
September 3, 2019
The making of the film Alien 3 is arguably more interesting than the film itself. It went through so many variations, so many writers and directors were attached, multiple ideas were attempted and rejected that it's astounding (or completely unsurprising) that the final product was as lackluster as it was.
I really love the idea of going back to original scripts and publishing them, either as books or beautifully illustrated comics as has been done many times before. So, when I heard William Gibson's original script for Alien 3 was being adapted for comics, I knew I'd have to get it.
He takes the story in a very different direction from the final film, arguably a more interesting one. The biggest drawback is the lack of Ellen Ripley's character, a requirement as Sigourney Weaver wasn't planning on returning at that stage. It does allow Corporal Hicks played by Michael Biehn in Aliens to take a more central role, but his actual character isn't all that fleshed out... he mostly reacts to what's going on around him.
The story is much more about biological warfare and combines the horror of the first with the action of the second. Whether it would have worked as a film is anyone's guess but I think it would have been more interesting than the one we got. It also left the door open for what could have been the most interesting sequel of the franchise.
The artwork is pretty solid, although of the characters based on actors only Bishop really looks like Lance Henriksen. The variations of the xenomorphs were interesting and I really liked the design of some of the space stations.
As a stand-alone sequel to the Alien franchise this book is mildly entertaining, but the appeal of seeing what could have been is the real draw-card.
I really love the idea of going back to original scripts and publishing them, either as books or beautifully illustrated comics as has been done many times before. So, when I heard William Gibson's original script for Alien 3 was being adapted for comics, I knew I'd have to get it.
He takes the story in a very different direction from the final film, arguably a more interesting one. The biggest drawback is the lack of Ellen Ripley's character, a requirement as Sigourney Weaver wasn't planning on returning at that stage. It does allow Corporal Hicks played by Michael Biehn in Aliens to take a more central role, but his actual character isn't all that fleshed out... he mostly reacts to what's going on around him.
The story is much more about biological warfare and combines the horror of the first with the action of the second. Whether it would have worked as a film is anyone's guess but I think it would have been more interesting than the one we got. It also left the door open for what could have been the most interesting sequel of the franchise.
The artwork is pretty solid, although of the characters based on actors only Bishop really looks like Lance Henriksen. The variations of the xenomorphs were interesting and I really liked the design of some of the space stations.
As a stand-alone sequel to the Alien franchise this book is mildly entertaining, but the appeal of seeing what could have been is the real draw-card.
April 1, 2019
Why is it that whenever a new chapter in the Alien saga is to be written there’s a need to change the creatures? The first movie portrayed a horrifying monster never seen before. In the second movie they suddenly had a queen. In the third the face huggers could infect more than one host, in the fourth they were cloned and we got a hybrid as well. And don’t get me started on the Aliens vs. Predator mess or *shudder* the Prometheus films.
We get the same crap here. Suddenly the Aliens can infect humans by releasing spores in the air and having them transform the humans into aliens. There’s even one human who gets turned into an Alien after getting bit by one. I never thought the Aliens were space-werewolves.
This is my biggest problem with this story. The way the Aliens infect humans makes the entire cycle of egg-> facehugger-> chestburster obsolete. Why would any of those be needed if it’s enough that the Aliens nibble on a human a bit?
Besides the weird evolution of the monsters I found the story hard to follow. We get thrown between different characters and places I can hardly tell apart and everyone’s just running around for no apparent reason.
No. This story certainly wasn’t my cup of tea.
We get the same crap here. Suddenly the Aliens can infect humans by releasing spores in the air and having them transform the humans into aliens. There’s even one human who gets turned into an Alien after getting bit by one. I never thought the Aliens were space-werewolves.
This is my biggest problem with this story. The way the Aliens infect humans makes the entire cycle of egg-> facehugger-> chestburster obsolete. Why would any of those be needed if it’s enough that the Aliens nibble on a human a bit?
Besides the weird evolution of the monsters I found the story hard to follow. We get thrown between different characters and places I can hardly tell apart and everyone’s just running around for no apparent reason.
No. This story certainly wasn’t my cup of tea.
February 2, 2020
El guión no filmado tiene cosas atractivas. Para empezar, traslada la historia a un escenario de guerra fría con un enfrentamiento entre megacorporaciones de ideologías opuestas. Y, esto es lo bueno, convierte a los aliens en una máquina de von Neumann biológica puenteando el ciclo vital establecido en Aliens y hace que Ripley se pase toda la historia en un sueño inducido. Con un par. Después ya hay cosas de argumento (plantarle a Bishop un huevo en la cámara de hibernación XD) y trama que funcionan peor, los personajes son muy planitos, los diálogos ni fu ni fa... Podría haber tenido un pase en manos de un autor competente. Pero en la rifa de "vamos a darte una oportunidad" le cayó al tal Johnnie Christmas y la malgasta a lo grande. No ya por ese guión sin mordiente o un dibujo mediocre. Su narrativa, torpe e inconexa, convierte ciertas transiciones en un enigma a desentrañar. ¿Algo intencionado para aumentar el potencial transmedia del cómic?
Leer esto es malgastar el tiempo (y comprarlo tirar el dinero).
Leer esto es malgastar el tiempo (y comprarlo tirar el dinero).
March 29, 2023
Besides the body horror, this script was better off left on the chopping block. Just a lot of blabbering about recreating the Xenos, and mixing humans with them, we even get a hybrid that looks strangely similar to what we got in resurrections. Also Hicks and Newt survive here but they're so useless it seems so pointless in this story. A 2 out of 5.
July 5, 2021
Like many other readers, I was hoping this would be better than the Alien 3 film that was produced. However, even though Alien 3 was probably my least favorite Alien film, I don't think this comic was much better.
It's a somewhat confusing story that does give Hicks a big role, but Newt and Ripley are barely in the story There were also some major changes to the Aliens as far as physiology goes.
So overall William Gibson did try to take things in a new direction, but for me at least it just didn't work. Still an interesting read for hardcore Alien fans.
It's a somewhat confusing story that does give Hicks a big role, but Newt and Ripley are barely in the story There were also some major changes to the Aliens as far as physiology goes.
So overall William Gibson did try to take things in a new direction, but for me at least it just didn't work. Still an interesting read for hardcore Alien fans.
September 21, 2020
Expanding the Alien universe is a struggle. The first film was one of the greatest Horror films ever made and was a breath of fresh air in its time; the second pivoted to Action and expanded the understanding of the creatures to their whole life cycle. How would you make a third story with expectations so high? To date attempt has successfully answered that. The xenomorphs are a legendary antagonist, and Ripley is a legendary hero. How would you continue their story?
In that context, William Gibson’s script is at least an interesting attempt.
Let’s get this out of the way: it wouldn’t have worked. The script has too many antagonists: yet another unethical arm of the company, and xenomorphs, and basically liquid xenomorph sludge, and monkey xenomorphs, and “facehugger” particles that transform you if you breathe them in. On paper, it’s obvious that the lack of focus keeps any threat from feeling tangible, and as such it feels like only the expendable characters are at risk. Additionally, none of the action sequences look that compelling on paper, compared to the iconic showdown at the end of Aliens, or Ripley being trapped in an escape pod with one.
Then there are the protagonists. Sidelining Ripley as alternately comatose or helpless, and focusing more on male heroes, would have been unwise at best. By the mid-point of Aliens, Ripley was the heart and soul of the franchise. She cannot be replaced by her love interest from Aliens. The supporting cast feel like the scientist equivalent of Aliens’ stereotypical marines, complete with the stock uptight lady character. You know who’s going to die before some of them say their names.
Still, there are some good ideas in here, which later Alien movies either borrowed or came up with independently. The “alien sludge” is the result of an attempt to figure out the origin of the xenomorphs through reverse engineering, and analyzing their origin that was is appealing. The script also sets up a sequel that would require the characters we already care about to try to where the xenomorphs came from. These are ideas that at least seemed good until Prometheus and Alien: Covenant rendered them unbearable.
Aspiring SciFi screenwriters could do worse than to read this, and to then decide how they would write a treatment to continue a franchise like Alien. Soft-rebooting a franchise that has gone off a cliff is a good way to sharpen your writing skills. Analyze what Gibson was trying to do, and contrast it with your own vision.
In that context, William Gibson’s script is at least an interesting attempt.
Let’s get this out of the way: it wouldn’t have worked. The script has too many antagonists: yet another unethical arm of the company, and xenomorphs, and basically liquid xenomorph sludge, and monkey xenomorphs, and “facehugger” particles that transform you if you breathe them in. On paper, it’s obvious that the lack of focus keeps any threat from feeling tangible, and as such it feels like only the expendable characters are at risk. Additionally, none of the action sequences look that compelling on paper, compared to the iconic showdown at the end of Aliens, or Ripley being trapped in an escape pod with one.
Then there are the protagonists. Sidelining Ripley as alternately comatose or helpless, and focusing more on male heroes, would have been unwise at best. By the mid-point of Aliens, Ripley was the heart and soul of the franchise. She cannot be replaced by her love interest from Aliens. The supporting cast feel like the scientist equivalent of Aliens’ stereotypical marines, complete with the stock uptight lady character. You know who’s going to die before some of them say their names.
Still, there are some good ideas in here, which later Alien movies either borrowed or came up with independently. The “alien sludge” is the result of an attempt to figure out the origin of the xenomorphs through reverse engineering, and analyzing their origin that was is appealing. The script also sets up a sequel that would require the characters we already care about to try to where the xenomorphs came from. These are ideas that at least seemed good until Prometheus and Alien: Covenant rendered them unbearable.
Aspiring SciFi screenwriters could do worse than to read this, and to then decide how they would write a treatment to continue a franchise like Alien. Soft-rebooting a franchise that has gone off a cliff is a good way to sharpen your writing skills. Analyze what Gibson was trying to do, and contrast it with your own vision.
March 20, 2023
I still remember when I heard that William Gibson was writing the sequel to Aliens. It was the early 90's and I was still high on having finished the awesomeness that was Neuromancer and Count Zero (and Snow Crash, but that is a different author.) Could he bring the same kind of edgy cool that he brought to the cyberpunk genre to the Alien-verse? Alas, it was not to be, because Alien 3 as filmed went in a different direction. But this book gives us a chance to see what if...
The story begins much like the Alien 3 we know: the Sulaco is intercepted on it's trip back to Earth by space Soviets, but maybe the alien queen left a little surprise behind? The survivors - Hicks, Newt and a mostly comatose Ripley - are revived and deal with the repercussions of the events on LV-426 and the alien becomes the focus of a bit of an arms race. Oh and that alien queen did leave a surprise.
This was a quick read, very rushed and not detailed at all. In fact, this felt more like a script treatment than an adaption of a full screenplay. There was little to no character development; at times, it was hard to tell who was who. Also after the first chapter, which established the setting, there was little to no detail. Hicks made a good showing, as the book positions him as the hero instead of Ripley, but the other characters are almost interchangeable. No names, an occasional reference to the name of the space station, that's about it. It had more of the feel of the first two Alien movies that what we eventually got and for that alone, I gave it a star. But the muddled and rushed plot, especially at the end made this a little bit more of a letdown.
Read it if you want but If you are looking for a better followup to Aliens, check out the original Dark Horse comics.
The story begins much like the Alien 3 we know: the Sulaco is intercepted on it's trip back to Earth by space Soviets, but maybe the alien queen left a little surprise behind? The survivors - Hicks, Newt and a mostly comatose Ripley - are revived and deal with the repercussions of the events on LV-426 and the alien becomes the focus of a bit of an arms race. Oh and that alien queen did leave a surprise.
This was a quick read, very rushed and not detailed at all. In fact, this felt more like a script treatment than an adaption of a full screenplay. There was little to no character development; at times, it was hard to tell who was who. Also after the first chapter, which established the setting, there was little to no detail. Hicks made a good showing, as the book positions him as the hero instead of Ripley, but the other characters are almost interchangeable. No names, an occasional reference to the name of the space station, that's about it. It had more of the feel of the first two Alien movies that what we eventually got and for that alone, I gave it a star. But the muddled and rushed plot, especially at the end made this a little bit more of a letdown.
Read it if you want but If you are looking for a better followup to Aliens, check out the original Dark Horse comics.
April 10, 2019
It was nice to get a chance to see what Gibson's screenplay might have played out as but having read this it's obvious to me why it wasn't made. First off, Ripley is only technically in it and does nothing, Newt gets shipped off to Earth quickly and we're left with Hicks, who, without Michael Biehn's charisma and performance here is just a generic marine. Bishop is the only one who actually has character. The story starts off very promising and then goes the way of Alien Resurrection. Not to mention that it all feels more like set up than a self-contained story.
If it was a pilot for a spin-off, it might have worked. But whoever decided to pass on this as a feature wasn't wrong.
Simply put: it's just not that good. It has an interesting premise, being for the large part a kind of a political thriller before the xenomorphs start killing people but the first part is let down by the second part where it all feels so muddled and rushed. Maybe Gibson really wanted to make a talky, suspense-y thriller with a very strong Cold War parallel and he forced the action parts in simply because it was expected to.
There are some great ideas in here and at least one scene I'd love to see in live action, although I wonder how - if at all - they would be able to do it convincingly with early 90's effects.
If it was a pilot for a spin-off, it might have worked. But whoever decided to pass on this as a feature wasn't wrong.
Simply put: it's just not that good. It has an interesting premise, being for the large part a kind of a political thriller before the xenomorphs start killing people but the first part is let down by the second part where it all feels so muddled and rushed. Maybe Gibson really wanted to make a talky, suspense-y thriller with a very strong Cold War parallel and he forced the action parts in simply because it was expected to.
There are some great ideas in here and at least one scene I'd love to see in live action, although I wonder how - if at all - they would be able to do it convincingly with early 90's effects.
January 25, 2020
5
Loved it. William Gibson wrote a great script based on the idea of limited to zero Ripley. Remember Alien 3 was a preproduction nightmare before it was a production nightmare, before it was a post production nightmare, overall nightmare. I have just discovered they are turning Dan O'Bannons Aliens script into a comic series. If anyone from Dark Horse reads this, I have some other unproduced film scripts below. As a film buff, this is an amazing idea.
Why the 5?
The whole Aliens coming from Bishop was an odd decision, but after that Gibson evolved the creature. The final 2 issues were just insane. I enjoyed the respect handed to the project, Gibson even made a 2 page introduction. I want all the unreleased scripts to find comic book love, such a great idea for fans. The Alien franchise is full of these film screenplays. They could even publish screenplays by disgruntled writers who believe their vision was butchered. Obviously DC and Marvel won't allow some their properties to join the idea, but Dark Horse could really carve out a niche in the market for these screenplays.
Alien 3 by Vincent Ward
Alien 3 by David Twohy
Alien Resurrection by Joss Whedon
Alien 5 by Joss Whedon
At the Mountains of Madness by Guillermo Del Toro
Scream 3 by Kevin Williamson
Loved it. William Gibson wrote a great script based on the idea of limited to zero Ripley. Remember Alien 3 was a preproduction nightmare before it was a production nightmare, before it was a post production nightmare, overall nightmare. I have just discovered they are turning Dan O'Bannons Aliens script into a comic series. If anyone from Dark Horse reads this, I have some other unproduced film scripts below. As a film buff, this is an amazing idea.
Why the 5?
The whole Aliens coming from Bishop was an odd decision, but after that Gibson evolved the creature. The final 2 issues were just insane. I enjoyed the respect handed to the project, Gibson even made a 2 page introduction. I want all the unreleased scripts to find comic book love, such a great idea for fans. The Alien franchise is full of these film screenplays. They could even publish screenplays by disgruntled writers who believe their vision was butchered. Obviously DC and Marvel won't allow some their properties to join the idea, but Dark Horse could really carve out a niche in the market for these screenplays.
Alien 3 by Vincent Ward
Alien 3 by David Twohy
Alien Resurrection by Joss Whedon
Alien 5 by Joss Whedon
At the Mountains of Madness by Guillermo Del Toro
Scream 3 by Kevin Williamson
August 26, 2020
Ni fu ni fa. Este cómic adapta el guión de William Gibson para lo que iba a ser Alien 3.
Cualquier fan de la saga sabe que esta se empezó a despeñar en esa tercera entrega.
Esta historia tiene el aliciente de ver vivos de nuevo a Hicks, Newt, Ripley y Bishop i saber que paso con ellos después de Aliens pero la verdad es que es un guión un poco flojo que en algunas cosas me recordó a Alien resurrection. Para pasar el rato y para muy fans.
Cualquier fan de la saga sabe que esta se empezó a despeñar en esa tercera entrega.
Esta historia tiene el aliciente de ver vivos de nuevo a Hicks, Newt, Ripley y Bishop i saber que paso con ellos después de Aliens pero la verdad es que es un guión un poco flojo que en algunas cosas me recordó a Alien resurrection. Para pasar el rato y para muy fans.
June 8, 2020
Сюжет ніякий просто. Щось між генними експериментами і постійною хаотичною біганиною астронавтів. Схоже на останній фільм із серії про чужих, де усі астронавти із серйозних спеціалістів із необхідною психологічною підготовкою перетворилися на тупих придурків-клоунів.
Тут звісно не так, щоб дуже все погано, але комікс не вразив зовсім.
Тут звісно не так, щоб дуже все погано, але комікс не вразив зовсім.
September 1, 2019
Should be read and enjoyed as a piece of lost film history brought to life, rather than an attempt to reroute the franchise. Gibson's draft script is not the finished article but I still enjoyed the complexity he brings to the Alien-verse, and just like in his novels, the dialogue snaps.
June 25, 2023
story: **
graphics: ****
graphics: ****
February 19, 2023
As interesting for Gibson's introduction as anything else: he was asked to write a screenplay for Alien 3 having never written or even seen a screenplay before. When he handed it in (after the writers' strike of I assume 1988?) and revised it once, he figured that was his on-spec work done. And he only learned later that they'd expected an unusable screenplay with some 'cyberpunk flash' that they could work into new revisions.
End product aside, this method of handling writers fascinates me. Did the producers think the best way to get genuine cyberpunk flash was to just ask Gibson for a script without any further information and let him work his magic? Had they had bad experiences in the past when asking for a specific look and feel to be incorporated? Do inexperienced scriptwriters overdo it if you tell them exactly what you're after? Or were these people just really bad at communicating expectations?
Regardless, this version of the story is, as Gibson says, not really cyberpunk at all. And it's hard to say for sure since it's a script that's been repurposed into a comic, but there's not a lot of Gibson's flair apparent at all. The most recognisable part for me was his attempts to give people realistic speech patterns, only it comes over as intensely confusing here, without the context given to written speech by prose description or actors delivering lines. That, and some weird panel placements and a lot of jumping between scenes with characters who look very similar to one another, made the story quite hard to logically follow at times.
It's a solid Alien story, albeit foreshadowing the 'superior life-forms' direction that things like Prometheus and Alien: Covenant took. It has space communists, which came from the film's treatment pre-Gibson. It has shady megacorp dealings and a sense of the futility of a) opposing Weyland Yutani and b) trying to weaponise the xenomorph. It has Ripley in a coma, also from the treatment. And it has some excellent body horror and new ideas about the xenomorph's transformative abilities. Fun, but more for the insight into 80s Hollywood than anything else.
End product aside, this method of handling writers fascinates me. Did the producers think the best way to get genuine cyberpunk flash was to just ask Gibson for a script without any further information and let him work his magic? Had they had bad experiences in the past when asking for a specific look and feel to be incorporated? Do inexperienced scriptwriters overdo it if you tell them exactly what you're after? Or were these people just really bad at communicating expectations?
Regardless, this version of the story is, as Gibson says, not really cyberpunk at all. And it's hard to say for sure since it's a script that's been repurposed into a comic, but there's not a lot of Gibson's flair apparent at all. The most recognisable part for me was his attempts to give people realistic speech patterns, only it comes over as intensely confusing here, without the context given to written speech by prose description or actors delivering lines. That, and some weird panel placements and a lot of jumping between scenes with characters who look very similar to one another, made the story quite hard to logically follow at times.
It's a solid Alien story, albeit foreshadowing the 'superior life-forms' direction that things like Prometheus and Alien: Covenant took. It has space communists, which came from the film's treatment pre-Gibson. It has shady megacorp dealings and a sense of the futility of a) opposing Weyland Yutani and b) trying to weaponise the xenomorph. It has Ripley in a coma, also from the treatment. And it has some excellent body horror and new ideas about the xenomorph's transformative abilities. Fun, but more for the insight into 80s Hollywood than anything else.
October 20, 2019
After reading that there were nearly a dozen different versions of Alien 3 (The Failure of Alien 3) written, I had to try and find them. Some had never been made available but the first writer to try it in 1987 was William Gibson. Gibson, known for his dark and visceral depictions of a dystopian future where technology was invasive and near parasitic part of normal life (he is known for coining the term "cyberpunk"), it was thought that he would make an excellent addition to the universe (especially since Camron's action-packed 2nd installment left a lot of questions on the table) but with the Hollywood writers strike came too many issues for the studios to handle. Not to bore people with the history of the strike and what it did nearly destroying the entire entertainment industry, but it caused a lot of scripts and movies to be cast aside, this being one.
What we have here is Gibson's take on the universe and cold war that was set deeply between Weyland-Yutani (The Company) and the Union of Progressive Peoples (UPP - Yeah you know me!) in the deepest regions of space. Both of them, through spies and espionage, have found out about the xenomorph and want it for their bio-weapons division. Fun fact: I played in an Alien Universe RPG where I worked for WT's weapons division and worked to find a way to protect and destroy the alien threat as opposed to utilizing it. It was a fun spin on it and someday I hope to write it all down and publish it but until then, you have this short but awesome piece of Alien History.
-1 star will not be explained but let's just say you won't get your fill of what you have come to expect in the first two books/movies. I think David Twohy's director's cut was the best of the bunch in the end, but until all of them have been released, I recommend you enjoy Gibson's vision.
What we have here is Gibson's take on the universe and cold war that was set deeply between Weyland-Yutani (The Company) and the Union of Progressive Peoples (UPP - Yeah you know me!) in the deepest regions of space. Both of them, through spies and espionage, have found out about the xenomorph and want it for their bio-weapons division. Fun fact: I played in an Alien Universe RPG where I worked for WT's weapons division and worked to find a way to protect and destroy the alien threat as opposed to utilizing it. It was a fun spin on it and someday I hope to write it all down and publish it but until then, you have this short but awesome piece of Alien History.
-1 star will not be explained but let's just say you won't get your fill of what you have come to expect in the first two books/movies. I think David Twohy's director's cut was the best of the bunch in the end, but until all of them have been released, I recommend you enjoy Gibson's vision.
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