Near Dark
1988
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Jun 24, 2019 · Director Dirk Maggs and stars Michael Biehn (as Hicks) and Lance Henriksen (as Bishop) explain how they brought this Aliens sequel to life — without David Fincher, Sigourney Weaver, or any of...
- Plot
- Development
- Writing
- Filming
- Special Effects
- Editing
- Release and Reception
- Merchandising
- Interpretation and Analysis
- Trivia
Following events on LV-426, the Colonial Marine starship USS Sulaco is on its way back to Earth. However, a stowaway Facehugger triggers a fire on board, leading the ship to eject the slumbering Ripley, Newt, Corporal Hicks and the damaged android Bishop in an escape pod. The pod crash-lands on Fiorina "Fury" 161, a barren world home to a foundry f...
After the huge success of Aliens, Brandywine Productions were soon approached by 20th Century Fox to create another sequel in the Alien franchise. While producers David Giler and Walter Hill were initially unenthusiastic, they began developing ideas. Early concepts included the Xenomorphs invading Earth, where they would fuse into a giant creature ...
William Gibson
1. Main article: Alien III (William Gibson) Gibson turned in the first script treatment for a third Alien film in 1987. At the time of his involvement, Sigourney Weaver "seemed doggedly unwilling to participate" in any potential sequel and as a result Ripley was largely written out of the story. Instead, the main narrative focus became Hicks and Bishop, alongside an extended cast with many new characters. Gibson's effort is arguably the most well-known of the unproduced Alien3scripts, as it h...
Eric Red
1. Main article: Alien III (Eric Red) The next draft of Alien3 was written in 1989 by Eric Red, writer of the cult horror films The Hitcher (1986) and Near Dark (1987). Red's script had little to do with the previous entries in the series; all of the survivors from Aliens fall victim to the Xenomorphs before the story starts, the only direct link to the preceding films being a bloodied nametag bearing the name "Ripley" that is found aboard the Sulacoin the opening scene. The script is set abo...
David Twohy
1. Main article: Alien III (David Twohy) Writer (and future director) David Twohy was next to work on the project. His version is even further removed from the preceding films than Red's script — the story is set many years after Aliens, and the only reference to the first two movies is an image of Ripley seen on a computer monitor half-way through, with the word "DECEASED" written beneath it — although Twohy allegedly also turned in an alternate draft that featured the Ripley character more...
Pinewood Studios
Like Aliens before it, Alien3 was primarily shot at Pinewood Studios, near London. Principal photography began on January 14, 1991, despite the fact the film did not yet have a finished script and with Fox having already spent millions on the construction of sets. The production was infamously fraught, with Fincher frequently clashing with 20th Century Fox over the direction the film should be taking. Studio interference was extreme — the director's ideas for the production were routinely vet...
Fox Studios
Eventually, the situation at Pinewood became so untenable that filming was shut down completely, and production moved to Fox Studios in Los Angeles. During the break in filming, the producers had Fincher and editor Terry Rawlings travel to L.A. and assemble a rough cut of the existing footage, in order to determine what was needed to complete a coherent movie. Rawlings later lamented the agonizing process of meeting with executives to inform them what was needed, being granted permission to s...
Stan Winston, responsible for creature effects in Aliens, was approached again for Alien3, but was unavailable. Winston instead recommended Tom Woodruff, Jr. and Alec Gillis, two former employees at his studio who had just started their own effects company, Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.. The Xenomorph in the film was portrayed by both Woodruff, Jr. in...
At some point during the film's chaotic reshoots and post-production in Los Angeles, David Fincher finally walked out. The completion of the movie was thus overseen by the studio, who elected to drastically edit the film down to increase the number of times it could be screened per day. Most notably, a sequence in which the prisoners succeed in tra...
Box office
Alien3 was released in the United States on May 22, 1992. The film debuted at number two of the box office, behind Lethal Weapon 3, with a Memorial Day weekend gross of $23.1 million. It screened in 2,227 theaters, for an average gross of $8,733 per theater. The film was considered a flop in North America with a total of $55.4 million, although it did far better elsewhere, particularly in Europe, grossing a total of $104.3 million internationally for a total of $159.7 million. As producer Dav...
Critical reception
In its initial release, the film recieved mixed reviews from critics, generally being unfavorably compared to the preceding two films in the franchise. A number of cast and crew associated with the series, including actor Michael Biehn, previous director James Cameron and novelist Alan Dean Foster, expressed their frustration and disappointment with the film's story. Cameron, in particular, regarded the decision to kill off the characters of Bishop, Newt, and Hicks "a slap in the face" to him...
Awards
The Visual Effects were nominated for an Academy Award, losing to Death Becomes Her. The film was also nominated for seven Saturn Awards and a Hugo Award.
A novelization of the film was authored by Alan Dean Foster, who had previously written the novel adaptations of both Alien and Aliens. His adaptation includes many scenes that were cut from the final film, some of which later reappeared in the Special Edition. Notably, an abridged audiobook version read by actor Lance Henriksenwas also produced. D...
Academics analyzing the role of the Ripley character remark on the symbolism of the Sulaco's cryo chamber. Ripley is compared with an incorrupt Catholic saint preserved in a glass coffin (akin to Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, both in her lying in state in the cryotube as well as her incorrupt body, which has twice survived being almost "impregnated"...
The film was nicknamed "Skinheads in Space" by its British crew, due to its predominantly bald cast. Many of the actors were hesitant about shaving their heads for the film, but when they learned t...The decision to kill Ripley was partly influenced by Weaver, who wanted to move away from the series by giving the character a definitive end. Of course, she later relented and agreed to star in Al...After the film's release, Weaver commented on her apparent exit from the franchise, joking that "they'd probably find a way to resurrect Ripley using the DNA in her fingernails". In doing so, she'd...Several of the sound effects in the movie incorporate incredibly low tones, and for early screenings specialized, very large bass speakers were installed in theaters to accentuate these sounds. How...Additional roles are played by Charles Dance, Brian Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Ralph Brown, Paul McGann, Danny Webb, Lance Henriksen, Holt McCallany, Pete Postlethwaite, and Danielle Edmond. The film faced problems during production, including shooting without a script and the attachment of various screenwriters and directors.
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May 2, 2020 · Yet another was Bishop, played by Millennium's Lance Henriksen. Despite his friendly, benign exterior the character is greeted with suspicion by Ripley, following her experiences with Ian Holm's Ash in the original movie.
Bishop, designated HS17B48XG5-D5, is a fictional character in the movie Aliens, who was portrayed by actor Lance Henriksen. The character is the science officer of the Sulaco, and his actions and self-sacrifice are critical to the survival of Ellen Ripley.
Actor: Aliens. An intense, versatile actor as adept at playing clean-cut FBI agents as he is psychotic motorcycle-gang leaders, who can go from portraying soulless, murderous vampires to burned-out, world-weary homicide detectives, Lance Henriksen has starred in a variety of films that have allowed him to stretch his talents just about as far ...
Showing all 11 items. Jump to: Photos (8) Quotes (3) Photos. Quotes. Bishop : Do me a favour. Disconnect me. I could be reworked, but I'll never be top of the line again. I'd rather be nothing. Bishop II : [watching Ripley fall to her death] Nooooooo! Bishop II : Ripley! Think of all we could learn from it!
