If you're seen the movie, you're good.

Peter Guinness's performance was the best part of the book. He makes the story interesting.

4 people found this helpful

Brilliant work, yet again

This is the movie I did not remember as well as the first two. I know I have seen it at some point but after listening to the first three books, now I really want to watch it again.

The great part about these novelizations is that I can already see the characters. I know them and have know them for years. This book made me have all the feels. The beginning was tragic, yet again, and Ripley is set on another quest to kill aliens. Thank goodness she is more determined than ever but the beginning of this really made me feel for her.

Not having an idea of this book made it all the more scary. I was on the edge of my seat wondering where there danger was going to come from. Surprisingly there are quite a few characters in this that are heroic and even outshine the marines! I was worried at times but at others so glad that Ripley had some of these individuals around her. Although, she gets herself into quite a few messes in this one. Being on a prison world filled with me, what else would Ripley do?

This book held up to the first two, which is surprising. The second is still my favorite but the plot twists and the things that happen in this one were not foreseen. Brilliant work, yet again, by Peter Guinness. His voice lets the listener fall into the story and forget that there is a real world around them. The terror is really felt when the alien shows its ugly head!

Not my favorite of the three but still on par with the first. Great storytelling and very good narration.

Audiobook was purchased for review by ABR.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]

11 people found this helpful

Ripley has been ended

But the story doesn't end, great series and I recommend the series for any aliens franchise

2 people found this helpful

Better than the theatrical release.

It's essentially the rare (until recently) assembly cut of the film, with a few surprises and additions along the way. Considering the film went through production hell, I'm impressed it ended up as cohesive as it did, and the book only serves to help fill in the gaps even the assembly couldn't fix.
As a side note, the narrator sounds almost exactly like Warden Andrews from the film. Awesome! :D

2 people found this helpful

A decent adaptation

This is a decent adaptation, but with enough changes to keep you guessing as to exactly how things will play out. If you liked Alien 3, you will like this.

Much better than the film.

For once a film novelization adds some gems not in the film which was refreshing especially since the film was somewhat meh to begin with.

Adds meat and potatoes to the Assembly Cut story

Alien 3 (Theatrical Version) was a disappointment, but the later released "Assembly Cut" was far more enjoyable. This audio book is basically the Assembly Cut with more dialogue. It's quite insightful and enjoyable to listen to. It is a must listen for any true Alien fan. :-) Enjoy!

A Surprisingly Good Adaptation of a Dull Film

I know this is a review for the novel of Alien3, but the book is based on the movie, so I unfortunately have to provide insight into both.

So, I remember seeing Alien 3 back when I was much younger. I had seen and fell in love with Aliens 2. The military/commandos storming the rogue planet of LV426, from the drop ship, just left me enamored. I went back and watch the first Alien movie, it was good, more suspense, but at that time there was something about the tactical marines with the assault rifles, and gear that just "made" aliens for me. So that being said I went to watch the next installment...Seems logical, yea?

Boy does this film garner a lot of hate. Back then, I just couldn't get into it. It looked, felt, and just came off as being sub-par to the last movie. The cgi (or attempt there to) of the alien, made me cringe, and I came away bored, uncaring about the characters, and weirded out by the sudden ending decision. Overall? 15 year old Chris wanted nothing to do with it...

Fast forward to where I am now 28...I was in the mood for a good sci fi book that wasn't something too new but had some history. So I was sifting through Barnes n Noble aimless in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section and came across an Aliens Omnibus. While this thick book is a collection of non-movie stories, it got my wheels turning, that I should read the alien series.
Well figuring that the movie that I've seen the least of, should be what I read. Since I'll go into it with less cinematographic references. So...I chose Alien 3.

Now here is where the great divide between the written word and film comes. The book/novelization of Alien3 is a well written book. It's not winning any awards, but the author creates a very creepy, world and given what he has to work with, makes one hell of a good attempt to flesh out the characters around our lead, Ripley. The great thing about the book is that the author allows for a bit more grieving period for her and her inner thoughts about the death of Newt, Hicks and even Bishop. The book really makes good use of this, as even prisoners introduced are given much more character in the novel than they are in the book. And because I hadn't seen the movie in so long, it was almost a new story to me. I knew what the basic plot was, but it left me so dry that I pretty much blanked the details out of my mind. So reading this was a much needed breath of fresh air to the story.

I got a bit too ahead of myself. I figured, oh let me go back and watch the movie again...Maybe I don't remember it right...or maybe with some years on me, I can appreciate it more... Um..no it's still as awful as I remember it. The music is cool, that's about it. The book of alien 3 fills in what the movie just couldn't / didn't do. It paints a much better "scene" to alien3 and allows the reader to fill in the gaps him or her self. The movie gives us a very raw film that is so distracting, it takes away from the story and just leaves me pondering how this film followed up Aliens 2. Honestly the whole story line of the egg on the drop ship puzzles me, and is such a stretch, that it already feels like alien3 is a big "what if" scenario. In fact in the book, I don't even believe the author touches on the 'how' of the alien being aboard.

Any who, the book is a good read. Seriously, if you're going to do the alien movies...skip 3, and read the book of it. You'll get a much better appreciation of the story and what the setting and world should have felt like. The visual crap fest that was the movie, was too much for me..

1 person found this helpful

Plot Holes Propped Up by Writing/Narration!

I have roundly criticized Foster's lackluster novelization of the near-perfect Aliens movie (the second in the franchise) but he really does a great job with the much-maligned third entry in the series. I have always liked the premise, aliens preying on XXY killers imprisoned in an abandoned mineworks and kept in check by asceticism. But (sigh) it is VERY hard to get past the meaningless deaths of Newt and Hicks in the first chapter, which steps on all the work the writers did in Aliens 2 to develop more characters for the franchise. Also disappointing is how the appearance and behavior of the aliens radically depart from the earlier movies in Aliens 3. The new developments/changes are both illogical and implausible. To complete this roller coaster ride, Guinness does and AMAZING job reading Aliens 3. So there are things to like and things to hate. I think most of us who love the Aliens movies (at least the first two) have made our peace with this one. If you have, you will enjoy listening to it. Some things make more sense in the hearing. (The various characters and their social dynamic are especially interesting.) Other things remain glaringly odd and frustrating.

2 people found this helpful

Gotta Love Those Double-Y Chromo Boys

This is the least popular movie in the series but I, for one, always found it to be a stand out and a worthy component. It brings to the table a return to the gothic horror of the first movie and introduces the fans to a bizarre planetary prison setting and quirky characters. It is the Science Fiction equivalent of a closed-door mystery; smaller in scale to raise the suspense. This novelization closely follows the director’s cut of the movie, and will have some differences to those not familiar with that alternate version.

Peter Guinness reprises his efforts from the first book in the series and submits a passable performance.

1 person found this helpful