Having barely survived two encounters with the galaxy's most deadly xenomorph, the nightmare continues for Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). Crash landing on prison planet Fiorina 161, Ripley is dragged from the sea by the convict inhabitants and awakes to discover that her companions perished in the collision.
When members of the small, overtly religious inmate community begin to die mysteriously, Ripley tries to warn the prison's warden Andrews (Brian Glover) that an alien could have been aboard the ship. Unwilling to disrupt the fragile peace, Andrews pours scorn on her claims, but it's not long before every man in the prison is fighting side-by-side with Ripley against a new, even sleeker incarnation of the lethal creature.
Released to indifferent reviews and a disappointing box office take, Alien 3 was originally seen as a poor successor to Ridley Scott's classic sci-fi chiller Alien and James Cameron's brilliantly bombastic follow-up Aliens.
Plagued by production problems and studio mismanagement, the film fell so short of debut director David Fincher's vision that to this day he leaves the movie off his resume. Which is a shame as, over the years, Alien 3 has picked up a considerable following, not least of all due to Fincher's grimly stylish visuals and the unapologetically macabre tone he brought to the film. What's more, some memorable performances - most notably from the riveting Charles S. Dutton as imposing head prisoner Dillon - help Alien 3 to transcend shoddy sequel status, especially in comparison to later entries in the series, such as the lamentable Alien: Resurrection.
Alien 3 is a Film programme that first aired in 1992 and has been classified a 18 certificate.
