I think your assessment of Biehn as an alternative to the action stars of the day is spot on. I often wonder what might have been if the man had gotten an amount of work commensurate with his talent.

I love you Alien Theory. Years of keeping me entertained. Deep thanks brother.

I loved it, plus I think it's really great that Newt got her happy ending that she so richly deserved. I never liked how the original Alien 3 just killed off all these great characters.

A Hicks, and Bishop buddy cop style Alien movie would have been awesome :)

When I first played my pre-ordered copy, I was initially disappointed. I had no clue that the audio drama (and the new Dark Horse comic) was based off of Gibson's second draft of Alien III, not the better know first draft. I had my hopes set for some marine battles with two different Queens, the mall being overrun, and the big fight in zero gravity. Alas, it was not meant to be. BUT, after listening to the audio drama two additional times, I have come to appreciate and enjoy this work. The return of Lance and Michael to the lore is awesome and the rest of the talented voice cast made for a great audio drama. I don't regret my purchase. 😊

The actress who portrays Ripley is REALLY well cast. There are moments when you feel like you're listening to Weaver. Also I've read that this script was part of a plan to shoot 3 and 4 back-to-back, with Ripley sitting this one out and charging in to save the day in the next installment. Weaver favored this idea, since it gave her a break, but Fox execs nixed it. Although it's common now, shooting sequels one after the other hadn't been done (I may be wrong? Anybody?) and that combined with the fact that the lead, Weaver (up to this point), was largely absent from 3 felt like too big a risk for execs. Too bad..... Weaver and the filmmakers who concepted this were ahead of their time. I think it would have been great. Now I wonder if we can get Gibson to write his follow-up.

Wow, thanks for this! I'm glad they hired back Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen, as the third movie was never complete without Hicks and Newt. Bishop was only in the film as an animatronic puppet and not as a whole Android.

It was an amazing production. The early Bishop narration at the start.. shocked me.. in an odd way. Lance is older, but so am I.. but he seems to sound younger and younger as the story progresses. Until by the main action scenes Lance and Michael sound the same age as they were in Aliens. In a weird way the low slow gravel voice sounds like a tale told by a much older Bishop recalling a story from long ago and transitioning to the moment. And in that way was very clever... it made me think after a while.. did they do that on purpose?

I just want to thank you because I had no idea that this audio book was even coming out and your channel let me know about it. Listened to it the first day it was out and I loved it. Played it on my computer with the lights out laying in bed(just helped me visualize everything) and you are correct that it gives enough to get an idea of the visuals but it doesn't spoon feed them to you. This is a better direction for the series and a solid story. As you said in this video some of the plot points were used in the prequels so I think that Ridley would agree with some of the choices of the story. Thank you for doing all of this..Never read earth wars so listening to your channel at work is fantastic. Keep up the good work!

Here, here @David Thomas - couldn't agree with you more. I was very excited for the audio drama and the fact we've got some of the original actors from Aliens as well the return of the gifted voice acting skills of Ripley from the other audio dramas! I wasn't too sure about the whole different factions etc. As this other faction had never been mentioned at all prior to this (the whole Anchor Point) - but that's the real lost gem here. Story arcs that could have been. I do miss Ripley but as stated when originally written, Sigourney Weaver really didn't want to do another Alien unless (and please again this was just my personal understanding) Ripley died - which is what happened in the actual movie version of Alien 3. One other thing. I always felt that the end of Aliens was brilliantly written and acted as after the Queen is finally shot out into space there's that moment where Newt jumps into Ripley's arms and says "Mommy!" to which Ripley holds her tightly to her with the look of "redemption" on her face. Because while not her daughter, Newt's become a surrogate for Amanda, so she's finally accomplished her ultimate goal. Made it home to her family. It truly tied everything up. Not saying in any way at all that I'm unhappy about this version or the actually Assembly Cut of the Alien 3 movie. I'm a die hard Ripley and Xenomorph fangirl all the way! Lololol I really hope we do get to see "Alien 5" I too just can't believe it's been put away as it were for these other movies when so many truly want to see it and support it including Ripley herself, Sigourney Weaver! Lolol I enjoyed this but honestly felt a little deflated after listening to it - but hey you know how that goes lolol those "would've, should've, could've" questions creep in from a dark air shaft high in the back corner of a room that you didn't notice at first! Moo-ha-ha-ha! As always I truly hope I haven't offended anyone with my comments and I absolutely love reading everyone's opinions about this, as well of course as the thoughts of our fearless Hive leader! You're all awesome and so very special to me! Your ever faithful, humble, and honored Hive servant and Queen, Lady Anne ^^ö^^ (Jessica M. Kandal, PhD)

It is 2023 and YES WE ARE STILL WATING FOR ALIEN 5 or 2.5.. we are still with you on this!

This review is EXCELLENT! Informational & insightful!

I think today is an Alien Theory marathon day!!! Going to watch the Earth Wars series first, then continue on through the Dark Horse Comics videos! Sounds like a wonderful Sunday afternoon to me!!!! ❤️

I got this two weeks ago as part of my 2 free originals a month. Somehow it showed up before this months free releases. It was really good. Well narrated with special FXs sounds and a good size cast. Even though it's a good listen I would not have used my credits on it due to it's short movie style length.

*Yea, the XenoMorph HomeWorld would be so cool! There's so much they can do!*

I'm absolutely not interested in Blomkamps film until Scott wraps up. Not just because I have my doubts about him pulling off a story, but the way he shuffled his way in irritated me, everyone forgetting that and blaming Scott for somehow nixing a phantom film that only exists in their head. Given how Alien fans almost all seem to want something different from the series, I don't think it's fair for some to double down on Covenant if it didn't sit well with anyone already. I had some problems of my own with Covenant which almost felt like it was treading water despite having such a roomy pool. Sorry for the negative crap, love the videos.

Great work as always sir 👍

Thoroughly enjoying the audio. I keep returning to the start and listening again...I haven't even got to the end yet because I enjoy it all so much!

Loved it, the audio drama and the review too - I still hope for an Alien 5 ....

Great job. Your vids keep getting better.

I appreciate having this video because it gave me an understanding of the mindset of what this version set out to do and why. It answers the big Ripley question which was my chief concern.

One of the best channels

It would be cool if they made this into an animation.

Agreed. The VA's for Ellen Ripley and Newt in the Audio dramas are top notch. First time I listened to Out of the Shadows I thought Sigourney Weaver was doing the VA work for Alien Out of the Shadows, this pattern repeated itself in River of Pain when I heard Newt.

I would LOVE IT If Fox just uses the Alien Isolation Game Engine and crank up the quality and do a William Gibson's Alien 3 GCI Animated Film. WITH A Soundtrack for it! And ask them to follow up on A3 and let Will Gibson write and create the alter Alien 4 for the 3rd storys cliffhanger.

It's about damn time! Y they ignored the original transparent dome concept, I will never understand. It was MUCH more horrifying and contained many dreadful implications. The changes made, simply pushed it toward generic monster territory. Seeing the human skull, atop those jaws and covered in a biological face shield, was a nightmare.

My favorite line from Hicks when he got his hands on some hardware to fight the bugs was, "Come to Daddy. "

excellent review!! I listened to the audible now I'm going to read the darkhorse comics.

I went and got this right away, and it was great! If only this had been the third one. This would have continued along with where the comics went. There's a comic that was very good too. But hearing Hicks and Bishop was fantastic. Thanks for letting me know about this... Now that I came back to watch this after having listened to it, I'm gonna have to check the other ones!

After this I want to see a comic of the original script of Prometheus when it was called Alien: Engineers. It is mostly the same as Prometheus but the changes come in when it introduces the xenomorphs and the white goblin xenomorph, which inspired the neomorph. The original script to Prometheus would've acted as a direct prequel to the first Alien film.

9:22 it’s a Xenomorph /T-800 hybrid. “Alienator” Lol

Currently in isolation due to getting covid two days ago. Body is in constant pain and discomfort. Discovered this last night and listened to/watched it (used a video on KZfaq where it played both the audiobook as well as show the comics) on my TV via my PS4 while lying in bed, trying to take my mind off the pain. Would have made a MUCH better sequel than the Alien 3 we currently have. Ce la vie....

I do hope that they do a follow-up to this Fantastic version of Alien 3

its great to see Biehn knows when a project is a worthy one and puts his heart in it (Audio drama), and when its a souless cash-in, so he should just get his money and wash his hands of it (Aliens: Colonial Marines).

Would love to see NECA make a figure out of this new xeno

It really does feel like there has recently been a lot of "what ifs" as far as the Alien continuity goes. Had the recent collection of the original versions of Outbreak, Nightmare Asylum and Earth War being released by Dark Horse and now the release of the Gibson story in audible and comic form. I do enjoy seeing all of these different takes on where these characters could have gone and given that comics in particular have so many reboots and continuity changes I think it would be great to have other stories like Blomkamp's Alien 5 created in comic or some other form to get these various interpretations.

Make Alien 5!!!. See ya.

Definitely need to get the audio

I listened to the audio drama before getting the comic, and from what was described in the drama about the "egg" in Bishop, I much preferred my imagination to what I saw in the comic, seeing that egg right there just looks wrong. All up I thoroughly enjoyed the audio drama, loved hearing Bishop and Hicks, but I might just try your suggestion of reading the comic under the covers with headphones! As always, love your work an love the universe that is Alien.

Well hell after listening to this review, I feel like the audio drama would be less immersive than this review has been 😂 . Great job.

Just finished reading the graphic novel hard cover that combines #1-#5 of comics, LOVED IT than came looking for your review 😂 had no idea about the audio version as I only found out about the graphic novel and comics by accident... I have slipped a bit as an alien fan 😭 thanks for your awesome review. I really like the idea of the manipulated alien DNA being Almost like the movie The Thing, where you don’t know who will mutate and when. There where a couple things too reminded me of scenes from covenant like the mini DNA eggs bursting infectious spores into the host.

Boom, downloaded. Thanks!!!

Oh WOW were you at that Aliens screening at the New Bev? I was totally there and lost my shit when Biehn said that

Great video! Thank you

Yeah thanks for all your vids, I think you've the edge on the competition across the board. One question, and I likely missed it, how would a further Aliens film with Newt and Hicks work seeing as A3 killed them off in Hypersleep? It's not like they could do a "nah, they didn't die really, they were hiding out". How can they make this leap and have the characters actually be alive and in-line with the (more so) with the comics? Great stuff, I think I've listened to nearly all your vids, keep up the great work 👍🏻👍🏻

Listening to the 9hr Audio version of this. I love it, but it also makes me sad that we never saw it.

I need this in my life.

This is what we should've been given instead of what was back in 1992.

Much obliged! 👍

One important thing that people need to be aware of when leveling ANY criticism at this version. This is a second draft. Not a third, fourth, fifth, shooting/final draft. A second draft. As a second draft it is a dramatic improvement over the huge "pie in the sky" version that Gibson initially penned. Just something to consider before tearing it apart.

A.T. ... WHAT UP BROTHA!!! Thanks for the review, I can’t wait to get my hands on em. So we gonna get some more EARTH WAR coming soon? I know they take some time, but your telling of the story is awesome. Thanks brotha

They could've pulled the effects off. You had John Carpenter's The Thing you also had The 1986 Fly remake. Renny Harlin was going to originally direct he directed Elm Street 4 you had amazing effects like Shelia's death the character Debbie being turned into a Roach. Plus the death scene of Freddy where all the souls escape.

We are not worthy of the masterpieces that is your input into the ALIEN universe. I'd love to see ALIEN 5 don't get me wrong, but I'd love to see Ridley Scott's unproduced "The Train" It would be amazing even if you could make a video covering the ALIEN / BLADE RUNNER hybrid that has been drifting into oblivion .

It's a neat idea for a movie centered around Hicks, I really like this idea, and I think they did great with this! Would love to see it turned into the canon sequel to Aliens. I loved Hicks and Bishop, and was disappointed that they were killed off in Alien 3. I don't even mind that Newt and Ripley were written out. Better than killing off Newt.

Recast Ripley!? *Heresy!* (Figuratively speaking.) 😀

My apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere, but I would love a video breakdown of Vincent Ward's vision for Alien 3

I would love to see the audio drama/comic happen as an animated movie, & Alien 5 with Neil Blomkamp too...

Been waiting on this one from you! Great job Alien Theory 💯

The only director I can think of to bring this story to life on the big screen is David Cronenberg. The way the hybrid emerges from a human host reminds me a lot of The Fly. I think Studio ADI under Chronenberg's direction would have made for a really horrific sequence. I'm also biased in a way. I am a fan of both Gibson's writing and Cronenberg films, so to have Chronenberg direct a Gibsons script for an Alien move would definitely be my cup of tea. lol

Knowing the history of Alien 3, If they had continued with William Gibson's script. I think a big rewrite would have come down the line. That being Ripley would have become the main character again placing Hicks back in a supporting role. If you're wondering why; the pre-development of Alien 3 eventually saw Fox president Joe Roth decide Ripley was the centrepiece of the series and decided to pay her whatever she wanted to reprise Ripley. Therefore I think Gibson's script would have eventually rewritten Ripley back in as the movie's protagonist.

I pre-ordered this on audible and only when it was released I seen how long it is, a little over 2 hours. I really don’t like using audible credits for anything shorter than 16 hours!

I wish they'd of animated it as a straight to DVD movie!! But the audio drama's great too!! Someone actually posted a vid with the comic on screen and the audio in the background. Pretty awesome experience!!

I was just watching Aliens a for a few days. My favorite of them all.

I listened to the audio drama and one of my first thoughts was "I wonder what alien theory thought of it" Great review Our opinions line up pretty similarly

I didn't know it was out , already.

That sounded awesome. William Gibson's Alien III was the movie we should have seen. Also Alien 5 would be the better movie promised. Alien 5 sounded awesome. Promethius was ok, just a shame we did not t the better movie promised, instead we got A.C which was a little lack luster

I listen to and read the comic, and I have to say I love it. And maybe there be an Alien 5 comic and Audiobook soon

It would be great if somebody made an animated version of the audio drama

ive seen/listen to it yesterday it is really good

It was originally meant to be a two parter final sequel. I can’t think of a better second half installment then the story of Aliens comic that came out after the movie. Centering on an older Hicks and a grown Newt this time.

This channel is way awesome

Brilliant. Dark Horse Comics are outstanding.

I want another AVP film that could connect to both the alien/predator franchises (as was the original intention with the films) but also keep the prequel continuity intact too.

An excellent idea and it would have kept up the apparent tradition in the Alien Franchise of each entry being somewhat different in genre (to various levels of success). Alien is perhaps the perfect thriller movie, Aliens is a James Cameron action sequel masterpiece and this would have been almost like a techno-thriller in its approach to the Xenomorph (as a Corporate Bioweapon) and dealing more with the Synthetics as befits something written by Gibson. It would have been awesome.

Could you please explain Alien Ressurection? I watched it but kind of confused with some parts; like, What exactly Ripley was? Her blood was acidic but yet she was a human/clone? How did she get kind of blood? 🙄

I like to think of Fincher's Alien 3 as a nightmare Ripley has while in cryosleep.

Does the comic stand on its own and cover enough material at least to make sense? It's hard to imagine a 5-issue series being able to cover a 2+ hour run-time, especially with the way they do comics nowadays.

With how the story ends off, it’d be interesting if Dark Horse did a mini series or ongoing title exploring this alternate direction in continuity. It’d have an appeal for fans who don’t like where the theatrical Alien 3 and Resurrection took the franchise and allow the writer(s) to do things the main canon won’t let them. An Aliens Unbound if you will, like the Doctor Who Unbound Range from Big Finish Productions that explores What If scenarios and playing them out. Trying to give Weyland-Yutani, a mega corps who always seem to prioritise Xenomorph sample capture over human lives, a redemptive angle would be interesting, since their operatives tend to be the ones making things worse.

I loved it, even though it was hard to listen to Henriksen struggle with his dentures in his voice performance...

I am FAN!!!

William Gibson's Version IS THE MOVIE WE WANTED!,Alien 4 should of been Earthwar

Alien theory review: its excellent

For those who hated Alien 3, this alternate take is right up your alley. The plot takes a few interesting turns and adds something new to the Mythos. Other human factions outside of Weyland or Seegson, the Alien reproduction cycle and oh yeah, Hicks and Newt made it out alive! Good voice acting, including a convincing sex scene, sound effects from the films and characters you can root for. Also space commies are awesome and I hope they make a return in future Alien audible productions. My only slight is that Ripley and her voice actress get little play in this. You can see why they added the ending of Aliens as a prologue to this one, loved Lauren in Out of the Shadows so hearing her again is just pure unbridled joy. Shout outs for Hicks and Bishop reprising their roles, hearing these two intract with each other is amazing. Like two old friends or veterans. This is a feature length production so it's like you are listening to a film. Highly recommend this for Alien fans.

Let's just say it would've been way better than what we actually got, I truly do feel they should've went with Gibson's screenplay instead of David Fincher, I'm not saying Fincher isn't a bad director/producer I just feel using an author such as Gibson who's been writing for nearly 20 plus years at the point of aliens 3's production would've only made it and the series so much better. And yes it would've been amazing to see them eventually goto the alien Homeworld and perhaps expand into the earth war series. Also I too definitely would love to see Neill Blomkamp's alien 5 would be awesome, he genuinely cares about the franchise enough to justify bringing back newt,Hicks and Bishop along with Ripley herself, but I do also believe that the powers that be in Hollywood saw Ridley Scott's prequel setting as the direction to go forth with this shutting Blomkamp's Alien 5 post production down, I guess Hollywood doesn't want to entrust the alien franchise to a younger "unseasoned" director such as Blomkamp, so they went with Ridley Scott who's been doing movies for more than 40 plus years and decided to stick with someone who had more experience like Scott. I also feel this little political in fight was the major reason why we never got see Blomkamp's movie come to fruition, it's a shame how a petty squabble in Hollywood can make or break a franchise, I mean look at all the crap going on with star wars. Those movies have alot of their fan base so upset that they just chose to let it die after return of the jedi!

I adore Ripley and Sigourney Weaver, but honestly writing her and Newt out seems like a good idea. It just felt like Ripley's story ended on a perfect note in the second film, so passing the torch onto someone else seems fitting

Hey man I just wanted to say I love the channel I am part of the team that was trying to make the Alien 3 fan film known as alien identity I don't know if you've heard of us we had a huge controversy with 20 Century Fox the same with Neill blomkamp around the same time and I love your videos man and just want to let you know we appreciate you doing this and keeping it going and keeping the alien franchise alive and good and we will be doing an original project because of the problems and disputes we got with 20 Century Fox called triborn so if you ever go on Facebook we have a Facebook page and for both feeling identity and triborn and you can check out everything we have going thank you so much

Awwww man! I thought this was a link to the audio book itself! 🤣

I loved this audio drama

i really enjoyed it and it feels more complete and with loads of possibility for expansion the aliens universe. Good alternative

I have enjoyed the Gibson Scripts, though they are super rough. With a few more drafts, the story would probably be vastly improved. There's little to no chance that the script draft they used for this audio drama (and the comic) would have actually been produced in this vision, even if they had gone forward. Stuff like the skin shedding scene would have looked ridiculous on screen (it was a fairly ridiculous idea to begin with). But still, it's fun to see somebody make it into a visual/audio medium.

I LOVE ALIEN 3 THO

I purchased this book. I loved it. They should do a CG movie.

Glad they made ALIEN 3 as it was..Ripley's Dark movie...Not a family reunion.

This audio drama was ok. Was awesome to have Henriksen and Biehn in it but they were the only real highlights. The plot was so so and not as impressive as I’d been led to believe but it was not a bad production. Alien Out of the Shadows is far and away the best audio production from this universe with River of Pain a close second. I am loving the fact that new Alien material is being released though from audio drama to movie shorts. The quality varies a bit but hey at least they’re making them!

I agree with everything in this review 100%

I listened to this one on a 4 hour trip by car. I really enjoyed it, loved the voice acting in this. Dirk Mags does not dissapoint!

I think that if this version Alien ³ had been realized, it would surely have triumphed becoming a hit at the time. I think the Fox executives and producers were complete stupid and blind in having rejected this extraordinary script, Ridley Scott or James Cameron had directed this film and would have done an excellent job turning it into another masterpiece like the first two films. He would have earned more money at the box office than the other Alien 3 version won and he had concluded in a successful trilogy or tetralogy. In addition, I also really liked the idea of putting Hicks and Bishop as the two film stars played by Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen, would have been similar to the film "Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw" But with aliens, I even think that the carees of both actors Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen would have taken off and climbed as foam. And if David Fincher had made this script it would have been his biggest directorial debut. It's just my opinion.

It's really sad that we didn't get this version side this would've made the whole idea of the alien goo in Prometheus and Alien Covenant. Not to mention that it would've made it and the Engineers more terrifying. Ash's words would have carried more weight; the perfect organism. If a movie like this would've been made, Prometheus would have seemed less out there. It is also more Lovecraftian as both the audio drama and comic don't outright say these things were engineered. It is inferred by the UPP scientists but it is also implied that they might be an already existing species that was modified by the space jockey race. I agree with Hicks and Bishop. The other characters were also good.

Yeah Bhien was a great as an 80s action hero. To be honest he seemed more real as a soldier when compared to the likes of Schwarzenegger, van damm or Stallone, compare Dutch in predator or Stallone as rambo and they come across as very much straight up muscle bound action hero soldiers, but soldiers in the real world aren't like that , they're closer to what we see in platoon or aliens. Beihn was great as Reese in terminator, suffering PTSD, and hicks level headedness which is what got him to corporal in the USCM , I'm sure if he had survived alien 3 and went one in service he would have made rank of sgt or even higher. Biehn had a passion for such roles in film and it shows in his performances

No doubt that Ridley Scott borrowed from William Gibson's novel in regards to the hybrid Aliens and the black substance that we see in Prometheus and covenant. That was the most fascinating aspect for me when I listened to it