Reviews

Alien III by William Gibson

thecurbau's review

3.0

Perfectly serviceable slaughterfest to provide the soundtrack to Christmas shopping. Amazing how easy it is to imagine slow shoppers getting nixed by a silent alien killer.

apryde6226's review

4.0

Better alternate to the original Alien 3 movie. Has very little of Ripley but Hicks and Bishop are major players in the story. This is the story they should have made into the Alien 3 movie, instead of the crap story that was actually made...

_alyssa25's review

3.0

It was fine. Not terrible, not great.

devfor96's review

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A great Alien story. Personally, I enjoyed being taken on a journey by this book. Listening to how the alien story could have developed if the Cold War would have lasted longer. The added sound effects enchanted my experience as well.

I really enjoyed how the aliens mixed with animals and a part of me is sad we never got to see this on the big screen.

If you are an Alien fan this is worth a listen for sure.

I also found the ending surprisingly completive, although a bit corny. However, I still hold that it has a message that is still relevant today about how at the end of the day we are all human.

thurminator's review

3.0

I'm glad this got released. It's ultimately a fairly bland and safe sequel to Aliens that probably would have been way more successful than the movie we did get. Ripley being in a coma most of the time is a weird narrative choice, instead having Hicks and Bishop take the lead. The audio drama was well voiced, albeit severely bloated with the sheer volume of new characters that we only have about 2 hours with in total.

Gibson is an intriguing choice for a writer, and I think that the general outline of the plot here is solidly conceived, although I wish it had broken away from the conventional Alien formula a little harder. I'm interested to see if it translates better to the novel or comic version.

modkuraika's review

4.0

Would've made for a somewhat uninspired, but much more exciting film than the Alien 3 we actually got. You can also see what ideas from this script they would later repurpose in the franchise down the road. The quality of the audio production is excellent, and between this and The Sandman, I'll be keeping an eye out for more Dirk Maggs stuff.

catchthesewings's review

3.0

It was alright. Gibson’s sequel is more respectful to the characters and themes of the first two Alien movies, but less inventive than the actual Alien 3. It probably would have been a better, but less interesting movie. As for plot, I really enjoyed the slow pace of the first half, watching the bureaucracy gears churning. I think that section does a good job illustrating how corporate systems cause people to make poor choices — their jobs depend on a structure that values profit above humans. At the same time, it’s funny that a universe so critical of capitalism doesn’t do more with its Soviet Union analogues. The second half was less engaging. The main problem is that most of the character development is given to people who aren’t in the conclusion. Those who are left don’t have a strong emotional story to pull everything together in the same way Newt and Ripley did in Aliens. All that’s left, then, are a few get-to-the-place-and-do-the-thing scenes with the aliens dropping in to menace and pick off cast members here and there. One key idea that doesn’t get developed or go anywhere particularly interesting is the concept of alien/human hybrids. It’s a fun monster idea, but it doesn’t mean anything deeper or justify the new ground it treads. On the whole, I’d say this is worth a listen if you are a fan of the movies or just want to kill two hours with a high-quality audio drama. The production value is fantastic, and the cast does a great job, so I’d recommend it on the audio engineering front too.

jack_storey's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

3.5

angelikareadsavariciously's review

4.0

It was not as compelling as the rest, but it gets a solid rating for production value alone. If audible could make the whole franchise like this, I would be ecstatic.

cr0wley25's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0