QWas David Fincher involved in the Assembly Cut, released on DVD in 2003?
ANot directly. The original production (i.e. shooting) of the film in England began as soon as David Fincher was officially signed on to direct and with no finished script. All that existed at that point was a dozen or so abandoned script ideas and almost two million dollars worth of sets that had been entirely or partially constructed (for a script that was entirely discarded weeks earlier). Fincher was informed that he needed to incorporate as many of the creative ideas the producers wanted as possible and he needed to write scenes around the sets that had already been built in order to justify the cost of their construction. As a result, Fincher was forced to effectively write, shoot, and edit the film, all at the same time. While he was attempting this almost impossible task, the producers were continually requesting that changes be made on a variety of levels on an almost daily basis. As a consequence, the production became more complicated and difficult. The film went overbudget rather quickly and although the film was *almost* completed, the studio shut down production and asked for what is called a 'work print' or 'assembly cut'. You might think of this as an audit. They wanted to see what all their money had been spent on before they allowed any more.David Fincher created a work print in collaboration with editor Terry Rawlings. This was done in order to see which shots still had to be filmed and how the film flowed so far. Fincher, and the rest of the cast and crew, were under the impression that this was to be only the initial cut of what would be the final film and that very few pick-ups and changes were to be made (other than those requested by Fincher himself). The studio, however, eventually rejected this version of the film, and ordered a radical re-edit, requesting that entire plot points (including the beginning and ending of the film) be either altered or scrapped and entirely re-shot. Most of these ideas were incorporated into what would become the Theatrical Version. After the hellish production of the film, the news that Fincher's vision of the story would not be the one that would ultimately make it to the screen was enough to make the director walk entirely. The alterations and new scenes were created without Fincher and despite the protests of most of the crew which had worked with him. In fact, a lot of the scenes, including the new ending, were shot in Los Angeles with almost an entirely new crew.For the extended 2003 Assembly Cut of Alien, editor David Crowther reassembled the earlier work print, and a small crew finished music, sound effects and visual effects in the additional scenes to the best of their abilities on the limited budget (e.g. there was no time or money for additional dialogue recording, etc). Based on what they had to work with, this version was as close as they could get to Fincher's original idea for the film they shot. It should be noted that this was not the film that Fincher had set out to shoot, only the compromised version he would have been *okay* with releasing. Fincher was invited to create his 'director's cut', but refused, citing that a director's cut would mean burning all the original negatives and starting over from scratch. He had very little creative control over the original production and for his true 'director's cut' to ever really be realized, they would have to shoot a whole new movie. According to some sources, the Assembly Cut has his blessing. The Assembly Cut released on DVD in 2003 and met with generally very favourable reviews. This version was further polished in 2010, when the Alien series was released on Blu-ray Disc; the notoriously bad audio quality of some additional scenes (for which only on-set audio with no re-recorded dialogue was available) was finally replaced by a high-quality soundtrack matching the original one, as the actors were brought back in to re-loop their dialogue. You can see evidence of this if you compare the 2003 DVD vers of the scene where Clemens tries to revive Ripley after finding her on the shore to the 2010 blu-ray version of the same scene.
QWhy are there no guns or weapons in this movie?
AHicks (Michael Biehn) and Newt (Danielle Edmond) are killed when the EEV crashes into the sea on Fiorina. Hicks is impaled by a support beam, whereas the seal on Newt's cryotube fails and she drowns inside it. Their bodies are then cremated.Murphy (Christopher Fairbank) comes across the alien while cleaning a ventilation duct. He is hit in the face with acid and is sent tumbling into a 9 foot fan and "diced" as Aaron says.Bishop (Lance Henriksen) Already heavily damaged from the encounter on the Sulaco with the Queen, Bishop is further damaged during the EEV crash. Bishop was scrapped, but Ripley finds him so she can find out what happened on the Sulaco. Afterwards, Bishop asks to be turned off again, he said he could be rebuilt but never top of the line and would rather "die" than be less than what he was. Ripley deactivates him.Rains (Christopher John Fields) is killed by the alien when out lighting candles and foraging in the abandoned sections of the facility.Boggs (Leon Herbert) was killed by the alien after finding it attacking Rains.Clemens (Charles Dance) after confessing to Ripley in the infirmary about his sordid history, the alien makes its way in and kills him.Superintendent Andrews (Brian Glover) is suddenly grabbed & taken by the alien into the air ducts after Ripley tries to warn everyone during the warden's "rumour control" announcement.Frank (Carl Chase) is grabbed by the alien while coating the air ducts with the "Quinitrocetyline" causing him to drop a flare and ignite the chemical, resulting in a devastating explosion.8 uncredited prisoners are killed in the explosion. In the theatrical cut it is said that 10 are killed.Junior's (Holt McCallany) death in the theatrical version: he is somehow killed in the explosion. In the Assembly cut, during the mayhem of the explosion he's cut off from the survivors by the alien. Junior then sacrifices himself by running into the toxic waste container with the alien hot on his heels. Ripley closes the door, trapping the alien, making the plan successful. We faintly hear Junior screaming inside as the alien attacks & kills him.Arthur (Deobia Oparei) was killed in the explosion in the theatrical version. In the assembly cut he is standing guard outside the waste container that holds the alien. Golic slashes Arthur's throat with a surgical instrument so he can open the chamber & see the alien again.Golic (Paul McGann) After witnessing the alien kill Boggs and Rains, Golic becomes deranged. They strap him to a bed in the infirmary suspecting him of being the murderer and then he witnesses the alien kill Clemens. In the theatrical edition this is the last time we see him and he is never even mentioned again. It is possible that the alien went back for him as he was strapped to a bed helpless, or it may be implied he was released and killed in the explosion (which actually makes sense, as the others no longer suspected him of killing Boggs and Rains, and they could use his help with catching the alien). In the assembly cut Golic believes the alien to be the Angel of Death, and that it was sparing him for a reason (he had escaped from the Alien twice though this was more because the Alien had just killed someone in close proximity to him and wasn't interested in killing him yet). He convinces Morse to release him as it was proven he didn't kill Boggs and Rains. But as soon as he is released, he knocks Morse unconscious with a pipe. Then he makes his way to the waste container and after he reluctantly dispatches Arthur, he opens the container asking the alien what it wants him to do next; the alien kills him off-screen.Vincent: Kevin hears a scream and comes across the alien eating a prisoner. Later on (in the assembly cut) David comes across a dead body and we see the blood splattered all over the wall and he says "I think I found Vincent." This was likely the character that survived the explosion, but isn't listed in the credits. He is the one with the large red mark on the top of his head. He is seen prominently in the furnace scene. Also, he shouts out to Junior during the explosion sequence to warn him of the alien's presence.Troy (Paul Brennen) while making his way down a hallway he walks right into the alien and doesn't have a chance to run.David (Pete Postlethwaite) waits too long behind a door so the alien makes its way through the vents behind him and kills him.Kevin (Philip Davis) is attacked by the alien but saved by Dillon, though he dies shortly after from his wounds.Eric (Niall Buggy) isn't seen dying, but after he panics and starts the piston, he runs through a doorway, Ripley enters a doorway on the other side of the room, but she comes around the corner and finds a body. It is a very brief shot, but it appears to be Eric.William (Clive Mantle) As Ripley makes her way through the halls, she comes across another body hanging from the ceiling gripping a torch which she takes. You can't see the face of the body but it was likely him as everyone else is accounted for.Jude (Vincenzo Nicoli) is running for his life with the alien hot on his heels. Just as he makes it through the doorway and Dillon hits the button to close the door, the alien snatches Jude and pulls him back through.Gregor (Peter Guinness) collides with Morse in one of the tunnels, knocking them both off their feet. After taking a moment and laughing with Morse at the scare they gave each other, the alien crashes their party and appears to slash the artery in Gregor's neck.Dillon (Charles S. Dutton) realizes that the alien will simply climb out of the lead mold before they get clear, Dillon sacrifices himself by staying there fighting and taunting the alien while Morse positions the molten lead.Aaron a.k.a. "85" (Ralph Brown) believing that Bishop II is in fact an android, he picks up a wrench and cracks Bishop II over the head and is shot while running from the company's soldiers.Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) while Bishop II tries to reason with her and convince her that they will remove the alien embryo from her chest and kill it, Ripley sees through the deceit and casts herself into the furnace to finally destroy the alien species once and for all. In the theatrical edition, the Queen bursts from Ripley's chest as she falls and she grabs & holds it tight to insure it won't escape. In the assembly cut Ripley falls into the furnace and the Queen is never seen.
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