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25 comments
11 comments
Rank This Matchup or Comment/Reply Below
on 8/11/2009
Now that's just not fair.
on 10/2/2009
ALIENS, all the way. Better script, better pacing, better scares and a sad lack of Michael Biehn or Lance Henricksen.
on 11/17/2009
Aliens 3 gets nuked from orbit. (It was the only way to be sure.)
on 12/22/2009
Now which is the one with no xenomorphs operating elevators? EASY
Now which is the one with no elevator-operating xenomorphs? EASY
on 3/15/2010
Have to go with Aliens. It has more monsters more guns and creepy as heck. Plus Ripply fighting the queen was really really cool.
on 3/22/2010
Alien 3 is fascinating to me, because I can see the brilliance of Fincher coming through a very troubled production. It's amazing that the film is as good as it is considering what he went through. (The documentary on the making of this film, in the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set, is more entertaining than the fim.) That all said, it most definitely IS a troubled production, and not a great movie, even though I enjoy it. Aliens is an example of perfect (yeah, perfect) sci-fi action.
on 11/8/2010
I need this pairing because I am doing the Alien franchise at the moment, and what should be number 1 is currently at number 4. But it wont load. Very sad.
on 8/13/2011
Aliens...
on 8/15/2011
Actually gotta go Alien 3. Both are close to me though. Ripley killing herself is the only thing in the series (outside of anything in Alien, which is the clear frontrunner for the series) that made me actually feel any kind of emotion. The plot holes in both are absolutely ridiculous though and really mess up viewing both of them.
on 10/6/2011
ALIENS
on 4/8/2012
This is much closer than it looks for me. In the end, Alien3 wins because it feels less like anything else I'd ever seen. Aliens feels like a sci-fi blockbuster- giant robot suits, military bravado, good guys versus scary monsters, and a cute little girl to save. I know I'm reducing it, when it's the film that gave us such great scenes and characters and additions to the collected canon of the franchise. I know I shouldn't downplay the tremendous work and vision of John Cameron in pulling off such a huge production. But Alien3 was daring and original and artistic, and those are qualities I have to stand by even in an imperfect film.
on 7/11/2012
The out-of-a-cow birth of Alien 3 rules out the contest on its own
on 8/4/2012
They killed Hicks! They killed Newt! They deserted Ripley, ripping everything away from her that could have given her hope. They revert back to the cryo-chambers from Alien. Fincher looks at Cameron's 'baby' and rips the guts out of it. And Alien3 is all the better for it. Aliens characters were yawn-some, generic characters stolen, in all aspects, from Heinlein's Starship Troopers. The majority of the cast in Alien3 are prisoners, located on a lice-infested rock. Their similar appearance serves two things, it symbolises the bond that they have formed through their choice of religion and it serves its purpose in maintaining a level of personal hygiene. Storyline, Aliens has it. It is tighter, much more refined and does not seem to be plagued by the problems of Aliem3. Alien3, however, made some harsh decisions (above) in order to bring it in line with Alien, rather than Aliens. Not many other films have ever had the guts to do that. To utterly destroy a character in that way. But the scripting problems do show. When it comes to audio and visual treats, well Aliens action sequences dominate the movie, but the sound is, again like a lot of elements in the film, generic militaria. Alien 3 goes for something that is different, as we would expect from a director like Fincher. Not all of it works, but the soundtrack is sumptuous. Overall, I enjoy both films, but Alien3 really tries harder to fit into the Alien universe than Aliens, returning the creature to something more 'alien' than Alien's hive interpretation. Cameron's copouts and his desire to plunder Starship Troopers and present it as something fresh just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Two great films, but Alien3 is far more important in the Alien mythos.
on 12/9/2012
This is no contest, Aliens hands down.
Aliens by blowout...
Five people chose 3? Well that's neat.
Aliens is way better 3 wasn't pleasing
on 8/10/2013
Too easy. Aliens is the clear victor.
on 1/4/2014
Alien 3 is just boring. Really, really boring. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Alien 3 should have been "Aliens 2" with more and better action. The first film didn't have any action yet that wasn't all that boring (although believe me, I do have my problems with it). It was suspenseful and atmospheric as hell. Now what does Alien 3 have? Talking. Talking, talking, talking about basic stuff. Oh, and faith, but that was such a half-baked idea that it didn't mean anything. And it has running. Running, running, running. I don't care about its cartoonesque, bland characters and I don't care about anything because quite frankly nothing is happening. It's an uneventful mess.
on 4/23/2014
Easy Aliens it is
on 5/30/2014
no questions Alien3 is good Aliens is great.
on 3/17/2015
Alien 3 is wayyyyyy better.
on 6/10/2015
Aliens, no contest whatsoever.
on 1/23/2017
Alien 3 took the franchise to new levels of bleak, and I enjoyed every second of it.
Aliens is technically the better film, but Alien 3 is definitely not as bad as people make it out to be and in some respects I admire it for how nihilistic it is. As much as I enjoy Aliens, there are a lot of things that bug me about it: it hasn't aged well compared to other entries of the franchise, James Horner sounds like he's going through the motions of a generic action film score, the action is hampered by lazy editing and artificial, unconvincingly bulky and restrictive costumes and creature effects for both the aliens and the marines, and when it's not focusing on Ripley, Newt or Bishop, the script is a succession of cheesy one-liners that the film's millions of imitators and fans love to quote verbatim whenever the topic of Aliens is raised, like Portal fans harping on about "cake". That being said, the problems with Aliens merely hold it back from matching the greatness of it's predecessor in my eyes, keeping it in the "still very good but overrated" category, whereas the problems with Alien 3 (disjointed, plot hole-driven story and largely identical cannon-fodder supporting cast) are much more to its detriment. Ultimately I love both, warts and all, though neither come close to the original, but when it comes down to it, I have to concede that Aliens is the better film.
on 9/7/2017
I do applaud Alien3 for going back to the original Alien's "one very difficult to kill xenomorph in a claustrophobic setting" formula rather than reducing them to cannon fodder as in Aliens, but god, it's a boring movie, even in the Assembly Cut (which is the only version I've seen). I can't stand the color scheme or the CGI on the alien. I may not be a fan of the more action/military-oriented direction Aliens took the franchise, but it's a good movie with interesting characters that stands on its own, and when viewed as Cameron intended it has a great arc for Ripley.
on 9/8/2017
I don't love Aliens like a lot of people. I found the supporting characters to be generic and annoying and it bugged me how it was just the first again just bigger and more action oriented. This meant it lacked the suspense and energy of Alien! It is still a good and well made movie were I was interested in the story. Alien 3 just sucked. It was dull, poorly written and "made by committee". Alien>Aliens>Alien Resurrection>Alien 3.
on 7/7/2018
Alien and Aliens ended the right quintessential ending, but Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection terrible crap sequels.
on 7/18/2018
I thought Ripley was a more believable and real -- which is to say a more human character -- in Alien 3 than Aliens. Unfortunately, as per James Cameron's understanding, a female character is strong if she acts tough and macho like a man. In a James Cameron movie, you can always tell the female character has been written and directed by a man (whoops, that should read "the man" since we're talking about James Cameron). Four failed marriages would tell you James Cameron doesn't quite understand women. Maybe he expects them to behave like the female characters in his scripts. But good to know he's finally found the right whore for his ego.
on 11/12/2020
Aliens is one of the best sequels of all time!.. And Alien 3 tried to ruin it.
on 4/27/2021
Wtf is this... Alien 3 shit on a perfect movie like Aliens. I'll take Cameron over Fincher
on 6/5/2022
Huh, I always thought I was the only one who 'sort of' liked Alien 3... Surprised to see it has so many defenders! That being said, it's nowhere close to Aliens, like, please, let's be serious...
on 7/23/2022
Aliens wins but this is closer than I thought. I find Aliens to be a very overrated sequel and Alien 3 a very underrated one.
on 7/25/2022
No contest here. ALIENS for the win.
on 11/23/2022
How is there even 10 votes for Alien 3? I'm super surprised by the people of this site, for me it's Aliens, no contest
on Apr 6
I'm going with Alien 3. Aliens is fun, but I never liked Newt and action is all a little meaningless. Alien 3 is closer in tone to the original and explores some more interesting themes with the prisoners (at least in the Assembly Cut) despite how messy it is.
