Alien³ (1992)

Film and Plot Synopsis

In this direct sequel to the classic Alien and Aliens films, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the only survivor of the Colonial Marine ship, the Sulaco, when she crash lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet’s maximum-security prison. Once again, Ripley must face skepticism and the alien as it hunts down the prisoners and guards. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley leads the men into battle against the terrifying creature.

‘Alien³‘ Movie Summary

The film picks up immediately after the events in Aliens. The four remaining survivors of the spaceship Sulaco – Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the child Newt (Carrie Henn), Colonial Marine Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), and the remaining portions of the android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) – are in hyper sleep on a long journey back to Earth. However, they are unaware that the alien queen that they ejected into space left an egg on the ship. The egg hatches and releases a facehugger that causes damage to the ship resulting in a fire. The ship’s computer loads the sleeping survivors into an escape pod and ejects them onto the prison planet Fiorina “Fury” 161. Newt and Hicks are killed in the crash while Bishop is further damaged. Ripley, however, survives the crash.

The prisoners on the planet, who operate an ancient foundry, are displeased with the presence of a woman, as many of them have found religion and believe that Ripley’s presence will lead to carnal temptations. The ineffective prison warden, Harold Andrews (Brian Glover), wishes for Ripley to leave as soon as possible and communicates with the company to send a recovery ship. Unbeknownst to everyone, a facehugger has survived the crash as well and attaches itself to the dog of one of the prisoners.

Meanwhile, Ripley is awakened from her hyper sleep by the facilities’ doctor, Jonathan Clemens (Charles Dance), who is also a prisoner. Andrews warns Ripley that her presence in the prison could be dangerous for her and will be disruptive. Ripley is primarily concerned on examining Newt’s body for alien embryos, although she does not share that with anyone. Clemens examines Newt’s remains and informs Ripley that he found nothing significant. Ripley asks for them to burn Newt and Hick’s bodies, so that she can be sure that an alien is not birthed from their remains. The funeral is conducted in the furnace just as an alien is birthed from the dog that it impregnated.

After the funeral, Ripley seeks out the damaged remains of Bishop to learn more about what happened on the Sulaco while she was in hyper sleep. She is nearly gang-raped by several prisoners until another prisoner named Leonard Dillon (Charles S. Dutton) saves her and “reeducates” his fellow inmates. Ripley returns to the infirmary and re-activates Bishop, who informs Ripley that a facehugger alien came with them on the ship to Fiorina under the full knowledge of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Bishop, whose robotic body is destroyed, asks Ripley to permanently disable him, which she does.

At the same time, the now full-sized alien (Tom Woodruff Jr.) kills prisoners Thomas Murphy (Christopher Fairbank), Edward Boggs (Leon Herbert), and Daniel Rains (Christopher John Fields). Another prisoner, Walter Golic (Paul McGann), sees the attack which drives him into a psychopathic state. Andrews believes that Ripley’s presence caused Golic to kill the men even as she tries to explain the danger of the alien. She encourages the warden to have everyone work together to kill the alien, but she is informed that the facility has no weapons whatsoever. Ripley is informed by Andrews that a rescue ship is being sent by the corporation to recover Ripley.

Ripley returns to the infirmary and has sex with Clemens. However, the alien appears in the medical lab and kills the doctor and corners Ripley. Strangely, the alien does not kill Ripley and retreats into the ventilation system. Ripley runs off to warn the other prisoners, but Andrews is killed by the alien while he is delivering a speech to the inmates that there are no aliens on the planet.

I don’t like losin’ a fight. Not to nobody, not to nothin’. That damn thing out there’s already killed half my men, got the other half scared shitless. As long as it’s alive, sister, you’re not gonna save any universe. Dillon (Charles S. Dutton)

Now without leadership, Ripley formulates a plan with the prisoners to pour flammable toxic waster into the ventilation system and then ignite it to flush out the alien and drive it into a heavily secured trap. Unfortunately, the alien intervenes and kills one of the prisoners which results in a premature ignition of the waste and the deaths of several of the inmates. After the disaster, Ripley begins to feel unwell and has Francis Aaron (Ralph Brown), Andrews’ assistant, conduct a medical scan on her using the life pod from the Sulaco. The scan reveals that Ripley has an alien embryo, a queen, growing inside her. She also learns that the corporation hopes to turn the aliens into biological weapons.

Realizing that the alien would not kill her because of the embryo she carries, Ripley begs Dillion to kill her. The inmate agrees to kill her, but only after she helps the inmates kill the existing alien first. Everyone formulates a plan to lure the alien into the foundry’s molding facility, trap it, and then to drown it in molten lead. The prisoners lure the alien into their trap by using themselves as bait. The plan is successful, but all the prisoners, except for Dillion and Robert Morse (Danny Webb), are killed. Ripley and Dillon lure the alien into place within the mold. Ripley climbs out, but Dillon sacrifices himself to keep the alien in place. Morse pours the molten lead onto both Dillon and the alien.

Despite the extreme temperature of the lead, the alien leaps out of the mold covered in lead. Ripley activates the fire sprinklers, which results in the alien exploding apart due to the thermal shock. At that moment, the Weyland-Yutani “rescue” team arrives, which is made up of several commandos with weapons and a man who looks identical to Bishop (Lance Henriksen). The man claims to be Bishop’s creator and attempts to persuade Ripley to undergo surgery to remove the embryo. The man also states that his goal is to destroy the alien embryo. A skeptical Ripley refuses the surgery and locks herself onto a mobile platform. Morse positions the platform over the furnace before he is shot in the leg by commandos. Aaron strikes the Bishop look-alike with a wrench, revealing him to be another android. The commandos shoot and kill Aaron. Ripley throws herself into the furnace and grabs onto the infant alien queen as it bursts from her chest. Ripley and the alien are killed. In the aftermath, the prison facility is closed and the lone survivor, Morse, is lead away in shackles.