Alien³ (1992)
Science Fiction, Action, Horror • 1h 54m
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann, Brian Glover, Ralph Brown, Danny Webb, Christopher John Fields, Holt McCallany, Lance Henriksen, Christopher Fairbank, Carl Chase, Leon Herbert, Vincenzo Nicoli, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Brennen, Clive Mantle, Peter Guinness, Deobia Oparei, Phil Davis, Niall Buggy, Hi Ching, Danielle Edmond, Tom Woodruff Jr.
Best English-friendly & video release · updated 11 months ago
Overview
After escaping with Newt and Hicks from the alien planet, Ripley crash lands on Fiorina 161, a prison planet and host to a correctional facility. Unfortunately, although Newt and Hicks do not survive the crash, a more unwelcome visitor does. The prison does not allow weapons of any kind, and with aid being a long time away, the prisoners must simply survive in any way they can.
Director: Ridley Scott
Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray
2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray
(additional scenes appear to be upscaled)
Original Theatrical 70mm 6-Track Stereo: Fox 4K Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 4.1)
Original Theatrical 35mm Matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1999 DVD? (2.0 mix on the UHD is a downmix)
2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray, Fox Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Director: James Cameron
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Disney 4K Blu-ray has AI enhancement see youtube comparison
Director: Ridley Scott
4K release is missing the bonus disc from the old Collector's Edition Blu-Rays
Director: David Fincher
4K Blu-ray has exclusive “unrated” audio with a small change to one line under the request of David Fincher (removed the poor dub over of frickin’ in the line “Screw it, let’s gut the f**kin’ nerd.”).
Director: David Fincher
Disney 4K Blu-ray or Fox 2009 Blu-ray or Kinowelt Entertainment 2008 Germany Blu-ray for a purist version
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · notonbluray.com (opens in a new tab)
Disney 4K Blu-ray or Fox 2009 Blu-ray for a purist version or Kinowelt Entertainment 2008 Germany Blu-ray from the original 1999 telecine transfer
Disney 4K Blu-ray, while a good release by itself, is very revisionist albeit made by Fincher. It has a huge amount of tinkering, a different grade, and at times uncanny with the sharpening. Caps of just how revisionist the new master is.
All Blu-ray tracks have significant limiting.
Disney 4K Blu-ray has some alterations, otherwise similar to the Fox Blu-ray
A blog article going over the home video history of Fight Club: https://notonbluray.com/blog/fight-club-compared-blu-ray-vs-itunes-vs-d-vhs-vs-dvd-vs-laserdisc/
Director: David Fincher
2025 WB 4K Blu-ray or the 1997 New Line DVD (CCE colors)/Netherlands Blu-ray (2000 restoration) for a purist version
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · notonbluray.com (opens in a new tab)
2025 WB 4K Blu-ray, better detail and everything, or the 1997 New Line DVD (CCE colors)/Netherlands Blu-ray (2000 restoration) for a purist version
4K caveat: A variety of VFX set pieces and touch-ups were added in scenes throughout the film, probably for continuity or consistency, although they might be unnecessary or revisionist. Clouds are added to clear sky of the last act.
AI is used to fix an unwanted camera movement in one scene.
some shots had been further stabilized, resulting in strange motion blur.
Also has missing dialog intact.
But it can be argued that the Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray 5.1 (remix) is technically a better mix.
More info on the different color grades over the years: https://notonbluray.com/blog/the-case-of-se7en/
Director: David Fincher
Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Director: David Fincher
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
HDR caps by fkid. Obviously this is a huge improvement after what was available until now. Still, the early 2000s nature of the film is palpable and more noticeable, f.ex. in the opening scene that looks upscaled but seemingly without AI usage or any egregious tools. No info yet about what Fincher actually changed and where he tinkered around. Also see samlop10's review
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Video format: 4K Streaming
Director: Terence Young
WB 4K Blu-ray despite frozen grain
Director: David Butler
Video format: Only Unofficial Sources
Sources: archive.org (opens in a new tab)
The DVD isn't an official one, and according to a user review on Amazon:
This DVD comes from Archive.org, where the movie can be viewed for free. The original source, comes from the Fox Movie Channel
Director: James Cameron
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
Fox Blu-ray for original cuts without the extra scene added in the re-release and AI upscaling
Newer Blu-ray/4K has the extra scene, but is poor and has excessive AI upscaling
An additional scene was added to the ending of the movie in the 2022 re-release: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=493908
Director: Peter Faiman
Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD
International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray
Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut
Australia Cut: Laserdisc
The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).
Directors: Neil Nightingale & Barry Cook
Fox 3D Blu-ray has both the theatrical cut and the "Cretaceous Cut"
Fox 3D Blu-ray has both the theatrical cut and the "Cretaceous Cut" which removes the dialogue and the framing device, essentially serving as a director's cut of the film. The "Cretaceous Cut" is not available on the 2D Blu-ray or on digital streaming.
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