Wreckage and Rage: The Making of 'Alien3' is a 2003 making-of documentary directed by Charles de Lauzirika that details the production of the 1992 film Alien 3. Created for the Alien Quadrilogy DVD release, it uses extensive interviews with the film's cast and crew, as well as a wealth of behind the scenes footage, to detail the development, filming and release of the movie.
Contents
- 1 Contents
- 1.1 Development Hell: Concluding the Story
- 1.2 Tales of the Wooden Planet: Vincent Ward's Vision
- 1.3 Stasis Interrupted: David Fincher's Vision
- 1.4 Xeno-Erotic: H.R. Giger's Redesign
- 1.5 The Color of Blood: Pinewood Studios, 1991
- 1.6 Adaptive Organism: Creature Design
- 1.7 The Downward Spiral: Creative Differences
- 1.8 Where the Sun Burns Cold: Fox Studios, L.A. 1992
- 1.9 Optical Fury: Visual Effects
- 1.10 Requiem for a Scream: Music, Editing, and Sound
- 1.11 Post-Mortem: Reaction to the Film
- 2 Enhancement Pods
- 3 Trivia
Contents[]
The documentary is divided into eleven separate chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of the film's production.
Development Hell: Concluding the Story[]
The first chapter covers the early part of Alien3's difficult production, including Renny Harlin's signing as director and some of the early, discarded proposed scripts. It also describes how Vincent Ward came to the attention of the producers and his subsequent hiring as the film's writer.
Tales of the Wooden Planet: Vincent Ward's Vision[]
The second chapter covers Vincent Ward's script for the third film in some detail, including several storyboards showing what the director had in mind.
Stasis Interrupted: David Fincher's Vision[]
The third chapter covers David Fincher joining a film that already had already had several expensive sets built for a script that had by now been discarded, and his subsequent struggles to redesign the film. Also discussed are Michael Biehn's attempts to block plans to include Hicks in the sequel, and 20th Century Fox vetoing Fincher's first choice of Richard E. Grant for the part of Clemens.
Xeno-Erotic: H.R. Giger's Redesign[]
The fourth chapter covers the re-hiring of H. R. Giger to create new designs for a quadruped Xenomorph, and shows some of his weird and, in some cases, radical ideas.
The Color of Blood: Pinewood Studios, 1991[]
The fifth chapter covers the tough shooting at Pinewood Studios, including the extensive studio interference that led to conflict with Fincher on set. Cinematographer Jordan Cronenworth was also forced to leave the production due to his battle with Parkinson's disease.
Adaptive Organism: Creature Design[]
Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. discuss their creature designs, including that of the Super Facehugger, which was cut from the theatrical release of the movie.
The Downward Spiral: Creative Differences[]
The seventh chapter focusses on the conflict between Fincher and 20th Century Fox. While many of the cast attempt to defend the director, the studio representatives accuse him of wasting time and money.
Where the Sun Burns Cold: Fox Studios, L.A. 1992[]
The eighth chapter covers the shutting down of filming at Pinewood due to overruns and the relocating of production to Fox Studios in Los Angeles. Again studio pressure is lamented by the cast and crew, while Sigourney Weaver describes refusing to shave her head again, forcing the makeup department to construct an elaborate bald cap for her to wear.
Optical Fury: Visual Effects[]
The ninth chapter covers the special effects work, including the struggles with depicting a quadruped Alien. After initial attempts to dress a dog in a suit were met with ridicule, rod puppets and optical compositing were used to portray the creature in the film. The other miniature work and matte paintings used during filming are also discussed.
Requiem for a Scream: Music, Editing, and Sound[]
The tenth chapter covers Elliot Goldenthal's score, and difficulties with Fincher's desire to blur the lines between music and sound effects during several of the film's sequences.
Post-Mortem: Reaction to the Film[]
The final chapter covers the reception to the film, which did fairly poorly in the US but much better in Europe.
Enhancement Pods[]
With the release of the Alien Anthology Blu-ray set in 2010, several previously-unreleased "Enhancement Pods", essentially deleted scenes taken from the main documentary, were made available for the first time. These cover a wide range of topics, many of which are already mentioned in the documentary itself, and provide minor additional details and trivia.
- Renny Harlin Quits
- Explaining the Wooden Planet
- Ezra Swerdlow's Concerns
- Intimidating Baldies
- Roaming the Fury 161 Set
- The Art of Storyboarding
- Hicks' Alternative Future
- Costuming for Character
- On Set: Filming the Alien's POV
- Head Casting with Charles Dutton
- On Set: Filming the Oxburster
- Sausage-Motivated Alien Whippet
- Fincher's Alienation
- Lance Henriksen Returns in Style
- Sucking Up to Fincher
- Detailing the EEV Miniature
- Matte Painting Memories
- How to Make Alien Acid Saliva
- The Sulaco's Cameo
- The Weaver Wagger
- Bald Cap Blues
- Bragging Rights
- Stealing Sigourney's Top
- Creating Alien Sounds from Scratch
- Dangerous Location Recording
- Painful Low End Frequencies
- The Power of Silence
- Ripley's Evolution
- Mixed Reactions
Trivia[]
- 20th Century Fox demanded 20 minutes of footage be removed from the documentary for the Alien Quadrilogy set, ostensibly to tone down the negative comments made by some of the cast and crew towards the studio. However, the version later released on the Alien Anthology Blu-ray set was uncensored.
