After years in the music video industry, David Fincher was handed thebreak of a lifetime to the direct the third installment in thelandmark Alien franchise. The first two defined genre filmmaking andFincher found himself challenged by second-guessing executives, anOscar-nominated star, and numerous production challenges. The film wasnot received warmly by critics or fans. We discuss the merits of thismaligned sequel, and whether the “workprint version” released in 2003as a direct-to-disc special edition is more worthy of recognition asthe work of David Fincher.