For more than 30 years, cinephiles would scoff at those who suggested the Alien franchise took a nose dive after Alien and Aliens. Few would seriously argue that the third entry exceeds the Ridley Scott original or the James Cameron sequel. But those in the know would point out that the version of Alien 3 that hit theaters on May 22, 1992, wasn’t anything close to what director David Fincher had in mind. They would know that because they’d seen the so-called “Assembly Cut” of Alien 3, a version of the movie that better matched Fincher’s vision.For years, the Assembly Cut was only available on home video, unlike the more widely-circulated directors’ cuts of the first two movies. But in a rare instance of HBO Max adding a classic instead of removing it, the Assembly Cut is now available to watch on the streamer, giving everyone a chance to see the better movie.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});Every version of Alien 3 picks up sometime after the end of Aliens, with Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) crashing on planet Fury 161, a prison planet populated only by violent man. Ripley forms a bond with physician Clemens (Charles Dance) and benefits from the attempts by holy man Dillon (Charles S. Dutton) to keep them in line. But when a Xenomorph reveals itself on Fury, she becomes their only hope of survival.Alien 3 managed to out gross its predecessors at the theater, but it failed to win over audiences. Many took umbrage with the film’s bleak tone, starting with the off-screen deaths of Aliens survivors Hicks and Newt and continuing to the final moments, in which Ripley throws herself into a flaming furnace instead of allowing Weyland-Yutani to gain access to the Xenomorph Queen embryo that was implanted inside her. Yet, the movie managed to give the franchise some of its most iconic imagery, including the shot of a bald-headed Ripley turning her face from the Xenomorph right next to her.The film’s problems extend from its rough production period, marked by creative differences and false-starts. Producers Walter Hill, David Giler, and Gordon Carroll considered several different ideas for the third movie, including a film that focused on Michael Biehn’s Hicks, a satire on capitalist mall culture written by William Gibson, and a story set on a wooden planet, populated by anti-technology monks. That last idea, created by director Vincent Ward, was good enough to get the film into production, but he was soon replaced by Fincher, making his first jump from music videos to feature films.Fincher shot Alien 3, and the movie hit theaters with his name in the opening credits. However, to this day, he has disowned the movie, claiming that the producers did the final edit, making notable changes to his story.To be clear, Fincher does not claim the Assembly Cut either, precisely because that’s what it is: an assembly. An assembly cut is a normal part of the filmmaking process, a version of the movie cobbled together after principal photography has completed, but before the editing has commenced and, in most cases, before additional elements such as special effects, score, sound effects, etc. have been added. Because Fincher did not get to oversee those elements, he does not consider the Assembly Cut of Alien 3 to be a movie at all, let alone his movie.Yet, it’s easy to see why fans would treat the Assembly Cut as the “true” version of Alien 3. The movie takes more time building dread and fleshing out the characters and their world. Dillon and Golic, the madman played by Paul McGann, are more compelling than they are in the theatrical vision, and Ripley’s death has greater power.Does the Assembly Cut make Alien 3 into a good movie? That depends on how you feel about the film’s punishing tone. But there’s no question that the Assembly Cut makes Alien 3 far more interesting, something everyone can see for themselves now.Alien 3: The Assembly Cut is now streaming on HBO Max. The post HBO Max Just Added the Best Version of Alien 3 appeared first on Den of Geek.