"Choke on it and die already!" Words intended to quiet down a guy that was loudly chomping on pop corn during the early suspense scenes of this film. I've held on to those words with fondness. They symbolize the undying hunger in audiences for a good ass kicking film. And back in the day, this one kicked ass like no other. I had read the script to this film and wondered where those additional atmospheric scenes had gone in that theatrical cut. It was truly satisfying to see that they had been sitting dormant in James Cameron's editing bin, and were now part of this Extended Cut. I won't give away all the goodies to allow you for a better surprise, but let's just say the additions are well placed and definitely help the establishment of plot and character. It is fun to look back at Mr. Avatar and see the early makings of a phenomenal action director. The tough guys with damaged egos. Technology turned on its side. And, of course, the curiosity for alien races quickly becoming a predicament larger than expected. For those of you who haven't seen this film, it's an action extravaganza centered around the Alien universe created by Ridley Scott in the film of the same title. Only this time the fun is not contained to one ugly guy playing hide and sick in a space ship. James Cameron's outing has a high count on casualties and enough opposition to take over a foreign country, or in this case, a small planet. Where this film might benefit from an upgrade is in the special effects department. Which is an interesting comment to make in regards to a Cameron picture, since the guy got his start doing effect shoots. He practically invented the genre. But since my viewing of this film is taking place in 2012 and we have all been bombarded by the likes of Lord of the Rings and the Avengers, the effects clearly show the cracks in the shell. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film thoroughly and I would gladly watch it again. In fact, it makes for a perfect marathon if watched together with the first one. This is sadly the last in the Alien series where the production was taking the future of the xenophorms with any seriousness. Yes, David Fincher was a very good call for the third installment, but it was also the moment when the studio decided to put the franchise in the hands of accountants with little regard for filmmaking, and our award winning director never gained the proper production tools to do the franchise any justice... All that being said, I am actually a fan of Fincher's version. It's just hard to follow up a gory gun fest like Aliens with an emotionally driven piece like Alien 3.