Renovatio Records: Alien 3

Alien 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Music Composed and Orchestrated by Elliot Goldenthal

April 26th is Alien Day, and here at Renovatio Records we want to celebrate it big time with a new release: Elliot Goldenthal’s avant-garde neo-classical score for Alien 3.

The controversial 1992 movie was the directorial debut of David Fincher and saw Sigourney Weaver reprising Ellen Ripley, accompanied by a great supporting cast that included Charles Dance, Charles S. Dutton, Lance Henriksen, Ralph Brown, and Pete Postlethwaite. Set immediately after the events of Aliens, Ripley is the only survivor of an escape pod that jettisons from the Sulaco after an electrical fire. Unfortunately, the pod crashes on Fiorina 161, a prison planet in which violent male inmates reside. Moreover, unbeknown to her, a facehugger has made its way to the escape pod and now runs loose in the facility. The alien eventually infects an inmate’s dog and quickly a new Xenomorph spawns, which, as expected, starts killing the prison inhabitants in very gruesome ways. Soon after, Ripley realizes that she will have to face not only her longtime enemy once more, but also her worst nightmare as she herself is the host for another creature, a queen that may reproduce into thousands of the deadly alien species.

After the successful two previous entries, Alien 3 was regarded as a major letdown by both critics and fan bases with many calling it the worst film in the franchise. Fincher himself would eventually disown the movie, stating that studio interference was detrimental to the final quality of the product. However, though flawed and definitely inferior to its predecessors, the film still has its own merits and much to offer. For starters, the acting is phenomenal, with Weaver providing what may well be her best performance in the franchise. The art direction and cinematography are also top notch, with a predominant use of cameras placed close to ground and pointed up to emphasize the claustrophobic confines of the prison. And what’s more, one cannot help to appreciate the boldness of this film; in the first half an hour, a dog gets killed in a grisly manner, and Hicks and Newt, Ripley’s surrogate family from James Cameron’s Aliens, are killed off without hesitation. Decisions like these show that the sequel was not afraid to go against all possible expectations from the franchise fan base as well as horror film clichés, which makes it quite worthy of appreciation for its originality. It should also be noted that even with the studio interference, Alien 3 has many qualities of a David Fincher film; it is excellently shot, and it introduces the nihilist undertones that the director would continue to explore throughout his filmography. Alien 3’s themes deal namely with the inevitability of death, the perversities of man, the frailty of the human condition, and the dynamics of human power in isolated settings, all set against a backdrop of elements exploring religion, redemption and self-sacrifice. The Xenomorph itself is treated as both a bringer of death and as a plot device to suggest the inevitability of failure, suffering, and grieving, as all the attempts the inmates make to improve their precarious situations are quickly boycotted by the creature with devastating aftermaths. Room is also given to display how monstrous men can also be; there’s a gang rape attempt scene that it is as unsettling as any encounter with the alien. In short, Alien 3 is a film that can be greatly appreciated with a clear notion of who Fincher is as a filmmaker. It is visually striking as it is existentially suggestive, and moreover it infuses a genuine mood of fear, thanks greatly to its effective musical score.

At the time, Elliot Goldenthal had scored very few films, with perhaps Pet Sematary being his most recognizable effort. The score for Alien 3 would eventually become a groundbreaking entry for the composer, one that would help him get several important projects during the following decade. For this movie, Fincher and Goldenthal had extensive discussions about the approach to be taken, with the director being specific in wanting the music to work as an atmosphere that employed sound effects. The composer would then go on to create a musical world that effectively blends sound design with a classical orchestra in such ways that, when watching the film, it is difficult to discern if you are listening to the score or just plain sound effects. This approach allows the music to emerge unexpectedly, as if it were the alien itself bursting out of the shadows. With the film exploring themes related to faith and religion, Goldenthal introduces operatic and religious elements, namely a beautiful but haunting boy soprano that stands out during the “Main Title” cue, a track that perfectly encapsulates the mood of the film: a constant struggle between romanticism and chaos. Furthermore, the composer conjures up several themes and motifs. Ripley gets her own theme, in the form of a tormented yet catchy progression of five notes, first introduced in the latter half of “The Survivor is a Woman”. Her involvement with the prison doctor, Clemens (brilliantly played by Charles Dance), is treated with a tender theme for piano, strings and solo oboe, which can be found in “Ripley and Clemens Bond”, and during the first half of “It’s a Long Sad Story”. However, the standout theme of the score is Goldenthal’s theme for sacrifice, first hinted at in high-end strings during the end of “Lullaby Elegy”, and later explored during “The Cremation” and during the highlight of the whole score, “Adagio”. This theme is a simple set of four ascending chords, which are both romantic and dark. “Adagio” is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful creations of Goldenthal’s career. In this track, the composer finally provides an emotional payoff for Ripley’s theme, while also unleashing a full ensemble performance of the sacrifice theme, perfectly underscoring the ultimate self-sacrifice Ripley makes at the end. The track graciously ends with a climactic and victorious full orchestral progression of three-note descending phrases, as the aliens have been finally defeated, before deflating and closing the film with a lovely and distant solo trumpet as Ripley’s recorded last report from the Nostromo is overheard.

The music Goldenthal provides for the Xenomorph is also astonishing. The creature is fittingly represented with a series of unsettling yet memorable sound effects produced by the brass section of the orchestra. Distorted trombones, trumpets, and horns whale and whine, showcasing the composer’s expertise at experimenting and writing for brass, a trademark in his career. The best examples of the Xenomorph’s motifs can be found in “The First Attack”, “Candles in the Wind”, the second half of “It’s a Long Sad Story”, and during the final chase sequences in “Bait and Chase” and “The Entrapment”. Other standouts of the score include the second half of “Wreckage and Rape” and the finale in “The Entrapment”. In the former, Goldenthal provides a wild rock-inspired mayhem, consisting of howling, processed voices, percussion effects and electric guitar effects. This cue perfectly encompasses the rage of unleashed male libido as the inmates attempt to rape Ripley, and though it may be hard to sit through it for some listeners, one cannot help to appreciate Goldenthal’s musical diversity. “The Entrapment” concludes the relentless final chase sequence, with a burst of shimmering, cascading string lines, as Ripley pours gallons of water over the molten lead covered alien, causing it to explode. This short piece of musical writing exhibits Goldenthal's genius at film scoring, perfectly evoking the sense of falling water while cathartically providing resolution to the struggle against the alien.

The marriage of the classical orchestral power and Goldenthal’s avant-garde and groundbreaking sound experimentation is what certainly makes the score of Alien 3 a triumph. The music contained in it laid the groundwork for the composer’s defining sound of his entire career. Many of Goldenthal’s mannerisms saw their birth in this score, with several of its ideas being later employed across scores as varied as Sphere, Interview with the Vampire, Titus, Michael Collins, the Batman sequels and many more.

The score for Alien 3 was released in 1992 by MCA Records in the form of a 50-minute album presentation that had several cues fused together and out of chronological order. In 2018, La-La Land Records released a 2-CD complete album of the score, with 40 additional minutes of music. This new program put together by Renovatio Records presents the standout cues from the film in chronological order, which helps appreciate how effectively Goldenthal plays around with his orchestral motifs and distinctive sound designs, as the movie progresses.

We would also like to invite you to enjoy this year’s Alien Day by revisiting our previous releases for Alien by Jerry Goldsmith and Aliens by James Horner. It cannot be denied that this franchise has produced scores that were and continue to be major influences in the science fiction, horror and action genres.

Track listing: