I'm not sure what he meant by that. I mean he directed it, he should be held accountable for its supposed mediocrity.
He directed a different version of the film, not the one shown in theaters. That cut (Theatrical Cut) was put together by multiple people at the studio after Fincher was removed from the project. Another cut eventually was allowed, although Fincher was not directly involved, but the guy who did the cut claims it is much closer to what Fincher was trying to put together, as he used Fincher's original production diary as a guide, but it still has a few issues. The Assembly cut is much better, IMO. First off, it actually makes sense. After viewing this, and seeing how much material was removed by the studio, the character arcs for the prisoners make a lot more sense, in turn making the film itself make more sense.
Some differences from the theatrical cut:
SPOILERS ahead for Alien 3 : The Assembly Cut
- The Alien comes from an ox, not a dog.
- The entire opening for the film, as shot by Fincher, was trashed for the theatrical cut. None of the studio changes make much sense, this one included. Fincher and company had come up with a pretty epic opening with some great shots of the planet and the suns etc. along with the footage on the ground of prisoners working with a team of oxen as a storm approaches. The theater cut simply showed Ripley and Newt's life craft crashing from space, and is much shorter.
- Remember the confusing dialogue by the prisoners, who seem pissed at other prisoners but it's hard to figure out why? In the theater cut, it's tough to figure out exactly why certain prisoners have vendettas against other prisoners or why, for instance, another prisoner gets stuck with work duty cleaning vent shafts. This all stems from the first attempt to capture and kill the alien. What first attempt, you say? The entire story line was removed. In the middle of the film, the staff and some of the prisoners actually manage to capture the alien with a nifty plan to lure it into a sealed chamber. Alas, one of the prisoners, who is suffering from delusion, begins to think he is gaining an affinity for the creature, and that he may be able to communicate with it. He sneaks off and in an attempt to communicate with the alien, ends up freeing it, losing his life in the process.
- The character of Arthur dies at a different time, in a completely different way.
- One of the more confusing and nonsensical characters from the theater cut, Golic, plays a larger role, and doesn't just randomly vanish from the story halfway through the film.
Really, it's a very different film, but again I must mention that it is still flawed. The poor sound mix from the 2004 DVD has allegedly been fixed, so that issue is gone (some dialogue was missing along with some sound effects), but I still think it is much better than that garbage cut we got at release. The really interesting content on the DVD though, is the documentary about the concepts that didn't make it into the film, like a
wooden moon inhabited by monks (!!!). That is definitely worth a watch. The film seemed almost cursed, with crew getting sick or even dying, and having to be replaced mid-production.
For the record, I like
Alien 3 : Assembly Cut. If the film was made 10 years later, in a more experienced Fincher's hands, I think it could have been a masterpiece. Alas, this was Fincher's first shot at a motion picture, and he just didn't have enough experience or people on his side to maintain creative control, so like so many films before it, studio meddling spelled its doom.
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