Alien ³ Just Got the Love It Deserved, Thanks to This Stunning 4K Fan Restoration

Let's get one thing straight—I never understood the hate for Alien ³. Sure, the effects were a little wonky, and the studio interference was a whole saga, but the story? Incredible. The tension? Palpable. And that ending? One of the most powerful sendoffs in sci-fi history. As far as I'm concerned, Alien is a trilogy. Everything after that final shot of Ripley free falling while hugging the Xenomorph didn't happen. 

And now, thanks to Project A34K, Alien ³ finally looks like the dark masterpiece it always was meant to be.

This fan project, which has been five years in the making, is a full visual restoration of the Assembly Cut—now called The Legacy Cut. It brings the film up to 4K resolution, with professionally regraded colors, cleaned-up visual effects (especially those infamous puppet shots), and even some upgraded sound design. Every Xenomorph frame was individually rotoscoped and composited by hand. One shot was even rebuilt using a NECA Dog Alien action figure and After Effects. That's how deep this goes.

And while the visuals are the headline, this project also includes small but meaningful story edits—merging the best of the Theatrical and Assembly cuts—along with one important music replacement that fixes a long-standing tonal issue.

Just a reminder: for copyright reasons, you'll need to legally own both the original Alien ³ and the Assembly Cut to watch this edit. But if you're a fan who always believed this film was unfairly maligned, Project A34K is the redemption arc you've been waiting for.

You can go to the official page here to download it.