It may be hard to believe that any one sequence could have salvaged the brutally bleak Alien 3, but Ripley’s missing sex scene might have managed this feat. Released in 1979, Alien was an instant classic of sci-fi horror. The tense tale of a group of working stiffs stuck aboard a spaceship with the titular bloodthirsty stowaway had an engaging cast who viewers rooted for, something that its prison-set sequel Alien 3 failed to recreate.
Despite boasting a young David Fincher as its director, Alien 3 was a disappointment for many fans of the franchise. Even darker than its predecessors, Alien 3 failed to offer any of the “Xenomorphs vs action heroes” fun of 1986 sequel Aliens or the taut suspense of Alien. Despite Alien 3’s first teaser promising Xenomorphs on Earth, the threequel ended up being a letdown due to a lack of likable characters and an overpowered main villain.
Alien 3 was a much-hyped entry that failed for many reasons, but the worst among these was that the movie was simply too hopeless to be an enjoyable watch. No one expected an Alien movie to be light-hearted or silly but setting the sequel on a prison planet full of apathetic guards and vile convicts left viewers with no one to root for, a problem exacerbated by the inexplicable decision to kill off the only survivors of Aliens before the action even began. However, there is a missing scene cut from Alien 3 that could potentially have salvaged the sequel’s reception, and it is the lovemaking scene between Sigourney Weaver's Ripley and the taciturn but kind doctor Clemens (Charles Dance).
Although Alien 3’s horror elements were not the sequel’s best decision, the missing scene was far from a slasher-style “sex equals death” cliche. Instead, the scene between Ripley and her love interest Clemens that was filmed but kept offscreen could have improved the movie’s fortunes with audiences and critics alike. It is unknown why the scene was cut, although Dance noted in a GamesRadar retrospective that he would have liked his character to survive a little longer. What is clear is the sequel could have really used this scene. This moment of vulnerability and intimacy might have been enough to humanize both the shattered Ripley and the aloof Clemens, who in the finished Alien 3 has a frisson of chemistry but not enough to sustain a story whose cast is largely unlikable.
Ripley has no other sex scenes in the franchise and showing her developing a genuine human bond with a supporting star would have made his sudden death devastating. Instead, Clemens’ unexpected exit is an admittedly surprising moment, and the scene lacks the impact it was clearly intended to have in Alien 3. Much of Ripley’s appeal is the fact that the series heroine does not make a habit of showing her human side, which would have made the sex scene all the more unexpected and the bloody end to that affair far more effective. It is impossible to say whether reinstating this scene alone would have saved Alien 3 for some viewers, but it would have gone a long way to fixing the flawed sequel.