Definitely. I enjoyed it as what it was, a version closer to Fincher's intended cut. I felt he and everyone else worked hard with what they had. Less than a script, with the anxious Fox execs and the incredibly territorial producer-writers Walter Hill and David Giler.

Those two lowered their stock in my eyes by condescending on the original Dan O'Bannon and Ron Shusset script for Alien. O'Bannon was fresh off from Jodorowsky's Dune, during the (aborted) production of which he encountered Giger's work. O'Bannon brought in a tough-as-nails script and a unique monster design. Hill and Giler felt they could 'fix' it by replacing a beautiful visual cue like redshift with superfluous jargon lifted from the Apollo program documents.

Giler and Hill also brushed up the script with a Point Blank -inspired format. Alien is a highly aesthetic film, so it's easy to see the benefits of an elegant script next to the Giger designs and Ridley Scott in the helm. However, film scholars keep raving about the sense of awe and terror O'Bannon's narrative injects into the film. They should, as a strong script was needed to maintain all the imagery.

It's a well-crafted film. Scott was commissioned a director's cut for a DVD release, which he obliged to do, while maintaining the original version was one he was already happy with. The DC blows the lid on the mystery of what happened to the lost crew members. The original cut deftly sets the stage for a beautiful monster in deep age, surrounded by a suitably grungy crew of space truckers. Only in the 70's.

Aliens was another perfect storm in retrospect, if only in the sense of establishing the series as a franchise. Sigourney Weaver was a proponent of gun control, so you can bet she appreciated a return to a single alien without firearms. On Alien3, she was an actress-producer, and backed Fincher all the way. Unfortunately, many audiences were expecting the polar opposite, a rehash of Aliens. This was the Terminator 2 era of scifi action; Predator 2 had hinted on an Alien cross-over. To put it into perspective, I think Scott's original film would've had an uphill battle in 1991.

Imagine going after it under those circumstances - without a solid script. The pressure on Fincher and his crew was enormous, like the colossal sets built in Shepperton Studios, London. Hostile creative associates (Giler and Hill) were powerplaying their way into the writing process, motivated by greed. Executives at Fox had set a firm release date before filming. To make matter worse, an ill-advised teaser announced 'In 1992, we would discover, on Earth, everyone can hear you scream'. Next stop, misery.

Alien3 has problems, that's a given. But the fact that it can go head-to-head with every succeeding film in the expanded universe tells you something.

Slash wanted to be free and to enjoy the rock star life. He was Slash from Guns, after all.

Axl wanted to be serious artist and to have Guns develop under his guidance.

The atmosphere was pretty grim, at times. The UYI tour, late starts, ongoing substance abuse, numerous incidents, communication breakdown, Doug Goldstein, the media...

Duff had slowly become sick. Very sick. Slash was an out n' out alcoholic. Axl was wrapped up in his past lives, in forms of spousal abuse lawsuits and regression therapy. 

They all had huge personal issues to deal with.

Everybody was looking at the cash-cow that was thought to have imploded by 1987.

What they would've needed was time off.

Reminds one of that Activision/Guitar Hero 3 lawsuit from 2010, eh?

Imagine this guy (Tim Riley, formerly from Activision) meeting Axl and breaking into tears. Plausible, if Riley knew what to expect and realized it was the quickest way to defuse the situation. If it actually happened, Riley seemed to put up the most audacious show, which Axl's lawyers faithfully reproduced in text. This was - likely - to show Riley admitted culpability and that Axl deserved that special treatment. The alternative is that they fell for Riley's (supposed) act. There's also the off-chance that Tim Riley is a really sensitive guy.

As for that visit, let's take a closer look.

First off, everything Slash allegedly says is conveniently taken out of context. Let's try putting things into perspective. Libertad was at its early stages. Scott was pushing the concept album idea. Slash, likely, just wanted them to get into a room, bang out some rock, press rec, release the album and hit the road. That's Slash's approach to music, it's really a no-frills approach in terms of song-writing and producing. Like Lemmy, he just wants to get the job done, as that is the job. He would've resented Scott's idea and scorned it as 'phony'.

Whatever had driven Slash into that situation was Perla.

They say it takes a good while to actually make those turns. Slash knew the road, Axl'd lived there since 1992. The house Illusions built. He drinks, likely, to calm down. Then, the big gate, security camera and a door phone. This is as far as Izzy got in November '99.

Slash was visible to Beta the minute he stepped out of the car.
He was let in through the gates, all the way to the front door.
Both Beta and Slash seem to agree on the story thus far.

5.30AM. Axl time. Perla would've possibly worked on Slash for weeks on the matter and finally got him sauced enough to pull through. He had a note on him ('Let's work this out. Call me. - Slash.'). Beta was on the door. How she reacted to Slash remains a mystery. A bit chilly? A bit smug? Here was the man they'd spent so many moons grieving over at La Casa Rosa.

(How's VR working out for you, Slash?)

I tell you, Scott's a fraud with all that concept album stuff. We're a rock band, simply put. Matt's into the idea, I think, I hate Matt being so excited about it, that desire to be 'fashionable' or whatever. Sure, Duff... Tell you the truth, Duff's spineless, you know? I talked to him about that concept album thing and he agreed with me! But then, he had words with Scott and he was like, let's see where it goes.

(And you had something to say to Axl?)

Yeah, about this ongoing war, contest or whatever anyone wants to call it that's been going on between me and him for the past 20 years... Axl's the stronger one in keeping that thing alive, you know? Me, I'm sick of having to deal with this Guns stuff in the midst of my other stuff. I just want to end this war and move on with my life.

(I'll be sure to deliver that in verbatim.)

Could've went down like so.