[Q
Dallas said Ash had replaced his regular science officer at their last stop, and Ash turned out to be a company plant acting on orders that Ripley read with her own eyes.
The company may not have known if there was anything viable at the signal's source but it certainly hoped there was.
Exactly. It was a case of being there at the right place at the right time. The Nostromo would be passing near to LV426 so they took the opportunity, rather than have to wait potentially a year or more to get a specialised mission organised.
Then again, if they had they might've been able to successfully gather a specimen and get it back to the bio weapons division without all the calamity that generated.
Oh and despite what is said above, my personal preference is to watch the first three films then stop. Alien 3 has an undeserved reputation for being poor, yet it's actually one of Sigourney Weaver's most powerful performances. While Resurrection isn't entirely disastrous, I prefer to stop the story at Alien 3.
), Alien 3 is a great underrated film. The extended cut on the Quadrilogy DVDs is far better than the original, although it does omit some of the better scenes in the Theatrical cut (certain scenes are replaced rather than extended). 
Frankly Gaith given our comments take the hint on 3. If you want to feel depressed and sickened by all means watch it then watch 4 to make yourself feel somewhat better. Put it this way, for a long time Aliens was my favourite ever film. Now I can't watch it any more and don't even own it on DVD because Alien 3 ruined it for me so badly. 
