I was in film&tv for a long time. You know, Fincher himself put it really well. I'll paraphrase and add a bit to it along with something Zemeckis said. Any audiovisual work of sufficient scale, let alone film, is a collaborative process. You can't do it alone, you can't finance it alone, yet your name ends up tied to it. Whether you write it yourself or not, as a director it's your interpretation, and every single shooting day (and pre and post) starts with your vision and over the course of that day there are compromises after compromises. You not only have to do your craft, but also give guidance (even when you don't have it) and power through compromises. How well your vision will be delivered is directly proportional to how many compromises you're ready to take. Every single person on that shoot day has their input and 'what they think', from an actor to a grip that pushes dolly and everyone has something to say.. yet, at the end of the day they're already on the next production and you're stuck with footage that will bear your name. It's one of the most challenging things I've been involved with. Put those words into context around Alien 3. Young guy, big production and budget - of course he'll listen to everyone since, well.. insecurity!

One thing Tarantino said about Fincher though is there's a difference between directors like him and Fincher. I agree but it's not negative how he portrayed it. It's one thing to write your own film and then direct it and the other for someone else to write it and you interpret it. Take what you will from it, I don't take it as negative but different.