Full details on the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set

**Yamcha** · 07 Dec 2003, 07:42 PM

Anybody watching this? Haven't gone through too much of the set myself but working on it slowly. The only complaint so far is the packaging is a little cheesy with the carboard box and the plastic disc holder plates on a fold-out (one of the plates came off already), but I guess I've been spoiled.

I missed Alien: Director's Cut in the theater so it was an interesting view on DVD. Seems to run a bit faster, but I'm not sure I really like the new scenes. The commentary on Aliens isn't bad, some commonly known information (for fans) is repeated but the parts with Bill Paxton, Jeanette Goldstein, Michael Biehn, and Lance Henriksen are great, makes me wish there was a full track of just them. Next up, Alien 3.

**Dolemite** · 08 Dec 2003, 12:00 AM

Originally Posted by Yamcha

The only complaint so far is the packaging is a little cheesy with the carboard box and the plastic disc holder plates on a fold-out (one of the plates came off already)

Well, you just answered a question I had. I wasn't sure if the set had the movies in standard individual DVD cases or if there were all in one foldout. I thought the case didn't look anywhere near wide enough for 4 (or 5, counting the extra bonus disc) cases.

Not sure if I want the entire set, or if I should just wait until January when they release all four special editions at retail seperately, since I'm not too keen on 3 & 4.

**Roufuss** · 08 Dec 2003, 02:44 AM

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Not sure if I want the entire set, or if I should just wait until January when they release all four special editions at retail seperately, since I'm not too keen on 3 & 4.

That's what I'm doing... why spend 70-100 bucks, when all I want is Alien and Aliens?

**Dolemite** · 08 Dec 2003, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by Roufuss

That's what I'm doing... why spend 70-100 bucks, when all I want is Alien and Aliens?

Hell yea.

**AstroBlue** · 08 Dec 2003, 07:09 PM

Enjoyment:
Aliens>Alien3>Alien>Ressurection

Artistic Merit:
Alien>Alien3>Aliens>Ressurection

**Yamcha** · 10 Dec 2003, 03:11 PM

OK, I've finished watching the Special Editions of 3 and Resurrection, as well as the first few docs on Alien and Alien 3.

Even if you hated 3, I think this disc is still worthy of a look. The extended edition and docs don't change these facts: Hicks and Newt are dead, Ripley crashes on a foreign planet amidst a band of outcasts, and she still dies dies at the end.

I don't hate Alien 3 all that much, and over the years I've begun to appreciate the film more and more on its own terms. The extendended edition brings more to the table; it's amazing how much was left out of the theatrical release. Extensions of existing scenes are common, and the alternate versions of key events are fascinating. Clemens finds Ripley washed on short after the crash, the Alien bursts out of a cow, and the chestburster doesn't come out of Ripley at the end. There is a whole long sequence where the Alien is captured and released that was totally cut out. A lot of the scenes are also religious in nature, which is pretty interesting IMO. The only complaint is that with the new footage, some stuff doesn't flow quite as well, but if you've seen the original, it's not a big deal.

Possibly the most fascinating part to me is a 10-minute doc on the original vision for the movie. As pitched, it was originally going to take a place on a Death Star-like space station made of wood and an atmosphere of 8 or 10 feet. It was going to be inhabited by monks who had given up technology and the setting was to be very primitive-10th century like. Along with the interviews, there is a bunch of concept art for the original vision. I don't know if word of this was around before on the net, but it was the first I really heard of it, and it totally blew me away. Just imagining if this was the movie that had been made...it made me sad and excited at the same time (Newt and Hicks would still be dead). It was the producers who changed it into a mining colony with convicts, and a couple of the elements were still kept.

**BioMechanic** · 10 Dec 2003, 06:04 PM

Cool information there, Yamcha. I'm pretty excited about the Alien3 extras - I'm picking up the set this weekend.

I'd heard a little about the original pitch, and it sounded like a good one indeed. Although Vincent Ward gets screenwriting credit for the theatrical release, it appears little of his original content was kept. He wanted to direct, but the studio said no way. I'm also glad that Clive Barker was passed over for directorial duties.

How was the extended Resurrection?

**Yamcha** · 10 Dec 2003, 06:41 PM

Yeah a lot of this is direct from an interview with Ward himself, but he left after the concept was changed. Actually, some stuff remained in the final Alien 3. Like I said, Newt and Hicks were never in it, the religious overtones, the primitive setting, and also the way they trap and finish off the alien at the end were kept.

Funny you mention directors, there's quite a bit with Renny Harlin who came in and worked on some concepts before bowing out in pre-production.

Resurrection isn't changed a whole lot. The new intro is pretty lame, there are a few short extended scenes scattered near the beginning and end, but nothing mind-blowing. The new ending isn't all that great either. It's practically the same dialogue as in the theatrical version but takes place in a ruined Paris. The original had a little more mystique I think by not showing Earth at all. I cringe more and more everytime I look at that retarded newborn.