Alien Quadrilogy Overview

I have never viewed an Alien movie before. Well, at least up until the release of this massive 9-disc behemoth. I've seen clips, heard the praises, been told to watch them but I never did. Nearly 25 years after the initial release of the first film in the series, I've finally done it thanks to Fox. This incredible heavy and massive box set is irresitable to any DVD fanatic. The films themselves, well, their irresistable to any sci-fi fan.

First and foremost, I'm not going to go through the features on these discs. There is at minimum 30 hours of bonus stuff included here and that's not even including the commentary tracks or deleted scenes. It would be a boring read and my hands would cramp trying to get through it all. Needless to say, it's nuts. There are only 2 documentaries that I know of that have not been included, one from AMC and the "Aien Legacy" which is avialable on a seperate disc, now out of print. It's hardly a loss since any information included in these features is pretty much completely crammed onto one of the 9 discs and expanded upon. They've even went the extra mile and included items from the laserdisc release of the films. It's and absolute overkill of special features and anyone interested in the process of filmmaking must own this set, period.

Each of the films is offered in 2 vesions. The included 20 page booklet explains which version the director prefers (with the exception of Alien 3 which David Fincher has pretty much disowned) and what differences you'll see. The new cut of Alien is actually about a minute or so shorter with a few included sequences. The theatrical cut is the better one here. Aliens has been reworked with loads of new sequences, but for an action film, it does get dragged down by some of these. The new cut is a treat for fans of the series however and it's inclusion gives people all the more reason to check this set out. Alien 3 has really taken a beating over the years from critics, and the new restored version really opens this one up. 20 minutes have been inserted and the edited opening and ending really enhance the film. Note that the audio during most of these scenes was never finished when they were filmed so subtitles will appear so you can follow the dialogue. Alien Ressurection has a cheesy new opening and changed downer ending, but neither really hurt or make the film any better. There's nothing included that will change your perception of the film either way.

Article Author: Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki is a 12-year movie and game critic. He currently freelances for Blu-ray review site DoBlu.com and video game site MultiPlayerGames.com.

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