Alien Quadrilogy

Starring:Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Bolaji Badejo, Helen Horton, Eddie Powell, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, Bill Paxton, William Hope, Jenette Goldstein, Al Matthews, Mark Rolston
Director: Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
The Alien Quadrilogy is a nine-disc boxed set devoted to the four Alien films. Although previously available on DVD as the Alien Legacy, here they have been repackaged with vastly more extras and with upgraded sound and picture. For anyone who hasn't been in hypersleep for the last 25 years, this series needs no introduction, though for the first time each film now comes in both original and "special edition" form.

Alien (1979) was so perfect it didn't need fixing, and Ridley Scott's 2003 director's cut is fiddling for the sake of fiddling. Watch it once, then return to the majestic, perfectly paced original. Conversely, the special edition of James Cameron's Aliens (1986) is the definitive version, though it's nice to finally have the theatrical cut on DVD for comparison. Most interesting is the alternative Alien 3 (1992). This isn't a "director's cut"--David Fincher refused to have any involvement with this release--but a 1991 work-print that runs 29 minutes longer than the theatrical version, and has now been restored, remastered, and finished off with (unfortunately) cheap new CGI. Still, it's truly fascinating, offering a different insight into a flawed masterpiece. The expanded opening is visually breathtaking, the central firestorm is much longer, and a subplot involving Paul McGann's character adds considerable depth to story. The ending is also subtly but significantly different. Alien: Resurrection (1997) always was a mess with a handful of brilliant scenes, and the special edition just makes it eight minutes longer.

The Alien Quadrilogy offers the first and fourth films with DTS soundtracks, the others having still fine Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. All four films sound fantastic, with much low-level detail revealed for the first time. Each is anamorphically enhanced at the correct original aspect ratio, and the prints and transfers are superlative. Every film offers a commentary track that lends insight into the creative process--though the Scott-only commentary and isolated music score from the first Alien DVD release are missing here.

Amazon.com essential video

The Alien Quadrilogy is a nine-disc boxed set devoted to the four Alien films. Although previously available on DVD as the Alien Legacy, here they have been repackaged with vastly more extras and with upgraded sound and picture. For anyone who hasn't been in hypersleep for the last 25 years, this series needs no introduction, though for the first time each film now comes in both original and "special edition" form.

Alien (1979) was so perfect it didn't need fixing, and Ridley Scott's 2003 director's cut is fiddling for the sake of fiddling. Watch it once, then return to the majestic, perfectly paced original. Conversely, the special edition of James Cameron's Aliens (1986) is the definitive version, though it's nice to finally have the theatrical cut on DVD for comparison. Most interesting is the alternative Alien 3 (1992). This isn't a "director's cut"--David Fincher refused to have any involvement with this release--but a 1991 work-print that runs 29 minutes longer than the theatrical version, and has now been restored, remastered, and finished off with (unfortunately) cheap new CGI. Still, it's truly fascinating, offering a different insight into a flawed masterpiece. The expanded opening is visually breathtaking, the central firestorm is much longer, and a subplot involving Paul McGann's character adds considerable depth to story. The ending is also subtly but significantly different. Alien: Resurrection (1997) always was a mess with a handful of brilliant scenes, and the special edition just makes it eight minutes longer.

The Alien Quadrilogy offers the first and fourth films with DTS soundtracks, the others having still fine Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. All four films sound fantastic, with much low-level detail revealed for the first time. Each is anamorphically enhanced at the correct original aspect ratio, and the prints and transfers are superlative. Every film offers a commentary track that lends insight into the creative process--though the Scott-only commentary and isolated music score from the first Alien DVD release are missing here.

Description

Disc 1: Alien Collector?s Edition Disc 2: Aliens Collector?s Edition Disc 3: Alien 3 Collector?s Edition Disc 4: Alien Resurrection Collector?s Edition Disc 5: Bonus Disc

Customer Reviews:

Chest Bursting Goodness .......2007-06-27

Quality...If you are a fan of the Alien movies look no further... This is a really cool collection of these movies and I am glad waited to buy this collection... Lots of cool extras and tons of new scenes to watch if you select the directors cuts of each film.

Nice!

It's all here!.......2007-06-27

For die-hard fans of Alien, like me, this set is a godsend. The bonus minutes on each disk really add to the story. I was never a huge fan of Alien Resurrection but even the bonus features for this installment of the Alien legacy were awesome.
The minutes added to the first movie, Alien, shows what actually happened to Dallas and Brett. The additional footage on Aliens shows Newt and her parents prior to the Alien invasion. Alien 3 bonus footage adds more to the plot and suspense. As for Alien Resurrection, like I said, wasn't one of the better Alien movies but any set wouldn't be complete without it.

A Must Have For Any Alien Fan.......2007-05-23

I have been a fan of the Alien movies since I was a kid. I never got to see any in theaters except for Alien Resurection. This is a great set and each movie has extended or deleted scenes added to the films. The first two, Alien and Aliens are great classic movies and the extended scenes make the classics that much better. The final two, Alien 3 and Alien Resurection are the mos underated in my opinion. Alien 3 was a great movie but has alot more cursing than the other three but it fits considering it is set in a prison. There was a bunch deleted from this film and it really adds alot to it as several key scenes are completly different and make more sense IMO. The only issue is that the added scenes have degraded over time and some of the dialouge was unusable so at times the audio is hard to hear, but it is still very interesting to watch. Alien Resurection was the most underated of the four and while it's not the best it is still a good movie. The added scenes really make it that much better. The special features on all of these movies are imense and this is one set that is a must buy for Alien fans and science fiction lovers.

Warning: compression problems.......2007-05-19

Warning for potential buyers... the cd of Alien 4 is full of compression errors and won't even play on my dvd player. I managed to start the movie by scene jumping, but halfway through on a scene jump the movie stalled, dumping me into a "dvd video compression" screen, and I could not access anything beyond this point.

I don't know if I have a defective cd or if there are scores of compression problems with this product.

Caveat emptor.

A must have!.......2007-05-15

This is a fabulous boxed set, especially if you can get it at a decent price. It is available on-line and in some shops at very comptetitive prices.
Alien and Aliens are already classics (as everybody knows) and merit repeated viewings.
The 3rd and 4th are not up to the same standard but have their moments.
There are 9 DVD's in total.
Disc 1 contains both versions of Alien + Commentaries
Disc 2 contains documentaries on Alien
Disc 3 contains both versions of Aliens + Commentaries
Disc 4 contains documentaries on Aliens
I have watched these and they are very good. Especially in relation to creating the special effects and James Cameron working in the UK at Pinewood (there were problems - indeed almost a strike!).
Disc 5 contains both versions of Alien3 + Commentaries
Disc 6 contains documentaries on Alien3
I have watched some of this and there is some fascinating information on the original script and director.
Disc 7 contains both versions of Alien Resurrection + Commentary
Disc 8 contains documentaries on Alien Resurrection
Disc 9 More Extras

All in all a superb set to get.

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