Alien Quadrilogy: Alien: 1979 Theatrical Version/2003 Director's Cut DVD Set Review

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Alien Quadrilogy: Alien: 1979 Theatrical Version/2003 Director’s Cut

Region: One

Genre: Science Fiction Horror Thriller

Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto

Writer: Dan O'Bannon

Based on a Story by: Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett

Director: Ridley Scott

Feature length: 116 minutes

Extras: Brand New Commentary With Ridley Scott, Stars, And Technical Crew Members, Nine Part Documentary “The Beast Within: The Making Of Alien”, A Multi-Angle Scene Study On The Chestburster Sequence With Optional Commentary, Sigourney Weaver’s Original Screen Test With Optional Commentary, Deleted Scenes With Optional Deleted Footage Marker And Index, First Draft Of Screenplay By Dan O’Bannon, Ridleygrams – Original Thumbnails And Sketches By Ridley Scott, Storyboard Archives, Multiple Still Galleries

Languages: English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Spanish Monaural Sound

Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Nine-Disc Digipack Within A Glossy Cardboard Slipcase

1979 Theatrical Version Chapter Stops: 32

2003 Director’s Cut Chapter Stops: 40

Sound: DTS Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Monaural Sound

Years of Theatrical Release: 1979/2003/DVD Release: 2003

Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox

Home Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

The story of the Nostromo en-route back to Earth and it's subsequent encounter with the Alien species found aboard a derelict spacecraft on planet LV-426 is by now a classic to many science fiction and horror film fans who are familiar with Ridley Scott's 1979 classic “Alien.” The film had an impact of the genre of science fiction and horror that has been duplicated, but never truly equaled by various competitors, copycats, and even some of the sequels that now make up the “Alien Quadrilogy” DVD box set. Between Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” the look of not only science fiction films, but also television programs and music videos was forever altered. I find it kind of ironic since Scott, who began directing television commercial, would ultimately help change the way television is viewed today in part from his second and third feature film efforts. It is also ironic to note how at the core of both “Alien” and “Blade Runner” are earlier nods to the conventions of 1950s cold war sci-fi cinema like “The Thing From Another World” and the film noir respectively.

Everything you have read or heard about the “Alien Quadrilogy” DVD box set is true. This is one of the most comprehensive DVD collections ever released for a genre film series yet. It is so vast that there is no way for me to write a single review of the entire set in one sitting and give any sense of the scope of this undertaking so I am reviewing the set in five installments beginning here with “Alien” and concluding with the ninth disc that is exclusive to the “Alien Quadrilogy” box set. All four films will be released on DVD-Video in separate two-disc “Collector’s Editions” in January and will be packaged accordingly along the lines of the artwork above. In fact the weakest element in the set is the design of the box itself. The glossy artwork found within and around the nine-disc Digipack gatefold and cardboard slipcase is beautiful and the spine is even reinforced somewhat, but I think four single-sized two-disc keep cases and a fifth keep case for the exclusive ninth-disc would have been ideal. I do not mind Digipack packaging for TV shows, but I prefer feature film DVD releases to be presented in a keep case or even those slim keep cases used with certain TV on DVD releases like Fox’s “Futurama.” At the very least, the book style Digipack packaging used by Paramount on their “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” DVD sets or Warner Brothers “Babylon 5” DVD sets would have been better and in fact the Region 2 PAL counterpart will be released in a fashion similar to the above named sci-fi TV series. You can get a glimpse of the packaging by visiting “The Region 2 Project” at http://www.r2-dvd.org/. I actually like the Region One artwork better than the Region Two counterpart, but I feel with multiple successions of taking the Digipack gatefold in and out and unfolding it to get at the discs could lead to the damaging of packaging itself. That aside, from what I have seen so far, I love this DVD set.

The interactive menus for each disc are beautifully rendered to look as though we were within the computer files of the greedy Weyland-Yutani Corporation responsible for the horror unleashed in the series. Each menu focuses on a specific stage of the creature’s life cycle with the “Alien” menus showing the egg and each successive film moving forward to the adult “warrior” or “drone” creature. The menus feature animated transitions to still frame menus and all are remarkably easy to navigate.

On disc one, viewers have a choice of either screening the original 1979 theatrical version or the 2003 Director’s Cut. Both are presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratios that are THX certified complete with the THX Optimizer® program for proper picture and sound calibration. This is a new transfer of “Alien” and as such the image remarkably clean with only one scene aboard the Nostromo that looked a bit grainy. Ironically there is not much of time difference between the “Director’s Cut” and “1979 Theatrical Version.” There were a few trims here and there for the “Director’s Cut” to add in the previously deleted footage. Director Ridley Scott gives a brief videotaped introduction (: 58) before the feature begins, explaining his reasoning behind the “Director’s Cut.” The new scenes flesh out the characters more and there are a few glimpses of the full-grown alien not seen in the original theatrical cut. In particular is a scene where before Harry Dean Stanton’s character becomes the first victim, we see the alien hanging quietly above him before the scene continues as it did before in the theatrical cut. Another scene shows the alien smacking away “Jones” the cat’s pet carrier just after Ripley backtracks upon glimpsing that the alien is in the doorway between her and the escape shuttle. There is one extended scene where Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) gets belted in the face by Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) that’s great, but cut back to what is happening in the medical lab seems to abrupt with a noticeable change from the film’s soundtrack without the score to the background music suddenly appearing and making the sudden nature of the cut between the added footage and previously seen footage more noticeable and less smooth.

What is excellent about the set is in the case of “Alien” as well as the three sequels is one can watch the films with a little visual flag that tells the viewer where the additional material has been added and one can also choose to watch the deleted scenes separately. For “Alien” there are five deleted scenes that were reintegrated to form the “Director’s Cut.” Including the ones noted above they are detailed as “Transmission” (1:36), “Kane’s Weapon” (3:41), “Slap In The Face” (3:29), Waiting & Quick Glimpse” (4:42), and “Cocooned & Jonesy” (3:21). The cocooned scene, which has been shown before various documentaries and previous home video releases is interesting in that it shows how the alien literally was building a new nest with the victims, live or dead, cocooned as hosts being absorbed to become material for new eggs. Some might argue that this goes against the whole “Queen Alien” set up in “Aliens” however I think it does not necessarily screw up the continuity between the features. I mean in the theatrical version of “Alien 3” it is obvious that the uneaten portions of the victims were being cocooned since we see limbs hanging off walls and such in that film’s ending suspense sequences. So who is to say that there is not more than one way for the alien to procreate or prepare for more of it’s own kind? An interesting point of alternate dialogue mentioned in the documentaries, but ultimately not used covers Ash (Ian Holm) asking the remaining Nostromo survivors if they ever tried to communicate with the creature?

For “Alien” and “Alien Resurrection,” a DTS soundtrack is included as a listening option. Both the English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack and English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack are excellent. In terms of range and depth, I’d say they are about equal so you can’t go wrong no matter which track you choose to listen to. A Spanish Language Monaural Soundtrack and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the first DVD as options. A brand new audio commentary was recorded and mixed together with Director Ridley Scott and Actress Sigourney Weaver, Actors Veronica Cartwright, Tom Skerritt, and Harry Dean Stanton, Actor John Hurt, Writer Dan O’Bannon, Writer and Executive Producer Ronald Shusett, and various producers and technical crewmembers. The track is not a mix taken from the documentaries included on the second disc, but instead a genuine mix of various groupings that help to bring some extra enthusiasm to the commentary as a whole. What is not included from the previous “20^th Anniversary Edition” DVD is the unaltered isolated music score by Jerry Goldsmith that included previously unreleased music and the isolated music and production audio track that reflected musical changes made in post production and raw audio from the set, including alternate dialogue. The original audio commentary that featured Ridley Scott is also not included. In fact as comprehensive as the “Alien Quadrilogy” is, I think consumers who bought “The Alien Legacy” DVD box set back in 1999 will definitely want to hold on to it since that set as well as the individual titles that were also sold separately are now out of print and there are Easter eggs, menu features, and whatnot that do not seem to be included here and may never be available to the public again. Also not included in the set is “The Alien Legacy” documentary that was available on DVD for Region One consumers who first purchased the original DVD box set release back in 1999 and only available as a limited mail-in offer to boot. Sold separately on DVD from Image Entertainment is “The Alien Saga,” which aired on AMC and would make for a nice stocking stuffer for those who buy the “Alien Quadrilogy” as a holiday gift for their significant other, family or friends.

Now just because some of the features that were made available on the previous DVD set are not carried over does not mean that the materials included on the second disc in any way slouches in comparison. To be blunt, I have never seen a more comprehensive collection of documentaries and the best part is they can be viewed individually or as one giant documentary entitled “The Beast Within: The Making Of Alien,” which was Directed and Produced by Charles de Lauzirika.

What is for me was also truly amazing was that every single portion of the documentary held me in front of the TV set from beginning to end with no break. Sometimes even the best documentaries produced for films on DVD can contain a dull section or two, but every section was truly interesting with brand new interview clips from much of the cast and crew that helped to make “Alien” a reality. The nine parts are broken down as follows: “Star Beast” focuses on developing the screenplay. “The Visualists” focuses on the screen direction and production design for the film. “Truckers In Space” focuses on the casting. “Fear Of The Unknown” focuses on the 1978 production at Shepperton Studios. “The Darkest Reaches” focuses specifically on the production design and development for both the Nostromo and the alien planet. “The Eighth Passenger” focuses on the creation of the signature creature and it’s various stages of evolution for the film. “Future Tense” focuses on the music and editing of “Alien.” “Outward Bound” peers into the film’s stunning and frightening visual effects, and “A Nightmare Fulfilled” focuses on the reaction to the film’s opening.

Now if you think that’s everything, you’re wrong. Go through the special features menus and within the subheadings of “Pre-Production,” “Production,” and “Post-Production” you will find more extra value features that include a multi-angle scene study of the Chestburster Sequence with optional audio commentary by Director Ridley Scott and members of the production team, Sigourney Weaver’s original screen test with optional audio commentary by Director Ridley Scott, and the complete first draft of Dan O’Bannon’s original screenplay that can be read onscreen for set top DVD-Video users and even features an extended forward by O’Bannon. There are also numerous still galleries that can be viewed individually or in groups. These galleries include the “Ridleygrams,” which are thumbnails and sketches by Ridley Scott, storyboard archives, a cast portrait gallery, production gallery, sets gallery, H.R. Giger’s Workshop gallery, continuity Polaroid stills, VFX gallery, conceptual design galleries, a theatrical poster gallery and stills from the premiere.

In my opinion these first two discs in the “Alien Quadrilogy” are nothing short of excellent. I look forward to continuing my review so be sure to come back soon for my take on “Aliens,” which is covered in discs three and four of the set. The “Alien Quadrilogy” box set will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 while the individual collector’s edition containing the first two discs for “Alien” will follow in January from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Continue On To My Review Of "Aliens" On Discs 3 And 4

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