 |
| Ridley
Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet |
|
| Sigourney
Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean
Stanton, Paul Reiser, Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Charles
Dance, Charles S. Dutton, Lance Henriksen, Winona Ryder,
Ron Perlman, Dominique Piñon, Brad Dourif |
|
 |
Anamorphic
widescreen |
|
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
|
DTS |
|
|
Trailer(s) |
|
Featurette(s) |
|
Documentary |
|
Audio commentary
|
|
Deleted scenes
|
|
Concept art
/ storyboards |
|
Multi-angle
feature |
|
|
|
|
Ash (Ian Holm): I can't
speak for your chances, but... you have my sympathies.
Alien: A
deep-space cargo ship picks up a murderous, indestructible alien life
form.
Aliens: Ripley
returns to the planet where the original alien was found with a group
of marines to take on an army of aliens.
Alien3: Ripley's shuttle crash-lands on a detention planet
where she and the prisoners must battle another alien without any
weapons
or
means of escape.
Alien Resurrection: Ripley
is cloned back to life so military scientists can breed aliens for
their biological warfare department.
 The
fortuitous circumstances that led to the creation of Alien,
and - ultimately - a franchise of four films (and counting) have
by now entered the realm of Hollywood legend. The first film single-handedly
jumpstarted the careers of director Ridley Scott and star Sigourney
Weaver, and successfully re-imagined the old dark house monster
movie genre in a convincing science-fiction setting. Twenty-five
years after its first release, it remains one of the most effective
films in its genre, often imitated but never surpassed. Ironically,
the film was criticized upon its initial release for its mechanical,
soulless nature and the flimsiness of its characterizations. By
today's standards, the performances are remarkably convincing,
and aeons removed from the cardboard stereotypes that have come
to dominate big-budget Hollywood filmmaking so completely.
By the time the first sequel was made, seven years later, characterization
in this kind of film had taken a back seat to breathless action
setpieces and the more visceral thrills that typify James Cameron's Aliens.
This second film in the cycle deserves a great deal of credit,
not only for finding a wholly different style and direction
while remaining within the same narrative universe, but for creating
a template for the action genre as strong as that of Alien within
that of suspense and horror. Given their individual qualities,
favoring one film over the other is basically a matter of personal
genre preference, as both films excel at what they do.
 Two
highly profitable science-fiction films that share a narrative
universe rarely go without another sequel in Hollywood, and the Alien films
were of course no exception to this rule. Unfortunately, the last
two films in the cycle (we stubbornly refuse to employ the nonsensical
term 'quadrilogy') were too heavily motivated by commercial concerns.
In the case of Alien3, this led to the film being rushed
into production, first director Vincent Ward quickly resigning,
and David Fincher ultimately signed to finish the film without
the authority to complete his vision of it. The result is a moody,
visually arresting but dramatically limp picture that is too clearly
a mixture of various screenplay drafts and half-finished ideas
that never really come together as they should.
The fourth and final film so far is a less pretentious affair that
at times borders on self-parody. It brings a gleeful sense of humor
to the films that unsurprisingly undercuts the sense of tension,
while the comic book characterizations are even more one-dimensional
than those in Aliens. An entertaining film that's a visual
treat throughout thanks to Darius Khondji's brilliant cinematography, Alien
Resurrection ultimately lowers the bar for the franchise,
and brings little to the series besides an expressive but ill-fitting
new type of monster, and a handful of effective action setpieces.
Taken as a whole, the franchise so far offers a fascinating opportunity
to study narrative and stylistic developments in major Hollywood
genre over the past 25 years, while remaining one of the most diverse
and often scary film series in this franchise-driven industry. |
|
 |
 |
|
|
The four Alien films were
first released on DVD in 1998, available both in a five-disc Alien
Legacy box set and individually as single-disc releases,
with only the first film containing any substantial extras.
The four films have now been revisited in a nine-disc 'Quadrilogy'
box set, released in December 2003 for Region 1 and 2, with
a few small differences between the two: the European set
has audio commentary only for the theatrical cuts of the
four films (except for Aliens, which has a commentary
only for the director's cut), while the American release
has optional commentary for both theatrical and extended
cuts of all films. The script-to-screen comparison option
is also absent on the Region 2 version. The packaging is
also different for the two releases: the American set comes
in a beautifully designed but rather unpractical nine-disc
gatefold over three feet in length, with the new Q-shaped
Alien logo on a sheer black slipcase cover. The Region 2
discs arrive in a custom book-shaped box made of transparent-green
plastic, offering easy access to all the discs in the set,
while the slipcase bears the first film's alien egg poster
design, accentuated in relief. Given the pros and cons, it's
a matter of personal taste which version one prefers.
The anamorphic widescreen
image for all films is framed at an aspect ratio of approx.
2.35:1, apart from Aliens, which is in its original
aspect ratio of 1.85:1. All four films have undergone another
significant round of restoration since their previous DVD
release. Alien shows the highest level of improvement,
now measuring up to most contemporary releases in the amount
of detail and absence of distracting grain, especially compared
to the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD. Aliens shows
the least improvement, its severe graininess the direct result
of the film stock that was chosen to shoot in low-light conditions. Alien3 and Alien
Resurrection have better detail and warmer colors than
the previous DVD transfers, bringing them near reference
level as well.
The sound options for each film depended on the available
space on the disc, with the high video bitrate and the inclusion
of extra footage limiting the options for the second and
third film in the cycle. Only the first and fourth film therefore
have a DTS audio track in addition to the outstanding Dolby
Digital 5.1 track that is the default audio mix for all four
films. Both mixes for Alien are once again revelatory,
having received a major upgrade from the previous DVD's audio
mix when the film was restored for its brief theatrical run.
The DTS mix once again has the edge of the Dolby Digital
track thanks to its fuller spread of ambiance and higher
level of detail. The Dolby Digital track on Aliens sounds
pretty much the same as the perfectly serviceable mix we
know from the previous DVD. Alien3 on the other
hand does sound somewhat fuller, its audio mix carefully
redone for the inclusion of the added footage in the extended
cut. Alien Resurrection also sounds a little better
than the previous DVD version for the same reason, especially
on this film's DTS mix, which is extremely powerful on all
fronts.
With a best-selling box
set that includes an outstanding Special Edition DVD of the
first film already on most collectors' shelves, the bar was
remarkably high for a re-release of these films. Indeed,
with the recent smorgasbord of DVD box sets hitting the market
in multi-disc editions with hours upon hours of extras, collectors
are all but being forced to pick and choose, not only for
budgetary reasons, but also for the extravagant number of
hours it takes to actually take in so much material. But
even within this highly saturated competitive market, producer
Charles de Lauzirika has risen to the occasion and delivered
what can only be described as a DVD juggernaut. It's simply
the most impressive collection of films along with value-added
material that we've yet experienced in this medium, establishing
a new standard for any other film franchise to try and live
up to.
All four films have their own disc containing the theatrical
cut (a first on DVD for Aliens) and an extended
version (a first on DVD for the other three) of the film.
For Alien, the director's cut produced for a brief
theatrical re-release last Halloween has only some very minor
changes from the original cut: some frames snipped from shots
in the first half, and a few brief scenes added in to clock
in near the same running time. The theatrical cut is still
slightly better, as it does without the needless pause during
the climax where Ripley discovers the cocooned alien victims.
The extended 'special edition' of Alien was long
the only available version, so the inclusion of the superior
theatrical cut (which misses a few good scenes but gets going
far more rapidly) is especially welcome here. Alien3 on
the other hand is slighly better in the 'extended rough cut'
presented here, which runs about thirty minutes longer than
the theatrical version. It has a stronger sense of place
than the theatrical edition, adding in details of character
and setting that slow the pace further but give more weight
to the film as a whole, though it still suffers from a deeply
flawed script. The final film has a few minutes of extra
footage in its extended cut, but the added tidbits of material
in this longer version add little to the sum total, apart
from a final shot that's a really nice touch.
All four films also feature excellent audio commentary tracks
that each feature a great number of participants from cast
and crew, most of whom were recorded separately and then
edited together. Ridley Scott's solor track from the first Alien DVD
has thus been replaced by another very fine track with contributions
and recollections from many key contributors, with Scott
himself once again taking center stage. The commentary track
for Aliens is the best of the bunch, again combining
the contributions from a great many speakers, but with James
Cameron dominating the track with his intelligent, incisive
observations about the production. In contrast, the commentary
track for Alien3 suffers in the absence of David
Fincher, who has understandably turned his back on this experience
and would not be involved with the extras on this DVD. Much
of the commentary centers on his role in the production,
and the frustrations he must have felt throughout by the
continual undermining of his position by the studio. It's
still a well-produced track, but less engaging than the others,
and more repetitive of the documentary material. The commentary
track for Alien Resurrection is the most entertaining
one in the set, featuring droll director Jean-Pierre Jeunet
and many of his key collaborators on the film, including
the reliably uproarious Ron Perlman. They clearly enjoy discussing
the film, and their enthusiasm for their work on it shines
through in the track.
 Moving on to the discs of extras, we find a mind-boggling
amount of documentary material for all four films, along
with richly packed image galleries, test footage clips, alternate
angles, original screenplays and much more. The backbone
of these discs is formed by the newly produced documentaries,
running close to three hours per film when viewed with the
convenient 'Play All' option. These exhaustively researched,
immaculately produced features chart each film's development
from its first inception all the way to its release and public
and critical reaction. Technical issues like special effects
and creature design are covered in some depth, but the riveting
thing about the first three films is the amount of strife,
confusion, argument and hardship went into their production.
Much of the first film's production history has by now entered
film lore, but even those familiar with all the film's background
detail will find much to enjoy here. It's highly amusing
to see the various contributors to the screenplay claim ownership
rights to the final script (the irascible eccentric Dan O'Bannon
in particular), though all end up giving credit to Ridley
Scott for making it better than any of them had ever expected.
 Coverage of the production of Aliens reveals the
open hostility that existed between James Cameron and his
distrustful English crew. A lot was riding on this production
for Cameron, and the perfectionist director drove his collaborators
close to the edge to realize his vision. Some look back on
the shoot with more forgiveness than others, but it's never
less than mesmerizing to see how a masterpiece did ultimately
take shape in spite of all this strife and the pressure of
a very tight deadline. But judging from the astounding documentary
on Alien3, Cameron's production was like a walk
in the park in comparison with Fincher's hellish experience.
The feature begins with original director Vincent Ward recounting
his 'wooden planet' concept, and the unfinished screenplay
from which a number of ideas survived in the final film.
Ward exited the production when it became clear that the
studio had no intention of realizing the full scope of his
ideas, and was replaced by first-time feature director David
Fincher. He was then given the unenviable task of completing
this high-profile sequel without the benefit of a completed
script or the authority to realize his own vision of the
film.
The documentary on the fourth film is rather less captivating,
if only because it was a relatively happy shoot. All concerned
voice the satisfaction they had working on this 'resurrection'
of the franchise, the most trying aspect of which was the
underwater sequence, which is covered in fascinating detail.
The script changes and problems with the ending aren't really
dwelt on here, with most of the documentary recounting how
the various contributors became involved with the project,
and how the effects were achieved. The fourth film is clearly
not only the least interesting entry in the cycle of films,
it was also the least eventful production.
The galleries on these discs contain too many additional
supplements to mention, ranging from conceptual designs to
script drafts to complete storyboards, with publicity stills
and continuity snapshots thrown in for good measure.
 Finally, the ninth disc in the set features the 65-minute documentary 'Alien
Evolution', another thorough look at the first film's development
and production background. Unsurprisingly, there's quite
a bit of overlap with the documentary material on the Alien extras
disc, but there's also some previously unseen test footage
of the creature and even more preening from O'Bannon, who
accuses David Giler and Walter Hill of ruining his original
screenplay with their rewrite. It's a worthwhile feature,
produced in 2001 for British TV, and - unlike the other documentaries
- presented in anamorphic widescreen. The 1979 promotional
featurette is also included here, more a curiosity
item than anything else, with footage of Ridley Scott choosing
to refer to the film as a 'terror' film' rather than a horror
film. A terrific inclusion on this disc is the complete
Laserdisc supplements as they appeared in 1992 on
the Collector's Editions that made history back then. These
mostly text-based features actually offer a more detailed
look at the scripting process for both films, with excerpts
from various drafts as well as the complete original script,
and a good deal of interview footage and behind-the-scenes
material. For some, this will be mostly a nostalgic affair,
but those unfamiliar with the original LaserDisc editions
may still find a lot of good stuff here once they get used
to the unpolished text pages.
A great number of trailers, teasers and
TV spots are also on board this ninth disc,
offering a good look at the various ways in which the different
movies were promoted and advertised. Finally, the last items
on the final disc in this set are made up of a 14-minute featurette about
avid Alien memorabiliar collector Bob Burns, who is tickled
pink to show us his basement full of original props, models
and sets from the films. The last - and least interesting
- supplement is a gallery of covers from the Alien-inspired
comic book series published by Dark Horse. Similarly
monochromatic animated menus appear on all nine discs, with generic
background images of X-rays, aliens and the like. All the discs
with extras have 'play all' options for the featurettes as well
as the image galleries.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
December 18, 2003
Click
here for IMDB info on Alien.
Click here
to return to the front page.
|
|
| |
