Alien Quadrilogy
(Alien/Aliens/Alien 3/Alien Resurrection)
(Fox Region One Boxed Set)
(1979/1986/1992/1999)
review by Head Cheeze

Perhaps the biggest news in DVD land this year was the release of the Indiana Jones Trilogy on DVD, but, under the radar, and with limited publicity, Fox had their own big franchise surprise. The announcement earlier in the year that the Aliens saga would be re-released on DVD met with collective groans all around, myself included. However, had I known then just how comprehensive this set was going to be, I'd have bit my tongue. The Alien Quadrilogy is nine discs worth of the most intensive gathering of Alien related material Fox could have possibly dug up (save for the curiously omitted The Alien Saga documentary that's been released on it's own DVD earlier this year).

Discs one and two focus on Ridley Scott's Alien, and feature both the original theatrical release and the new director's cut, as well as loads of extras, new interviews, and more. We'll break down the extras later on, seeing as it'd be easier for me to explain them all in one fell swoop rather than focus on each individual film's supplementals. Instead, let's look at just the films, for now!

Alien is a great film. However, I've always found it a bit on the slow side (send hate mail now). Apparenly, Ridley Scott must have felt the same way, because in his new director's cut, he's excised a few minutes of mostly expository footage and replaced it with...well...more expository footage. While I did appreciate a scene in which Ripley discovers her crew in "storage" (foreshadowing Cameron's Aliens), much of the changes here are simply of the pacing variety. The film DOES move along at a slightly faster pace, but it's by no means an Earth shattering difference. Still, it's different enough to merit a look, and I think that many will make the new cut their version of choice, if only for the fresher experience.

Meanwhile, James Cameron's Aliens is presented in two forms; the previously available Director's Cut, and the long overdue theatrical version, which many seem to prefer. I've seen the D.C. version at least a half-dozen times in the past year, so I skipped it and opted for the theatrical cut. Both versions are brilliant, in my opinion, however, I still prefer the Director's Cut simply because it fills in a lot of gaps and offers a bit more emotional investment in the Newt character, as well as the plight of the colonists. It is worth noting, however, that the theatrical version is still fantastically entertaining in it's own right and moves at a breakneck pace! Purists tend to point out the pacing difference between both versions as their reasons for preferring the theatrical over Cameron's expanded vision, but I rather like the quiet moments in the Director's Cut. As opposed to Scott's much more deliberate (ie; slow) narrative, Aliens The Director's Cut benefits from these more relaxed moments simply because the rest of the film is so hyperactive that we need those breaks to catch our breaths!! Still, you can't go wrong with whichever version you choose; Aliens is the best Sci-Fi/Horror film ever made. Period.

Another film that benefits from a longer approach is the one that would seem least likely to; David Fincher's much maligned Alien 3. Filmed without a proper script, passed through the hands of three directors, and butchered by the studio in it's initial release, Alien 3 is, perhaps, one of the biggest disappointments in the history of horror cinema. A somewhat dull and lifeless affair, the theatrical version comes off as minimilistic after the bombastic Aliens. The film was so poorly recieved that Fincher's essentially wiped it from his resume', and, instead of a Director's Cut (Fincher refused to participate), we are instead presented with the director's "Extended Workprint". Running nearly forty minutes longer than the theatrical release, this version of Alien 3 is something of a revelation. While by no means perfect, Fincher's original vision is infinitely better than the cobbled mess audiences were subjected to back in 1992. Fox has digitally remastered the whole affair, seamlessly melding the restored footage back into the theatrical cut, with an entirely new beginning, Alien origin, and a much more pallatable finale, as well as a very interesting development around midway through that works wonders for the final half of the film. It's a very satisfying experience and a somewhat redeeming one for Fincher, who had to shoulder the blame for what was essentially the end result of studio meddling.

Alien Resurrection is another film I've been pretty hard on. For some reason the film's final act (awful human/alien "baby" puppet) stuck with me and fouled my memories of what is actually a very entertaining film. Jean Pierre Jeunet's style is very odd, as anyone who has seen the brilliant Amelie or City of Lost Children can attest, and he seemed to be a bizarre choice for an Alien film; that is until you take into consideration that much of the look of the first film (not the Geiger stuff) was inspired by the same things that inspire Jeunet- French comic books. Watching Resurrection again, especially after developing a taste for Jeunet's style, I found it to be a very fun, lighthearted affair, and felt it had a lot in common with the excellent Dark Horse Aliens comics. The screenplay by Joss Whedon still troubles me, especially the "one liners" that are more infuriating than funny, but, ultimately, the film has become one of my guilty favourites, even though barely two years back I trashed it on this very site! Oooops! If it's any consolation, I still hate the ending. As with the other films in this set, Resurrection is presented in two versions; theatrical and "extended". The extended cut features a few extra minutes of footage (including a slightly longer ending featuring a shot of The Betty landing on Earth) and a new credits sequence. As with Alien, none of this effects the overall film too much (not when compared to the differences the extra footage makes in Aliens and Alien 3, anyway!), but I do have to say I prefer this "new" cut. The new footage isn't essential to the plot, but it's welcome, nonetheless.

As mentioned before, each film is given a two disc treatment, with the first disc containing the two versions of the films, and the second containing all the bonus goodies. The bonus features are presented in three parts for each film: Pre-Production/Production/Post Production. The pre-production stuff is quite fascinating (for example, one of the early drafts of Alien 3 took place on a planet made entirely of wood and populated by a monastic order who have sworn off technology) and is probably my favourite part of the bonus stuff. I like the brainstorming and conceptualising that go into a film, and this set covers that in great detail for each film. Of course, the production stuff is equally impressive, with loads of stuff no one's ever seen before, including all new documentaries, interviews, and some great behind-the-scenes footage that really takes you deep into the franchise's storied legacy. The post production segments include in-depth looks at the editing, sound, and scoring of the films, as well as a great assortment of publicity materials, trailers, poster and stills galleries, and interviews with the cast and crew about public reaction to the films. The discs feature remarkably candid interviews with the principals involved in each film, and I give Fox a lot of credit, especially for the verbal beating they take on the Alien 3 extras disc!

Disc nine of the set is sort of a "catch-all" for all three films, and is broken down into Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection segments. The majority of the material focuses on Alien, with a BBC documentary, and a trio of featurettes, but collector's will love the fact that Fox has included all of the original Laser Disc supplementals for both Alien and Aliens here! The disc also features numerous trailers and television spots for all three films, more stills galleries (including one devoted to the Dark Horse comics series) and more.

The Alien Quadrilogy is truly a fan's dream come true. One could argue that this set is simply a holdover to another, even greater set (especially if/when and Alien 5 is made), but I have to wonder just what exactly Fox would have left to put in it? They truly left no stone unturned, here, and I'm fairly confident that you'll wear out these DVD's long before the studio puts out anything that can top this.