Alien Quadrilogy

[MacGuffin]

I can't wait for Fincher's cut! Redemption at last!

Better go back to page 1 and re-read budgie's post.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Better go back to page 1 and re-read budgie's post.

I revoke my happiness.

What is a Director's Cut without the director?

[Ravi]

I saw the Alien director's cut last night.  Holy shit, that was a scary movie!  I'm glad I first saw it in a theater instead of on video.

[edison]

The chest-bursters are back. In an announcement that surprised no one, Fox Home Entertainment has officially unveiled the full specs for The ALIEN Quadrilogy, a nine-disc box set that promises to be one of the most extensive in history. While this past week's theatrical re-release of the original ALIEN (oops, make that "The Director's Cut") didn't light the box office on fire, it is all about this box set anyway, isn't it? So, what will this long-awaited mega-set contain?

The seminal classic ALIEN brings you:

The original 1979 theatrical version and the 2003 Director's cut
An introduction by Director Ridley Scott, Dan O'Bannon, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt and more
Brand new commentary by Ridley Scott and the technical crew
Nine brand new documentaries: "Star Beast," "The Visualists," "Truckers In Space," "Fear Of The Unknown," "The Darkest Reaches," "The Eight Passenger," "Future Tense," "Outward Bound" and "A Nightmare Fulfilled"
A Multi-Angle Scene Study on the Chestburster sequence with optional commentary
Sigourney Weaver's original screen test with optional commentary
Seven deleted scenes with index
The first draft of the screenplay by O'Bannon
Ridleygrams - Original thumbnails and sketches
Storyboard Archives
"Art of Alien" including a cast portrait gallery, production gallery,
the sets of Alien, H.R. Giger's Workshop, continuity polaroids and VFX gallery
Original theatrical posters and stills from the premiere

The first sequel ALIENS:

The original theatrical version - available for the first time ever on DVD
- and the special edition
An introduction by Director James Cameron
Brand new commentary by Cameron, Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein, Carrie Henn, Terry Henn, Lance Henriksen, Gale Anne Hurd, Pat McClung, Bill Paxton, Dennis Skotak, Robert Skotak and Stan Winston
James Cameron original treatment
Nine brand new featurettes: "57 Years Later," "Building Better Worlds," "Preparing For Battle," "This Time It's War," "The Risk Always Lives," "Bug Hunt," "Beauty And The Bitch," "Two Orphans" and "Aliens Unleashed"
The Art of Aliens including conceptual art portfolio, cast portraits,
production gallery, continuity polaroids, Stan Winston's workshop, VFX gallery and premiere stills
Deleted footage marker and deleted scene index
Multi-angle videomatics with optional commentary
An Easter Egg
The much-maligned ALIEN 3:

The original theatrical version and a restored pre-release version with
more than 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage
Brand new commentary by cinematographer Alex Thompson, Editor Terry Rawlings, VFX designers Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., effects producer Richard Edlund, and actors Paul McGann and Lance Henriksen
11 new featurettes: "Development," "Tales Of The Wooden Planet," "Pre-Production III," "Xeno-Erotic," "Production: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three," "Adaptive Organism," "Optical Fury," "Music, Editing And Sound" and "Post-Mortem"
E.E.V. Bio-Scan - A multi-angle vignette with optional commentary by Gillis
The Art of Alien 3 including conceptual art portfolio, production gallery, and visual effects
Furnace construction time lapse
Storyboard archives
ALIEN Resurrection starring Winona Ryder:

The original theatrical version and an extended cut with alternate opening and ending sequences
An introduction by director Jean Pierre Jeunet
Brand new commentary by Jeunet, Herve Schneid, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Pitof, Sylvain Despretz, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon and Leland Orser
First draft of the screenplay by Joss Whedon
11 new featurettes: "From The Ashes," "French Twist," "Under The Skin," "Death From Below," "In The Zone," "Unnatural Mutation," "Genetic Mutation," "Genetic Composition," "Virtual Alien," "A Matter Of Scale" and "Critical Junction"
Multi-angel rehearsal footage
A Mike Carro photo gallery, a conceptual art gallery, VFX gallery, a
promotional photo archive and continuity polaroids
Storyboard archives
An Easter Egg

And the Bonus Disc:

A brand new Q&A with Ridley Scott
"Experience in Terror" - A promotional featurette from 1979
"Alien Evolution" - Channel 4 U.K. exclusive documentary on Alien
A complete laser disc archive of Alien and Aliens
Original theatrical trailers and TV spots from all four films
"Aliens In The Basement" - Inside the Bob Burns ALIEN Collection
Dark Horse cover gallery - Anthology of 11 issues of the ALIEN comics
DVD-ROM feature - Script to screen comparisons
How much will this behemoth cost you? Only $99.95.

[modage]

the box set will be released on December 2, 2003.  
while individual releases of all 4 films will be available on January 6, 2004.

[MacGuffin]

Interesting bit from DVD Review about "Alien3":

Unfortunately, however, much of what fans really wanted to hear and see has been left out here.

The documentary on Disc Six, now simply titled The Making of Alien³, was originally called Wreckage and Rape: The Making of Alien³. Several of the featurettes that make up the documentary (for example Production: Parts I, II and III) were also renamed (they were originally The Color of Blood: Pinewood Studios, 1991, Where the Sun Burns Cold: Fox Studios, Los Angeles, 1992 and The Downward Spiral: Fincher vs. Fox). Eleventh hour changes weren't just made to the names... more than thirty minutes of material that was produced for this documentary was cut at the last minute. You might be wondering what difference thirty minutes could make in a three hour documentary. A big difference. Gone now is much of the honesty and truth about the hell director David Fincher went through on the production. Among the footage lost were actual moments with Fincher on the set, where you saw his frustration and anger. You saw his struggles with producers. You heard from Sigourney and the other cast and crew members talking about the problems, and what a raw deal Fincher got. You even heard from the film's producers and Fox executives talking about what went wrong. Simply put, this disc was about as good a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Alien³ as you could ever hope to get, short of Fincher returning to address the production himself (and he WAS asked to do so, but declined). Unfortunately, what you get now, while it still does contain some of the above (including material that you've never seen before), sort of teases the stuff you really want to know, then glosses by it.

It's hard to understand why these changes were made. Was Fox trying to save itself embarrassment? Were they hoping to salvage some kind of a relationship with Fincher? Who knows. The shame of it is that the best way to salvage a working relationship with Fincher would be, in my opinion, to fess up and admit that he got the shaft on this film. The amazing thing about the original version of this disc, having seen it myself, was that it placed the new cut of the film on Disc Five in really terrific perspective. When you saw that version, and realized what Fincher was trying to do (and almost did), then saw what kind of hell he was being put through, the result was that you suddenly had tremendous new appreciation for both Fincher and the film. Now, a lot of that impact is gone. Yes... the original version of this documentary was THAT good.

My personal feeling is that Fox should go back and re-release this one disc from the Quadrilogy the way it was produced. They should make it available to people who buy the set (perhaps by mail), or at the very least fix the disc in time for the individual release of Alien³ as a 2-disc set in January. The film deserves more honesty than this. The fans certainly deserve it, given how long they've had to wait to see it. God knows Fincher deserves it.

[MacGuffin]

My God, this this already has my vote for Best DVD for the Xixax Awards. I watched all the excellent making of docs for each film. Everything you ever wanted to know about the films is included here. Sadly, I would liked to have seen the missing footage for the Making Of Alien 3 as explained in the above post, because this version kinda doesn't tackle all the struggles of Fincher against the studio in post-prod., but, man, what he was up against making it - no script, an ailing Jordan Cronenweth (who can see is suffering from Parkinson's Disease in the behind the scenes footage), and so on. So much great stuff about the concepts, the special effects, the initial storylines...all that and I haven't even poured through the commentaries or watched the alternate "director's cuts" of each film yet!

[modage]

i cant wait for christmas.  so many hours of stuff to watch.

[The Idiot]

This seriously is the best DVD box set ever. Its exhaustive. I honestly haven't had as much fun and enjoyment watching the "making of" featuretts and commentaries as in any other DVD.

I think that the DVD's on Alien 3 give you a new appreciation for the film. Did anyone else find that?

[MacGuffin]

Killer Alien Box Set for Japan Only

Well, it seems once again our friends outside of region one get a real killer deal. Killer in terms of the packaging and the price.

The Alien 25th Anniversary Collection being released in Japan will contain all nine discs as found in the Alien Quadrilogy but comes in the most badass case ever seen. As Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits - who broke this story - noted, this tops the rotting flesh cover for The Evil Dead.

The price, however, is painful - 29,800 yen, which comes out to a little more than $300.

No word from Fox as to whether or not this case will ever be released in the U.S.

[Lt. Col Baby Dinosaur]

[Just Withnail]

Killer Alien Box Set for Japan Only

One jap to the other:

"Wanna watch Alien?"

"Right, where's the set?"

"My collection is alphabetized, check out 'a'."

[phil marlowe]

HAHAHAHA ::wipes sweat off forehead::

[Sleuth]

One jap to the other:

"Wanna watch Alien?"

"Right, where's the set?"

"My collection is alphabetized, check out 'a'."

[phil marlowe]

it...umm...it MOVES