Alien Quadrilogy Boxed Set - Bonus Disc
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Content: A-
As an
incentive to pick up the entire Alien
Quadrilogy box, Fox has added this ninth DVD with extras. The argument, especially if you do not like
and/or want all four films is whether it is worth getting the whole set for
this ninth DVD. Give or take complaints
about the packaging, which is a hoot in itself, folding out, and out, and out,
and out in what is a new DVD Digipak record, the Bonus Disc is great.
Just by
offering the extras from the big, legendary 12 LaserDisc boxed sets from back
in the day is enough to have it, but two more films have been made since and there
is more information. It is no surprise
that the amount of supplemental materials here in the whole box is less and
less for each film, but the drop-off in the latter two films is not as much a
reflection of any quality the features have, as much as it is the less
aggressive approach studios like Fox need to take to sell a film. With cable, satellite and the internet
joining TV and radio, the demographic/scientific approach has replaced the good
old fashioned (and much more fun) rolling out of a new film. It has even
backfired in many cases, killing good films that the studios need to back
better.
A brand
new Question & Answer session with Ridley Scott, taking place after a
recent audience screening of his re-released classic, and Dennis Bartok of the
American Cinemateque.
Experience in Terror - This is a
promotional featurette from 1979 that features rare behind-the-scenes footage
from the first film, including interviews of the time.
Alien Evolution (2001) - Channel 4
U.K. exclusive documentary on Alien
that only offers some overlap with similar programming from Disc Two of the
first film (and boxed set), but is also rumored to be a shorter version than
the final program.
A complete LaserDisc archive of Alien
and Aliens, which will give the vast
majority of DVD viewers their first-hand experience (give or take the now
out-of-print DTS-sound Terminator 2
set) at what it was like to explore and enjoy the basic interactive capacities
of the analog 12 format. They were at
the very top of the best that the format ever saw, with items never repeated on
those films since.
Original theatrical teasers, trailers and TV spots from all four films,
including promotional featurettes among other things.
Aliens In The Basement An inside
the Bob Burns Alien franchise collection,
which has been the home of so many of the great props and groundbreaking model
work that made the series a legend. Mr.
Burns is an exceptionally good host and a hero to film preservation and
restoration by default.
Dark Horse Comics cover gallery with an Anthology of 11 issues of the Alien comics and several dozen covers in
all, the kind that made the company one of the most important comic companies
since Marvel and DC.
DVD-ROM feature - Script to screen comparisons
The
picture quality varies most severely on this DVD, but its diversity more than
makes up for it. In many cases, to
increase the picture quality, the picture is available anamorphically enhanced,
then shrunk down to its original 1.33 X 1 image (even if it is a trailer or
some other pan and scan piece) so it is not stretched out. That works well enough. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound ranges from Pro Logic
type surrounds to old Mono, but all are clear enough for this type of
material. Some footage is silent. All nine DVDs are THX approved and certified,
which does not automatically mean the best DVDs, but does mean that they are
better than what you should usually expect.
The four sets
of the feature films that comprise the Alien
Quadrilogy outside of this DVD includes
reviews for those segments elsewhere on this site and are available at the
links that follow their names below:
Alien
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=670
Aliens
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=671
Alien 3
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=672
Alien Resurrection
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=673
So what
is next for the franchise? Director Paul
W.S. Anderson (Event Horizon, Soldier, Resident Evil) seems like the right choice to helm 2004s Alien vs. Predator. Based on a few mini-series of some of those Dark
Horse Comics and the other Fox franchise, Fox spent so much money in advance on
the idea that the film had to be made either way. Though he has become more and more
commercial, Anderson has a knack for handling
overblown material and that is why the film might actually work! The hype ad of whoever wins, humans lose
(paraphrasing) is a good one.
As for
Sigourney Weaver, she is talking to Ridley Scott about a fifth outing as
Ripley, with James Cameron producing.
That would be a great way to wrap-up the Ripley character, if not the franchise. Now with Ripley heading back to earth, if the
battle in Andersons film has already happened, then that could alter what
she faces. If the result of the monster
battle is that a queen face hugger succeeded in using a skillful, superior Predator fighter as a host, that will be interesting indeed. Either way, the deadly killer has plenty of
life left and as long as Fox is willing to put out the money and hire unique
and top-of-the-line talent, let the saga roll on!
- Nicholas Sheffo
