ALIEN QUADRILOGY discussion thread (including all the glitches) (1 Viewer)

[Edgar-N]

I'm just going to buy the first disc.

I think I'll go for the region-1 version.
On amazon.co.uk 1999 alien is around 20 pounds, which is insane compared to 12 bucks on amazon.com

by the way, what does PQ mean?

 

[ElAhrai]

PQ refers to picture quality. Just another abr.

 

[Dave Mack]

Edgar, you're fine. ALIEN looks spectactular on the R1 disc. MUCH better than ALIENS.

 

[Edgar-N]

regarding the picture quality difference between ntsc DVD and pal DVD, I'm still haveing second thoughts.

You know I live in region2, so 2 is more convenient for me, more players I can use, no need for tricks etc.

and as for image itself, both seem to have its plus and minuses.

for example

Pal has more resolution, 576 lines, and ntsc has 480.
BUT that means that the pal image gets a bigger stretch because of different aspect ratio. And of course NTSC video of the same lenght would be around 83% of the size of PAL video of the same lenght, because of differences in resolution, which means NTSC gets less compression.

So do I go for convenience of my own region, more lines of resolution, faster delivery to my home

OR

do I go for less compression and less vertical stretch, and cheaper price of region1


I think the best option would be if someone reported their experiences with BOTH versions, perhapse all the theorethical facts mean little in reality.


I'm still not sure

 

[Dave Mack]

Interesting...

I live in the US, but I have an Optoma h57 DLP front projector which is 576P. So it plays PAL natively. I also have an oppo. dvd player that outputs native PAL at 50hz. From reading DVDbeaver.com's site that although PAL has 100 or so more lines of res. often NTSC transfers can be better looking. Then there's PAL speedup vs. 3/2 pulldown. Is your TV multi hertz? Meaning will it display NTSC natively or convert to PAL?

Check in the region free DVD section here at HTF for ALIEN threads. I think by most accounts the Japanese R2 NTSC set is supposed to be best, even better than the PAL R2.

 

[Edgar-N]

I think it is different from case to case. for example

Allthough professional PAL is better than NTSC (you know betacam etc.) , when it comes to consumer video such as DVD, the differences are masked in a sea of compression, edge enhancements etc. so you never know what will come out looking better.


Anyway, on amazon.co.jp they don't have fresh Alien DVD's (only the new directors cut 2DVD edition), only used ones, as much as could understand from images and numbers (all is in their language and writting)

Also, on amazon.com I have to wait 6-11 days for them to get alien DVD, they don't have it there. They had one yesterday (the last one), and it was soled today.

On amazon.co.uk, they have it in stock, and I've always had great experiences with this one in terms of delivery time. For example, once I got X-files DVD set in 3 days, even though the minimum was 8 days (I'm "rest of the world" for UK) I'm not sure how that happened, I got charged for the regular airmail, but I think they shipped it with that expensive 20 pount priority mail instead


Anyway, as for alien vs. aliens PQ, that figures.
aliens was transfered from a nasty looking IP. The negatives look much more smoother and modern than it looks on the DVD, allthough they ARE grainy.
Fast speed film was a new thing back in those days and studios pushed everyone to use more fast film, because it lowers costs of lighting, and is easier to work with, so naturally most films of that time that used 400ISO film looked like crap compared to later T-grain films, and even compared to 70's films.
Alien was shot on 5247, which was a nice stock, comparable to 90's 200ISO film in grain, which is not bad really.

If you are interested, or anyone else, I've got a nice little 2K (2048x1556) scan of a frame from Alien. I can send it to you, it usefull for judging various DVD editions of Alien.

 

[Dave Mack]

One thing, I have both ALIEN dvds and the PQ is much better on the quadrilogy version.

 

[Edgar-N]

when I said both, I ment both region1 legacy, and region2 legacy. I know picture is better on quadrilogy, I just want alien with a different flavour:
I know that 1999 edition has a lower contrast look and a different color timing, plus it is exactly as on the original negative, without any CGI (Charlie has confirmed that some enhanced shots were left in the 1979 quadrilogy cut) etc.

Anyway, would you trade a couple of screencaps (non-stretched in raw 720x480 format), for those 2K files that I mentioned (you didn't say wheather you'd like them or not)

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Dave, does the Japanese box set have identical features and disc specs to the R1 Quadrilogy?

Are all the extras duplicated and are the presented in English and free of any forced subs or overdubbing?

Also, are both cuts of the first film present?

Is the packaging and contents offered in English as well with obi strips around the outside as is so often done to preserve the original language titles and text?

Thanks!

 

[Dave Mack]

Edgar, not sure if my humble little dell laptop can do screen caps. off a dvd. I'll see.
Marco, in order to get DTS on ALIENS and ALIEN 3, they dropped the theatrical cut option. But since for me, I prefer the longer cuts, I'm cool. Plus the PQ on these is supposedly better too. No forced subs. All other extras are identical, I believe.

I should have mine tom'w or sat. I'll do some A/B'ing!

d

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks Dave, appreciate it!

 

[Edgar-N]

whoa!!

Now I'm REALLY confused.

I checked back at amazon.com and now the product page has been changed. It says that the item has not yet been released, and that the release date is 06.09.2005.

The description is same as with 1999 edition, separate score, and all that, but the "item has not yet been released"

What is that all about?

Is fox puting out a new single-disc edition of alien, or is this just a mistake?

 

[TravisR]

I think you mixed up the numbers in the date. It looks like Fox has the single disc Alien coming out again on September 6, 2005 (not June 9). It's probably just the same disc but with a price reduction.

 

[Edgar-N]

Well that is what I said or at least tried to say.


don't know how it is in other parts of the world, but over here, we first write day, then moth, and then year

so it's 06.09.2005. or september 6


they are also releasing alien3 on the same day.

 

[TravisR]

My mistake. America does everything different from the rest of the world. We write it as month/date/year so I got confused.

Either way, it appears to be the same disc just cheaper

 

[Artur Meinild]

Did anyone bother to check the ALIENS commentary??? I experience audio glitches as described below:

I've just watched the commentary to ALIENS. Did anyone else notice audio glitches around chapter 27-30??? AFAIR, it was several times when Jim Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd spoke that the audio was repeated so they told the exact same story twice in a row.

Am I the only one??? Thanx...

 

[Edgar-N]

I've had trouble with commentary on quadrilogy Aliens.
Sometimes the audio skips a few seconds like on a audio CD

 

[Tino]

I've eperienced the above audio problems on ALIEN Director's cut.

 

[RickardL]

Dave, where did you buy it from?

 

[oscar_merkx]

Hi ya

Just received the Alien Quadrilogy set from my fav r1 Etailer.

It is possible that a new version has been relased?
If so, are there any changes ?
I'll update later with some comments