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

[Tony Scello]

Please accept the following as strictly rumor at this point...

A while back on one of the DVD/Home Theater boards(can't remenber which)someone claimed to have inside information on the new Alien Box Set. I actually printed it out and this is what he said...

-9 disc box set
-Each 5-Star Ed. will be 2 discs plus one extra
bonus disc
-The bonus disc will not be The Alien Legacy(legal
problems)
-There will be DTS tracks on all 4 films
-Aliens will feature both the theatrical cut and
extended version via seamless branching.
Lightstorm is involved in this so expect it to be
similar to The Abyss in terms of layout and
features.
-Alien 3 will include a David Fincher-approved
re-cut of the film.

I'm starting to believe that the only inaccuracy may be the 5-Star brand since Fox has decided to drop the label. Again, I have no idea if all of this is true and I hope I haven't raised expectations if they are not but these are some nice features to ponder as we wait for full specs.

 

[Kristoffer]

Indeed!!!

 

[Mike_Richardson]

(that is, if it has a reconstruction of the Fincher version).

The only way ALIEN3 would ever be a true Fincher "vision" would be if the negative was burned and the movie re-shot from the beginning.

This movie was "compromised" in pre-production by the amount of script rewrites, directorial hirings/firings/departures, producer meddlings, and what not. Given how much Walter Hill and the other producers were involved in the series -- and especially ALIEN 3 -- Fincher reportedly had little say about anything that was going on the movie.

He was the very essence of a "hired hand."

Of course I'd like to see the Deleted Footage as well (actually I've seen the workprint as a lot of ALIEN3 fans have), but even that wouldn't change how messed up the movie -- and its central concept -- was right from the day shooting began.

This is, after all, the movie that promised us the Aliens would be coming to Earth -- a promise based on substantial re-shoots they never made because Sigourney refused to shave her head again!

 

[Alex Spindler]

I had never heard that the concept that became Alien3 would ever have had an earth component. It was my understanding that the teaser was provided far in advance of the script.

 

[John_McKittrick]

I've been dieing to see this 'cut' footage from Alien3. Does it redeem the film at all?

John

 

[JeremySt]

The earth-bound alien 3 script was written. I have seen it and read parts. It can probably be found on a few fan sites.

 

[Brendan Brown]

If by ‘redeem’ you mean, add badly needed character development, Golic’s subplot, the payoff of the attempted rape scene, putting in genuine character arcs, adding dramatic tension to the final moment, and cutting out some cheesiness as well. Then yes.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Well, maybe they'll make them 2-disc sets in order to include the P&S versions as well instead of more extras

 

[Robert Ringwald]

P&S... I hope not, that's all we need, space wasted for no reason.

Anyone know why "Newt" and Hicks weren't included in Alien3? I read a script featuring them once, and wondered why the movie ended up the way it did.

I'm the minority here, I actually thought ALIEN:Resurrection was pretty good. If Joss's idea hadn't been tampered with, I'm sure it would have been even better.

Aliens
Alien
Alien: Resurrection
Alien3

That's the order of how much I like them

 

[Alex Spindler]

Jeremy,
Ahhh, you mean William Gibson's script? I think its been said that the barcodes on the back of the neck are the only thing of his that survived into preproduction of Alien3. To the best of my knowledge, Alien3 was never going to have an earth component from anything but that first discarded script.

My question was prompted by Mike's note:

This is, after all, the movie that promised us the Aliens would be coming to Earth -- a promise based on substantial re-shoots they never made because Sigourney refused to shave her head again!

That was the part I had never heard before. His phrasing made it sound as though Alien 3 in its current incarnation was under consideration to add some earthbound scenes.

 

[Scott W.]

Newt in Alien 3 (1992) would obviously have been grown up by this time, and wouldn't really fit into the movie as a scarred little girl. So again, they'd have had to cast someone else as Newt, which they did, in the autopsy sequence.

Scott

 

[StevenJ]

From a person who just learned how much fun the ALIEN movies are to watch,

ROCK ON!

I only own part 1 so that's great, I'll hold off on buying the other ones now. Wait until this set comes out!

 

[Scott W.]

For hard core fans that know their stuff, here is a web link and instructions to access 2 pictures of Carter Burke cocooned from Aliens. www.aliens.isgreat.tv/index2.htm?ak.htm

Click on the link and do the following.., scroll down till you get to the aliens column...choose cut scenes, than scroll to the bottom where there are two pics of Burke cocooned and an explanation. it's cool, check it out. Also... check the Aliens extras dvd in the quadrilogy, and there are 3 pics of high resolution pictures of the scene

Scott

 

[John Berggren]

Since I skipped Legacy, I'll be getting this no matter what. I'll be VERY happy if there were some tweaking to Alien3 though. It would be better if Fincher got involved, but any tweaking would be interesting to see.

 

[Brad Cook]

Alien Resurrection was crappy for two main reasons, as far as I'm concerned:

1. It was same ol', same ol'. The first 3 films had distinctive tones, but Resurrection was just "People run through ship as aliens chase them." We saw that already. Also, the reveal of Call as an android was done already in the first film.

2. Getting rid of the Company. Sure, the aliens were nasty, but it was the Company orchestrating things behind the scenes in the first 3 films. They were the real antagonists of those movies, and it was a shame they got rid of them. I don't think anyone understood how important the Company was to those films.

There are so many directions they could have gone with the fourth film. To Earth, to the alien homeworld, to more intrigue with the Company, to the mystery of that pilot from the first film (a thread that Ridley Scott says he'd like to pick up if he directed a 5th film in the series), etc. Instead they just rehashed the earlier films.

If I pick up this set, I'll sell off Resurrection and keep the rest. The first two are the best films in the series, but I always thought the 3rd was underrated.

- Brad

 

[Alex Spindler]

Brad, I hadn't thought of it in that perspective. I do think Alien:Res has a unique style primarily through the filmmakers own slick style. But it does reuse many concepts that had existed in the previous film, but does give us a hybrid Ripley which was a concept that I quite enjoyed.

 

[Joshua_Y]

I thought Alien Res was a fun flick. Not really needed, but fun and quite great to look at. Theres some great make-up and FX. I was just happy to see some Aliens eatin people.

 

[Michael Pakula]

I will be keeping the old set just incase some
of the extra's arent included and be buying this new
set too. I would really like to see a Alien 3 Director's
Cut. I would also like for them to include the Burke
cocoon scene as an extra. I mean just because it can't
be in the film doesnt mean it can't be included as
as an extra.

-Mike

 

[ErichH]

Jeff,
Nice to hear about H.R. Again.
Back in the day(1977/78-79) I was a huge fan and collector of the original first 2 years of Screaming Metal(French) Heavy Metal imported 2 years later in the US. I think in the 3rd Year, there were blips about Alien and eventually, A full artical with pics and script info. All this published 4-6 months before the film was to be released.
Of course, H.R. Giger was all over the Mag in it's first years, and thus the inside on the film.
At the time, this was very inside stuff. Heavy Metal was a very outer edge publication those first 2 years, and hard to get.

Needless to say, I was really hyped about the film, and nothing has ever impacted me like Alien in 1979/80?.
It's old stuff now, but in it's day it was WAY ahead with set design and a creature that scared the daylights outta me and everyone else that ventured into the theater.
At the time, it was said that the cacoon scene would have pushed an X rating(remember, it's 1980). Heavy Metal published that info, as well as the tidbit about cow guts in the chest buster scene(stinky!), Ridleys idea for getting a better reaction from his actors.
Maby it was 1979 - can't remember.

If we get a better audio/video of the first Alien, I'll be happy.
Eric

 

[Ben_Hu]

I'd love to see the Burke cocoon seen as well. There is no reason not to have as an extra on the disc, unless of course they can't find it. An Alien3 extended cut is what I'm most excited about. I've had the workprint for several years and there are some pretty cool scenes that I'd like to see added back in.