Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Alien Anthology (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

I watched Alien Friday and Aliens Saturday and I wanted to mention a couple of things.

These really do look fantastic! But there was something I remembered back in the 90's when these came out on laserdisc. the "Standard Procedure" sequence in Alien has a cool shoot where the camera slowly moves through the medlad, passes Kane who is on the bed with the face hugger still on his face and comes up on Ash who is looking into the microscope. Ripley startles him when she comes up on him. In this scene, I recall on the laserdisc hearing the door open for Ripley to enter. It was very subtle, you can barely hear it. But I don't hear it on the Blu Ray. Maybe I have a faulty memory. So I checked the Quadrilogy DVD of Alien. The audio track is the same, I didn't hear the door open. Last test is to play yhe laserdisc, but the player is not connected to the sound system. Does anybody have a similar recollection?

What was also interesting was when I was watching the DVD of Alien, I thought it looked really, really good! Similar black levels and contrast. I'm watching on a 50" plasma. While it wasn't a direct A-B comparison, I recall what the BD looked like. I'm sure the BD is superior, but the DVD isn't bad!

Though Aliens is a different story! The DVD looks smeary and fuzzy and snowy! The close-ups of Ripley and Burke's faces on the blu ray is super sharp with great clarity of skin tones and details!

 

[AaronMan]

Alien 3 simply takes a dump on everything that happened in Aliens and made the events that happened in that film meaningless. Hicks, Newt , and even Bishop were characters that many fans loved. Seeing them discarded so quickly was an insult to a lot of people...including me. That is a big reason why Alien 3 was such a failure.

 

[Sam Favate]

Originally Posted by AaronMan

 

[robbbb1138]

Originally Posted by Simon Massey

Ok Just to throw this out there - how exactly does the Special Edition scenes in Aliens undercut the tension from when the marines land to the scene where they meet the aliens for the first time ? For those who have never seen Alien, it still doesn't tell them what happened after they found the facehugger and for those that have - does anyone watching this really have any doubts as to what has happened at the colony ?? What mystery is in the original that isn't there in the SE ??


I think it adds to the tension personally, given we are introduced to Newt and we are left wondering what happened to her. It puts a human face on the colony before they arrive making their loss seem worse and emphasises that these were "families" out there (the children playing in the corridors).

There's more tension because of what's unknown and unseen without those scenes in the movie. Like a lot of people I know, I saw Aliens before Alien (I actually saw Alien 3 before that, but that's another story), and I don't think the experience would have been as suspenseful with that extra footage in the front.

 

[Simon Massey]

Really ? Why ??


Im not trying to be difficult, Im just wondering what those extra scenes tell you that take away from the suspense of what happened. Both versions tell you that something has happened (contact lost) but neither explicitly says what - in fact if you havent seen Alien or know anything about it Id argue that facehugger in the SE makes it more tense, esp when they turn up in the lab for the first time - what the hell is that thing??. Nobody watching the theatrical version is thinking oh its ok they are going to find the colonist safe and sound because we havent seen anything happen yet.


I also saw Aliens first but not the SE. I'd be interested to know if there is anyone who saw the SE of Aliens first. People who have issues with the SE giving too much away are usually people who saw the theatrical version first.


The opening scenes added to the SE with Ripley finding out about her daughter and the colonists finding the alien ship are the ones I would keep - its the others I find generally superfluous - the sentry guns add very little to the film and I dont need Hicks and Ripley calling each other Dwayne and Ellen

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by AaronMan

Alien 3 simply takes a dump on everything that happened in Aliens and made the events that happened in that film meaningless. Hicks, Newt , and even Bishop were characters that many fans loved. Seeing them discarded so quickly was an insult to a lot of people...including me. That is a big reason why Alien 3 was such a failure.

My thoughts exactly. When I first saw Alien 3 for the first ad only time, I was so angered by the plot turn taken in the opening of the movie. Basically, the film makers only wanted Ripley from the previous film and showed no respect at all to the previous film. When Cameron made Aliens, he made the film he wanted to make but kept the faith with Alien. I haven't listened to it yet on the blu-ray, but Cameron comments about this in his Aliens commentary. It is one of the few times I've heard one filmmaker criticizing another for a choice they've made.


If you don't want to be constrained by existing characters, plot points, or audience expectations, there's a simple solution to that: don't make a sequel. Turn down the job.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by robbbb1138 /forum/thread/305336/htf-blu-ray-review-alien-anthology/30#post_3745820

 

[Bryan^H]

Well, I fianlly did it. I watched the legendary cocoon scene with Burke from Aliens. Just a strong rumor until this release came along.


It's weird though. I remember someone that wrote in to a sci-fi magazine(forgot which one) in the early 90's. He swore up and down he watched Aliens on the big screen with this scene included. He was promptly told that this scene does not exist from the editor. Well, Buddy I hope you have a Blu-Ray player, and bought this release...because You were right.


By the way, watching Aliens with lossless audio, and fantastic picture rocked my world. FANTASTIC!!

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Simon Massey

I think it's much creepier to have no idea what's behind the door when the marines get there. That way, the viewer and the marines both have no clue what they're about to walk into. When you've already seen the colony, you lose that. The intro of Newt in the theatrical cut is much more interesting than seeing her 'origin' (it being her family that happens to be the group to go out to the derelict ship is also incredibly convenient) and not knowing how the colony got infested is better than seeing its beginnings. While the scene is interesting to see on its own, it isn't neccessary to the story and all the characters except Newt are essentially pointless since they never appear again.

 

[robbbb1138]

Originally Posted by Simon Massey

Really ? Why ??


Im not trying to be difficult, Im just wondering what those extra scenes tell you that take away from the suspense of what happened. Both versions tell you that something has happened (contact lost) but neither explicitly says what - in fact if you havent seen Alien or know anything about it Id argue that facehugger in the SE makes it more tense, esp when they turn up in the lab for the first time - what the hell is that thing??. Nobody watching the theatrical version is thinking oh its ok they are going to find the colonist safe and sound because we havent seen anything happen yet.

It's not one of those black and white editing choices, as I know where you're coming from. The opening section of the movie in the theatrical cut just feels right to me, where the special edition opening does not. As Travis posted, it's all about the mystery of what's behind the closed door, even if you're already 99.99999% sure of what's behind it. Given that Ripley is the focal point, I like that what we know as the audience is exactly what she knows.


My reaction to the director's cut of Aliens and T2 is pretty much the same. It's fun to see the extra footage, but I think Cameron's movies are at their best when he's forced into hitting a running time.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angell


_Man_

 

[dpippel]

I watched the extended cut of Aliens last night and will echo what others have said here - it looks absolutely phenomenal! What a treat!

 

[Simon Massey]

Hmm TravisR, good point about Newt's family - I get it does seem a little convenient that they are the ones who find the ship. And I take the point that not seeing anything about the colony adds to the mystery when they first enter. Dont think it matters that we dont see the characters again as its set-up - this is true even in the theatrical for characters like Van Leuwyn.


Shame there are very few who have seen the SE first who can comment on this . Oh well, think its clear that Aliens is great whichever version your getting. Just watched Alien Resurrection and this film really hasn't aged well for me. I used to like it but even in comparison to Alien 3, it is not as good.

 

[robbbb1138]

Originally Posted by Simon Massey . Oh well, think its clear that Aliens is great whichever version your getting. Just watched Alien Resurrection and this film really hasn't aged well for me. I used to like it but even in comparison to Alien 3, it is not as good.

I just got around to Resurrection too, and I'd agree that it hasn't aged well. I remember thinking it was a good attempt at trying re-create what worked about the first 2 movies, but it feels somewhat generic now. This may sound a bit too severe, but I think if you take out the Ripley stuff, Resurrection's not that far off from the 2 AVP movies.

 

[Terry Hickey]

Originally Posted by Felix Martinez

Before I plunk down the $ for the set, anyone tried playing this with the "venerable" 3 year-old Panny BD-30 with latest 2.9 firmware?

I bought the US set and have watched all 4 of the theatrical versions so far, and haven't encountered any problems on my BD-30 (2.9 firmware). It's just slow in loading up, maybe up to 90 seconds.

 

[John Sparks]

Just watched Alien theatrical on my BD-30 with no problems. Slightly slow starting like Terry Hickey states. Viewed it on a JP Epson UB9500 ISFed projected on

a 110' JKP Affinity Screen. I played the same version from the DVD box set thru a HDA1 upscaled. The DVD picture is dam good, but the BD looks really super.


If there was no BD, the SD would be fine...except for the EE during the opening credits. It goes away during the picture.


I saw this in 70mm in Pasadena when it first opened and it was sight to behold. Especially th anticipation of seeing it when you've been reading all the sci-fi mags telling you everything you wanted to know about the filming...but never showing you the alien! Just like seeing Close Encounters and Superman in 70mm when they first showed! Noting prepares you until you actually see

the film.

 

[WillG]

Hmm TravisR, good point about Newt's family - I get it does seem a little convenient that they are the ones who find the ship

err.....ahem...

 

[cafink]

Originally Posted by Simon Massey .

I've actually only ever seen the SE, though I'm familiar with its differences from the original. Regarding the early colony scene, it's always seemed natural to me, if only because that's how I've always seen it. I can definitely understand how its absense would change Ripley & Co.'s later arrival at the colony, though.

The last time I watched Aliens, I was struck by how long it took to really get going. I thought it kind of dragged at the beginning, and it seemed like forever before we finally got to the fun parts. For that reason, I suspect that excising the colony scene would be a net gain. Now that the film is available on Blu-ray, I should probably watch the theatrical version, which I've been meaning to do for a long time.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by cafink


OTOH, I will probably usually stick w/ the theatrical version of Alien instead...


_Man_

 

[Brian Borst]

Originally Posted by Simon Massey . I think both versions work. In the Director's Cut you see the colony before the aliens attack, and so the contrast (and the shock that comes with it) is greater than without the scene. In the theatrical version the mysteriousness is greater, since you don't know anything about them.

I have a love/hate affair with Cameron's director's cuts. Most of the added scenes are great on their own, but somehow mostly manage to destroy the pacing (which i think is more important with these movies). Others are simply unnecessary. The DC of The Abyss is the one I do like, but that's probably because it's the only version of the movie I've seen.