DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: "Alien: Quadrilogy" w/ ton's of screenshots! Highly Recommended! (1 Viewer)

[George Caronan]

Hello all. I watched "Alien" Directors Cut off the Quad set last night. I thought the picture quality is quite good with more detail than the original version. The new scenes definitely enhanced the story. The "cocoon" scene with Skeritt and Stanton was something else. I did not experience any DTS drop-outs as mentioned here on the thread as I kept a close eye on the processor's display. Surround activitiy was minimal whereupon it was mostly fills for an athmospheric ambiance. This to me was acceptable given the film is over 20 years old not to mention that the soundtrack was mono to begin with. Equipment used was:

Mitsubishi 55" HDTV Diamond Widescreen
Kenwood DV-5900M Progressive Scan with Faroudja DCDI
Anthem AVM-20 V.2 Surround Sound Processor
Parasound HCA-1206 + 2 HCA-1500A amps

...still have to watch the next three. Will report if there are any problems. Cheers.

 

[Matt Butler]

Lewis and Sam,

I understand your point about beautiful women but for some reason she just did it for me watching the docs on Aliens. She is just really cute.

I do look at lot of things that other men dont I guess, (or so Ive been told).

And now back to Alien:

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Although I have not watched the Alien discs on the Denon, I would bet the errors occur at branch points

It's not just at the branch points.

 

[Dave F]

My God, the packaging is awful. When they have to stick two separate gatefolds together, that should be a sign that they need to rethink their strategy. At the very least, go to separate sections of 2 03 3 discs, like the Highlander series.

-Dave

 

[ShaunG]

Dave F, I agree.

I cannot believe they put that much work into great discs and then drop the ball on packaging. I was hoping that it was going to be like Legacy except that each movie case had the disc leaf for the second discs.

The tranparent plastic disc holders that are glued to the cardboard foldout are already falling off and I just unwrapped it from the store shrink wrap.

I am simply disappointed in the quality of the packaging for these great discs. The art on the foldout is great I just don't like the foldout method.

I mean its as simple as the Star Wars snapper cases, come on people.

 

[HankM]

My Alien 3, disc 5 came loose and had scratches on it. I finally watched this tonight and noticed pixelation and some lock-ups. Discs 1-4 were fine. I haven't watched discs 6-9 yet. I want to get a hold of Fox and get a replacement disc. Anyone here have info in getting in touch with Fox. Thanks!

 

[Xander]

Hey guys

I heard that the Quadrilogy sets were all individually numbered. I was wondering if anyone knew where you can find this 'number'.

Many thanks.

Xander.

 

[Matt Butler]

Xander,
No numbering AFAIK

 

[Paul_Scott]

with these two threads going on- i'm not quite sure where to post this- but since its about the quality of the a/v here looks like the best place;

i finally got around to watching one of the films.
it was the directors cut of the first one.
kind of disappointed to see EE marring what was an otherwise pristine presentation-
for people blissfully ignorant of this unnatural phenomenon
i'll put the places i found it most annoying in spoiler tags
Dallas in talking to Mother, Ash monitoring the groups excursion, around the alien ship, Ash in the scene when he opens the inner hatch, at several points in the lab- and generally anytime there is a sillouette or dark figure against a lighter background.
some people are not going to be bothered by it- either because they aren't looking for it, or their screen sizes don't make it an issue.
and its not the worse ringing i've ever seen- but its there and on an fp set up (i wasn't projecting it as large as i usually do either) its readily evident without straining to look for it.
much like what i noticed with X2.
without this additive distraction these would both be A+ transfers, the EE is the only thing , imo, that knocks 'em down a notch.
on the whole though, i do think this is a much more impressive transfer than Raiders Of The Lost Ark- a film of a similar vintage and one that should have looked just as exceptional- given how long this was in making it to dvd, and that it had been given a Lowry spiff n polish.

i played the DTS track and noticed no drop outs on my NAD 752 (via a Panasonic rp56).
the surround mix was much more lackluster than i was expecting. i wasn't anticipating a lot of showy rear effects, but i did expect much more in the way of constant ambient sounds or music which just wasn't the case.
the one time that ambient sound was most noticeable was, suprisingly, in the cocoon scene.

i'd have to give the directors cut a big thumbs down as well. the one scene that i thought was awful in the deleted scene section of the original disc (Lambert bitch slapping Ripley) i actually thought worked great- however like most of the other cuts- its a very awkward jump cut from the tail of that to the existing footage- it goes from Dallas saying "when i give an ordr i expect it to be obeyed" where it sounds and looks like hes up to the glass chastising her, then it jump cuts to Dallas bending over, back by Kane and saying "how do we get that off him".
its such an awkward transition that as much as i like the Ripley /Lambert bit, i'd still prefer the original cut.
none of the other additions amounted to much either- the cocoon really threw off the sense of urgency, the 'listening to the signal' scene was not only a lot less creepy than the original sound mix, but also rendered the pacing choppy.
i definitely won't be watching the DC again.

Boy i was looking forward to this disc, and yet i can't help but feeling a little disappointed.
Fox did a hell of a job overall, its foolish to nit-pick, but i guess i've just seen the film too often over the last 24 yrs- in the theater, on beta, on VHS, on laserdisc, on dvd, now on this dvd.
i know the film inside and out. its just not new and fresh anymore.
ironic but, as much as i dislike or dismiss the last two films, i will probably end up having more fun with them for the simple fact i've only seen them once before.
good thing i sprung for the box set after all.

 

[DannyS]

I don't know if anyone knows this:

Just a very depressing bit of news,

on the R1 Alien quad, the C4 Docco with Mark Kermode "ALien Evolution", only has the footage about Alien.

All Other footage concerning Aliens, Alien 3 And Alien Ressurection has been cut, as has all footage with Mark Kermode.

Bummer. Best get a copy of the VHS taped off C4. I figure there's about 30- 45 mins missing :frowning: :frowning:

 

[Nelson Au]

I’ve got a freezing condition myself on the Alien Q set! I hoped that I was spared this as Alien DC played fine while in DTS mode, right up till Chapter 18 at 68 minutes and 50 to 58 secs. Past this at 69 minutes it’s okay. I stopped watching right after Ash got fried by the blow torch.

I checked the DC while in Dolby Digital and it froze at the same point. Then I tried the theatrical cut in Dolby Digital and it also froze at the same point as it did in the Director’s Cut. It occurs right when Dallas is looking at the ship plans and is telling everyone his plan for using the air ducts to catch the alien.

I am thinking I might have a defective disc, which could be non-related to the Denon problems, as the freeze occurs while in both Dolby Digital and DTS in both the DC and theatrical cut. This tells me that it is occurring at a branching point too.

My DVD player is a Pioneer DVL-91 DVD/LD player. Am I alone with this problem?

Thanks, Nelson

 

[RickardL]

DannyS, I thought you said that there is 11 minutes edited
out, not 30-45 minutes?

 

[DannyS]

huh?

this is the first I've said on the subject.

I watched the original C4 docco today and half of the docco is about the other films. They obviously cut it to bits as the comments made by interviewees were very unfavourable to the studios. All they did then was extend the alien interviews

facts:

1: The C4 broadcast was 64 mins

2: The Alien quad version is 64 mins.

3: The Alien quad version EXTENDS the Alien interviews to cover the time, eliminating all other Alien film interviews and Mark Kermode
Link Removed

 

[RickardL]

DannyS,

Sorry, I saw you mention the lengths of 64 and 75 minutes
(at the r2 forum as nixon), but I missed the part of
extensions. Does that mean that there are extended
parts in the Quad version that are not in the C4 version?

 

[Jesse Brickzin]

Picked this set up last Saturday, I have been working the last couple days so i haven't been able to watch it yet.Probably start watching them tomorrow. Thanks for the review!

 

[Mark_TS]

To FOX:

I wonder if an arrangement can be made for those of us who own the DVD box ALIEN QUADRILOGY, to perhaps purchase the amaray cover-art sheets when the individual discs come out in January?

As much as I love the set, the box is just a bit to unweildy.
My plan-to buy double Amaray cases for each, and slip in the cover art.

thank you for your consideration

 

[Paul_Scott]

i think Fox is using digipaks for their 2 disc sets now.
i can't remember the last 2 disc Fox set i saw in an amaray .

 

[Geoff_D]

i can't remember the last 2 disc Fox set i saw in an amaray .

My copy of X-Men 2 (R1) was packaged in a double amaray, which is a bit annoying as my X-Men 1.5 is in a digipak.

 

[DannyS]

UPDATE!

ALIEN EVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY CUTS

Link Removed List the Documentary at 75 mins

The Alien Quadrilogy DVD "ALien Evolution" Run time is 64 mins

Now, lets look at the Channel 4 version shown twice on UK television:

The total Channel 4 BROADCAST Run time without ads is: 64 mins

The total run time of Alien footage ONLY is : 34 mins 21 secs

So that means there is officially 29 mins 39 secs CUT

So, in summation,

1: All the Alien interviews are EXTENDED

2: (other than narration at the start of the DOCCO) Mark Kermode is CUT

3: All interviews with Cast/Crew of Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection are CUT

In my opinion The cuts were made for the same reason as the Alien 3 Docco cuts

here is an image to prove that cast from Alien 3 were included

 

[Paul_Scott]

My copy of X-Men 2 (R1) was packaged in a double amaray, which is a bit annoying as my X-Men 1.5 is in a digipak.

(slaping forehead)
D'Oh!