DVD Review - The Alien Quadrilogy

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page created: 11/3/03

The Alien Quadrilogy
1979-2003 (2003) - 20th Century Fox

review by Bill Hunt, Editor of The Digital Bits

Back to Introduction

On to Disc Two

Disc One - Alien

Film Ratings (Director's Cut/Theatrical): A/A+

Disc Ratings (Video/Audio - DD/DTS): A/A-/A

116 mins (2003 Director's Cut), 117 mins (1979 Theatrical Release), R, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced, THX certified, single-sided, RSDL dual-layered (layer switch at 63:31 at the start of chapter 23 for Director's Cut; 63:27 at the start of chapter 17 for Theatrical Release), dual versions available via seamless branching, introduction to 2003 Director's Cut by director Ridley Scott, audio commentary (with director Ridley Scott and Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt), optional deleted footage marker for Director's Cut, separate deleted and extended scene access for Theatrical Release (5 scenes), THX Optimizer, animated film-themed menus with sound effects, scene access (40 chapters - Director's Cut; 32 chapters - Theatrical Release), languages: English (DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1) and Spanish (DD 2.0 Mono), subtitles: English and Spanish, Closed Captioned

"In space, no one can hear you scream..."

In the distant future, mankind has explored a large region of space, and corporations have found that there is great profit to be made in the endeavor. Among the industries that have developed is the mining of rare minerals on other planets. The ore is loaded onto massive space refineries, which are then towed back to Earth, processing the ore during the long return trip. The crew of the space tug Nostromo are in the middle of just such a year-long trip home, when they're suddenly awakened from their hypersleep freezers. It turns out that the ship's computer, called Mother, has detected a distress call coming from a nearby uncharted planet. Company rules are clear in the matter - distress calls must be investigated. So leaving their cargo parked in orbit, the crew of the Nostromo lands on the wasteland world. What they discover, they are completely unprepared for - a derelict alien spacecraft, and a new lifeform so perfectly evolved and deadly, that there may be no way to stop it.

Alien is one of those rare cinematic gems - a movie that's influenced virtually every genre film that's followed. Directed by Ridley Scott, it brought a gritty new realism to science fiction, and made the word "alien" as frightening to movie audiences as Jaws did the word "shark". The title creature itself, designed by surrealist H.R. Giger, is fundamentally terrifying in its simplicity. It's an efficient killing machine with one purpose - to reproduce itself, destroying other living creatures in the process. What could be more terrifying than a creature so utterly bizarre that you can't reason with it, and you aren't equipped to defend yourself from it? How about encountering that creature in a dark, dingy spaceship in the middle of nowhere? You can't risk killing it because its acid blood will heat through the hull, and there's nowhere to escape as your crewmates are hunted down one by one.

Alien is also one of those rare films in which all of the various elements come together perfectly. The script, originally written by Dan O'Bannon of Dark Star fame and rewritten by producers David Giler and Walter Hill, is dark and gritty. The production design (by Ron Cobb, Chris Foss, Jean Giraud, and Giger) is impressive to this day, depicting both an utterly alien environment, and a functional, lived-in spacecraft. The Jerry Goldsmith score is minimal and unsettling. Ridley Scott's direction is dark and claustrophobic, creating just the right atmosphere for the terrors to come. What's more, this is one of the most impressive casts ever to appear in a science fiction film, including the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Ian Holm, Tom Skerrit, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and Yaphet Kotto. The acting style is very 1970s naturalistic, with lots of unscripted, "in the moment" exchanges. Scott also played the actors against each other, creating interesting character dynamics. There's a great deal of underlying tension and animosity between the crew members of the Nostromo that's never fully explained, but which helps them become more believable. These are real people in a desperate situation. This tension also helps keep the audience just slightly on edge, making the film's scares that much more powerful.

This new DVD release of Alien includes two versions of the film on Disc One, using the format's seamless branching capability. You get the original 1979 Theatrical Release, along with a new, 2003 Director's Cut. The differences between the two are minimal. For the Director's Cut, Scott has trimmed a few brief scenes (notably Dallas' second visit to Mother) and tightened a few others to improve the pace. He's also added a few brief extended moments, as well as a handful of new scenes. These include the crew listening to the alien transmission on the bridge of the Nostromo, Kane setting his weapon down before he looks at the alien egg on the derelict, Lambert slapping Ripley outside the infirmary, a few quick new shots when Brett goes looking for Jonesy, the infamous 'cocoon' scene near the end, and a brief shot of the alien smacking Jonesy's cage. Additional fixes made by Scott include a couple of starfield shots and revised color timing throughout the film. In terms of length, because of the trims, the Director's Cut is actually about a minute shorter than the original version. I like most of the additions, but the cocoon scene unavoidably slows down the film's pace at the end just enough to lessen the new cut's impact. Ultimately, the Theatrical Release remains the better version in my opinion.

Regardless of the version you choose, the video quality on this DVD is excellent. Alien has been given a new high-definition film transfer, and is presented here in full anamorphic widescreen video. This is a much better presentation than was found on the previous DVD release. Contrast is greatly improved here, with much more detail visible both in the shadows and throughout the image. There's also less film grain visible, and less digital compression artifacting as well. The video bitrate on this transfer rarely dips below 7 Mbps, and you can see that as greater overall clarity in the image. You'll be very hard-pressed to find even a tiny fleck or blemish on the print. There's not a hint of edge-enhancement, and color is beautifully rendered. I quite like the new color timing, which makes the film look slightly darker and more atmospheric, although this may be an issue with some purists. You'll notice the biggest difference in the Nostromo's landing gear room, when Brett goes searching for Jonesy - the lighting now has a warmer and more golden quality to it.

The audio is also improved, in that in addition to Dolby Digital 5.1, you get DTS 5.1 as well. Both tracks are new mixes and both are excellent in every respect. As you might imagine, these are both highly atmospheric tracks, but each packs a punch in critical scenes. The soundstage for both is big and wide up front, with clear dialogue and refined spatial imaging. Low frequency is solid at all times, and there's appropriate ambient and directional fill from the surrounds when necessary (including ever-present engine noise on the ship). The subtlety here is outstanding. Listen, for example, to the faint clicks and machine noise audible on the bridge in the opening sequence, just before the computers power up. Listen also to the sound of falling water and clinking chains in the landing gear room. There's a perspective shot as Brett enters the room, where you hear these ambient sounds start up front, move closer and then move around to envelop you as you pass through the doorway on screen. It's a really outstanding mix. The edge goes to the DTS for somewhat more natural presentation and slightly greater clarity, but both tracks will impress you. I should also mention that Disc One offers a THX Optimizer in case you need to calibrate your home theater system.

In terms of extras, Disc One offers a couple of interesting options. First of all, the menus for all these DVDs are designed to look like you're accessing files on the Weyland-Yutani computer network. With each new film in the series, you're taken to a different "stage" of the alien lifecycle (in the case of Alien, it's the egg stage). When you select the Director's Cut, you'll get a brief video introduction with Ridley Scott, in which he explains his reasoning for the new edit. Additionally, there's a special viewing option for the Director's Cut available in the supplement menu - the deleted footage marker. When you activate this mode, the text "DIRECTOR'S CUT" will occasionally appear on the bottom right corner of the screen to identify every new scene and new piece of footage. It's a nice option for film buffs on the lookout for the new material. Note that this is a subtitle-based feature, so you can't use it with the film's regular subtitles on - it's an either/or option. On the other hand, if you've chosen to view the Theatrical Release, entering the supplement menu will allow you to view the new material from the Director's Cut separately. You get a little description of the new and extended scenes, and you can select each in turn. It's worth noting that this is the first time these new scenes have been available on disc properly color timed, fully mixed and edited as the director intended. You'll be happy to know that the branching for these new scenes is undetectable on most DVD players when you're watching the film. Also, the new footage matches perfectly with the original material in terms of visual quality.

But the best of Disc One's extras has to be the newly recorded audio commentary track. This is completely different than the Ridley Scott commentary on the previous DVD, so if you want to have that as well, you'll have to hang onto the original disc (as I mentioned in the introduction, the previous DVD's isolated score and alternate music and production audio tracks are also not included here). This new commentary is fantastic, featuring Ridley with almost all of the film's featured players, including Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt. Original writers Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett also appear occasionally to offer their thoughts. Scott and Weaver were recorded together, as were Cartwright, Stanton and Skerrit. This allows a nice interplay between the participants, and makes for fun listening. There are some great anecdotes told here, along with some good jokes and even a "blue" comment or two. I won't spoil it for you other than to say that this is a commentary track you'll definitely enjoy.

Of course, the real extras relating to Alien are found on Disc Two of this set, so let's move on to take a closer look at them.

On to Disc Two