DVD Review - The Alien Quadrilogy

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-Established 1997-

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 Disc Seven

On to Disc Nine

Disc Eight - One Step Beyond: The Making of Alien Resurrection

Extras Rating: B+

Pre-Production - From the Ashes: Reviving the Story featurette (10 mins), first draft screenplay text by Joss Whedon, French Twist: Direction and Design featurette (26 mins), Under the Skin: Casting and Characterizations featurette (13 mins), creature, make-up and costume test footage (12 mins), Marc Caro character design gallery, conceptual art gallery (organized by subject), storyboard gallery (organized by scene), multi-angle previsualizations (3 mins - 3 angles with 2 audio tracks), Production - Death from Below: Fox Studios, Los Angeles, 1996 featurette (31 mins), In the Zone: The Basketball Scene featurette (7 mins), production photo gallery (organized by subject), Unnatural Mutation: Creature Design featurette (26 mins), A.D.I.'s Workshop photo gallery, Post-Production - Genetic Composition: Music featurette (13 mins), Virtual Aliens: Computer Generated Imagery featurette (10 mins), A Matter of Scale: Miniature Photography featurette (23 mins), visual effects photo gallery, Critical Juncture: Reaction to the Film featurette (14 mins), special shoot photo gallery, Easter egg: Be Careful What You Wish For featurette (7 mins), Easter egg: DVD production credits, animated film-themed menus with sound effects, separate "play/view all" option for featurettes, artwork and photos, languages: English (DD 2.0), subtitles: none

As with all the other supplement discs in this set, the material here can be navigated individually, or through separate "play all" options for the video material, the art galleries and the photo galleries. Again, the disc is divided into Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production sections. Running through all three sections, is a series of ten video featurettes that form a final longer documentary, entitled One Step Beyond: The Making of Alien Resurrection. As with the previous supplement disc, the featurettes are all in full frame, while the galleries are anamorphic.

Again, the Navigation Options page for this disc contains an Easter egg of DVD production credits. It's in the same place as the other bonus discs, accessed with the same procedure. Once you've entered the page, use the number pad on your remote to enter the U.S. theatrical release date for Alien Resurrection (it's 11-26-97). Hard to believe this was a Thanksgiving movie, isn't it?

The Pre-Production section begins with the short From the Ashes: Reviving the Story. Right off the bat, you can tell that everyone is sort of... well, trying to let you know that they had the best of intentions for Resurrection... but it didn't quite work. Also interesting is the way in which many of the production team on these films, including Sigourney Weaver, express their surprise at having gotten the call to do another film after the events in Alien³. In the last section of the review, I mentioned that Joss Whedon was absent on the commentary track. Thankfully, he's represented here in new interview clips, in which he talks about trying to craft a story that would work, given the status of Ripley at the end of the last film. Basically, Joss and the studio worked independently of the former producers of the series, David Giler and Walter Hill. In fact, Giler comes right out here and says that when they first read the script for Resurrection, they knew it would basically kill the franchise. Of course, they were right.

Just so you can see how right Giler and Hill were, I suppose, the next item up for grabs on the disc is the complete text of Whedon's original, 1995 first draft of the screenplay for the film. It's presented in green text on a black background - you page through it with your remote.

In French Twist: Direction and Design, we get another interesting surprise. Remember how I said that director Jean-Pierre Jeunet just seemed like a bad fit for this film? Well, apparently I'm not the only one who thought so... Jeunet himself seemed to be puzzled when Fox initially approached him with the gig. Jeunet went so far as to ask, when the studio was courting him, "Why you want to hire me? I am busy. I don't want to make a Hollywood movie." Even more interesting is the revelation that Danny Boyle (of 28 Days Later and Trainspotting fame) had also been approached to direct, but declined. Everyone here talks about how much they admire Jeunet's style, and his style IS both unique and amazing as anyone who's seen Amélie can attest. But it can't overcome the fact that I don't think he quite had his heart in this film in the same way as the other directors in this series.

Under the Skin: Casting and Characterizations is very straightforward, and features new interviews with a lot of the cast members, including Ron Perlman and Winona Ryder, some of whom are longtime collaborators with Jeunet. The director also talks about trying to inject new ideas into the story, in such a way that Sigourney would appreciate them, given her experience on these films.

Next up, we get to see test footage of the various alien creature designs, as well as some of the corpses seen in the film, with optional commentary by Alec Gillis. This includes the pulsating eggs, the warrior teeth and jaw, the collapsing newborn body and other items. There's also a set of make-up and costume tests with Sigourney Weaver.

Additionally, this section contains a gallery of production drawings by Marc Caro, showing costumes and various looks for each character. There's also an elaborate gallery of additional production design drawings, organized by various subjects, and a gallery of storyboards for the major sequences in the film. Especially interesting here are different title treatments for the film, and a few hand-drawn sketches of post-apocalyptic Earth.

Finally, this section is rounded out with a set of multi-angle previsualization videos showing on-set rehearsals for a few different scenes. You can view the original previz clip, the storyboards or a composite of both with the scene from the final film. Alternately, you can listen to the rehearsal video or the final film audio.

The Production section begins with the featurette, Death from Below: Fox Studios, Los Angeles, 1996, which is the longest piece on the disc. You get to see lots of interesting on-set footage, particularly involving the underwater filming with the actors and the alien stuntmen. We get new and vintage interviews with many of the production crew involved, including stunt coordinators, underwater photographers, etc. We see many of the actors attending diving safety training classes. Ryder tells an interesting story about how frightening it was to do the scene, given that she almost drowned when she was young. You can see the fear in her eyes in the on-set footage. We also learn that Sigourney is claustrophobic and so had great difficulties with the scene as well.

In the Zone: The Basketball Scene takes us behind-the-scenes on the production of this segment of the film. We learn how Sigourney wanted to be able to get the basketball moves just right, and make the behind-the-back shot for real, so she practiced repeatedly to get it all down.

Next up is a gallery of production photos, broken into different subjects. It includes a look at weapons and props, the various locations, the "unsuccessful" Ripley clones, the Betty set and more.

Unnatural Mutation: Creature Design is a rather straightforward piece focusing on the work of A.D.I., which handled all the alien creature work for the film. There's lots of behind-the-scenes footage and both new and vintage interviews with Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. They discuss the changes made to the look of the alien warrior, for example, to make it seem more cunning and aggressive, and we get to see lots of test footage of the costume (which is sadly looking more like a guy in a rubber suit in this film than any of the others). We learn about how the swimming scene influenced the design refinements. We see the design process involving the alien newborn. We even see some of the gore effects appliances and how some of these effects were done. I'm not a fan of the aliens in this film, but it's still interesting to see a lot of this footage.

Wrapping up the Production section is a gallery of photographs taken during the making of the film at the A.D.I. workshop, which lets you see many of the creature designs in even more detail.

The last section of the disc, Post-Production, contains one final Easter egg. Go the second page of extras in this section, and navigate to the 'BACK' selection. Then navigate 'down'. You'll highlight one of the icons on the top of the screen. Press 'enter' and you'll be treated to another featurette. It doesn't have a name, but I'm calling it Be Careful What You Wish For. It's a 7-minute piece in which Quadrilogy producer Charles de Lauzirika tips his hat to another fellow DVD producer, David Prior (whose work includes Fight Club, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Big Trouble in Little China). Prior, as it turns out, was one of three people to wear an alien warrior costume in this film. David explains how he got the gig and how uncomfortable it was to wear the suit... then be covered with slime, sit over hot lights and have all the air sucked out of the room. There's also plenty of footage of him suffering on the set. It's funny stuff - another chance to see someone letting their inner geek hang out.

The main offerings in the Post-Production section start with Genetic Composition: Music, a featurette that examines the work of composer John Frizzell. We see footage of the orchestra on the scoring stage and hear him talking about his approach to the project.

Virtual Aliens: Computer Generated Imagery takes a short look at the creation of the CG aliens that were used particularly for the underwater scene. Pitof and various other production crew members talk about how some shots were realized with CG, and how the decision is made to use computer animation for particular shots.

A Matter of Scale: Miniature Photography is one of the more interesting featurettes on the disc, if only because so few science fiction films these days employ physical models anymore. We get to see a lot of design art for the various ships, and shots of the models being built and filmed. Many of those involved give interviews about the work and the design philosophy.

Next, you get a visual effects photo archive, which lets you see shots of models made for the film in better detail, including some that went unused. There are many photos here of the various ship designs, seen from different angles.

The final featurette on the disc is Critical Juncture: Reaction to the Film. It's also rather short, but serves as a wrap-up to the documentary component of the disc. We learn that the critical reaction to the film in France was, of course, much better than it was elsewhere, given the director. Jeunet talks about how happy he was with the film, and how proud he is of it. Various participants talk about how pretty the film looked, how great the music was, and how excited they all were to work on it... but you get the sense that some of them think it didn't ultimately compare well to the original films. Of course, they're right. A few of the participants also muse on where the Alien franchise can go from here.

Finally, there's yet another gallery, this one featuring photos taken during a special publicity shoot with the actors just before the film's release. And that's Disc Eight.

Almost done now, folks! Just one more disc to go. Disc Nine contains additional goodies that pertain to all four of the films in this series, as well as some previously released material. So if you can stand to read one more page, we'll wrap up our look at the Alien Quadrilogy with a bow... or at least a conclusion.

On to Disc Nine