Alien Anthology

[Michaelvk]

Herself got me the Alien Anthology on bluray today. Late birthday prezzie.. I think it'll take me a month to get through all of it.

Anyone else here got it?

[Goaty]

Best of it is Alien3 "Assembly Cut" which was brilliant better than Cinematic version!

[The Adventurer]

Personally I'm just going to get Alien and Aliens as single BD releases. since I really don't care about any of the other films. It's interesting too to compare the differences between Ridley Scott and James Cameron's vision, not just on the films themselves but how each handles their high def transfers. Scott going for natural film look with lots of film grain, Cameron doing everything he can to make his film crystal clear with no grain at all, like it was made yesterday. It says a lot about each as a film director and their personal sensibilities when it comes to making films.

[Mardroid]

Herself got me the Alien Anthology on bluray today. Late birthday prezzie.. I think it'll take me a month to get through all of it.

I don't have the Blue Ray, but it's one of my favourite DVD collections.

[radiator]

I'd buy the aliens single blu ray in an instant, but you can't buy them separately in the uk and I begrudge having to buy the whole set :p.

Those fuckers have done the same with Jurassic Park - I only want the first film and I ain't buying the two crappy sequels!

I know this is sacrilege, but I'm not overly mad on the Ridley Scott original. I like it, but it's VERY slow and isn't the sort of film I'd watch again and again like I could do with aliens. I have a huge soft spot for alien 3, and don't really understand why it gets such a hard time. The directors cut is indeed excellent. I thought it was a very bold sequel and very admirable how its so grim and does it's own thing rather than just copy aliens.

[Greg M.]

I have a huge soft spot for alien 3, and don't really understand why it gets such a hard time.

The answer is in the first five minutes - the most callous evisceration of the previous film anyone could possibly imagine. It'd be like if they did a sequel to 'It's A Wonderful Life' and George Bailey went on a killing spree with a road-drill. I hate 'Alien 3' unreservedly - it's my least favourite film of all time. (Objectively, of course, I am aware that there's lots of stylish direction and whatnot, but I cannot forgive its crimes against the characters of 'Aliens'.)

[radiator]

The answer is in the first five minutes - the most callous evisceration of the previous film anyone could possibly imagine.

It's harsh, yes, and I remember being shocked, but it never really bothered me all that much and I actually think it's a very bold move.

I see each Alien film as distinct from each other, each one starting with a clean slate and a new director's vision. If you ask me, Resurrection was more of a betrayal of the previous films - the plot was a bit implausible, I didn't like what they did with Ripley, it was overly stylised and the ott, almost comedic tone of it was jarring to me. Would have been interesting to see what original director choice Danny Boyle would have done with it.

[Greg M.]

Interestingly, I don't mind Alien Resurrection at all because that one really is a blank slate - it doesn't feature any of the previous characters (the clone is a different character from Ripley, and therefore doesn't bother me) and seems remarkably comic book-y in feel - I agree it is stylised and OTT, but I find that quite enjoyable. As the title implies, it's a new start, so I don't mind a new aesthetic. For me, the damage is already done by that stage, and whatever comes after 'Alien 3' can only be an improvement (and can't ruin 'Aliens' any further.)

[Mardroid]

I disliked what they did at the start of Alien 3 too, [spoiler]killing off Hicks and Newt after all they went through in Aliens[/spoiler] but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of Alien 3. I guess I just took it for what it was, Ripley, on a planet of criminal monks and the return of the Alien threat.

Cinematically it was particularly wonderful. The camera-work was great, and I'm very fond of the longer cut (not a Director's cut, by the way, that doesn't exist) too. It's a bit messy as they seem to have stuck a lot of superfluous footage together, but the extra plot twist involving McGann's character  it provides makes it worthwhile as do the extra scenes at the start. Those particular scenes at the start,  don't add to the plot but they're great in providing snapshots of the environment and the life of the monks. And that shot of the Doctor walking along the beach is beautifully shot. It's simple but effective.

[Rog69]

I'd buy the aliens single blu ray in an instant, but you can't buy them separately in the uk and I begrudge having to buy the whole set :p.

This annoyed me too but they are available separately in the US and Amazon currently have them for $12.49, which works out less than £8 each.
They appear to be region free too

[Rog69]

If anyone is interested, Amazon have the 4 disk Bluray anthology set for a tenner at the moment -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006MGB31Q/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B003AQBYUG&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0CD2YEXZXG4TP7V4GEF0

Well worth it even if you only want it for a couple of the films.

I managed to get the 6 disk edition for £15 earlier in the week but it's gone back up to £18 now (still a good buy even at that price). It arrived yesterday, I had a flick through it last night and the quality of the transfers is just superb.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

There goes £10 of my pocket money

[Buddy]

I think Alien3 is a cracking film, and as I hate Aliens with a passion I was delighted at what happened to the characters at the start.

[Emperor]

The answer is in the first five minutes - the most callous evisceration of the previous film anyone could possibly imagine.

It is why I liked the Dark Horse comics, as they predated the third film and continued the story from Aliens. What is interesting is that they must have known about this as a possible basis for a third film but decided to take it in a different direction. Personally, I'd have loved to see Vincent Ward's version with monks in a wooden satellite:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_3#Vincent_Ward.27s_.22Wooden_Monastery.22

Unfortunately, there was so much dicking around with the script and studio interference that the result was almost guaranteed to less than the various options that were on the table at almost every stage of development. A real missed opportunity.

I've got "Beautiful Monsters: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Alien and Predator Films" which is handy for all the back and forth on the films.

[Professor Bear]

Those fuckers have done the same with Jurassic Park - I only want the first film and I ain't buying the two crappy sequels!

3 is the only JP film I own, as it had a good chunk of watchable story even if the ending never quite appears and they just sort of go home at the finish.  It probably helps that by the time they made 3 they'd accepted the novelty of CGI had worn off and they needed to be a bit less smug than the first two flicks and made a good old-fashioned monster mash-up with less kickboxing olympic gymnasts or computer hacking prodigies and more giant lizards stomping about eating the shit of the cast.

Alien 3 is terrible for many reasons, but mainly because it's just a mess of a story - though it's a handsome film, certainly.