Picked this up a few days ago and have been slowly working my way through it..it's out in the shops on Monday.
Of course, the bulk of this edition is very similar to the Alien Quadrilogy box set from 2003.
I will just give a few impressions from the first 3 films -
Alien - very good transfer. Didn't really think they could go wrong with it, Scott always had a great visual style and it was always well photographed. On the blu ray you can notice more detail. For example, when the crew are climbing around the derelict alien spaceship, I had'nt noticed before that their spacesuits are actually different colours, such as red, green and blue. On the original versions everything is quite dark and murky, so you never really see them clearly. And of course the detail on the ships interiors, little signs and stickers etc is actually readable. DTS sound is good, not a huge amount of information from the rear speakers, only when it's nescessary.
Aliens - It's a better transfer than usual, but some effects, such as the forced perspective and blue screen shots can still look a little ropey.
The worst example is the dropship crash on the planet where the marines run for cover...they simply look like they are running around in front of a cinema screen. Cameron came from a low budget/effects background, and he had used these techniques on the original Terminator and was still looking to keep costs low.
OK, these are minor gripes, in other places the concept of expanding the alien universe, and adding a shitload more creatures plus the queen made for more of a rollercoaster ride - not as scary or horrific as the original, but very entertaining and exhilirating. Mind you...I did find Bill Paxton's HuRABon incredibly irritating this time round.
Alien 3 - I still struggle with this one. Even in the preferred 2003 directors cut (and with improved sound and re recorded dialogue on this edition), it's a problematic movie. And it's not because they kill off Newt and Hicks, shave Ripleys head and strand her on a planet of religious criminals with no weapons.
Those are the aspects of the film I admire - the unwillingless to do what has already been done before, and have Ripley running around more corridors with big guns and flame throwers killing aliens.
The problem for me was I don't think the cast came across as believable, as a community of hardened criminals stranded on this barren planet. Sure, all fine actors, Danny Webb, Paul McGann, Pete Postlethwaite, Charles Dance etc (not Brian Glover...bless him, but I will always equate him with the voice of the Tetley tea bag commercials, or Hovis bread).
And I believe this is because this was a US studio's idea of what a bunch of english criminals should look and behave...so, lots of running around, shouting and swearing etc.
Another major problem was the use of CGI for the alien creature for the first time. And it still looks terrible, even on blu ray.
Not got to the last movie yet.
As for the extras, all of the stuff from the original box set is there, but there is more footage from those original interviews and on set bits of filming not seen before. On the first movie alone, there is approx 80 mins of new stuff, including a new interview with Jon Finch on what happened on set. Not sure how much extra footage there is on the other movies yet.
And then there is the MU-TH-UR mode. Not fully got to grips with this yet, but from what I can see when you fire up this mode on the movies themselves, you can highlight various parts of the extras on the last two discs, and bookmark them so that you can access them immidiately via a 'bookmark' when you play the extras disc.
The packaging and the menu's are excellent - they have perfectly recreated the typeface and font of the computer in the original film. And a nice little touch is having a 'Weyland Yutani' logo stay on your tv screen even when you remove the disc from your player.
Of course, the bulk of this edition is very similar to the Alien Quadrilogy box set from 2003.
I will just give a few impressions from the first 3 films -
Alien - very good transfer. Didn't really think they could go wrong with it, Scott always had a great visual style and it was always well photographed. On the blu ray you can notice more detail. For example, when the crew are climbing around the derelict alien spaceship, I had'nt noticed before that their spacesuits are actually different colours, such as red, green and blue. On the original versions everything is quite dark and murky, so you never really see them clearly. And of course the detail on the ships interiors, little signs and stickers etc is actually readable. DTS sound is good, not a huge amount of information from the rear speakers, only when it's nescessary.
Aliens - It's a better transfer than usual, but some effects, such as the forced perspective and blue screen shots can still look a little ropey.
The worst example is the dropship crash on the planet where the marines run for cover...they simply look like they are running around in front of a cinema screen. Cameron came from a low budget/effects background, and he had used these techniques on the original Terminator and was still looking to keep costs low.
OK, these are minor gripes, in other places the concept of expanding the alien universe, and adding a shitload more creatures plus the queen made for more of a rollercoaster ride - not as scary or horrific as the original, but very entertaining and exhilirating. Mind you...I did find Bill Paxton's HuRABon incredibly irritating this time round.
Alien 3 - I still struggle with this one. Even in the preferred 2003 directors cut (and with improved sound and re recorded dialogue on this edition), it's a problematic movie. And it's not because they kill off Newt and Hicks, shave Ripleys head and strand her on a planet of religious criminals with no weapons.
Those are the aspects of the film I admire - the unwillingless to do what has already been done before, and have Ripley running around more corridors with big guns and flame throwers killing aliens.
The problem for me was I don't think the cast came across as believable, as a community of hardened criminals stranded on this barren planet. Sure, all fine actors, Danny Webb, Paul McGann, Pete Postlethwaite, Charles Dance etc (not Brian Glover...bless him, but I will always equate him with the voice of the Tetley tea bag commercials, or Hovis bread).
And I believe this is because this was a US studio's idea of what a bunch of english criminals should look and behave...so, lots of running around, shouting and swearing etc.
Another major problem was the use of CGI for the alien creature for the first time. And it still looks terrible, even on blu ray.
Not got to the last movie yet.
As for the extras, all of the stuff from the original box set is there, but there is more footage from those original interviews and on set bits of filming not seen before. On the first movie alone, there is approx 80 mins of new stuff, including a new interview with Jon Finch on what happened on set. Not sure how much extra footage there is on the other movies yet.
And then there is the MU-TH-UR mode. Not fully got to grips with this yet, but from what I can see when you fire up this mode on the movies themselves, you can highlight various parts of the extras on the last two discs, and bookmark them so that you can access them immidiately via a 'bookmark' when you play the extras disc.
The packaging and the menu's are excellent - they have perfectly recreated the typeface and font of the computer in the original film. And a nice little touch is having a 'Weyland Yutani' logo stay on your tv screen even when you remove the disc from your player.
