Alien (The Director's Cut)
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Movie Reviews of Alien (The Director's Cut)
Movie Review: The classic sci-fi/horror film just got better
Summary: 5 Stars
As Director Ridley Scott said, the original theatrical version of Alien was great and didn't need any touch-ups or fine-tuning. With that said, the director's cut of Alien introduces the audience to never before seen scenes along with some other touch-ups.
While these scenes do not dramatically change the movie, they do fit seamlessly into the film as we knew it and, more importantly, add a new depth to the overall story. The true importance of one scene isn't even realized until Aliens. I'm referring to the scene where Ripley finds Dallas and other crew members being cocooned by the alien. When Ripley found Dallas, he said, "Kill me," (just like the survivor in Aliens). Within Alien itself, this scene adds more depth to the plot and Ripley's understanding of the aliens and how they modify the environment around them. But the true wisdom she receives isn't seen until the Space Marine foray into the abandoned complex in Aliens. When the marines started to find modifications similar to those Ripley saw on the Nostromo (including placed when acid had eaten through the deck plating), she started to become uneasy. Furthermore, when they found a survivor who said, "Kill me," she knew it was time to get the marines out of there. But no one listened and the marines were decimated, just like Ripley's crew and the facility's citizens before them.
More importantly, the movie as a whole holds up to this very day. It looks like a movie that could have been released within the last five years, not a movie that's 25 years old. Of course, the computers look out-dated and the explosion of Nostromo is bit lacking, but they are so minor, they're really not worth using as a deciding factor.
Watching the movie again reminded me of one aspect of the Alien Universe which has never been explored or even referenced (except for in comics, but even that is lacking). Ridley Scott presents us with a scenario where the Nostromo crew finds a derelict space ship. It is obvious this ship belongs to a species other than the "aliens." The aliens are parasites who hitched a ride with a space-faring species of unknown origin. I think this would make a great story, but with the disaster Alien Resurrection was, we may never see any further expansion within the Alien Universe. And that is a shame.
Movie Review: Much Imitated, Never Duplicated!
Summary: 5 Stars
'Alien' is a film that created the modern 'space horror' genre; it also provided the springboard for director Ridley Scott's brilliant career. From the eerie beginning of the film (when the word 'A L I E N' forms in stages to strange, ambient music), to the shock of the Facehugger leaping onto Kane's (John Hurt) face, and the horror of the Chestburster exploding from him, this movie has left us scenes that have become film history. I think most moviegoers have very clear memories of where they first saw this classic.
The brilliant ensemble cast is one major factor in why this movie came out so well; another is the fact that the producers, writers, and Ridley Scott had the originality to enlist brilliant, non-Hollywood artists to create the look of the film. Using Swiss artist H.R. Giger to create the Alien in it's various incarnations and the alien ship were strokes of genius - Giger is in a class by himself, and no other film can claim the creature's originality (the other Alien sequels are merely adaptations/modifications of his concept). Scott's admiration for French artist Moebius is apparent in the spacesuit designs and other areas of the Nostromo and attached machinery. The 'Space Jockey', aka the pilot of the vast alien ship containing the eggs, is really a mindbender, even though it is only onscreen for a very brief period.
The Director's Cut version DVD is the ultimate home video rendition of this classic. For the first time one can hear this movie in the full glory of DTS sound, which is far superior to the old Dolby Digital version. The digitally restored video is crystal clear, as if the film were released yesterday. The added scenes do not really change the film that much, in my opinion. The one big scene that comes to mind is Ripley's discovery of the cocooned Dallas, which really does remind the viewer of the similar scene in 'Aliens', where she comes upon the Queen's chamber amid a mass of unhatched eggs (in hindsight it seems as if James Cameron lifted the scene lock stock and barrel), then burns everything with a similar flamethrower.
All in all, this edition takes what is already a classic, and makes it shine that much brighter. The sound and video updates and the extra features really enhance what is already a great film.
Movie Review: Kids shouldn't write reviews for adult orientated movies.
Summary: 5 Stars
Dear kiddy who slammed the 'Alien' movie..point taken the movie does take a while to warm up (then again you probably haven't seen 2001 Space Odyssey haha-Alien will feel like a roller coaster ride in comparison). But how you can say you were 'bored' by it is beyond me although you being asleep after the first ten minutes might explain it. I'd feel sleepy after watching Thomas the Tank engine so I guess it's all relative.
However Alien is a first class sci-fi horror flick, the egg scene, the face hugger, the chestburster, Ash the android, Alien itself, the endless suspense, HR Giger imagined sets that are grotesquely realistic and great acting by a young Sigourney Weaver and fantastic supporting cast including Tom Skerrit (Top Gun), Ian Holm (LOTR), John Hurt who played Kane and Yaphet Koto of Live and Let die (007 film) as well as a haggard Harry Dean Stanton whose endless lines of "Right" I found amuzing.
Alien stands in stark and dark contrast to Star Wars which I also love and in doing so has carved it's own deserved niche in the annals of SF movie history. I recently bought the Ultimate edition director's cut (Japanese version packaging is WAY cooler than the US version, wish I could post a pic of it). The DVD with DTS sound is crystal clear, the picture image mirrors what you hear providing you have a decent system I am using a JVC home theater system 5.1 with subwoofer and you could be literally inside a theater and the job they have done with the production on the DVD makes it a viewing pleasure.
The extras are great too, well thought out and informative 'making' documentary including dozens of interviews with anyone who had anything to do the movie although Ian Holm wasn't interviewed which was a shame; all this without going on too long and the photo galleries are well worth a peruse too.
Can't really find anything much to complain about except that the Japanese version with English language too of course in 5.1 with or without subtitles at around 45 dollars ain't cheap but it sure looks like 45 buckeroos worth as the US one looks (package-wise) like a 20 buck one- no joke!
Get it, watch it, share it, keep it!
Movie Review: "Alien" S.E. DVD REVIEW!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ridley Scott's 1978 film, "Alien" changed the face of horror/science-fiction thrillers and turned the relatively-unknown Sigourney Weaver into a major Hollywood superstar. For its 25th anniversary, Fox Entertainment released a new "director's cut" of the film into theatres. While it didn't do nearly as well as they had hoped, the new two-disc DVD features both the original classic and the new director-approved edition. While "Alien" may not quite be viewed by today's audiences as the landmark suspense film that it was in its day, it is still an exceptionally-done and exciting film. Such moments as John Hurt's "chest-burster" sequence, the Ash robot struggle, and the concluding confrontation between Ripley and the Alien are all so thoroughly well-done. Having the sole survivor of the film be a female is still very rarely seen in films today though most of the film's other major plot twists have been ripped off time and time again by other film-makers over the years.
While the "director's cut" does feature some new added scenes, it actually runs a minute shorter than the original as Ridley Scott has also taken out scenes that he feels have not aged well. I actually prefer the older version though a new sequence featuring the infamous "cocoon" scene is worth checking out. Both versions feature a full-length commentary from the cast and crew including Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver.
This double-disc edition has even more special features to offer than just both versions of the movie. The featurettes on the making of the film are very intriguing and insightful and offer a glimpse into the potential problems that the crew faced. It's also interesting to learn that this film was actually originally planned as a low-budget Roger Corman picture. There's also so more deleted footage from the film that didn't make the "director's cut" on disc two.
If you are even a slight fan of the "Alien" series, this DVD has everything that you could possibly want. You can get this two-disc "special edition" either by itself or as part of the nine-disc "Alien Quadrilogy" boxed set.
Movie Review: Awesome with new scenes added!
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1979, Ridley Scott directed the masterpiece sci-fi/horror movie 'Alien'. It came between the first 2 installations of George Lucas's 'Star Wars' trilogy. When it hit the theaters that year, some scenes were omitted. This review refers to the 'Director's Cut', released on the big screen near the end of 2003.
I saw this masterpiece while on holiday in Adelaide, Australia that year. I had seen the original release several times before. The story is well-known; a spaceship crew is summoned by a signal on an alien world they are passing while returning to Earth. Descending to the planet's surface, 3 of the crew members head out to find the transmission and discover a spaceship with a hold full of eggs. While Kane, one of the crew members, is investigating the eggs, it hatches & the parasite inside attacks him. Kane is brought back to the ship with a spider-like creature attached to his face, which later comes off on its own & subsequently dies. While the crew are at dinner, a new alien makes its presence known - in one of the most legendary scenes in movie history. The new alien that had been growing inside Kane grows even bigger after escaping, eventually becoming a terrifying 6-foot scaly monster with slavering teeth & retractable jaws. One at a time, it ambushes & kills the crew, until Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the only one left alive. She sets the ship on auto-destruct & blows it up after escaping, and kills the alien - or so it seems...
The Director's Cut includes additional scenes on the Nostromo's bridge, as Dallas & his crew listen to the transmission, as well as the well-known 'encasement' scene where Ripley, about to flee the Nostromo, discovers Dallas & Brett encased in a wall by the alien. Obeying Dallas's last command, Ripley kills him & Brett with a flamethrower to put them out their misery. This scene lends a bit of foreshadowing to James Cameron's sequel 'Aliens', which depicted a scene showing missing colonists encased in a wall to be used as hosts for 'facehugger'-type aliens - the type that Kane encountered.
A great set. Fans of the series will LOVE this one!