A masterpiece: Alien Quadrilogy
One Saturday night in 1984…
If you were to peep into an apartment somewhere in central Singapore, you would find an 8-year old starring at the TV.
There i was, eyes wide open and ears pricked up. My sweaty body cocooned in a dusty blanket.
For two hours, I mangled and squeezed the life out of my long-suffering pillow.
The best part was, I could barely follow the dialogues on-screen.
Alien
15 years later, I still remember scenes from the first Alien movie vividly.
The huge star freighter Nostromos humming through deep space. The crews landing on a swirling planetoid where they came face-to-face with evil. The octopus-like creature (aka face hugger) smothering its first victim. Ripley running down eerie passageways whose walls spout steam and where every impenetrable shadow seem to harbour a crouching Xenomorph. The evil, corporate android who wanted to trade the lives of the entire crew for an Alien specimen (and not forgetting the good android Bishop who appeared in the sequel).
Alien was a B-grade movie which succeeded in not being one. Its formula? A good script, credible acting (it was Sigourney Weaver’s first significant role on the big-screen), clever camera work and most importantly, artful use of lighting and sound effects.
Since the shit first hit the pants, i’ve watched Alien and its 1986 sequel several times. They continued to grip me despite featuring spaceships with colourful light bulbs and flip switches.
Review of the Alien Quadrilogy
Which brings me to the purpose of this post – a review of the magnificent Alien Quadrilogy.
If you’re a fan of any of the Alien movies, read no further. Just buy it.
Seriously.
But in case you need more persuasion…
This box-set of 9 DVDs contains all four movies that Sigourney Weaver starred in: Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Aliens 3 (1991) and Aliens Resurrection (1997).
There are two DVDs for each movie. On the first, there is a digitally-remastered theatre release and a special release / director’s cut. The second DVD contains such bonus materials as photos, screenplays, storyboards and 15-20mins mini-documentaries covering different aspects of the movies’ production. The quality of the remastering was superb and what’s more, Ridley Scott and James Cameron (who directed the first two, and in my opinion the best, films) were personally involved in this release.
Interestingly, Ridley Scott felt that the theatre release was THE perfect version while James Cameron preferred the special edition (“it’s what the audience deserved”). David Fincher (Alien 3) refused to have anything to do with this release; Nonetheless we’re treated to a special edition running 29 mins longer than the theatre release. The ninth DVD contains miscellaneous materials including an hour-long documentary.
Much as i love the movies on the DVDs, the real treat for me were the bonus materials. Did i mention that on all 8 movies, you can choose to listen to an audio commentary by the production crews? They are a treasure trove for budding screenwriters or film makers looking to learn how the pros did it. They are not filler materials that you find in some boxed-sets.
Alien Quadrilogy: Everything you ever wanted to know about the Alien movies
Quality of the packaging and DVDs: 5/5
Video & audio quality: 5/5
Bonus material: 5/5
Value for money: a big 5/5
What are you waiting for???
