Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #251 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-12-08
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Number of discs: 9
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 9
• Running time: 461 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Alien Quadrilogy is a nine-disc box set devoted to the four Alien films. Although previously available on DVD as the Alien Legacy, here the films have been repackaged with vastly more extras and with upgraded sound and vision. For anyone who hasn't been in hypersleep for the last 25 years this series needs no introduction, though for the first time each film now comes in both original and "Special Edition" form.

Alien (1979) was so perfect it didn't need fixing, and Ridley Scott's 2003 Director's Cut is fiddling for the sake of it. Watch once then return to the majestic, perfectly paced original. Conversely the Special Edition of James Cameron's Aliens (1986) is the definitive version, though it's nice finally to have the theatrical cut on DVD for comparison. Most interesting is the alternative Alien3 (1992). This isn't a "director's cut"--David Fincher refused to have any involvement with this release--but a 1991 work-print that runs 29 minutes longer than the theatrical version, and has now been restored, remastered and finished-off with (unfortunately) cheap new CGI. Still, it's truly fascinating, offering a different insight into a flawed masterpiece. The expanded opening is visually breathtaking, the central firestorm is much longer, and a subplot involving Paul McGann's character adds considerable depth to the story. The ending is also subtly but significantly different. Alien Resurrection (1997) was always a mess with a handful of brilliant scenes, and the Special Edition just makes it eight minutes longer.

On the DVD: Alien Quadrilogy offers all films except Alien3 with DTS soundtracks, the latter having still fine Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. All four films sound fantastic, with much low-level detail revealed for the first time. Each is anamorphically enhanced at the correct original aspect ratio, and the prints and transfers are superlative. Every film offers a commentary that lends insight into the creative process--though the Scott-only commentary and isolated music score from the first Alien DVD release are missing here--and there are subtitles for hard of hearing both for the films and the commentaries.

Each movie is complemented by a separate disc packed with hours of seriously detailed documentaries (all presented at 4:3 with clips letterboxed), thousands of photos, production stills and storyboards, giving a level of inside information for the dedicated buff only surpassed by the Lord of the Rings extended DVD sets. A ninth DVD compiles miscellaneous material, including a Channel 4 hour-long documentary and even all the extras from the old Alien laserdisc. Exhaustive hardly begins to describe the Alien Quadrilogy, a set which establishes the new DVD benchmark for retrospective releases and which looks unlikely to be surpassed for some time. --Gary S Dalkin

DVD Description
The definitive DVD box set of the most terrifying saga ever created -- over 40 hours of addidional footage. Four discs containing the original theatrical versions of each film in addition to the extended versions with Alien containing the 2003 Director's Cut and Aliens 3 including Fincher's workprint.

An additional four discs containing new, detailed commentaries, interviews, multi-angle anamatics, pre-production, production and post production featurettes, 252 pages of Stan Winston’s fascinating workshop, screenplays and intriguing easter eggs. The final bonus disc contains rare still archives, theatrical and television trailers, interviews and fascinating special effects footage.

Special Features
Over 40 hours of all new bonus materials on 9 discs:
Disc 1 (ALIEN)
118 minutes viewing the 2003 Theatrical cut with all new commentary and Ridley Scott's new intro
Disc 2 (ALIEN BONUS DISC)
216 minutes of all new, never before seen video features
Disc 3 (ALIENS)
154 minutes viewing the Special Edition cut with all new commentary and James Cameron Intro
Disc 4 (ALIENS BONUS DISC)
198 minutes of all new, never before seen video features
Disc 5 (ALIEN 3)
137 minutes viewing the theatrical cut with the all new commentary
157 minutes viewing the all new Special Edition Cut
Disc 6 (ALIEN 3 BONUS DISC)
174 minutes of all new, never before seen video features
Disc 7 (ALIEN RESURRECTION)
109 minutes viewing the theatrical cut with the all new commentary
120 minutes viewing the all new Special Edition Cut with intro by Jean Pierre Jeunet
Disc 8 (ALIEN RESURRECTION BONUS DISC)
194 minutes of all new, never before seen video features
Disc 9 (BONUS DISC)
104 minutes of all new, never before seen video features

DTS 5.1 sound
Limited edition, numbered and highly collectible packaging with special printing and green digi-stack trays

Customer Reviews

In Space - no one can hear you scream...
Once every few years – cinema is graced with a truly groundbreaking film, perhaps it’s just new take on old ideas, perhaps it’s something unlike anything that’s ever been seen before, but either way settles into the public consciousness; creating heroes and villains that become icons for an age of cinema-goers. Alien was one such film – generating the definitive blueprint for the embattled horror heroine in Ripley and the definitive monster in the Alien – a creature designed by H.R. Giger to prey on the even the most remote of human subconscious fears.

This new box set sees the re-release of the first four films of the series. I say ‘first four’ as next year will see the release of the long-awaited Alien vs. Predator film, to be followed (if successful) by Alien ‘5’. Box sets by nature are tricky things – when buying one it’s always useful to be aware that the studio will most likely release another box set in years to come with yet more bonus features added – as is true in this case. For those of you who bought the Alien Legacy box set – my sympathy – as the new Alien Quadrilogy appears to have it all…

So what’s new?

Well, this time we have the directors cut of Alien – clocking in at 40 seconds shorter than the original, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you were getting less value for money than the ‘79 release. However, Scott’s new cut works well – giving a nip and tuck here and there – trimming off some of the fat so to speak. For those of you who found some of the slower moments of the original hard to sit through – the new version should provide some welcome relief as whilst the air of tension and suspense is still maintained – the pace of the film is quicker. It is also worth noting that the new version also incorporates the much vaunted Dallas cocoon sequence – available only as a deleted scene on previous DVD editions. Whether it works in the final cut is a matter of personal opinion, but for this reviewer – whilst intrigued to see it, my belief is that if wasn’t deemed good enough to make the initial print – then there’s no reason it should really be in the new one. Hard-core fans of the series will no doubt be glad to see its reinsertion though.

The other big new addition is David Finchers work print of Alien 3. Whilst many films have scenes re-shot or removed from the final print – it is interesting to see how much was actually removed from Alien 3 – to put it mildly – there’s quite a bit. In some places it merely fleshes out the story – perhaps giving an image or a sound to an obvious suggestion in the original cut, but in others it gives an entertaining twist on the plot of the film – perhaps most notable of all is the revelation that in the original script the Alien was to be spawned from an Ox – indeed much of the footage was shot with prosthetics, but it was only when the director realised how difficult an ox was to train that they abandoned the concept and re-shot the footage with a dog instead.

In addition to this, Aliens & Alien Resurrection are both faithfully reproduced here – both have bonus features on the additional discs unseen before, but little that’s new is brought to the table. The films themselves are superb pieces of fiction – fascinating on many levels and equally gruesome. Alien and Alien 3 are both masterpieces of suspense and storytelling, Aliens is every action film fans wet dream and Resurrection, whilst by no means the best of the series, is certainly a vastly entertaining film.

Whether or not this box-set is either definitive or a ‘must buy’ remains to be seen, but for fans who have yet to buy any of the movies on DVD I recommend this highly. For those of us with the Alien Legacy box set – my advice is to wait – these editions will almost inevitably be re-released along with any or all of the newer instalments in the years to come.

The ultimate 'Alien' saga box set!
This has to be one of the best DVD box sets of the past few years, ranking alongside the likes of the sublime special extended editions of the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy.
Not only do we get the four films featuring Ripley on her eternal battle with the Alien creatures in their theatrical and special extended versions, but also the most staggering amount of extra features I've seen on DVDs until now. I would have thought that it would be very difficult to get hold of enough archival footage and other memorabilia to fill a disc of special features, especially from the first movie. Since the original 'Alien' was filmed in 1978 and released in 1979, and having read so much about studios' common practice of destroying most of the unused footage, i.e outtakes, test footage, deleted scenes and so on, I was surprised to realise that there was indeed a lot of that previously unreleased to the public.
The producers took advantage of every single piece of material on each one of the films they had access to to give us an unprecedented thorough view of how they were made. Other than contemporary interviews with writers, directors, producers, actors, designers, special effects wizards and many others, there are outtakes, screen tests, trims, test footage, making of featurettes, an incredible array of photographs, production drawings and conceptual designs, deleted scenes(for the first film only), audio commentaries, etc, etc.
I must admit that the first two movies are absolute masterpieces as far as I'm concerned, with the remaining two sequels being rather disappointing. Nevertheless, if you're a fan of Ripley and the Aliens then this is the collection you should be going after, as you won't be able to find a more complete DVD compilation on these films than this one right here!

Bad news for Region 2
Yes, the Alien Quadrilogy is one of the greatest DVDs ever to be release, and one of the most anticipated. With over 45hrs of special features, it has enough to keep even the most demanding Alien fan entertained.

However, despite many sites assuring that the different regions of the discs are the same, it has now been confirmed that they are not. Region 1 viewers over in America have the superior set. Why? Let me explain.

The extended cut of Alien 3 has new scenes edited in. Because they were never intended for use in the original film, the required dubbing and voice-overs by the actors was never completed. Therefore, in certain bits the sound is inaudible. While the region 1 disc accomplishes the problem by displaying automatic subtitles, the region 2 has no such feature. It also has no "Deleted Footage" marker, which is another subtitle option that diplays these words when a deleted scene is playing.

OK, I hear you say, so it's not the end of the world, right? Wrong.

Fans of audio commentaries will be greatly dissappointed with the region 2 set.
The region 1 has a commentary for each film. The commentaries have been edited so that they can be listened to while watching the Theatrical Version of the film, or the other versions.
The region 2 however, only has commentaries for the Theatrical Versions of the 4 films. This means that there is more than an hour of audio material missing from the region 2 version. This is bound to upset many fans, so I recommend buying the region 1 version from Amazon instead, but only if you have a Multi-Region DVD player.

But don't worry region 2 dwellers. You still have one advantage.

The region 2 pack is MUCH more easy to use and navigate than the region 1. While the region 2 is like a book, with one DVD in each of it's "pages", the region 1 is a fold-out digipack which is over 5 feet long when fully opened. This can be a bit frustrating, and I doubt if it will withstand much wear-and-tear.

Still though, the packaging isn't as important as the discs. I have absolutely no idea why FOX would cut out this stuff. There would still be plenty of space on the discs to include these extras, but that's FOX for you.

FOX has also cut out 30mins of footage from the Alien 3 documentary on the disc, on both regions this time. What was originally entitled "Wreckage and Rape: The Making of Alien 3" has now been turned into "The Making of...", as well as a number of the featurettes.

Nonetheless, the Alien Quadrilogy is still a PHENOMANAL DVD package. It has completely re-set the standard for DVDs. It towers over the likes of "X-Men 1.5", "T3", and "The Lord of The Rings: Extended Editions". Alien Quadrilogy is not just another DVD, it is THE DVD, and will maintain that title for a long time to come.