Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3649 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-05-15
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
By transplanting the classic haunted house scenario into space, Ridley Scott, together with screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, produced a work of genuinely original cinematic sci-fi with Alien that, despite the passage of years and countless inferior imitations, remains shockingly fresh even after repeated viewing. Scott's legendary obsession with detail ensures that the setting is thoroughly conceived, while the Gothic production design and Jerry Goldsmith's wonderfully unsettling score produce a sense of disquiet from the outset: everything about the spaceship Nostromo--from Tupperware to toolboxes-seems oddly familiar yet disconcertingly ... well, alien.

Nothing much to speak of happens for at least the first 30 minutes, and that in a way is the secret of the film's success: the audience has been nervously peering round every corner for so long that by the time the eponymous beast claims its first victim, the release of pent-up anxiety is all the more effective. Although Sigourney Weaver ultimately takes centre-stage, the ensemble cast is uniformly excellent. The remarkably low-tech effects still look good (better in many places than the CGI of the sequels), while the nightmarish quality of H.R. Giger's bio-mechanical creature and set design is enhanced by camerawork that tantalises by what it doesn't reveal.

On the DVD: The director, audibly pausing to puff on his cigar at regular intervals, provides an insightful commentary which, in tandem with superior sound and picture, sheds light into some previously unexplored dark recesses of this much-analysed, much-discussed movie (why the crew eat muesli, for example, or where the "rain" in the engine room is coming from). Deleted scenes include the famous "cocoon" sequence, the completion of the creature's insect-like life-cycle for which cinema audiences had to wait until 1986 and James Cameron's Aliens. Isolated audio tracks, a picture gallery of production artwork and a "making of" documentary complete a highly attractive DVD package. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
Astronauts must fight an unknown creature not only for their own survival, but for the survival of all mankind.

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical Trailer
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
Commentary By The Director
Artwork
Photo Galleries
Original Storyboards
Isolated Original Score
Alternative Music Track
Czech\Danish\English\Finnish\Hebrew\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Customer Reviews

A Superb film and a superb DVD
Alien is one of the finest science fiction/horror films ever made and this DVD release certainly does it justice. The transfer is simply stunning - it looks sharper and clearer than most films released today and it's almost impossible to believe it's nearly 30 years old. The picture is flawless and as clear as crystal. The inclusion of a 'Director's Cut' along with the original theatrical release is a big plus factor, althoug while very interesting, the original version is still better. And the extras are simply amazing. Over 3 hours of documentary charting the development and production of the film, it covers absolutley everything but is never boring and is an example of how a documentary should be made. I cannot recommend this DVD enough, the film itself is a masterpiece and this is one of the best DVD releases of any film ever. A must buy without a doubt.

the best sci-fi ever?
This film has been subjected to so much analysis that it is now part of cinematic folklore. Alongside Blade Runner (another Scott classic) it is probably sci-fi's answer to Citizen Kane. And that's only the first cliche. From media/film studies analysis to Freudian interpretation, Alien fascinates as much as it terrifies (and for some reason, it does terrify - despite being set in space) possibly due to the fact that it didn't really cause much of a stir at the box-office.

It was its first TV outing that made it famous. Who else remembers growing up in the eighties, going to bed early cos you had to and going to school the next morning and having to hear all the cool kids talking about how they'd stayed up to see Alien? Listening to parents talk about the creature with two mouths? And the parasitic chest-burster? And the thing that covers your face and then impregnates you with its young? How many of us remember watching Aliens - because we were old enough and a whole legend had grown around HR Giger's creation? How many of us remember getting to watch the original AFTER Aliens and thinking it was a bit dull by comparison? And how many of us went back to the original 'cos there was just something about it that made us want to? And how many of us realised that, actually, that sombre soundtrack and the excrucitaingly slow pace made for what is a cinematic classic - compared to the bombast of the sequel?
For years I had to put up with reviewers stating that Aliens was the better film. Years. I never understood how any paid reviewer worth their salt could make such a claim. Yes, Aliens has a certain impact and yes, it was good to see Ripley return and kick ass. But the original and best did something that the sequel could not manage. And that is, put seven ordinary people in an ordinary situation and make them try and muddle through an extraordinary series of events. It is their ordinariness that makes the film so compelling.
This issue is the best by far because it gives you the option of watching two versions of the same film. Interestingly, the lengthier version allows you to see the scene with Dallas which explains the "coccooning" of Aliens. It is down to personal preference as to which version is best. I can watch either, depending on my mood. It was, however, a ghoulish revelation to me that the idea of coccooning had been mooted prior to Cameron's sequel.
What makes this the cinematic masterpiece it is, however, is still the fundamental basics of any film - make the characters and their reactions seem believable. That, and include a scene where, due to unbelieveably brilliant pacing and an excellent score, the audience is petrified because a green dot is advancing inexorably toward another green dot and then inexplicably disappears. And then comes back, moving faster and with more purpose than before. It is, without doubt, one of the most genius pieces of cinema ever created.
Forget the chest-burster scene. Forget the first kill. And for God's sake forget the hideous episodes 3 and 4. Remember the hang-dog expression on Veronica Cartwright's face as the crew are told they will have to spend more time in stasis. "Well how about a little something to lower your spirits" she opines. And while Cameron may have tried to re-create her in Bill Paxton form, he never quite managed it. The character so out of their depth that all they want to do is sit in a puddle of their own urine. Much is made of Sigourney Weaver, but it's Cartwright who makes the film for me.
Put simply, what Scott managed to do was convince seven actors to convince generations that they were genuinely in space being terrorised by a xenomorph. No small feat. No small feat at all. Such a shame it got turned into a franchise.

Satisfactory sci-fi, marred only by poor onscreen effects
I recall the week this film came out. I was on a camping holiday with my brother Anders and his friend Braithwaite. We had ventured to the rocky retreats of a local rivine. The trip turned out to be a total disaster, mainly because I forgot to bring the gas stove and also because Braithwaite drowned in some rapids. I do remember being excited though about the 'Alien' film, which was premiering at the time.
Myself and Anders went to see it the following week. He had always been a non believer in aliens and made it clear he was only going to see the film as a favour to me.
Directed by the late Ridley Scott, brother of Hollywood veteran George C.Scott, the film moves at a lethargic pace for the first hour. Some tedious scenes ensue, mainly with the crew sitting down to meals and discussing the mechanics of the ship. I found the first hour extremely dull and there is nothing to engage the viewer, except for some trite incidental music every now and then.
The cast is acceptable, if not a little thin on talent. Newcomer Sigourney Weaver (pronounced Sin-your-ree Wevver) was plucked from obscurity to play the heroine Helen Ripley. She brings no charm to the role and plays the character without emotion or pity, something which I found implausible.
I was pleased to see the wonderful Yaphett Kotto in the film, playing a world weary vet. I had followed his career since his debut in the sitcom 'Me, Janet And Mr Wilson'. He is commanding in this role and despite being the second only actor to have ever starred in a sci-fi film up to this point, he tackles the part with confidence and integrity.
My main criticism is the poor effects. The budget of two million dollars had to be stretched to great lengths and the special effects team were granted a meagre amount to play with. The alien is unconvincingly a man in a rubber suit and the spaceship interiors are clearly made out of cardboard and tissue paper.
On a positive note, the ending is a joy. Weaver battles the alien wearing just a bra. My brother Anders had left the cinema by the time this scene came on, so I was able to savour every delicious moment myself. The erotic interplay between Weaver and the alien in the final confrontation is quite majestic and dare I say it, a little arousing.
Alien has been re-issued several times since the film's release in various versions. I recommend watching the version where the alien dies at the end, rather than the version where they befriend it and invite the alien to take a position on the ship as a chef.