Rating: 
Summary: Good collection but ...
Review: As described in most of the other reviews, the first 2 movies ("Alien", "Aliens") are definitely the best. "Alien" introduces us to a space freighter crew pulled out of hypersleep to investigate the source of a distress beacon. We meet the creature that awaits them on the stormy planet: a seething, relentless, lightning-fast, and cold-blooded (acid-blooded, in truth) predator that uses human beings as reproductive hosts, with horrific and gut-wrenching results. "Aliens" covers the rescue mission, in which space marines are dispatched to rescue a colony that landed on the stormy planet. "Aliens", directed by Terminator's James Cameron, is a more action-oriented film and, in the view of many people, even better than its predecessor. Hard to believe but true. "Alien 3" covers Ripley's crash-landing on a planet inhabited by convicts who have been given life sentences. The Alien caused the crash and proceeds to cause all kinds of mayhem, destruction, and the usual loss of life. People generally dislike "Alien 3", primarily because most of the characters are rapists and murderers and, hence, hard to sympathesize with. If anything, I found myself rooting for the alien ("Just get this over with", I thought). This is the weak link in the collection.In "Alien Resurrection", it is several centuries after Ripley's death, except Ripley has been brought back to life through the miracle of cloning. But now, Ripley also has DNA from the alien incorporated into her genetic structure. The evil corporation has genetically cloned several of the aliens but they escape and cause mayhem, destruction, and the usual loss of life. Ripley, part alien herself, is now rather neutral about the creature. While "Alien Resurrection" shows the evolution of Ripley's character from frightened protector to cunning survivor, it lacks the tension of the first two movies, since we know that the alien won't kill Ripley. Instead, the director would have us worry about characters that we know less about and, in truth, don't really care for very much. Ridley Scott and James Cameron understood how frightened audiences--and the characters--would be to think about having their bodies used as hosts. It is horror personified. The latter 2 movies are more in the slasher tradition, filled with gratuitous violence of people getting their heads bashed in. Scott and Cameron steered away from overt violence--it was enough to know what was going to happen. They borrowed a page from Greek tragedy. My recommendation: Buy the first 2 movies separately unless you're a must-have kind of fan.
Rating: 
Summary: The greatest sci-fi horror series is at it's very best
Review: All four of the Alien movies in a collectors boxset edition. Each of them have been THX Remastered, so the picture quality for all four of them is crystal clear and the sound is so clear and sharp that its beyond phenomenal. Each movie comes loaded with lots of extra cool features like interviews with the directors, theatrical trailers, still photo gallery, and the Alien edition comes with deleted scenes that every fan has to see. And to finish it off its presented in widescreen letterbox view so we get all of the pictures detail. A must have for every science fiction fan.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: This series of movies is a must for any serious science fiction fan. The collection easily rates a 5, however, for me the first two (Alien and Aliens) alone justify this score. Both these movies maintain a level of suspense rarely found in other scifi/horror films. The additional scenes included in Aliens are a pleasant bonus, although they do not add much to the film overall Alien3 is the weakest film of the collection. The plot is thin relative to the others as well as being somewhat predictable. The Alien itself is slightly disappointing. The problem director Fincher faces is the issue of plot repitition - the same characters facing the same foe - his response is an Alien containing the genes of a dog. The result is not so convincing Alien Resurrection sits more comfortably with the first two movies. The transformation in Ripley's (Weaver) character is spellbinding and gives the director (Jeunet) a blank canvass to work with. None of these points subtract from this collection. It would be a bargin at twice the price.
Rating:
Summary: READY TO DIE?
Review: WHAT CAN I SAY? THERE ARE NO MONSTERS LIKE THOSE ALIENS! DOUBLE JAW, CORROSIVE BLOOD, NON-HUMAN STRENGHT (OBVIOUSLY!), THE REPULSIVE WAY THEY MULTIPLY... THE PERFECT KILLING MACHINE! RIPLEY'S ADVENTURES GO FAR BEYOND OUR IMAGINATION, BESIDES THE GREAT ARGUMENTS, DIRECTION, SPECIAL EFFECTS AND SURROUNDINGS... COMBINE ALL THAT AND YOU WILL HAVE A HORRORIFIC TIME!
Rating:
Summary: making Alien Legacy on DVD do its name justice
Review: Having read reviews and watching through all 4 of the movies myself, I find the movies much better than when I saw them in theatres. Not to take away any effort from the last two, I think the first two is classic in its own right. I cannot say enough about Aliens (2nd part of the series) because it contains visual effects that is stunning for its age. Cameron had to do a lot of homework on what works and what won't work with the tight budget he had. It's amazing what he did with the kind of money in his hands, sort of like Lucas with his first Star Wars. Besides beating the odds with special effects, the story telling and balance is cunning. Cameron bend and twist the plots to gain audience's respect for knowing the material and doing his homework. Instead of copying what Alien did. Cameron made it better. The 3rd in the series contained too much profanity even for a jailhouse scenario. The set was good but overall even with a talented director and ambitious effort, the 3rd in the series failed to make an impression as the first two. To define what is a good movie, you have to stand back and look at the overall picture. I love the special effects on the 4th one and I love Winonna Ryder... The irony is, being a synthetic, Call (Winonna) shows the most humane attributes of fear, emotional attachment and being hurt by ridicules than any of her human buddies. For some reason I like the 4th one more than the 3rd by a big margin. It's highly entertaining. To rank them, I would #1 Aliens, #2 Alien, #3 Alien Resurrection, #4 Alien 3
Rating: 
Summary: Films of an era
Review: Each of the Alien movies are representative of the times in which they were made. Alien had at its focus a mistrust of the giant corporation and sex as death as another primary theme. The alien is the most sexual of all of the characters (ironically, its ally, the robot, is the least sexual of all of the characters). Aliens is representative of 1980's optimism. The company is still evil, but this time the conclusion is upbeat. Alien3, on the other hand, reflects the pessimism that was going on economically in the early '90s, displayed by Ripley's sacrifice at the end mirroring the impression that many Generation Xr's had that they would have to pay for the deficit that had ballooned during the 80's. Alien Resurrection, on the other hand, displays the attitudes of the hip, self-referential late 90's. Things aren't too serious this time around, even as things are still going to hell, now the characters are laughing about it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!! Great production !!!
Review: The DVD production is awesome!!! Great movies made greater!. I've expected the old alien to be dull and poor on a DVD, but no!. All the legacy got THX remastered , and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. The menus are the most interactive menus I ever seen , and there are a LOT of extra features!!!. Simply Best Buy , for the right people!......
Rating:
Summary: There could never be a better series of space horror movies
Review: All four films (but especially the first two) are all amazing in their own right. You have the acting, the effects, the score, the plot, everything is incredible! The fourth installment, I admit, was reaching, but nevertheless worth your time and money. This is for any sci-fi/horror fan that's up for a good time.
Rating:
Summary: Newsflash - They're All Good
Review: Having just completed the series in it's entirety for the first time, it's apparant that all are quality films in their own right. Aleins wasn't as good as everyone says, and 3&4 are far better than the general consensus. The lack of special features on 3&4 is disapointing, though.
Rating:
Summary: Prespective
Review: First off the transfers for these film on the DVDs are in a word, STUNNING. As far as I can tell this is the absolute best any of these films has ever looked in just about any format you can mention, even better in most cases than in the theater. Yes there have been quibbles, some justified, but some just poorly informed. For those that are complaining that ALIENS is grainy, Please understand that the film was shot with high speed film with only practical lighting for about 2-3 million more that Alien cost 8 years before. It was essentially shot like a low-budget feature. Anybody who has seen the ALIENS Special Edition Laserdisc can tell you the source material is VERY grainy, and this transfer is a godsend. However, the supplements provided stop with ALIENS. Virtually noting is provided for ALIEN 3 or ALIEN RESURRECTION. Any fan can tell you there is a-lot of material out there on these movies, but nothing worthwhile is provided. It feels as if someone just wimped out, they'd shot their load on the first two and just couldn't work it up for the last two. However, most of the material on 1 & 2 was produced in 92-94 and the DVD just upgrades the interface, so what we have here is simply lazy, and feels like a slap in the face. But once again the transfers are STUNNING
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