Alien Quadrilogy

Rating:
Summary: Aliens Box set
Review: This set certainly is something to marvel upon. 9 discs. 2 versions of each of the 4 Alien films. I bought it over the summertime for the first time and discovered the greatness of viewing Ridley Scott's Alien for the first time. It was truely a magical experience and the picture & sound are sensation it's hard believe watching Alien it was made more than 25 years ago! Defintley ahead of it's time. The Set, Design, and Giger's design of the Alien all superb. And ofcourse Aliens is just a joyride of action, not as horrific as Alien, but nonetheless, Cameron is a genius and knows how please an audience. Alien 3 & 4 ok but are far from the greatness of the first two films. Overall I am pleased and joyed to own this set. Anyone who has to discover the Alien franchise, this is a great way to discover it, enjoy, and love it for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Alien DVD Box
Review: The space driller Nostromo and its crew of 6 are finishing their mission and returning to the earth. But their return is cut short when an incomprehensible message is received from a nearby planet. Upon landing there, a dormant alien craft is discovered. Inside they discover a nest of eggs and pick up an unwanted stowaway that terrifies the next 250 years and 4 films. They get all this unwanted strife for going against their mission... or did they?

ALIEN and ALIENS are phenomenal films with creepy storylines, great performances and unearthly production designs. In every film, the strongest chance for survival sits with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver in her signature role) as she has the brains, brawn and willpower to win the day even as everyone around her is dying.

In ALIEN (5 out of 5 stars), Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator) does an amazing job of capturing the `life' of the ship adding an organic quality to everything.

For ALIENS (5 out of 5 stars), The "living ship" element is replaced by industrial environments Director James Cameron (Titanic) used in both Terminators and "The Abyss". But, how can you top a lone individual trapped with an impervious super beast in ALIEN? How about by having hundreds of them!

For ALIEN 3 (2 out of 5 stars), Ripley is again awoken from cryo-sleep to a ship crash and an unwanted pregnancy. Under the helm of David Finchner (Fight Club), this film is rather boring and only carries moments that can be considered ALIEN worthy.

The closeout film, ALIEN RESURRECTION (3 out of 5 stars)directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, The City of Lost Children) adds some much needed oomph to the series, avoiding a complete malfunction. still not a great film, but some fun is there.

The creature design, and many of the films other set pieces were designed by H.R.Geiger, whose high-contrast bio-machine look adapts well to the screen. It is masterfully recreated on screen especially early on. The last two films go heavy into CGI territory. So this box set is perfect for completists, but would be excessive for those who wouldn't watch the last 2 films more than once.

Either way, the DVD transfers in the QUADRILOGY are excellent. And the supplemental material is just superior. Each film is given a full length commentary and an entire disc load of stuff. Highlights include early footage of a dog wearing an alien costume for ALIEN 3, and Sigourney's basketball shot, Lets just say she earned her salary.