Alien

Rating:
Summary: Must buy
Review: Alien, frist off, is still one of the best alien movies ever made. It changed the way we thought of space. The organal was good, but the director cut is better. It has cool delated sceens and is still won of my faviort movies ever.

Rating:
Summary: Still Good.
Review: 'Alien' is still good after all these years. The movie is mostly based on suspense and not gore and blood. The settings are really cool and so is the alien. Watch it with no lights on.

Rating:
Summary: Even better than I remembered-awesome DVD.
Review: Luckily, Twentieth Century Fox opted to release all entries in this science fiction/horror series as two disc DVD editions for those of us that did not want to shell out for the impressive but costly Alien Quadrilogy box set that was released in 2003.
As a fan of this, the first film in the series, I must certainly be in the minority as I never really liked the many sequels, and I am an even lesser fan of science fiction. This film however remains a milestone of sci-fi/horror and suspense twenty five years after its release.
Plotwise, this is basically a B-movie tale of a crew of astronauts menaced by an alien creature that has stowed away on their ship. A plot very reminiscent of fifties drive-in classics such as IT!The Terror from Outer Space and The Thing. What redeems this film is the standout acting which is superb particularly Yaphet Kotto, Sigourney Weaver and Tom Skerrit. The sets are also beautiful and elaborate.
Ridley Scott's direction is also very impressive, creating incredible suspense by emphasizing pacing and opting not to overexpose the creature leading the viewer to feel that the beast is omnipresent in every shadow. The H.R. Giger designed Alien is probably one of the most memorable creations in film, right up there with Karloff's brilliant evocation of the Frankenstein monster. The beast is uniquely terrifying and strangely beautiful, probably very much the same impact the title creature from Jack Arnold's Creature from the Black Lagoon had in the mid fifties.
This dvd presents both the theatrical cut(1979) and the director's cut(2003), which features new scenes. Admittedly, the new scenes add nothing to the film and I will definitely be watching the original,theatrical cut every time I reach for this dvd. Even Ridley Scott seems to favour the original in the liner notes.
This dvd is loaded to the gills with great extras, most impressive is roughly three hours of documentary segments. The most fascinating are the ones that concentrate on Swiss artist H.R. Giger who came up with the concept for the titular monster and the segment that focuses on original viewer and critical reactions to the film way back when it premiered in 1979.
Also included are a commentary track with director and cast, a multitude of photo galleries and art galleries and many deleted scenes. Also cool is Weaver's audition for the part of Ripley and a teaser trailer for the upcoming Alien vs. Predator that reveals very little.
Anyone who has never seen this film and is a fan of the sci-fi/horror genre is urged to see this film soon. If you were ever a fan of this film and have not yet picked up this dvd, I highly recommend it. They don't make films like this anymore!!

Rating:
Summary: Darn thing doesn't work
Review: I just bought the Alien Directers cut. For the fifth darn time. Every disc I buy is defective. Aliens DVD worked just fine. There is nothing wrong with my player. These discs are all defective. Fox mastering department sucks majorly. I love this movie. The picture and sound on the disc is great and there are tons of extras. What good is all that if the movie won't play.

Rating:
Summary: Whoo hoo! Right on a thrill ride.
Review: All I have to say, is this is the most horrific movie in the trilogy. It makes it seem so eerie with the silence, then the bursts of sound, I recommend this to anybody who knows what a DVD is.

Rating:
Summary: This movie was no better then Corman Films
Review: I look at Alien now, and it's not scary. It wasn't even scary when I first saw it in 1979. Ridley Scott only makes all style and no substance movies. The Alien looked like it was made out of plastic, the production design was way over-kill, and the effects work needed a lot of work. It was really no better then a Roger Corman movie, except it here the only difference was that it was done on a bigger budget.

Rating:
Summary: Good DVD Content, Fox Did The Right Thing This Time
Review: I have already reviewed the content of the older version of this DVD, but wanted to comment on the new packaging. This time around Fox did the right thing by selling the new Alien Quadrilogy as a boxed set AND separately by movie for those who only liked the first two movies of the Alien saga. I would not have purchased this new edition of Alien if it had only been available as part of a boxed set.

The first disc contains the movie Alien, which you can watch either in its original 1979 theatrical release, or with the scenes cut from the movie added into the 2003 Director's Cut. Someday, we can all hope that Ridley Scott's other science fiction film Blade Runner is released in the same theatrical release/director's cut format on DVD. The first DVD also has new commentary from the director, the writer, and 5 of the 7 actors who made up the crew of the Nostromo.

Personally, I like the original release, as the cut scenes really don't add anything to the picture. The mystery of what happened to Brett and Captain Dallas is revealed in the Director's Cut, but I think that the original version provided a chaotic unsolved mystery as to what happened to these two members of the crew of the Nostromo. The next film, Aliens, did a wonderful job of showing just what happened to those that the Alien beasts did not kill immediately. The scenes with Brett and Dallas in the alien slime, even though they are included in the Director's Cut, do not seem to be professionally completed, or believeable.

The second disk provides more information than anyone would ever want to know about the making of the first Alien movie. It starts from the very beginnings of Ronald Shusett meeting Dan O'Bannon, and Dan O'Bannon marveling over the bizarre drawings of H.R. Giger, and then O'Bannon showing Giger's drawings to Ridley Scott, who was to become the movie's director. There seemed to be many creative people working on all levels of this movie to make Alien a movie that many now regard as a classic science fiction horror film. Of all the behind the scenes discs I've seen for the alien films, this is the best one.

Rating:
Summary: DC vs. Theatrical Version
Review: ALIEN was the first ALIEN movie I watched. After seeing it I loved it! It is the scariest in the series and kicks off the best sci-fi franchise. The theatrical version was a classic thriller that set the standard for horror-sience fiction movies. The begining of the movie dragged, butthe suspense made up for it in the end. I think that they showed Ripley running around by herself a little too long. I give the original 5 stars.

The Director's Cut was just as good, maybe better. They left out the scene where Dallas asked Mother "What are my chances?" but that's all okay.The alien wasn't on screen my, but the look of it was tremendous! Some of the added footage is Brett looking up and seeing the alien but doesn't notice it, Lambert smacking Ripley, Dallas and Brett cocooned, the alien smacking Jones while he was in his box, and more. I think the extra scenes were great! The features disc has 201 minutes of featurettes and has still photo galleries and the theatrical trailer. I give the DC 5 stars and I recomend this DVD to any ALIEN or sci-fi fan.

Rating:
Summary: Alien - A true Sci-Fi treasure in the genre!
Review: "Alien" is one of the most intense Sci-Fi thrillers to have ever graced the silver screen or the home theater in any format! It is the film's intensity that provides such an incredible draw to this extraordinary film. If you're looking for a lot of action, this film is not really what you're looking for; "Aliens" is where the intensity and action comes into play in the line of Alien movies; the whole theme behind "Alien" is to scare to pants off of you with extremely intense scenes and if you've never seen this movie before, it may very well do just that! Never before in the history of this genre had there been a film of this magnitude and few have matched it in it's intensity since.

Now, with this latest release, fans of "Alien" are treated to the best release of this film yet. The very first thing you'll notice when you put this DVD into your player is that you have the option of playing either the 1979 Theatrical Release or a 2003 Director's Cut. The 2003 Director's Cut is preceded by an interesting introduction by Ridley Scott himself. This cut is put together seamlessly and the additions to the film add just that much more flavor to the film, making it that much better. The only downside to this edition and I believe this just stems from the time in which this film was made, was the audio. Despite having the options of THX and 5.1 Dolby Surround or 5.1 DTS, the audio playback just isn't what it should be.

Copious amounts of credit and accolades go to the incredible cast for this outstanding cinematic treasure! Although I wouldn't go so far as to say that "Alien" is "the" movie that made Sigourney Weaver a star, I would say that it was the one that made her a superstar! And since the release of this film and the following three in the Alien legacy, she will forever be known for these roles and probably very few others, except maybe her role in "Ghostbusters."

Director Ridley Scott, who has directed some of the most influential films in just over the past quarter century, deserves high praise and acclaim for "Alien" and the direction he took this film in. There are several directors out there that may have made as many or more films than he has but few have enjoyed the success he has had and a lot of that success can be directly attributed to the work he did on this film!

The Premise:

Although never clearly defined as to when, it is the future and America has expanded Earth's atmosphere and is sending mining ships out there... The Nostromo, a civilian mining vessel is making the return trip home from an expedition and the crew is in cryo-freeze for the trip home but "Mother" the ships computer wakes them up to investigate what appears to be an alien SOS message.

As the crew goes through the necessary steps to investigate the signal on a small planetoid, the tension builds right to the moment that Kane (John Hurt) is deep within the bowels of the alien ship and is leaning over what appears to be an egg...

What follows from there is most certainly one of the most intense Sci-Fi thrillers ever to have been brought to the silver screen. I highly recommend this exceptional film to any and all who're fans of movies in this genre. {ssintrepid}

Special Features:

For those that have been waiting for a special edition DVD of "Alien" with all of the bells and whistles, this edition is most assuredly it!

-1979 Theatrical Version (Deleted/Extended Scene Index) (Alien Vs. Predator Teaser Trailer)
-2003 Director's Cut (Ridley Scott Introduction) (Deleted Footage Marker)
-Full Length Audio Commentary with Director Ridley Scot, Writer Dan O'Bannon, Executive Producer Ronald Shusett, Editor Terry Rawlings, Actors; Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt (Both Versions) +
-Behind the Scenes Featurettes:
*"Star Beast: Developing the Story"
*"The Visualists: Direction and Design"

*"Truckers in Space: Casting"
*"Future Tense: Music and Editing"
*"Outward Bound: Visual Effects"
*"A Nightmare Fulfilled: Reaction to the Film"
*"Fear of the Unknown: Shepperton Studios, 1978"
*"The Darkest Reaches: Nostromo and Alien Planet"
*"The Eighth Passenger: Creature Design"
*"The Chestburster" Multi-Angle Sequence with Optional Commentary by Ridley Scott
-Sigourney Weaver Screen Test with Optional Commentary by Ridley Scott
-Still Photo Galleries
-Deleted & Extended Scenes

Rating:
Summary: One heck of a movie
Review: Alien has established itself as the greatest movie of all time.It's so insanely creepy you'll probably have nightmares for the next year.The movie is about around 8 people on a cargo ship returning to earth with several million tons of ore.They're sent to investigate a deserted planet where they picked up a strange signal.At the planet an alien gets aboard the ship and kills the crew members one by one until there's only one left.It's main feature is the famous blood drenched scene that's terrible to watch when you're eating.