Rating: Summary: Detailed Review of Alien 1-4 Review: Many fans of this series; when they try to think of the 4 movies and rate them from best to worst, it's a very difficult task to do. Yes, indeed each went about in a different way, but they all pulled it off in some aspect that can never leave a fan saying "I was disappointed with that film" In the 1st, there's storytelling going on and you face the terrible facts right along with the characters which made it so suspenseful. In the second, they keep your heart pounding with great action scenes, and show some interaction between characters such as Ripley and Hicks. I also had to admit its music was interesting. That credit music in the end at first makes you think that they're all safely returning home, then it sounds so creepy as if it foretells bad things to come. I liked that. In the third, they confront gripping new approaches such as going against the alien without any modern weapons, but also with feelings that make you think Ripley was never really ever safe from all her horrors as she has to face them in a whole new way. In the fourth, the new twist of how Ripley changes your thinking about her fighting these things to her actually changing them makes for a unique but touchy ending. At first you may feel like there's something you miss in the ending, but really in my opinion if all the directors could go about their own styles and yet create consistency from with the same terror that the first few scenes strike into your heart to nearly the very last, that makes this one of the best suspensefull horror series ever made.
Rating: Summary: Something that you need to understand Review: By far one of the best movie series ever made, every movie, in it's own way is breath-taking. In the first movie you have a basic introduction to the alien in a very good setting. A ship that is heading back to earth in space and the alien is stalking the crew-members and killing them off. In number 2, unlike one you take on the alien(s) on their home turf as it were. As far as action goes, this is the best movie for action and special effects. According to many people, alien 3 was terrible, however if you look at it from a philosophical aspect, it is a great movie. It screams, this is what it is like to do battle with one of these creatures in hell, with no weapons and no true way to fight them. The last one is just a special-effects feast, with an ending that is interesting. I personally enjoyed it, but I have my own reservations about the end. Overall, an excellent buy and an excellent series. Get it and enjoy them all!!!
Rating: Summary: Peter Review: Well, my favorite of the four is Aliens. I am a big Bill Paxton and Michael Bien fan, and they are in prime form here. A group of future marines with the latest stuff attack a large group of aliens. A lot of great fight scenes. The DVD gives a neat plus, about 20mins of additional scenes. Part of that is they develop the colonist story more. The first one is, well, I would think everyone has already seen it. The third has a great cast to pull it along; although, the story is pretty cool, and the fourth is - ahhhh - lets just say I've seen it a couple of times. Reminds me of a low budget writter with a lot of money. It is fun to watch though.
Rating: Summary: Get it While You can Review: Its hard to find the films on DVD now. The studio has stopped pressing new copies for a while with the next film in development.
Rating: Summary: An Incredible Boxed Set Review: You all have seen the films included in this set, so you already know about the mischievous aliens that seem to pop out of shadows and kill the humans that are hunting them. This boxed set is a great addition to your collection, chock full of great extras. Aliens is the extended director's cut, and has literally hundreds of still shots of the cast, as well as production photos of equipment and vehicles. The other three films feature interviews, thearical trailers, and behind-the-scenes footage. If you like one film, or all four, this boxed set is not to be passed up.
Rating: Summary: Outstanding collection Review: This is an outstanding collection. If your a science fiction fan then you must get this collection, PERIOD!! Any DVD collection would not be complete without it. Of course some of the films are stronger than others. But as a whole, please show any sequel movies as strong as these. For that matter show me and four movies based on the same story and theme which have held up as stong as these four. Not only are these films classics, but there arguably the best Science Fiction films ever made. The only other Sci-Fi films which reach this calibur are 'Empire Strikes Back', 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', '2001', 'and maybe Dark Star'. Well may dark star can be excluded from this list, but there is no arguing it's the best cult Sci-Fi film ever made. John Carpenter and all of the other people involved with 'Dark Star' went on to contribute to these great epic science fiction films which I've listed above. If you get a chance, I would highly recomend watching 'Dark Star' just for the sake of the ideas and what it might have been with a better budget and a little cleaned up. I would think this would be the ultimate remake if done properly with a better script, changed and add some elements to the plot, and with a grand budget. There are some awesome ideas put into this Lo-Sci-Fi thriller. Plus you'll get a few kicks out of it. This was John Carpenter's first film and of course we know where he went from here. I must add that Alien 3 is one of the most underated films ever made. I think this holds up just as well, or even stronger in certains ways than the first two. I love the way David Fincher Directs. From here he went on to make Fight Club, Seven, ECT... From this stand point you should watch it now with a sense of how David Fincher makes his films. Dark, Doomed, and untimatelly down right depressing. I think its a great film which was done wonderfully. If anything else respect it for its artistic quality. You might not like the plot, you might not like the characters, but there is no denying its a film which holds up as strongs as the first two. The only thing this film doesnt have is the massess backing it because it wasnt what they expected, or not what they wanted in the next film.
Rating: Summary: THE MOST POPULAR SCIENCE FICTION SAGA EVER! Review: I saw Ridley Scott's "Alien" when I was about ten. I'm eightteen years old now and when I watch this movie I still marvel at the effects when the alien creature makes it's first horrific appearance at the dinner scene. (If nobody knows who R. Scott is, he is the brilliant mind behind "Gladiator" and his most recent project is the soon to be released sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs", "Hannibal." James Cameron's movies ("Titanic", "Terminator", "T2", "True Lies", "The Abyss") are all great Hollywood achievements, but it is my opinion that his "Aliens" sequel is his most effective. Plot: Ripley, the only survivor of the first "close encounter" returns fifty-seven years later to planet Earth. How is this possible? Watch the movies and you'll see. Ripley discovers that everything she knows and cares about is long gone . . . and every night she is plagued by the nightmares of the alien. She joins a team of rough "grunts" (a.k.a., MARINES) to wipe the acid-spewing species out once and for all and also to rid herself of the nightmares. Very scary effects -- although I think Cameron wanted to make this installment more of an action movie than a science fiction film. Alien 3 is fun to watch-- but absolutely not a "must keep." This film deals with a totally new breed of Alien, and a totally new team of roughs-- this time not Marines, but death-row prision inmates locked away on a far, dark planet for unspeakable crimes. In this third installment, you don't care for the characters as much in the first one or the second-- although Sigourney Weaver was immortalized due to her scary crew cut. Alien Reserection is the worst of the bunch-- but it is fun to watch only once in the WIDESCREEEN format, then never again. Stupid characters and sloppy dialog, in addition to Ripley's Alien offspring that resembles a puppy more than a head-crushing monster, I think. Pretty cool slime in this one, however.
Rating: Summary: An incredible set that begins with the box! Review: Yeah, the box is cool looking. But the discs it contains are meaty! Each disc comes with a bunch of extras including concept drawings, making of featurettes, etc. And finally you can watch the directors cut of Aliens! Why they cut the scenes out we'll never know, but now you get to see them. This has been one of my favorite movie franchises (right along Star Wars and Indiana Jones) and this DVD set is a shining example of why this set is so great.
Rating: Summary: Let Me Save You Some Money.... Review: you only need the first 2 movies of this series, really! "Aliens"(the sequel) is an awesome, nail biting piece of sci-fi, then comes "Alien"(the original) in a close 2nd. But 3 and especially 4 blows big chunks.The producers should have stopped with "Aliens", there's only so many times one can milk a cow, ya know?
Rating: Summary: Buy Alien and Aliens as singles, leave this set alone! Review: I love this series and the first two DVD's Alien and Aliens are chock full of extras; commentary, behind the scenes, still photos, deleted scenes, outtakes and interviews. But when you get to Alien3 and Alien Ressurection, you're left with maybe an interview and possibly some commentary. Don't waste your money buying this DVD set. If you buy the first two separately, you'll be glad you did because you'll save yourself about 50 bucks by avoiding the boxed set. The first two have plenty of extras to keep you busy for awhile. The last two have a little while to develop a stronger reputation to put out more extras for those projects. I do also need to warn that when this boxed set went on sale the first time it was literally a fraction of the cost that it is now. Don't waste your money. Buy the first two on DVD and if you really have to have the last two in the series, buy em on VHS since you're not really getting a lot of extras with the DVD's.
|