Alien Anthology (1979-1997) [Blu-ray]
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close  Alien Anthology (1979-1997) [Blu-ray]
 (currently for information only)
Rated:  R 
Starring: Sigourney Weaver was the only actress that was in all four 
of the movies. See each individual title for additional actors.
Director: Various
Genre: Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
DVD Release Date: 10/26/2010

Part of The Alien Anthology a 4-Movie 6 Disc Boxed Set

Get ready for a whole new breed of Blu-ray with the Alien Anthology. Four powerful films....eight thrilling versions....together at last in dazzling, terrifying, high-def clarity and with the purest digital sound on the planet. Over 60 hours of special features and two bonus discs, including never-fore-seen content and the totally immersive MU-TH-UR mode Blu-ray interactive experience, make this the ultimate Alien movie collection your Blu-ray player has been begging for.
The Alien Anthology includes:
Alien
Aliens
Alien3
Alien Resurrection

Plus all the EXTRAS listed here.
(on Disc 5 and Disc 6)
The Alien franchise is now a permanent monument on the landscape of international pop culture.

The film that started it all, 1979's Alien, is an unholy amalgam—in the best possible way—of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Jaws, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. From the cinematic DNA of these iconic progenitors, screenwriter Dan O'Bannon and then-young director Ridley Scott, like scientists whipping up life in a test tube, created a cinematic icon of their own, one that would mutate the already grotesque face of the horror genre. Alien is unsettling from its very first frames. A camera drifts through the Nostromo, a dilapidated space freighter. This is not an optimistic 1950s vision of bright, sterile space travel. The ship's corridors are dark, metallic, dank, more Das Boot than Star Trek. The crew is woken from cryo-sleep; the ship's computer, MU-TH-ER, has detected a signal coming from a nearby planetoid, and they're obligated by law to check it out. The source of the beacon is a derelict alien vessel. In its hull, Executive Officer Kane (John Hurt), discovers a batch of leathery eggs. When he leans over one to investigate, an arachnid-ish creature pops out and attaches itself to his face. Warrant Officer Ripley (a then unknown Sigourney Weaver) knows that letting Kane back on board would violate the quarantine protocol, but she's overruled by Ash (Ian Holm), the ship's stoic science officer. Bad idea Ash. As it turns out, Kane is being used an incubator for an alien embryo, which soon explodes out of him in a scene known, by fans, as the "chestburster sequence."

The titular alien, designed by Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger, is—hands down—one of the top-10 boogeymen in all of cinema. It starts small, a wormy, eyeless, silver-fanged fiend, but quickly grows into the phallic-shaped, highly sexualized, acid-bleeding, mucous-dripping monster we all know and love and fear, a creature of pure id that exists solely to propagate its kind. If that means chomping you to gory bits or hitching a ride on your spacecraft, then so be it—this thing's a survivor, an amoral killing machine. Hence, O'Bannon pitching the film to 20th Century Fox as "Jaws in space." And like Jaws, the monster here is scary, yes—in its unexpectedness—but it's really not the star of the show. Before the beastie ever erupts forth from John Hurt's chest, Ridley Scott has established a real world filled with real characters, making the first half of Alien play almost like a documentary of the grim, unglamorous realities of space travel in the 22nd century. Everyone seems tired, hassled, on edge. Engineers Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) and Parker (Yaphet Kotto) bitch about how little they're getting paid. The captain, an impressively bearded Tom Skerritt, is constantly beleaguered by complaints and proves poor at delegating responsibility. The two female crewmembers, played by Weaver and Veronica Cartwright, get no respect. You know how airline pilots jokingly call themselves glorified bus drivers? In Alien, astronauts are glorified long haul truckers, and its dirty, thankless work. That the cast is so convincing—and what a great cast!— goes a long way to help us invest in the story.

Of course, we know—basically—what's going to happen, minus a few strategic twists. The alien is essentially Michael Meyers in reptilian form, jumping out from the shadows to kill the crew members one by one. But what separates Alien from the slasher pack is its emphasis on suspense over gore and graphic kills. The film is at its scariest when nothing is happening, as Ridley Scott allows plenty of space for our imaginations to run wild, turning every dark recess and shhh-what-was-that noise into a potential nightmare scenario. The jump scares are huge here—although less inherently terrifying than the stretches of Hitchcockian tension that lie between them—and it helps that the creature looks different nearly every time we see it. We may know what's going to happen, but we have no idea what to expect at any given moment, a quality that fills the whole film with lingering dread.

Disc 5: Making the Anthology

The Beast Within: Making Alien (SD)

  • Star Beast: Developing the Story (18:14)
  • The Visualists: Direction and Design (14:54)
  • Truckers in Space: Casting (14:54)
  • Fear of the Unknown: Shepperton Studios, 1978 (24:03)
  • The Darkest Reaches: Nostromo and Alien Planet (17:28)
  • The Eight Passenger: Creature Design (31:35)
  • Future Tense: Editing and Music (16:28)
  • Outward Bound: Visual Effects (18:52)
  • A Nightmare Fulfilled: Reaction to the Film (19:22)


Alien Enhancement Pods (SD, 1:19:43)

  • Conceiving the Alien Lifecycle
  • The Influence of Jodorowsky's Dune
  • O'Bannon Working with Shusett
  • Ridley Scott's Epiphany
  • Jon Finch Sets the Record Straight
  • Finding the Right Ripley
  • Actors as Props
  • Sigourney Weaver Learns the Ropes
  • The Functional Art of Ron Cobb
  • Dailies: Parker and Brett Ad-Lib
  • That Used Future Look
  • Bolaji Badejo Alien Movement Tests
  • Discovering Bolaji Badejo
  • Giger on Giger
  • The Distrubing Brilliance of H.R. Giger
  • James Cameron Dissects Alien
  • Cocoon of Love
  • Jerry Goldsmith Recalls Alien
  • Goldsmith on Silence
  • The Pros and Cons of Temp Tracks
  • Same-Sex Relationships in Space
  • Toy Birds of Destruction
  • Oscar Night Memories
  • Test Footage: Nostromo on Forklift
  • End of a Genre
  • First Impressions
  • O'Bannon's Fight for Credit


Superior Firepower: Making Aliens (SD)

  • 57 Years Later: Continuing the Story (11:05)
  • Building Better Worlds: From Concept to Construction (13:29)
  • Preparing for Battle: Casting and Characterization (17:00)
  • This Time It's War: Pinewood Studios, 1985 (19:39)
  • The Risk Always Lives: Weapons and Action (15:12)
  • Bug Hunt: Creature Design (16:23)
  • Beauty and the Bitch: Power Loader vs. Queen Alien (22:25)
  • Two Orphans: Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Henn (13:48)
  • The Final Countdown: Music, Editing, and Sound (15:31)
  • The Power of Real Tech: Visual Effects (27:47)
  • Aliens Unleashed: Reaction to the Film (12:33)


Aliens Enhancement Pods (SD, 58:31)

  • Without Sigourney Weaver
  • Origins of Acheron
  • Building Hadley's Hope
  • Cameron's Design Philosophy
  • Finding an Unused Power Plant
  • Cameron's Military Interests
  • Working with Sigourney Weaver
  • The Importance of Being Bishop
  • Paul Reiser on Carter Burke
  • The Paxton/Cameron Connection
  • Becoming Vasquez
  • On Set: Infiltrating the Colony
  • Props: Personal Light Unit
  • Simon Atherton Talks Weapons
  • Prasing Stan Winston
  • Test Footage: Chestburster
  • Fighting the Facehugger
  • Test Footage: Facehugger
  • Stan Winston's Challenge
  • Test Footage: Queen Alien
  • Stan Winston's Legacy
  • Cameron's Cutting Edge
  • Sigourney Weaver's Triumph
  • Re-Enlisting with Cameron
  • From Producer to Stunt Double


Wreckage and Rage: Making Alien 3 (SD)

  • Development Hell: Concluding the Story (17:42)
  • Tales of the Wooden Planet: Vincent Ward's Vision (13:11)
  • Stasis Interrupted: David Fincher's Vision (14:13)
  • Xeno-Erotic: H.R. Giger's Redesign (10:20)
  • The Color of Blood: Pinewood Studios, 1991 (23:42)
  • Adaptive Organism: Creature Design (20:58)
  • The Downward Spiral: Creative Differences (14:55)
  • Where the Sun Burns Cold: Fox Studios, L.A. 1992 (17:33)
  • Optical Fury: Visual Effects (24:04)
  • Requiem for a Scream: Music, Editing, and Sound (14:53)
  • Post-Mortem: Reaction to the Film (8:25)


Alien 3 Enhancement Pods (SD, 1:14:03)

  • Renny Harlin Quits
  • Explaining the Wooden Planet
  • Ezra Swerdlow's Concerns
  • Intimidating Baldies
  • Roaming the Fury 161 Set
  • The Art of Storyboarding
  • Hicks' Alternative Future
  • Costuming for Character
  • On Set: Filming the Alien's POV
  • Head Casting with Charles Dutton
  • On Set: Filming the Oxburster
  • Sausage-Motivated Alien Whippet
  • Fincher's Alienation
  • Lance Henriksen Returns in Style
  • Sucking Up to Fincher
  • Detailing the EEV Miniature
  • Matte Painting Memories
  • How to Make Alien Acid Saliva
  • The Sulaco's Cameo
  • The Weaver Wagger
  • Bald Cap Blues
  • Bragging Rights
  • Stealing Sigourney's Top
  • Creating Alien Sounds from Scratch
  • Dangerous Location Recording
  • Painful Low End Frequencies
  • The Power of Silence
  • Ripley's Evolution
  • Mixed Reactions


One Step Beyond: Making Alien Resurrection (SD)

  • From the Ashes: Reviving the Story (10:10)
  • French Twist: Direction and Design (26:09)
  • Under the Skin: Casting and Characterization (12:45)
  • Death from Below: Fox Studios, Los Angeles, 1996 (31:36)
  • In the Zone: The Basketball Scene (6:43)
  • Unnatural Mutation: Creature Design (26:21)
  • Genetic Composition: Music (13:10)
  • Virtual Aliens: Computer Generated Imagery (9:53)
  • A Matter of Scale: Miniature Photography (22:50)
  • Critical Juncture: Reaction to the Film (14:28)


Alien Resurrection Enhancement Pods (SD, 1:15:17)

  • Costuming the Betty Crew
  • Intentionally Uncomfortable Costumes
  • Creating Ripley's New Look
  • Downsizing the Design
  • Dueling Design Sensibilities
  • Breaking the Language Barrier
  • The Storyboard Bible
  • Preparing for Action
  • Winona Ryder Answers the Call
  • Surviving the Shoot
  • Swimming with Aliens
  • The Art of Slime
  • The Cloning Process
  • Considering Giger's Legacy
  • Newborn Dick Removal
  • The Evolution of the Alien
  • Designing the Newborn
  • Becoming a Film Composer
  • The Burden of Temp Music
  • Animating Underwater Aliens
  • VFX: Knifing Ripley's Hand
  • VFX: Shooting Miniature
  • Abandoning the Bug Opening
  • Ending After Ending After Ending
  • Remembering the Premiere
  • Future Franchise Directions


Disc 6: The Anthology Archives

Alien Pre-Production

  • First Draft Screenplay by Dan O'Bannon (1080p, text only)
  • Ridleygrams: Original Thumbnails and Notes (1080p, windowboxed)
  • Storyboard Archive (1080p, windowboxed)
  • The Art of Alien: Conceptual Art Portfolio (1080p, windowboxed)
  • Sigourney Weaver Screen Tests with Select Director Commentary (SD)
  • Cast Portrait Gallery (1080p, windowboxed)


Alien Production

  • The Chestbuster: Multi-Angle Sequence with Commentary (SD, 5:28)
  • Video Graphics Gallery (SD, 5:31)
  • Production Image Galleries (1080p, windowboxed)
  • Continuity Polaroids (1080p, windowboxed)
  • The Sets of Alien (1080p, windowboxed)
  • H.R. Giger's Workshop Gallery (1080p, windowboxed


Alien Post-Production and Aftermath

  • Additional Deleted Scenes (SD, 16:33): Includes seven deleted scenes that were not restored to the Director's Cut.
  • Image & Poster Galleries (1080p, windowboxed)
  • Experience in Terror (SD, 7:10) - Vintage EPK promo.
  • Special Collector's Edition LaserDisc Archive (1080p, windowboxed): Replicates the LaserDisc special features in their entirety!
  • The Alien Legacy (SD, 1:06:53): Yet another making-of documentary.
  • American Cinematheque: Ridley Scott Q&A (SD, 15:40)
  • Trailers and TV Spots (SD): Includes two trailers (2:06) and two TV spots (1:02).


Aliens Pre-Production