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DVD Brief: Alien Legacy

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Alien Legacy
Alien Legacy

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
(1) Alien 20th Anniversary Edition, (2) Aliens Special Edition, (3) Alien 3, (4) Alien Resurrection
(1) 1979, (2) 1986, (3) 1992, (4) 1997
R
(1) 116, (2) 154, (3) 115, (4) 108 minutes
Widescreen 2.35:1, enhanced for 16x19 TVs
Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, THX
Interactive menus
Closed-captioned
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Suggested retail price: $109.98
Director: (1) Ridley Scott, (2) James Cameron, (3) David Fincher, (4) Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Writer: (1) Dan O'Bannon, (2) James Cameron, (3) David Giler & Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson, (4) Joss Wheadon
Cast: (1) Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Koto; (2) Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Bill Paxton; (3) Sigourney Weaver, Charles Dance, Charles S. Dutton, Lance Henrikson; (4) Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya, Drad Dourif

Description: This four-disc boxed set is a must for lovers of the Alien quartet. Not only does it show off all the Alien films in crisp, delectable presentations, it's got to be one of the niftiest boxed sets we've seen (I may be a bit biased, though, since I've been a fan of Alien -- and Sigourney Weaver -- since that first monster caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up 20 years ago). Each keepsake case is shaded in Alien green; the box is silver-embossed with a pouncing Alien; each disc comes with an eight-page color booklet.

"Alien" kicked off the series with the frightening acid-in-its-veins monster terrorizing the crew of the space freighter Nostromo. This 20th Anniversary Edition was remastered from a new 16x9 high-definition transfer supervised by director Ridley Scott. Special goodies include the original theatrical trailer;, a letter and audio commentary from Scott; new interviews with Scott and the film's production crew; a special archives section including graphics and photographs; an isolated music score; alternate music track; additional behind- the-scenes footage; storyboards; out-takes and deleted scenes; Alien-designer H.R. Giger paintings and drawings; conceptual artwork; production photos; annotated history of the film, original advertising materials; cast bios; DVD- ROM screensaver and Web links.

"Aliens" picked up where "Alien" left off, with the sole survivor of the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley, returning from deep space sleep to battle a whole nest of Aliens on colonial planet LV-426. The Special Edition was remastered from a new 16x9 high-definition transfer supervised by James Cameron. This non-stop roller-coaster ride of excitement is Cameron's celebrated director's cut with 17 additional minutes of terror. Included are the original theatrical trailer, an interview with Cameron, behind-the-scenes footage, production artwork and photos, advertising material and cast bios.

In "Alien 3" Ripley crash lands on a penal colony planet only to be dogged by an Alien, discovering that it takes more than she suspected to rid herself of the monster. Bonus features include theatrical trailer; a 23-minute "Making of the Alien trilogy," including production and behind-the-scenes footage from each of the three Alien films, cast bios and interviews with Ridley Scott, James Cameron and the actors.

In the final chapter of the Alien saga, "Alien Resurrection," a cloned Ripley teams up with a space smuggler (Ryder) to fight off a host of cloned Aliens. Bonus features include theatrical trailer; behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews with the cast and crew.

Image: Pristine prints that dazzle the eyes.

Sound: Plenty of pyrotechnics and effects that give your speakers and subwoofers a heady workout.


All DVDs are screened on a reference Onkyo DV- S717 third-generation DVD player.



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