Alien (1979) was so perfect it didn't need fixing, and Ridley Scott's 2003 Director's Cut is fiddling for the sake of it. Watch once then return to the majestic, perfectly paced original. Conversely the Special Edition of James Cameron's Aliens (1986) is the definitive version, though it's nice finally to have the theatrical cut on DVD for comparison. Most interesting is the alternative Alien3 (1992). This isn't a "director's cut"--David Fincher refused to have any involvement with this release--but a 1991 work-print that runs 29 minutes longer than the theatrical version, and has now been restored, remastered and finished-off with (unfortunately) cheap new CGI. Still, it's truly fascinating, offering a different insight into a flawed masterpiece. The expanded opening is visually breathtaking, the central firestorm is much longer, and a subplot involving Paul McGann's character adds considerable depth to the story. The ending is also subtly but significantly different. Alien Resurrection (1997) was always a mess with a handful of brilliant scenes, and the Special Edition just makes it eight minutes longer.

On the DVD: Alien Quadrilogy offers all films except Alien3 with DTS soundtracks, the latter having still fine Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. All four films sound fantastic, with much low-level detail revealed for the first time. Each is anamorphically enhanced at the correct original aspect ratio, and the prints and transfers are superlative. Every film offers a commentary that lends insight into the creative process--though the Scott-only commentary and isolated music score from the first Alien DVD release are missing here--and there are subtitles for hard of hearing both for the films and the commentaries.

Each movie is complemented by a separate disc packed with hours of seriously detailed documentaries (all presented at 4:3 with clips letterboxed), thousands of photos, production stills and storyboards, giving a level of inside information for the dedicated buff only surpassed by the Lord of the Rings extended DVD sets. A ninth DVD compiles miscellaneous material, including a Channel 4 hour-long documentary and even all the extras from the old Alien laserdisc. Exhaustive hardly begins to describe the Alien Quadrilogy, a set which establishes the new DVD benchmark for retrospective releases and which looks unlikely to be surpassed for some time. --Gary S Dalkin


Customer Reviews (Average 4.5 from 90) :
Great Value
Rating:5
I had all the alien films on seperate DVDs (two disc versions) but with the Quadrilogy you get a bonus 9th disc with extra features and a lot of items from the original laser disc productions. I sold my old DVDs and bought this, its worth it for completists, everything in one box. I loved the original story with drawings for the script dan o bannon did for the first Alien film, very enlightening. Still can't beat the original film, Ridley Scott is a genius!

Alien Quadrilogy
Rating:5
Very good special affects,alot of work preparing the action shots. Very good set of films.

Alien Quadrilogy
Rating:4
To be honest, the only reason anyone will be buying this is because they enjoy the Alien series. However if you do like the Alien series then this is a fabulous product. Not only do you have the original versions of all four films, but special editions of them all too! Of particular note are the special editions of Aliens & Alien3, well worth the price of the DVD box set on Amazon. Ignoring all the extra features and more; if you are an Alien 'fanboy', why haven't you got this yet?

freight yourselve
Rating:5
one of the best sciencne fiction film there been all film are so tence they came you on the edge of your seat all the way thru

Great Box set, awesome.
Rating:5
This is a great Box set, includes 9 discs with lots of special bonus, have English audio 5.1 and English DTS 5.1, English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
Great Quadrilogy for fans of the Alien movies.