On the heels of Ridley Scott's new director's cut of ALIEN comes ALIEN QUADRILOGY, the ultimate box set of the sci-fi franchise and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's (TCFHE) most ambitious DVD project yet. Due Dec. 2, 2003 and priced at $99.98, QUADRILOGY contains four films, nine discs and 45 hours of bonus materials. Plus new vfx in ALIEN and ALIEN3 supplied by TCFHE and five houses (Svengali, R!OT, Encore, Frantic and Modern Video). There are 15 new CG shots in ALIEN, including CG blood, CG fire, wire removal and star fields. The two-year under-taking from Fox marked the first time a home entertainment division has ever finished a theatrical film (David Fincher's rejected work print of ALIEN3), and included the collaboration of directors Scott, James Cameron and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, along with other original filmmakers and teams from Fox Restoration, Fox Sound and the vfx houses in restoring, reconstructing and providing new foley as well as new vfx. QUADRILOGY contains the original theatrical versions as well as alternate versions plus a bonus disc of leftover supplementals.
ALIEN* The original 1979 theatrical version of ALIEN and the 2003 Director's cut* An introduction by Scott, Dan O'Bannon, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt and more* Brand new commentary by Scott and the technical crew* Nine brand new documentaries: "Star Beast" - On developing the ALIEN story; "The Visualists" - the direction and design of the film; "Truckers In Space" - Casting the movie; "Fear Of The Unknown" - Behind the scenes at Shepperton Studios in 1978; "The Darkest Reaches" - Developing the Nostromo and Alien planet; "The Eight Passenger" - Creating the Alien; "Future Tense" - Focusing on the music and editing of ALIEN; "Outward Bound" - Peering into the film's visual effects; "A Nightmare Fulfilled" - Reaction to the film's opening* A Multi-Angle Scene Study on the Chestburster sequence with optional commentary by Scott and the production team* Weaver's original screen test with optional commentary by Scott* Seven deleted scenes with a deleted footage marker and deleted scene index* The first draft of the screenplay by O'Bannon* Ridleygrams - Original thumbnails and sketches by Scott* Storyboard Archives* The Art of ALIEN, including a cast portrait gallery, production gallery, the sets of ALIEN , H.R. Giger's Workshop, continuity polaroids and vfx gallery* The original theatrical posters and stills from the premiere
ALIENS* The original theatrical version - available for the first time ever on DVD - and Camerons special edition version of ALIENS* An introduction by Cameron* Brand new commentary by Cameron, Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein, Carrie Henn,Terry Henn, Lance Henriksen, Gale Anne Hurd, Pat McClung, Bill Paxton, Dennis Skotak, Robert Skotak and Stan Winston* Cameron original treatment* Nine brand new featurettes: "57 Years Later" - Continuing the saga; "Building Better Worlds" - From concept to construction; "Preparing For Battle" - Casting and characterization; "This Time It's War" - A look back at Pinewood Studios, 1985; "The Risk Always Lives" - Weapons and action; "Bug Hunt" - Creature design; "Beauty And The Bitch" - Power Loader vs. Queen Alien; "Two Orphans" - Revisiting Weaver And Henn; and "Aliens Unleashed" - Reaction to the film* The Art of ALIENS, including conceptual art portfolio, cast portraits, production gallery, continuity Polaroids, Winston's workshop, vfx gallery and premiere stills* Deleted footage marker and deleted scene index* Multi-angle videomatics with optional commentary by miniature effect supervisor, McClung* An Easter Egg
ALIEN 3* The original theatrical version and a restored pre-release version with more than 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage* Brand new commentary by cinematographer Alex Thompson, editor Terry Rawlings, vfx designers Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., visual effects producer Richard Edlund, and actors Paul McGann and Henriksen* 11 new featurettes: "Development" - Concluding the story; "Tales Of The Wooden Planet" - Vincent Ward's vision; "Pre-Production III" - The making of ALIEN 3,"Xeno-Erotic" -Giger's redesign of the Alien creature; "Production: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three" - Behind-the-scenes on the production of the movie; "Adaptive Organism" - Creature design; "Optical Fury" - Visual effects; "Music, Editing And Sound"; and "Post-Mortem" - A reaction to the film* E.E.V. Bio-Scan - A multi-angle vignette with optional commentary by Gillis* The Art of ALIEN 3, including conceptual art portfolio, production gallery and vfx* Furnace construction time lapse* Storyboard archives
ALIEN RESURRECTION* The original theatrical version and an extended cut with alternate opening and ending sequences* An introduction by Jeunet* Brand new commentary by Jeunet, Herve Schneid, Gillis, Woodruff Jr., Pitof, Sylvain Despretz, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon and Leland Orser* First draft of the screenplay by Joss Whedon* 11 new featurettes: "From The Ashes" - Reviving the story; "French Twist" - Direction and design; "Under The Skin" - Casting and characters; "Death >From Below" - Underwater photography; "In The Zone" - Basketball scene; "Unnatural Mutation" - Creature design, "Genetic Mutation" - Creature design; "Genetic Composition" - A listen to the music; "Virtual Alien" - Computer generated imagery; "A Matter Of Scale" - Miniature photography; and "Critical Junction" - A reaction to the film* Multi-angel rehearsal footage* A Mike Carro photo gallery, a conceptual art gallery, vfx gallery, a promotional photo archive and continuity Polaroids* Storyboard archives* An Easter Egg
BONUS DISC* A brand new Q&A with Scott* "Experience in Terror" - A promotional featurette from 1979* "Alien Evolution" - Channel 4 U.K. exclusive documentary on ALIEN, a complete laser disc archive of ALIEN and ALIENS* Original theatrical trailers and TV spots from all four films* "Aliens In The Basement" - Inside the Bob Burns ALIEN Collection* Dark Horse cover gallery - Anthology of 11 issues of the ALIEN comicsDVD-ROM feature - Script to screen comparison
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
