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Alien Anthology (box set)

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Alien Anthology Blu Ray Set

Alien Anthology box set cover.

The Alien Anthology is a 2010 six-disc Blu-ray box set which, for the first time, brought Alien, Aliens, Alien3 and Alien Resurrection to high-definition home video. As with the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set before it, the Anthology was designed to be the definitive collection of the films in the Alien franchise, also including a wealth of bonus materials.

The set contains remastered high-definition transfers of not only each of the four theatrical films in the Alien franchise, but also their respective alternate versions (the Alien Director's Cut, the Aliens Special Edition, the Alien3 Special Edition and the Alien Resurrection Special Edition). The set also brings together, for the first time, virtually all of the bonus material from every home video release of the Alien movies up to that point, including the 1991/1992 LaserDisc releases, the 1999 Alien Legacy VHS and DVD releases and the 2003 Alien Quadrilogy DVD set, along with new never-before-seen bonus material exclusive to this set.

The box set was released on October 25, 2010 in the United Kingdom[1] and October 26, 2010 in the United States and Canada.[2] The set's discs were also included in the Alien Anthology: Limited Collector's Edition box set, which was released simultaneously.

Overview[]

The Alien Anthology set features six Blu-ray discs, the first four of which contain high-definition transfers of the four films in the series in both their original theatrical and alternate versions. As well as the new HD transfers, Aliens director James Cameron took the opportunity to digitally correct certain mistakes in his film for its Blu-ray debut, while the extended Special Edition of Alien3 also underwent additional post-production work specially for the set — specifically, some of the original cast were brought back to re-record dialogue in some of the added and extended scenes so that the occasionally poor sound quality present in previous DVD releases could be corrected.[3]

Disc 5 contains four extensive making-of documentaries, originally created in 2003 by Charles de Lauzirika for the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set, that detail the production of each film in the series. For the Anthology, these documentaries were newly rebuilt in a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio (having originally been filmed in 4:3) and feature newly created title graphics.[4] Additionally, the documentary on Alien3, Wreckage and Rage, is presented in its entirety for the first time — the version included in the Alien Quadrilogy was cut by over 20 minutes at 20th Century Studios' behest, to remove negative comments about the troubled production made by the cast and crew.[5] Also included on the disc are numerous "Enhancement Pods", essentially deleted and extended scenes from the documentaries, which provide additional depth and detail on the making of the movies.

Disc 6 contains a wealth of additional bonus material, including all the remaining documentaries that had been produced for the Alien series at that time — including The Alien Legacy, The Alien Saga and both versions of Alien Evolution — plus additional videos, still images and script drafts. Virtually all of the special features and supplements from previous releases of the Alien movies (including an archive of the Special Collector's Edition LaserDisc box sets, with all their image galleries and other unique content) are included, as well as new exclusive bonus material. Owing to the increased storage capacity of the Blu-ray format, the previous five discs of special features from the Quadrilogy set have been condensed to just two Blu-ray discs, which hold approximately 60 hours of bonus video content and over 12,000 still images.[6]

The Blu-ray discs from the Alien Anthology were simultaneously released as part of the Alien Anthology: Limited Collector's Edition box set. The same discs have since been reused for several other releases, including the Prometheus to Alien: The Evolution box set and the individual single-disc Blu-ray releases of each of the films in the Alien series.

MU-TH-UR Mode[]

Owing to the hugely extensive nature of the bonus material, the set also includes a special interactive "MU-TH-UR Mode" (named after the MU/TH/UR computer aboard the Nostromo in Alien) to help users navigate this bonus content. When active, MU-TH-UR Mode overlays an interface on the screen during the film that can be used to quickly switch between audio track options, or bring up a special "Weyland-Yutani Datastream" text track that provides trivia and behind the scenes anecdotes. MU-TH-UR Mode also grants access to bonus video and image content directly relating to the scene currently being played — instead of being viewed immediately, this content can be "tagged" and saved to a list so that the viewer may quickly access the relevant material, found on discs 5 and 6, after they have finished watching the movie; tags are retained when switching Blu-ray discs, and a complete list of currently saved tags can be viewed and revised on the main menu of any of the set's discs. This list additionally informs the user which of the two bonus discs contains each piece of content.

As well as each of the four films, the MU-TH-UR Mode interface is also available during the documentaries on disc 5, linking to additional behind the scenes content and also providing a search index allowing the viewer to seek out any and all material linked to a particular topic or member of cast and crew. Unlike the main films, some of the supplemental material accessed through MU-TH-UR Mode can be viewed immediately. Some of the bonus video content accessed in this way is exclusive to MU-TH-UR Mode.

Easter eggs[]

As well as the advertised material, the Alien Anthology box set also includes all of the secret Easter eggs found on previous Alien franchise DVD releases. They are now accessed from the Anthology Archives disc.

Omissions[]

Several new bonus features intended for the set ultimately had to be left out. Notably, a single Enhancement Pod from Superior Firepower: Making Aliens, titled "Dailies: James Remar as Hicks", was removed at the request of Lightstorm Entertainment (James Cameron's production company).[4] Had it been included, this would have been the first time footage of Remar playing Hicks was released to the public. It was also planned to have Sigourney Weaver record new audio commentaries for each of the four films in the set, but scheduling conflicts with her work promoting Avatar meant there was no time to record them.[4]

Despite the set's generally exhaustive nature, a small number of pre-existing supplemental features were also left out. Perhaps most notably, the vintage documentary Giger's Alien, created by H. R. Giger himself in 1979, was not included. Other materials left out of the Blu-ray set include the "Alternate music and production sound" audio track for Alien, which had previously appeared in the Alien Legacy box set; the track was omitted due to space concerns.[4] Finally, some additional Sigourney Weaver screen test footage and four short promotional featurettes for Aliens were also omitted, all of which had previously appeared as bonus material on The Alien Saga DVD release.

2012 UK release[]

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The cover of the 2012 Alien Anthology set.

In 2012, a four-disc budget version of the set was re-released exclusively in the UK. This version includes the first four discs from the full Anthology set (containing both versions of each of the four films, as well as commentaries and isolated scores), but omits the two bonus discs of documentaries and additional features. Unlike the 2010 set, all discs are contained in their own separate Blu-ray cases (which are essentially the same as those used for the individual UK Blu-ray releases of the films), held together in an exclusive slipcase.

The four-disc Anthology set was released on January 16, 2012.[7]

Contents[]

Disc 1: Alien[]

Disc 2: Aliens[]

Disc 3: Alien3[]

Disc 4: Alien Resurrection[]

Disc 5: Making the Anthology[]

Disc 6: The Anthology Archives[]

Other contents[]

  • MU-TH-UR Mode viewer's guide booklet


*The deleted and extended scenes found on discs one to four are in fact merely the additional scenes added in the alternate cuts of the four Alien movies. In the case of Alien, this means some of these scenes have been edited from the originally filmed version.

Trivia[]

  • Among the material released for the first time on the Anthology set, perhaps the most notable is a deleted scene from Aliens where Ripley discovers Burke inside the Atmosphere Processing Plant, cocooned and impregnated with a Chestburster, whilst searching for Newt. For years, still images of the scene had been in circulation, but the Alien Anthology set represents the first time this footage has been available for fans to view.
  • The main menus for each film's disc contain schematic breakdowns, surveillance footage, and other imagery offering a look at the film's elements and characters. On the Alien3 one, de Lauzirika and designer Raleigh Stewart took the opportunity to offer their own explanation for a long debated question regarding how the egg managed to be inside the USS Sulaco, using some clips from Aliens of the Queen and its detached egg sac.[8]
  • Reception to the Alien Anthology set has been overwhelmingly positive, with reviewers variously describing it as "a landmark for entertainment in the home",[5] "an amazing collection that improves on the nigh-perfect Alien Quadrilogy DVD release in every way"[9] and "one of the most extraordinary packages made available for the home video market".[10] In their glowing review, IGN concluded "there probably won't be a single release that matches the sheer magnificence of this beautiful box set".[11]
  • The plastic trays inside which the discs are housed feature egg-shaped recesses for the discs, instead of the usual circular recesses.

See Also[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ "Blu-ray.com - Alien Anthology Blu-ray (UK)". Retrieved on 2018-02-28.
  2. ↑ "Blu-ray.com - Alien Anthology Blu-ray (US)". Retrieved on 2018-02-28.
  3. ↑ Alien Anthology Hits Blu-ray, Dark Realm Fox
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "The Digital Bits - Blu-ray Review: Alien Anthology". Retrieved on 2016-01-11.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "AVForums - Alien Anthology Blu-ray Review". Retrieved on 2018-10-01.
  6. ↑ Tribbey, Chris. "'Alien Anthology' Boasts 60 Hours of Bonus Content".
  7. ↑ "Blu-ray.com - Alien Anthology Blu-ray (UK)". Retrieved on 2018-03-13.
  8. ↑ "AVPGalaxy - Reassembling Opinions, Talking Alien 3 With Alien Anthology Producer Charles de Lauzirika – AvPGalaxy Podcast #107". Retrieved on 2020-05-13.
  9. ↑ "Blu-ray.com - Alien Anthology Blu-ray Review". Retrieved on 2014-01-10.
  10. ↑ "High Def Digest - Alien Anthology Blu-ray Review". Retrieved on 2018-10-01.
  11. ↑ "IGN - Alien Anthology Blu-ray Review". Retrieved on 2018-10-01.
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