Stars: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Al Matthews, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya, J.E. Freeman, Brad Dourif, Michael Wincott

Director: James Cameron

Summary: This nine DVD boxset contains all 4 films in the ALIEN saga: ALIEN, ALIENS, ALIEN 3 and ALIEN RESURRECTION along with just about every extra any fan of the ALIEN series could ever want;<BR>ALIEN:<BR>Recognised as a classic of both horror and science-fiction. Starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley, ALIEN focuses on the crew of the space cargo ship Nostromo, which lands on a moribund planet in response to a faint SOS. Inside a crashed ship, the crew members come upon strange pods, one of which spews forth a repellently fleshy insectile creature that locks on to the face of the unlucky Kane (John Hurt). Despite Ripley's advice, science officer Ash (Ian Holm) allows Kane to return to the ship, where the creature finally releases its grip. Soon, however, in one of the film's most infamous scenes, one of its offspring explodes horribly from Kane's stomach and scurries away. Dallas (Tom Skerritt), the vessel's captain, leads the others in a search for the rapidly growing, acid-dripping alien before it can cut them down one by one.<BR>ALIEN is available on this box set in both the original and new Directors Cut editions.<BR>ALIENS:<BR>Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the sole survivor from the first film, is awakened after 57 years of drifting through space, her stories disbelieved by Company executives who tell her that the alien's planet is now inhabited and colonized. When contact is suddenly lost with the colonists, Ripley returns to the planet with a squad of marines, an android (Lance Henriksen), and a Company executive (Paul Reiser) with a mission of his own. Once on the planet, no survivors can be found except for Newt, a little girl who awakens motherly instincts in Ripley just in time for the acid-blooded aliens to attack in what quickly becomes a one-sided battle for sheer survival. Considered by many to be the best of the series, ALIENS is a fast-paced, high-intensity thrill ride that set a new standard for action films and cemented director James Cameron's status as one of Hollywood's leading directors.<BR>ALIENS is available on this sbox et in both the original and Special Edition editions.<BR>ALIEN 3:<BR>Directed by David Fincher; ALIEN 3 picks up almost directly after the events in ALIENS, finding Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) frozen in suspended animation as her ship crashes on Fiorina 161, a prison planet. When awakened by the prison's staff, she discovers that she is the sole survivor of her crew. Trapped on a barren planet with convicts and no weapons of any kind, Ripley soon realizes that an alien was also on the ship and has survived. As the savage creature begins to massacre inmates, Ripley bands together with the remaining prisoners and attempts to destroy it by wits alone.<BR>ALIEN 3 is available on this box set as both the original edition and in a version based upon the Director's original cut.<BR>ALIEN RESURRECTION:<BR>In the last part of this saga, a drop of Ellen Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) blood spawns a part human, part alien Ripley clone. Now that Ripley is dead, the clone has fallen into the hands of government scientists who want to harness the Ripley clone's breeding powers. When the new and improved Ripley lands on a ship of androids, her mere appearance is enought to set the action rolling.<BR>ALIEN RESURRECTION is available on this box set in both the orginal and new extended edition.

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The Alien Quadrilogyis a nine-disc box set devoted to the four Alienfilms. Although previously available on DVD as the Alien Legacy, here the films have been repackaged with vastly more extras and with upgraded sound and vision. For anyone who hasn't been in hypersleep for the last 25 years this series needs no introduction, though for the first time each film now comes in both original and "Special Edition" form.

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 Quadrilogyoffers all films except Alien3with 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 AlienDVD 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 Ringsextended DVD sets. A ninth DVD compiles miscellaneous material, including a Channel 4 hour-long documentary and even all the extras from the old Alienlaserdisc. Exhaustive hardly beings 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

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	New Detailed Commentaries, Interviews, Multi Angle Animatics, Pre Production Featurettes, Production Featurettes, Post Production Featurettes, Stan Winstons Workshop, Screenplays, Easter Eggs, Rare Still Archives, Theatrical Trailers, Television Trailers, Special Eff
Year:	1979
Release Date:	December 8, 2003
Runtime:	461 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	25231 D V D
Keywords:	Alien, Aliens, Box, General, Fiction, Nine, Set, Science, Resurrection, Horror, Discs, Sci, Fi, Quadrilogy, Alien3
Genre:	Science Fiction