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The 1992 science fiction horror film Alien 3 is passed around by 20th Century Fox. Its stars include Sigourney Weaver as Lt. Ellen Ripley, Charles S. Dutton as Dillon, Charles Dance as Clemens, Brian Glover as Superintendent Andrews, and Ralph Brown as Aaron. The makers are Gordon Carroll (Red Heat), David Giler (AVP: Alien vs. Predator), Walter Hill (AVP: Alien vs. Predator Requiem), Ezra Swerdlow (The Good Son), and Sigourney Weaver (Alien: Resurrection). The conductor is David Fincher (Se7en).
The film’s storyline picks up not long after the events of Aliens. Due to a fire aboard the starship Sulaco, Ripley and her companions are put into an escape pod and ejected from the ship while still in hypersleep. The pod crash lands on a remote prison planet known as Fiorina “Fury” 161 where the entire population is male. The lone survivor of the crash is Ripley. She speedily befriends the chief medical officer Clemens and he shows her what’s left of the escape pod. The lieutenant spots a burn mark on one of the cryotubes and demands that the doctor show her the bodies. After examining Newt’s corpse, she asks the medical officer to carry out an autopsy. He reluctantly performs the autopsy and reveals not one thing out of the ordinary. After Superintendent Andrews catches them doing this unauthorized action, Ripley tells him that the bodies must be cremated. During the cremation ceremony, the prison dog Spike begins to give birth to another alien, unmindful to every one else. It is later revealed that the prison has no weapons with which to fight the newborn alien. All the men and Ripley are now trapped on the planet with no way to defend themselves. In addition to all that, Ripley is beginning to show signs that she may herself be pregnant with an alien.
This entry into the Alien franchise is somewhat dissimilar from it is predecessors. To begin with, we learn that a facehugger, the spider-like being that impregnates it is host with the alien embryo, does not have to have a humane victim in order to do it. The alien that the characters fight in this film was, in fact, born from a dog. As a result, it moves and acts more or less differently than any of the former ones Ripley has encountered. When an alien is born, it inherits some of the traits of it is host which, up until now, have all been human.
Another divergence is the amount of gore shown on-screen. In the former two films, there had been comparatively little gore visible. In this entry, the deaths are much more graphic. In Alien 3, there is a more or less gruesome autopsy where we may listen the cutting tool tearing the skin and flesh off the bones. Next, we see a man sliced to bits after catching sight of the alien and likewise see his body parts all over that area. A man getting his head in a literal sense ripped off his body leaves a lot of blood and stunned viewers. Finally, we are treated to a man getting his brain eaten right out of the top of his head. It is finelooking safe to say that if you are not a fan of gore, then you shouldn’t see this movie.
Throughout the late seventies and eighties, feminists hailed Ripley as one of the basi female heroes in a successful film franchise. In this film, she in truth shaves her head and, thus, looks more masculine than she had previously. Ripley has to because of a lice problem that Clemens had admonished her about. But the script writers may have put this in to make the lieutenant seem tougher and more daunting to viewers, which was the primary impression I had.
To wrap, Alien 3 is, in my personal opinion, more of a gorey horror film than a classic science fiction flick. But if you are a die-hard fan of the Alien franchise, then this entry you may enjoy!
Alien Anthology Blu Ray Sigourney Weaver
Brace yourself for a whole new breed of Blu-ray: Four powerful films…eight thrilling versions…in dazzling, terrifying, high-def clarity with the purest digital sound on the planet. Two bonus dics and over 65 hours of archival and never-before-seen content, including the wholly immersive MU-TH-UR mode feature, makes this definitive Alien collection!
Review of Alien
A landmark of science fiction and horror, Alien arrived in 1979 among Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back as a stylishly malevolent substitute to George Lucas’s space fantasy. Partially inspired by 1958′s It! The Terror from Beyond Space, this instant classic set a tone of it is own, providing richly elaborate sets, ominous atmosphere, relentless suspense, and a flawless ensemble cast as the crew of the space freighter Nostromo, who fall prey to a vicious creature (designed by Swiss artisan H.R. Giger) that had gestated inside one of the ill-fated crew members. In a star-making role, Sigourney Weaver excels as sole survivor Ripley, getting the screen’s most standard heroine in a remunerative movie franchise. To measure the film’s success, one need only recall the numerous images that have been burned into our collective psyche, including the “facehugger,” the “chestburster,” and Ripley’s climactic encounter with the full-grown monster. Impeccably directed by Ridley Scott, Alien is one of the cinema’s most unforgettable nightmares. –Jeff Shannon
Review of Aliens
Aliens is one of the few cases of a sequel that far surpassed the original. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, who awakens on Earth only to discover that she has been hibernating in space so long that every one she knows is dead. Then she is talked into traveling (along with a squad of Marines) to a planet underneath assault by the same aliens that almost killed her. Once she gets there, she finds a lost little girl who triggers her maternal instincts–and she discovers that the company has once again double-crossed her, in hopes of capturing one of the aliens to study as a military weapon. Directed and written by James Cameron, this is one of the most intensely stimulating (not to mention intensely frightening) action films ever, with a huge ensemble cast that includes Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Michael Biehn. Weaver specified the action woman in this film and walked away with an Oscar nomination for her trouble. –Marshall Fine
Review of Alien 3
The least successful film in this series was directed by stylemaster (and content-underachiever) David Fincher. Ripley, the only survivor of her past mission, awakens on a prison planet in the far corners of the solar system. As she tries to recover, she realizes that not only has an alien gotten loose on the planet, the alien has implanted one of it is own within her. As she battles the prison authorities (and is aided by the prisoners) in attempting to kill the alien, she must also cope with a without doubt or question shortened lifetime that awaits her. But the striking imagery makes for muddled action and the script confuses it further. The ending looks startling but it takes a long time–and a not in particular satisfying journey–to get there. –Marshall Fine
Review of Alien Resurrection
Perhaps these films are like the Star Trek movies: The even-numbered sequences are the best ones. Certainly this film (directed by French stylist Jean-Pierre Jeunet) is an betterment over Alien 3, with a script that breathes stimulating new life into the franchise. This chapter is set even further in the future, where scientists on a space colony have cloned both the alien and Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), who passed away in Alien 3; in doing so, however, they’ve mixed alien DNA with Ripley’s humane chromosomes, which gives Ripley surprising power (and a bad attitude). A band of smugglers comes aboard only to discover the new race of aliens–and when the multi-mouthed melonheads get loose, no place is safe. But, on the plus side, they have Ripley as a guide to aid them get out. Winona Ryder is on hand as the smugglers’ most improbable crew fellow member (with a mystery of her own), but this one is Sigourney’s all the way. –Marshall Fine
Alien Anthology Blu Ray Sigourney Weaver Image
Alien Anthology Blu Ray Sigourney Weaver Picture
Alien Anthology Blu Ray Sigourney Weaver Picture
Alien Anthology Blu Ray Sigourney Weaver Image
Most helpful client reviews
513 of 526 people found the following review helpful.
 Outstanding! A review by someone who already owns it (no, really). [UPDATED 6]
By TNB
My local electronics store already had the Alien Anthology bluray on the shelves this Tuesday (October 19). At initial I thought the street date had been changed at the last minute (it wouldn’t be the original time). But it appears that all the web sites still list the release date for next Tuesday (Oct 26), so I guess my local store must have made a fault (it wouldn’t be the original time for that either).
In either case, I already got my hands on the Alien Anthology set, and I thought that Alien fans who are still attempting to determine whether it’s worth the upgrade before next week’s proper street date might want to know the following:
(Note: This review assumes that most of you have already seen the films, and there may be a great deal of very mild spoilers.)
[UPDATE: I've added LOTS more detail regarding the extras, including the extended Alien 3 doc. Find this under PROS section (3). In PROS division (1) I've likewise answered a good deal of questions from another customer.]
[UPDATE 4: More specifics on why the 3rd and 4th films' picture quality won't wow you as much as the primary 2 films'. Under Cons section (1)]
[UPDATE 6: I've found more new extras on disc 6, including new deleted scenes from Aliens. Details in PROS division (3).]
79 of 85 humans found the following review helpful.
The Ultimate Alien set
By Chris Boylan
The “Alien Anthology” may have taken galore time to come to Blu-ray Disc, but it has been worth the wait. We received the set directly from Fox so are capable to give readers an early sneak peek. The films themselves are staged in both their theatrical versions and extended “special edition” versions, Even Alien3 comes in a half-hour longer version here, and they’ve gone to the trouble of re-recording bits of dialog and sound effects to clean up the audio from the restored part to match the rest of the film. It is nice to have the choice to watch either cut of all four movies, and the SE version of the second film actually adds depth to the story and the characters making a outstanding film even better.
Each film gets the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 treatment (the basi two films’ theatrical cuts are also available in Dolby Digital 2.0 and 4.1 channel mixes). Sound is splendid overall, altho perchance not rather as bombastic as one might suppose from such action-heavy titles. It seems like more ought to be coming from behind us at times, and the low bass rumble of the weapon fire and explosions is missing out ever so somewhat in deep extended bass. But these are somewhat minor criticisms as the sound is clean, imaging is precise, and dialog is clear and articulate throughout. The video transfers are distinctly superior to the DVDs that came before them with rich detail, nicely completely filled colors and deep blacks. H.R. Geiger’s creepy organic art on the derelict alien ship in the basi film has never looked so elaborate and powerful and you may practically count the pores on young Sigourney Weaver’s face. There are still minor instances of murky blacks, numerous ringing and softness here and there due to mild use of noise reduction, but overall, the transfers are pristine, giving careful consideration to the age of the films. The basi two films, altho the earliest, look the most bettered here – no surprise taking into account they have been painstakingly remastered at 4K solution for this release. Only “Aliens” is staged in it is basi theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 – almost filling a usual 16:9 screen with thin black lines at the top and bottom. The rest of the films are staged in a CinemaScope 2.35:1 aspect.
The extras are extensive, to say the least (be prepared to spend numerous time here), with special features available on each disc, plus two entire Blu-ray Discs packed full of further and added extras: one with “Making Of” documentaries, consultation segments and behind-the-scenes footage, and one disc featuring the “Archives,” chock full of seemingly each last piece of material — text, still photos and video — supporting the films and their back story. A helpful “MU-TH-UR” mode (with it is own tutorial) is included to help you navigate through the massive amount of supplements – even permitting us to go directly to specific chapters on other discs: just eject one and insert the other, and it will take you directly to the requested material. Pop the introductory disc back in and the player will do not forget where you left off, asking if you’d like to resume. A nice feature made possible by way of BD-Java.
At least one commentary track is available for each film (“Alien” has two), with each conductor but David Fincher (Alien3) taking part in the commentary fun. All four films also have isolated score tracks (in Dolby Digital 5.1), so you may be grateful for the subtle differences in meaning or opinion or attitude of the film’s scores without any distracting dialog or sound effects. Although much of the supplementary materials employed here are re-purposed from earlier home video releases (DVD and laserdisc), we found a great deal of new and extended consultation segments and snippings we’d never seen before. I’m sure die-hard fans will find hours of enjoyment in the set, and the audio and video quality alone is worth the upgrade. I recognise I may never go back to the DVDs. Highly recommended!
UPDATE (10/24): Some early purchasers and reviewers have brought up galore compatibility issues with the set and sure hardware. We’ve tested the disc with twelve players so far (OPPO, Panasonic, Samsung, LG, Philips, Toshiba and Sony), with for the most part minor compatibility issues noted. On the OPPO BDP-83, the “Director’s Cut” of “Alien” begins playing zoomed in with only the top left corner of the effigy visible. Hitting “Menu” then “Play” restores the effigy to it is proper size. Also a Samsung BC-C6900 plays Ridley Scott’s intro video to the Director’s Cut of “Alien” squished to 4:3 (should be 16:9). Similarly a Philips BD-P7200 played the Ridley intro in a tiny window at the top of the screen, but the film itself played fine in both versions. But other than as supposed or expected each player we’ve tested seems to play the set without issues. Some players are exceedingly slow to load the disc (particularly older players), but this is to be expected from such a BD-Java-heavy title. BD-Java may use rather a bit of on-board memory and processing power once you get imagination (and boy are these discs fancy!). We’ve tested the set on the following players: Panasonic DMP-BDT350, DMP-BD85, DMP-BD60, DMP-BD70V and DMP-BD35, Samsung BD-C6900, LG BD390, OPPO BDP-83, Sony PS3, Sony BDP-S350, Philips BD-P7200 and Toshiba BDX3000.
Please note: a more spacious review is available on our web website at BigPictureBigSound dot com, and a discussion of the compatibility issues is available on our forum.
53 of 60 persons found the following review helpful.
 For accumulators only
By SRFireside
It’s just an egg case that holds a little box, which holds a foldout sleeve, which holds the disks. You likewise get a booklet insert, which I assume is similar to the one in the anthology collection. That’s it. No extra disk with more features. No photo or art inserts or lenticular film negatives or laser etched comics. Just a plastic egg that looks kinda cool if you’re into that.
Another interesting tidbit is that is has been declared that only 5000 of these will be offered in the United States. That may sound like an prompt collectible potential, notwithstanding I have seen stuff like this before just fizzle so don’t look at it as a guaranteed return on investment. Again… this is actually just for the severe Alien fan.
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