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Alien - Director's Cut (2003) Certificate 18

Alien - Director's Cut

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Rated 4.0 stars
Average rating
(78%)
 
Starring: Sigourney Weaver | Tom Skerritt | Veronica Cartwright
Director: Ridley Scott
Run time: 117 mins
Collections: 100 Horror Films
Genres: Horror | Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Languages: English
Released: March 15, 2004

For this digitally remastered special edition of what many have called the "scariest movie ever made," Ridley Scott has incorporated new footage never before seen in movie houses. Working closely with Twentieth Century Fox, Scott oversaw a restoration of the original film's negative, as well as further digital enhancements. In addition, Scott and his team of archivists went through over 100 boxes of film footage, unseen in almost 25 years, which were discovered in a London vault. From this wealth of material, Scott selected new "Director's Cut" footage, which then underwent digital restoration, matching it to ALIEN's newly-"polished" negative. The film also features a brand-new six-track digital stereo mix. Fox released the original ALIEN in May 1979. The film was hailed by critics and audiences worldwide as a seminal work of science fiction, and went on to gross over $100 million worldwide, a remarkable number for that era. The film's success spawned a film franchise for the studio, with three adventures in the saga following in 1986, 1992 and 1997. ALIEN launched the career of Sigourney Weaver, whose character Ellen Ripley became one of the genre's first and most enduring heroines.

Highest rated reviews

22 out of 29 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5.0 stars
Fresh as a daisy

TubThumper from Yorkhire, 17th January, 2004

Endless and ageless, a much imitated and never bettered classic.

Dark, patient, beautifully lit with masterful casting. How can you have Iain Holm, John Hurt and Harry Dean Stanton sharing the screen?

Relive the tension again and see how timeless it is. Like Blade Runner it just hasn't aged like so many 80s and 90s movies.

Scott may have borrowed from Kubrick's patient pannning, scene setting and love of soundtrack but created an edgy one off of his own. Alien really is a gift for us all.

Rent it again, switch off the lights, settle yourself in your speaker's sweet spot and enjoy.

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8 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5.0 stars
ALIEN-DIRECTORS CUT

A Customer from WALES, 10th March, 2005

A GREAT FILM ITS IS A REAL SHAME THE CHARACTERS WERE TALKING OUT OF TIME TO THE WORDS.

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7 out of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4.0 stars
Incredible film, however we are left to wonder what has been remastered...

Colin Winter from Warrington, England, 29th July, 2004

This film is undoubtedly one of the greatest films of all times.

It has spawned 3 sequels; more than it's fair share of imitation titles; over 50 comic books and spin offs. It has also been referred to as the scariest film of all time.

The film is a work of true genius; both original in its day and successful. While current audiences will not be as frightened by the alien as their parents or perhaps grandparents by now; the film still has many shocks for someone who is prepared to watch this terrifying ordeal in pitch black.

However, this is so called 'remastered and director's cut edition' if you compare this to the original dvd you will probably notice the 1min difference in running time. And as for the re-mastering, while good it allows the film to loose a quality it once posessed. The aliens trilogy is renound for its view of the future as a more industrial and less technologically advanced than you would expect especially in comparrison to star trek. By remastering and cleaning up the footage and using CG some of this quality that the original team who produced the movie strived to create is lost.

I would give the original dvd 5 stars, but this dvd while excelent in story and score seems to take something away from the magic of the original rustic and dirty version.

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7 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 2.0 stars
Not as good as I hoped

James Vile from Wiltshire, 22nd April, 2005

A very slow start to the film- it took at least an hour to get going and when it did it didnt really get going at all. Not at all scarey, I really dont know what all the hype over this film is about. There are much better horror films available.

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Most recent reviews

Rated 4.0 stars
Still probably Sigourney Weaver's best film

Bassman71 from , 4th September, 2009

Space Freighter stops to check out a distress signal, finds crashed unknown craft, strange things inside, crew member gets attacked, survives, or does he? Still a brilliant film after all these years. Very intense & a good mixture of personalities within the crew. Forgot how good Ian Holm is as Ash & still probably Sigourney Weaver's best film. The effects are fine but the Alien does look like a man in a suit at times.

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Rated 4.0 stars
direcors bitter

A Customer from London, 10th July, 2009

I could not discern what it was that made it different from other versions of Alen but I guess that's director's joke. Brilliant sci-fi horror and if you spot the difference you must be a Sir also.... ?

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Rated 5.0 stars
alien

A Customer from Hayes, 6th November, 2008

very good i enjoyed very much

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Rated 5.0 stars
Clasic

ScotlandForLife from from Glenrothes, Scotland, 13th August, 2008

A clasic horror worth watching, even thogh it was made about 30yrs ago. good casting, visual effects and great lighting

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