Alien (1979) - 40th Anniversary

Soldato
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EDITed the thread title to 40th anniversary thread.

Showcase are reshowing the original Alien on 1st March this year.

https://www.showcasecinemas.co.uk/film-info/alien

For those who don't know anything about it, here's a brief synopsis ;)

After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as a distress call, its landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious life-form, and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

Figure there might be a few others interested in this that might miss it. It's my all time favourite movie however due to my age (40 this year), I haven't been able to ever see it on the big screen. I've always been unavailable for the limited screenings in recent years.

The movie for me is an absolute masterclass is building suspense and fear and never showing too much, it's over an hour before you even get a glimpse of the Alien. It's aged remarkably well aside from the tech aspect.
 
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Associate
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Is there any difference from the original release to the public release like on DVD & blu-ray?
I know Star wars 4,5 and 6 has been altered after the cinema release.
 
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Unsure of the version or whether it's 4k but i'd imagine it'd be the original theatrical release with this year being the 40th anniversary and all. I just wish they'd done it in September on the proper anniversary, I don't know why they chose March.

Even alien day...26th April would have been better.
 
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Anyone else agree with me this is the best combination:

Alien - Directors cut
Aliens - Theatrical cut

Personally no because the directors cut of Alien makes the whole queen life cycle redundant as the Alien is transforming people into eggs directly.

There are elements of Aliens director cut I like more but overall the theatrical is a leaner experience and more well paced. There are some cringe worthy moments in the Aliens: DC like Ripley and Hicks exchanging first names, it's painful.

I just wish they'd managed to keep the Burke hive scene in.
 
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Personally no because the directors cut of Alien makes the whole queen life cycle redundant as the Alien is transforming people into eggs directly.

There are elements of Aliens director cut I like more but overall the theatrical is a leaner experience and more well paced. There are some cringe worthy moments in the Aliens: DC like Ripley and Hicks exchanging first names, it's painful.

I just wish they'd managed to keep the Burke hive scene in.

I agree on Alien but I think Aliens needed to show the Sentry Gun scene as a: it's only short and b: it adds another layer to the tension and Aliens intelligence.
 
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I agree on Alien but I think Aliens needed to show the Sentry Gun scene as a: it's only short and b: it adds another layer to the tension and Aliens intelligence.

I'm conflicted on this because as you say, it does show the intelligence but at the same time, the guns kill a large amount of Aliens so it reduces the tension a little.
 
Man of Honour
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I'm conflicted on this because as you say, it does show the intelligence but at the same time, the guns kill a large amount of Aliens so it reduces the tension a little.

I actually find it gives contrast to the tension for a brief lull you get the safety then even more tension because they just keep on coming. I actually really like those scenes and wish they'd fleshed it out a bit more.
 
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The opening with newts family is cringe, as is seeing the colony while still up and running.

I liked it as it gives you a better feeling of loss over their unnecessary deaths (and gives Burkes later admission more power) but I agree it shouldn't have been part of the theatrical release as it adds far too long to the run-time without having a big enough pay-off top justify it.
 
Soldato
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I liked it as it gives you a better feeling of loss over their unnecessary deaths (and gives Burkes later admission more power) but I agree it shouldn't have been part of the theatrical release as it adds far too long to the run-time without having a big enough pay-off top justify it.

It’s much better seeing the colony for the first time with the marines seeing it for the first time.
 
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