Preview: FOX releases Alien Anthology on Blu-ray

by Meg , under News

For more then a year Fox has been hard at work converting its most successful sci-fi franchise to the delights of Blu-ray. The Alien films have already had an impressive and comprehensive release on DVD, with the Alien Quadrilogy, but there is more on offer with the Alien Anthology Blu-ray release than improved sound and visuals.

WHAT’S ON OFFER?

During my preview session, I was shown choice scenes from the first three Alien films, including the iconic scene from Aliens when the Colonial Marines first encounter the xenomorphs. The sound and image quality is incredible—it’s amazing that films up to 20-30 years old can provide such crisp and impressive transfers to Blu-ray.

Of the six discs included in the box set, four are dedicated to the core Alien films, allowing viewers access to both the theatrical and remastered/director’s cut of the specific film from each respective disc.

The real shining achievement of the Alien Anthology, though, is how Fox has pushed some of the behind-the-scenes technology to the next level, in ways that will hopefully be replicated with future Blu-ray conversions/releases.

First and foremost is a simple feature that Fox calls ‘Disc Unbound’. This tool revolves around the logic that, when watching a box set release, viewers will likely wish to switch between discs—of either the films or the bonus discs (more on these later).

Once you eject one of the Alien Anthology discs, your Blu-ray player won’t return you to the default menu screen. Instead, it loads up a Weyland-Yutani Corporation-branded splash screen that removes regular pre-loading screens stuffed with trailers, disclaimers, logos, etc, to allow you to switch discs faster in a more streamlined process—a welcome addition to the world of Blu-ray.

If you want to get out of the Weyland-Yutani Corp splash screen, simply hit ‘Stop’ on your remote and you’ll be back at a Blu-ray menu screen: Easy.

THERE ‘S MORE…

But this feature isn’t close to the mother of all cool features: MU-TH-UR Mode. MU-TH-UR may not be an acronym, but it does represent another exciting step forward in Blu-ray technology. On any of the four movie discs, viewers may activate MU-TH-UR Mode, which adds a ‘heads-up display’ (HUD) to the film in the shape of a left-hand side bar plus two smaller display options on the right of the screen. A manual explains the ins and outs of MU-TH-UR Mode along with a video tutorial on each disc on how to use the new feature.

As the film plays, viewers can select from three categories : Auditory, Visual, and Datastream. Auditory lets you switch on/off the various available commentaries and can also remove all audio layers except for the score (in certain compatible sections). There’s even an option to hear score items that didn’t make the final cut. Visual allows viewers to tag items of interest depending on what scene and film you are watching. Tags range from images and interviews to behind-the-scenes videos. Datastream provides interesting tidbits of information relevant to the scene you’re watching—similar to having the trivia section of IMDB open while watching a movie. The other two HUD icons to the right of the screen indicate your stored data tags and a Help option.

Tagged visual items are not viewed from the film discs, though; instead, it MU-TH-UR Mode intuitively remembers personal selections and presents your selected behind-the-scenes options once you insert one of the bonus discs. If the content isn’t present on the bonus disc you inserted, you will be prompted to insert the other disc. However, you are still able to view any tagged content applicable to the bonus disc you currently have inserted.

With more than 12,000 images, 60+ hours of special features and more than four hours of previously unreleased footage, there is a wealth of extra stuff on offer for even the most knowledgeable Alien fan.

Unseen footage includes two Sigourney Weaver screen tests (with optional commentary by Ridley Scott), thousands of photographs, new deleted scenes and the most interesting documentary of them all: the original cut of Wreckage and Rage: The Making of Alien 3. This documentary takes a candid look at the various ups and downs of making the third Alien film with a refreshingly honest perspective.

The Alien Anthology Blu-ray set is available in two varieties. There’s the regular kind that ships for $100, while the Limited Edition collector’s set goes for $200. The extra money for the Limited Edition secures an illuminated statue dubbed ‘The Guardian’, which features a Sideshow Collectibles-forged Alien drone protecting a rather large facehugger egg. There are only 5000 of these available, so collectors will want to get in quick. Both are available for purchase on November 10.

Review: Nathan Lawrence