Alien Vault: The Definitive Story of the Making of the Film [Hardcover]

Ian Nathan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 2011

For over thirty years, audiences have been simultaneously captivated and appalled as the spaceship Nostromo is invaded and its crew stalked by a terrifying parasitic creature. From the gore of the infant alien bursting from Kane’s chest to the mounting claustrophobia as Ripley discovers the monster has followed her into the escape shuttle, Alien is a chilling masterpiece.

Now, Alien Vault: The Definitive Story of the Making of the Film opens a portal into the making of this legendary film, tracing its path from embryonic concept to fully fledged box office phenomenon.

Featured herein are director Ridley Scott’s own annotated storyboards, Polaroids and script pages; the elegant but disturbing concept artwork of H.R. Giger; sketches and construction blueprints for the Nostromo; costume designs by Moebius; a treasure trove of never-before-seen photographs of the cast and crew; and ten meticulously reproduced artifacts, enclosed in vellum envelopes, for readers to remove and examine more closely.

Fully authorized and illustrated throughout, Alien Vault is the ultimate tribute to a movie that changed cinema forever.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This behind-the-scenes chronicle of Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi classic promises to latch onto your face and lay its knowledge inside you with concept art, interviews, Polaroids, and storyboards that were annotated by the director himself. Remember, in space no one can hear you read." --Entertainment Weekly, December 9, 2011

About the Author

Ian Nathan, who lives and works in London, has been a film writer, producer, broadcaster, and magazine editor for twenty years. As executive editor of Empire, the world's leading film magazine, he is allowed to feed his passions on a daily basis: generating, editing, and writing articles as a thinly veiled excuse to provide the world with his opinions.

Like any healthy cinema obsessive, he grew up on James Bond, Indiana Jones, and sneaking into horror movies when he was tall enough. it has grown into a magnificent obsession with everything from Hitchcock to Kurosawa, from arcane film theory to picking your favorite Harrison Ford punch. He has had the immense good fortune of traversing the globe, interviewing the great and good: watching the godlike Steven Spielberg at work, eating ice cream with Peter Jackson and a tableful of orcs, buying Sigourney Weaver breakfast, and behing hugged by both Oliver Stone and Kate Winslet, not a once.

Nathan has regularly contributed to books; newspapers such as the London Times and Independent; and magazines; had a weekly radio show; and produced TV documentaries and award ceremonies. The work of Sir Ridley Scott, in particular the extraordinary Alien, has been seminal in inspiring him to what film could be, and how much there is to discover within it.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Voyageur Press; First edition (September 17, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760341125
• ISBN-13: 978-0760341124
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 69 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Visually appealing but completely lacking in anything new or original. September 30, 2011

By James Page

Format:Hardcover

'Alien Vault' is simply a handsome rehash of every 'Alien' anecdote that has been discussed umpteen times before. Although visually pleasing, and attractive in its slip case and hardcover binding, it's a disappointment in every other aspect. Author Ian Nathan has simply relied upon the 'Anthology/Quadrilogy' documentaries and earlier published interviews, review material, etc. to provide a rather uninspired retelling of tales already told. Although a bibliography is included, the text itself lacks footnotes (which is rather telling), and it appears Nathan didn't conduct even one new interview (circa 2011) with anyone involved in the making of 'Alien'. 'Alien' fans will recognize direct quotes from the BD/DVD documentaries, which, when simply retold, lack the authenticity and enthusiasm of eyewitness recollections and, as such, are completely tacky in printed form.

The 'pouches' of materials included are nice, I suppose, but nothing to get too excited about (if you want Giger prints or Nostromo patches, they're easily available on internet auction sites). The odd 'new' photo is really nothing much, either.

The most damning criticisms pertain to the errors Nathan makes. Veronica Cartwright is continually referred to as Veronica 'Cartright'; Nathan states that Jones the cat was encouraged to snarl by Ridley Scott saying 'Boo!' (we all know Scott had a dog hidden behind a screen that he revealed when he wanted the appropriate reaction from the cat); the Nostromo patch lacks initials; etc. Nitpicking? No. When your book is subtitled "The Definitive Story of the Making of the Film" it DAMN well better be definitive! 'Alien Vault' is nowhere near the definitive statement on 'Alien'....

For those interested, if you have the BD or DVD sets, you have everything contained in 'Alien Vault' - and 100 times more. If you do want to dig further, seek out the 'Giger's Alien' book, or 'Ridley Scott: Interviews' for a fascinating Scott interview from 1979 concerning 'Alien'. If you can find 'Alien Vault' for cheap, then by all means buy it - just don't expect anything at all from it. Read more ›

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars You might have seen this book before November 3, 2011

By Parka TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Length: 1:25 Mins

Alien Vault is the movie companion to the masterpiece of Ridley Scott.

The 176-page book comes in a nice slipcase. The pages are filled with photos, artwork and some printed artefacts like Ridley Scott's annotated storyboards and other interesting stuff enclosed in vellum envelopes.

As for the content, much of the visual content were actually released in a much earlier book called The Book of Alien, just that the presentation is different. Some of the set photos are the same, as with Chris Foss' design for the Nostromo spaceship, Moebius design for the spacesuits, etc.

Alien Vault focuses on the movie production. The interviews and stories are interesting to read, especially when movies made nowadays are prone to using CGI for special effects. There are lots of insights to movie making and you can find out the little camera tricks they use. The content layout is organized, the artwork and set photos are great.

It makes more sense to get this if you've don't have the earlier book or the Alien DVDs with extras, or just new to Alien. It's 5 stars if you've not seen the content before.

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable, if a little thin December 21, 2011

By Thomas A. Baker

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In his foreword to Alien Vault, author Ian Nathan recounts his first experience with Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi / horror masterpiece. Right away this book struck a chord with me, because the film planted the same hook in me at almost the same age, with a key difference - I actually saw "Alien" during its original theatrical run in the summer of 1979 at the tender age of 8. The movie mesmerized and terrorized me and I loved it (the fact that I saw the movie in the theater at such an early age is, in my mind, not the fault of poor parenting but rather attributable to parental capitulation in the face of constant nagging - post "Star Wars," I was mad for anything that hinted of space adventure or SF).

I love many films in many ways, and it's hard (and really rather pointless) to try to identify any movie as my "favorite;" but "Alien" comes as close as any. In the 32 years since its release, I've probably seen it at least 30 times; I usually watch it at least once a year. The recent release of the film and its sequels on the Blu-Ray format was a major event for me.

So, with my bona fides as an "Alien" buff established, let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There are a few puzzling omissions (for example, Nathan completely ignores the fact that one of the original concepts for "Alien," a story called "B-17," was animated and then refitted with the story arc of the movie "Heavy Metal" for inclusion in that film). There may be little if any new ground broken with the book, but it would probably be hard to find any major new revelations on a three decade-old production.... Having all of that information in a single volume with the durable presentation of this book is worthwhile enough; and in any case, there were enough interesting if small tidbits scattered through the text to make it a highly enjoyable read. I loved the ship blueprints and script pages. The original marketing concepts were a hoot. And I'm trying to find the perfect spot to put my Nostromo patch sticker.

Alien Vault is most likely best enjoyed by obsessives or semi-obsessives like me; but every book has its ideal audience. I have no idea how popular the original movie remains at large, and how many out there like me might love this book. But we know who we are, and for us, this is a must-have. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight Into The Origin of the Alien-verse October 19, 2011

By Hengky Tanoyo

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I must say that being a watcher of the Alien movies for the past 20-or-so years in videos, DVDs, multiple viewings on TV, I'm not really that educated in the intricate detailing of the Alien movie universe. Other than some well-known facts that four great directors directed the four movies (I won't count the AVP movies), H. R. Giger designed the original creature, and that it has gained an everlasting fandom among sci-fi fans, how the Alien movie idea came to be remained elusive for me. That is, until I read this book.

Some other reviewers said that this book contains things already discussed many, many times before elsewhere, but still for one latecomer like me remain fascinated to discover the real story of how the alien concept came to be. The book is filled with polaroids from the making of the movie. The retro feelings make you appreciate how the filmmaker went all out to make this film in the 70's. This was a time when cheesiness was still reigning and Star Wars was the new undisputed champion of blockbuster movies. They obviously took a leap faith in ushering Alien to the opposite tone of the cheery Star Wars.

The book comes with a slipcase and pouches filled with small goodies like the Nostromo logo sticker, blueprints of the spaceships, Giger's Alien designs, etc. Nice touches on the goodies, but I'm more into the book's information than these small gimmicks.

All in all, the Alien Vault is informative and inspiring without being too tedious. Though not perfect in the structuring the contents, it is a valuable resource to sci-fi fans in general, and especially the Alien xenomorph aficionados.