The Alien Saga showcases a two hour documentary that aired on television many years back. The real kicker for the documentary is that it is narrated by John Hurt, and boy does that make this thing feel special. It covers ALL of the Alien movies in relative detail, although it seems the further down you go in the sequels the information becomes less and less. The Alien segment gives a good deal of production information, including details from Sigourney Weaver's test footage (including some of the footage) and HR Giger's work on the film. The Aliens segment shared its content between production and the overall reception and marketing aftermath. Alien 3 was somewhat a sour note in the series, and the documentary does touch on the troubles the film had (although not nearly as concise and (brutally) honest as the Alien 3 Anniversary Edition) as well as the technical breakthroughs. Alien Resurrection delved mostly into interviews with Sigourney on the theme of the movie along with various footage and some technical notes. All in all a satisfying documentary.
If you think The Alien Saga was all you got from this disk then prepare to be pleasantly surprised. You get a ton of the original Alien test footage with Sigourney Weaver including the controversial "release" scene (sorry folks... the version on this DVD is panned and scanned for family viewing... no partial nudity). Also included are a good number of tv promo featurettes that aired while these movies were released on theaters. Some are pretty informative and entertaining, but keep in mind these were fluff pieces to help sell tickets. There are at least one featurette per movie with Aliens having more than one. Not bad.
Now the Alien Blu-Ray collection actually includes this feature length documentary in its entirety, so that may make this DVD no longer necessary. Maybe not. I think the volume of test footage on this disk is quite larger than on the Blu-Ray collection. Then again that footage tends to be repetitive. If you are an absolute Alien completist then this DVD still has some value. If you are more interested in the documentary then the best option is the Blu-Ray collection.
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The Alien Saga [DVD]
IMDb7.7/10.0
-20% $7.94$7.94
List Price: $9.97$9.97
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| Genre | Documentary |
| Format | Color, DVD, NTSC |
| Contributor | Brad Dourif, Veronica Cartwright, Alec Gillis, John Hurt, Michael Biehn, Jay Benedict, Holly De Jong, H.R. Giger, Martin Bower, David Giler, Ron Cobb, James Cameron, Brent Zacky See more |
| Language | English |
| Number Of Discs | 1 |
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Product Description
Documentary about the allure of the Alien" movies"
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : Unrated (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 0.01 Ounces
- Director : Brent Zacky
- Media Format : Color, DVD, NTSC
- Run time : 1 hour and 48 minutes
- Release date : October 14, 2003
- Actors : John Hurt, Jay Benedict, Michael Biehn, Martin Bower, James Cameron
- Language : Unqualified (DTS ES 6.1)
- Studio : IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
- ASIN : B0000C23HB
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #95,201 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #3,694 in Documentary (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
26 global ratings
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5.0 out of 5 stars
What it took to make the Alien franchise.
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2020
Must have for every Alien fan. Narrated by John Hurt, it shows who did what and how far they went to make the Alien movies.
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2020
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 15, 2009
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 27, 2008
Since I own the Alien Quadrilogy, I was curious as to exactly what this could add to the massive amount of info already included in the Quad collection. Woud it simply be a rehash of old material? So I bought it and was pleasantly surprised. While more actor interviews would have been nice (ol Yaphet Kotto is still as elusive as ever) it's a very good documentary. I enjoyed it quite a bit although I had no idea how old it was. Watching it knowing that it's pre-AVP & AVPR, it's an interesting perspective. But being a completist I had to get it and I don't regret doing so. I recommend it to all Alien fans.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 11, 2017
This is a great film for Alien fans. It is everything you would like to know and more. John Hurt narrates and he does a wonderful job. The extras are worth watching and they contain a scene with Sigourney that I wish had made the film. This informative documentary stops at the Alien Resurrection film and does not include Prometheus. If you are a fan of the series you need to own this movie.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 5, 2020
Must have for every Alien fan. Narrated by John Hurt, it shows who did what and how far they went to make the Alien movies.
5.0 out of 5 stars
What it took to make the Alien franchise.
By Sulaco Survivor on March 5, 2020
Must have for every Alien fan. Narrated by John Hurt, it shows who did what and how far they went to make the Alien movies.
By Sulaco Survivor on March 5, 2020
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 12, 2019
As a collector I actually wanted this for the numerous outtakes shown in the documentary that were deleted from the final film. Fascinating material available here.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 17, 2019
If you like the ALIEN films.
Buy it
Buy it
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 20, 2015
A great companion to the Alien Quadrology. It features extras not included in the lengthy doc that came with the box set. I also enjoyed it more than the other documentary. The pacing, interviews and behind the scenes were all great.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 27, 2009
This is a wonderful documentary on the Alien Quadrilogy. The fact that it is narrated by John Hurt makes it all the better. I enjoyed this documentary better than any of the extras on the Special Edition Alien DVD's.
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Top reviews from other countries
Bug16
2.0 out of 5 stars
Contains factual errors
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 18, 2011
Do not expect this to contain any information that cannot be gleaned from the Alien Legacy bonus DVD's. John Hurts narration is nicely paced and it all flows well for what feels like a made for TV documentary. Unfortunately some of the information contained on this particular DVD is factually wrong, which jars for Alien saga geeks like myself.
Still bonus points for it showing my very old, and now defunct, Alien Saga Movie page website showing the "Alien 5 Rumours" bit. ;)
Still bonus points for it showing my very old, and now defunct, Alien Saga Movie page website showing the "Alien 5 Rumours" bit. ;)
Paul Freeman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alien Saga
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 6, 2016
Fantastic Documentary on the Alien Films, Narrated by John Hurt. I found the Documentary very interesting, and well paced. The first film is my favorite, but it was interesting watching the whole saga. This DVD is also essential for completists of the Alien Films.




