Alien Anthology [Blu-ray] [1979] [6 Disc Set]

With two cuts of each movie and over 60 hours of extras, this Blu-ray box set is the definitive edition of the legendary xenomorphic saga, with stunning HD transfers that finally give these seminal sci-fi classics the treatment they deserve. So, what are you waiting for? Secure that box set, Hudson!

Titles Comprise:

Alien: The terror begins when the crew of the spaceship Nostromo investigates a transmission from a desolate planet and makes a horrifying discovery, a life form that breeds within a human host. Now the crew must fight not only for its own survival, but for the survival of all mankind.

Aliens: Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, the only survivor from mankind's first encounter with the monstrous Alien. Her account of the Alien and the fate of her crew are received with skepticism, until the mysterious disappearance of colonists on LV-426 lead her to join a team of high-tech colonial marines sent in to investigate...

Alien 3: Lt. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the lone survivor when her crippled spaceship crash lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet's maximum security prison. Ripley's fears that an Alien was aboard her craft are confirmed when the mutilated bodies of ex-cons begin to mount. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley must lead the men into battle against the terrifying creature. And soon she discovers a horrifying fact about her link with the Alien, a realisation that may compel Ripley to try destroying not only the horrific creature, but herself as well.

Alien Resurrection: Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) died fighting the perfect predator. Two hundred years and eight horrific experiments later, she's back. A group of scientists have cloned her, along with the alien queen inside her, hoping to breed the ultimate

From Amazon.co.uk
It’s hard to see just where the Alien Anthology Blu-ray boxset could have been improved. Nominally a collection of the four main films in the franchise, what’s actually been bundled together here is one of the finest DVD or Blu-ray boxsets to date, boasting a series of features that genuinely go into a lot of depth about the movies themselves.

And what movies they are. Alien and Aliens are both exceptional pieces of cinema, and rightly regarded as classics in their own right. Alien 3, meanwhile, has to be classed as an interesting and muddled failure, yet it’s still got a lot to like about it. Alien: Resurrection? It’s perhaps the least ambitious of the four films, but in the early stages at least, it’s still with merit.

Each of the films is presently strongly, surprising given the variable DVD versions of each we’ve seen to date. But it’s the mammoth package of extras that set a template for pretty much every other Blu-ray boxset on the market. Spread across six discs, you not only get two cuts of each film, but you get extra features that are as impressive as they comprehensive. Presented brilliantly, it’s an unmissable box set, and you get at least two all-time classics as part of it. --Jon Foster