| Thanks to my good friends Steve
and Jose at Legends, I had the good fortune to obtain a double
pass to the Montreal Premiere of Alien" The Director's
Cut last night. The film opens today in most big cities just
in time for Halloween :D
Alien was one of the First 14+ (the anadian version of PG-13)
movies I saw way back in 1979. I remember very vividly waiting
in line outside the York cinema and seeing 3 of my High School
classmates exit from the previous show with HUGE grins on
their faces. "This is one SICK movie, You are going to
FREAK !!!" They told us, and we DID - LOL. Before the
Internet you actually went to a movie without knowing the
story, seeing the pre-production sketches or even ... pictures
of the Alien itself !!! Yes I know, it's hard to believe isn't
it LOL.
I fell in love with the twisted mind of H.R. Giger that summer
:P The first time I saw that Face Hugger, and the Chest Burster,
not to mention the Alien. WOW. I must have drooled as much
as the Alien does in the movie LOL. I also vividly remember
seeing the Kenner Alien Doll several weeks later at the Cote
Vertu WH Smith BookStore. I pointed and jumped up and down
... Mawwwwwwwmmmm, Please, please, pleeeeaaassseeee :D My
mom didn't have my enthusiasm and decided NOT to buy for me.
That is UGLY and a WASTE of money :( I still have that image
burned into my brain LOL. Maybe I'll buy one on Ebay one day.
After a long delay and LAME radio prize giveaways - no one
was paying attention to the poor dj, all I could hear was
heckling. Finally the lights came down and lo and behold...A
teaser for Alien Vs Predator. Now since the movie has only
just started filming this week, it was a very simple trailer
comprised of Alien and Predator Close Ups and Sound Effects.
Effective and the croud went WILD at the title screen...coming
2004. If I get to work on this film - I will be in heaven.
I've seen concepts and tests and all I can say - this movie
is gonna be SOOO Cool. A real roller coaster. Don't write
me asking more specifics I can't tell you without losing my
job, but get in line now - hee hee. Ok, on to the main feature...ALIEN
I was happy to see that the film itself was a newly cleaned
print and NOT all fx changed a la Special Editions. Sure some
of the shots look dated but it is what I remember seeing in
1979. As much as I am a Star Wars fan, I have to say the original
version is the way to see ANY movie. I love how the camera
looms around in empty hallways and all you hear are the sound
effects of the computer screens and lights. So so cool. The
pace of Ridley Scott's masterpiece is just brilliant.
I was able to recognise the "added" deleted scenes
which are mostly character development and 30-40 seconds in
length. (mainly because I watched the deleted scenes on dvd
many times, My friend Frank couln't tell what was added or
original) Thank god no computer added fx. However, there is
a scene in the end that I was a little dissapointed in seeing
in the print only because Scott, in past interviews, repeatedly
said it slowed the movie down too much and had no place in
the movie. Now here it is...can it be the greedy banker types
twisted his arm behind his back? It sure smells of Marketing
Ploy more then Artistic Vision. Highlight if you want to know
what I am talking about............Ripley
hears moans in the hallway and comes accross Captain Dallas
slowly transforming into a cocoon egg pleading her to kill
him. A cool concept for sure...the alien kills the victim,
you slowly turn into an egg and face hugger in order to attack
the next victim who becomes an Alien, and the cycle repeats
itself. A cooler concept then the Queen hatching the eggs.
But After seeing it in the movie, I must agree with Scott's
original stand, it slows the movies "5 minutes to self
detonation" ending to a crawl. Ripley is running down
hallways trying to save her life and then, stops as if no
countdown exists, then running again. They should have left
it out........Ok, spoiler ended :)
I have seen Alien at least 25 times now over the years and
seeing it on the BIG screen was a nice treat. The girl sitting
next to me had never seen the movie judging by her constant
screaming and jumping. That was so funny.
If you are an Alien Series Fan, and were born only in the
80's or 90's, you owe yourself to see this on a theater screen.
Now I am really PSYCHED for the QUADROLIGY DVD BOX coming
out this Christmas season.
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