By Stephen Pytak 

     This 144-minute epic is the one that should have
been released in theaters back in 1992, and 
concluded the "Alien" series.
     Director David Fincher's first film is an excellent
drama that kind of takes the storyline into darker
territory, the end of the line literally.
     This version, which you'll find in the "Alien 
Quadrilogy" DVD box set that came out in 2004,
is an assembly of footage that was excised.
     This film was the first I watched when I spent over
$70 on the set. I'd read articles about the stuff that 
was cut and after seeing it, I couldn't believe a 
studio or whoever would leave this stuff in the can 
or on the floor.
     I'd be crushed if they did that to my film. It's no 
wonder Fincher disowned the thing. I'd be curious 
to hear his commentary over this somewhat restored 
version.
     The cut scenes are beautifully staged and photo-
graphed, like one where "Clemens (Charles Dance)"
discovers Ripley's unconscious body on the beach
after the crash landing of her escape pod. That scene
starts where he's walking along the grounds of the
prison, on a stark gray landscape near a black sea.
It's beautifully dark. The production is awesome.
Then he finds Ripley covered in dirt and insects,
picks her up and rushes her dirt-covered body into the 
infirmary. 
     Then there are scenes adding much needed
character development to the inmates on Fiorina 161.
If these were kept, perhaps people wouldn't have
complained about how they couldn't tell one from
the other. Their personalities make each individual
shine in this version. 
     One I liked, even thought it's short, is the scene 
where a dishwasher discovers inmate "Golic (Paul 
McGann)" eating cereal in the dark. Golic had just
witnessed the gory deaths of two of his brother 
inmates. The murderer was something he later called
"a dragon." But instead of reporting all this, he heads
to the cafe for a bite, his face still covered with the 
blood from the massacre. Curious. And interesting. 
By the way, McGann's on the commentary for both 
versions of the film.
    The special edition also preserves more of Weaver's
performance, which is very strong, and just as
committed as the one she gave in "Aliens (1986),"
which got her a nomination for the Academy Award
for Best Actress.
     Some interesting, yet disturbing, images were cut
for the theatrical release, and I can't figure that out, 
because this is supposed to be not just future noir,
not just a thriller, but a horror film.
     Here's the one that stands out. 
     The ox chestburster scene. Strange and sick, it's
memorable and a favorite of mine. The beast of
burden, dead and covered with bugs, is hung by
its back legs up on a chain. One of the inmates on
the ox duty actually finds a dead facehugger and
holds it up like a prize catch! Cool shot.
     A few minutes later, the ox's chest explodes, a 
four-legged coffin baby "teenage alien" is born and 
in seconds, takes off down a corridor.
     By the way, Effects Designer Alec Gillis noted in 
the commentary on this special edition that a CGI
teenage alien was created especially for this version,
and it beats the hell out of the whippet they auditioned
to do the scene in 1991.
     According to the booklet in the "Quadrilogy"
box set: "This cut reveals a combination of vintage,
previously unreleased optical effects shots and 
several newly completed digital special effects
necessary to seemlessly integrate new footage into the
body of the film."
     The scene was changed for the theatrical release,
where a rotweiler was the alien host. I think the ox
scene looks better and is much more memorable. 
     I think studios should trust the directors they hire.
It's hard to improve on such strong visions. The 
people who screwed Alien 3 should be taken out and
shot. 
     Fincher brought a unique film noir to the Alien
series, with its dingy brown backdrops. If there is a
so called "director's cut" out there, with more, I'd
like to see it. 
     According to the booklet in the "Quadrilogy" set, 
"it doesn't exist."
     To date, this special edition clocks in as the 
second longest "Alien" film. The longest is Cameron's
special edition of "Aliens," which runs 154 minutes.