Alien Evolution – End of one Mythos
First of all I must send my greetings to Jonno again. His transfer is simply fantastic and I think that it is even better than the one in Quadrilogy. All these minor mistakes I saw on PC disappeared on big TV screen. I am definitely against any touches into this our first disc, i.e. adding any other footage or menus. It is great exactly as it is now.
Surprise #1 and an advice that applies to anything that follows below: Never trust your feelings or your memories. Since that time I saw AE in AQ in 2003 I believed that this new version is a violent edit of the Channel 4 original (which I had on VHS already). I never tried to compare them. Did you know that the AQ version is even few seconds longer than the TV version? The nice Kermode’s narration is gone, A2 – A4 are gone and the running time is still 64 min! I read somebody‘s complaint about this in 2003. He wrote that the TV version’s length was at least 75 min and I felt like „OK, I got that one, I am a king.“ But the truth is that now we have here two full stand-alone versions in high resolution and no 75 min version. And I do not believe that there is any. I had no time to watch both of them today and look for any clues verifying that Fox re-edited it on purpose and filled the empty space with some ballast from its archive. I do not believe this since it means too much work for them. If they did not like the A3 comments, they could simply discard the whole documentary from AQ.
Or everybody knows this already? No new continent? Did I miss something?
Giger’s Alien
Forgot the Necronomicon/GA eBay shit forever. Last time I watched it (spring 2005) I was sure that it is from VHS. I bought it for 8 dollars only and thus I did not feel to be stripped too much. Then my memories (again memories!) faded. Today I am sure again. The start of the video shows signs common to damaged videotapes, few secs are missing on both the beginning and the end. If there was any Japanese VHS edition, it comes from it. If not, then it is a LD –> VHS –> DVD recording. The PAL copy from Archives 2 is better, but still not good. After its end there are remnants of the LD copyright info and it is plain to see that the letters are not as sharp as they could be. On the other hand, watching of AE (I mean the sequences taken from GA) reminds me of the fact that the original footage itself is really poor. At least the subtitle-less copy they used in AE does not fill my heart with joy. Whoever owns the master print, they should restore it ASAP before it falls apart.
Making of A3 and A4
I always hated VHS tapes, even in times when there were no DVDs yet. This magnetic shit have almost all disadvantages I can imagine. Today I watched these two after a long time. They are both originals, I bought them sealed and used them maybe four times each. They are properly stored and once per year forwarded/rewinded to avoid folds (right E. word?). But I am sure that the magnetic information slowly vanishes anyway. I compared the A4 VHS and VCD. I thought the VCD was made from an original studio master as a regular licensed product (memories, part 3). Now I doubt it, the picture looks much more like a copy from NTSC laserdisc. These two are totally different – The tape is grainy, oversaturated PAL with rich, full sound. The VCD picture is much softer, cleaner NTSC with pale colors, low contrast and Chinese subtitles. I really do not know. I think we should buy the laserdisc instead. Either with or without subtitles.
Shock & Awe
I saw it for the first time today. Nice documentary, even if they have not much to say, no interesting facts. Hope that tb1971’s copy is better. This one from Archives 2 is really bad, especially considering its age. It should be of almost the same quality as Jonno’s AE. Plus, I do not understand the strange 1.66:1 format. Was it broadcasted like this?
To 8t88: You wrote “VHS copy of the original Giger VHS“. How do you know? Did you saw the original tape? I am asking since there is no proof yet that any „original“ tape exists. Original = full-color cover and trademark icons of appropriate companies (Sony and Fox in this case). Does your video contain Japanese subtitles?
For example last month somebody sold something like that on eBay. The tape on the attached photo was in all-white cardboard envelope (standard US-style, I hate it) with black letters inside a big black circle. That was a fake.