ALIEN SAGA REDUX (ALIEN, ALIENS, ALIEN³, ALIEN : RESURRECTION and ALIEN vs PREDATOR : REQUIEM now available)

Hi everyone,

Here are new 2024 fanedits of

• ALIEN (1979) using the unaltered ultra hd bluray image and sound
• ALIENS (1986) using the unaltered bluray image and sound and/or the unaltered ultra hd image and sound from the unaltered bluray
• ALIEN³ (1992) using the unaltered bluray image and sound
• ALIEN : RESURRECTION (1997) using the unaltered bluray image and sound
• ALIEN vs PREDATOR : REQUIEM (2007) using the unaltered bluray image and sound

ALIEN (1979) Theatrical Redux

Over the last decades, many ALIEN fanedits have seen the light of day but I’ve never quite found the perfect edit I was looking for. So I decided to create it myself from scratch. I’ve always thought the pacing of the theatrical cut was much better and interesting than the fast pacing story of the so-called director’s cut. I’ve also always thought that subtle changes from the director’s cut should have been included at the time in the theatrical cut.

So here is my attempt at creating a definitive cut of the first ALIEN movie. The whole basis of the project is the theatrical cut, almost unchanged BUT including the following scenes from the director’s cut back into the movie :

• Kane examinating the facehugger egg more accurately.
• Crew scene during the laboratory scene with Kane where Ripley comes in and Lambert slaps her.
• The 2 shots of the lurking alien above Brett and the alien hanging on chains, but not its director’s cut form. Those 2 shots are included during Brett’s long shot under water from the theatrical cut.

ALIEN (1979) Theatrical Redux is now available in 2160p SDR with an average video bitrate of 48 Mb/s, FLAC 24/48 5.1 audio files in English and French, AC-3 16/48 5.1 audio transcodes and full subtitles in English and French.

Why didn’t I included Parker and Ripley’s scene from the DC in my edit ?
Because it feels more natural for them to not know what happened to Brett.

Why didn’t I included Dallas’s scene from the DC in my edit ?
Because it slows the pacing of the third act and it feels more accurate to discover more of the alien’s backstory in the sequel.

ALIENS (1986) Director’s Redux

This is the director’s cut without the 5 minutes Hadley’s Hope scenes in the beginning. I’ve always thought those scenes were killing the suspense regarding every character and added nothing at all to the main story. I restored the the theatrical cut’s transition of the two scenes between this segment and now I feel this is the perfect cut for this amazing movie.

ALIENS (1986) Director’s Redux is now available in 1080p and 2160p SDR with FLAC 24/48 5.1 audio files in English and French, AC-3 16/48 5.1 audio transcodes and full subtitles in English and French for both versions.

Why did I produced two versions of the same fanedit ?
Because the bluray is the last official master to preserve most of the original film grain and because the ultra hd is the final master approved by James Cameron, even if it’s been using AI. I think the grainy look fits more the saga than the grain-less AI look but everyone has an opinion on it so both masters are available.

ADDED

ALIEN : RESURRECTION (1997) Theatrical Redux

The basis of this fanedit is the theatrical cut including the following scenes from the special edition back into the movie :

• Ripley awakes during the surgery
• Doctor shows Ripley the picture of a girl and she hesitates because she seems to remember Newt
• Ripley seems to remember Fury 161

Why didn’t I included alternate opening and ending ?
The theatrical opening and ending works better with the rest of the saga.

Why didn’t I included other exclusive scenes from the special edition ?
Because most of don’t add anything to the main plot. I hesitated to include 2 more scenes in my theatrical redux :

• Ripley telling Call how she had failed to save a little girl (Newt)
• Call talking about dreaming and Ripley telling her she can only dream about aliens

but I found them too repetitive with the added Ripley scenes in the beginning.

ALIEN : RESURRECTION (1997) Theatrical Redux is now available in 1080p remux with FLAC 24/48 5.1 audio files in English and French, AC-3 16/48 5.1 audio transcodes and full subtitles in English and French.

ADDED

ALIEN vs PREDATOR : REQUIEM (2007) Unrated Redux

This project isn’t even a fanedit but rather a new color grading and remaster of the complete unrated cut. Most of the details that weren’t visible in the original color grading are now restored.

During the remastering process,

• I used the unaltered bluray image to apply the new color grading
• I used Topaz Video AI 5 with my own settings to get rid of the chroma noise
• I applied a film stock grain over the new remaster.

ALIEN vs PREDATOR : REQUIEM (2007) Unrated Redux is now available in 1080p remux with unaltered DTS-HDMA 24/48 5.1 audio file in English and AC-3 16/48 5.1 in French, AC-3 16/48 5.1 audio transcode in English and full subtitles in English and French.

Here are some comparison screenshots below.

Unrated BD

Unrated Redux

Unrated BD

Unrated Redux

Unrated BD

Unrated Redux

Unrated BD

Unrated Redux

Unrated BD

Unrated Redux

Unrated BD

Unrated Redux

ADDED

ALIENS (1986) Director’s Redux using the unaltered ultra hd image.

Why did I produced two versions of the same fanedit ?

Because the bluray is the last official master to preserve most of the original film grain and the ultra hd is the final master approved by James Cameron, even if it’s been using AI. I think the grainy look fits more the saga than the AI look but everyone has an opinion on it so both are available.

UPCOMING

ALIEN³ (1992) Theatrical Redux

Probably my biggest redux project of the Alien saga and the one I’m the most proud of.

Using both theatrical cut and assembly cut, the main goal of this new 2h13 ALIEN³ redux is to :

• create a cohesive sequel with Ripley’s character story in previous movies
• get rid of repetitive scenes
• keep the faster pacing of the theatrical cut with essential scenes of the assembly cut

I’ll give more insight about everything that has been cut or altered in my next post, when project is ready and released.

Stay tuned

ADDED

ALIEN³ (1992) Theatrical Redux

Probably the biggest redux project of the Alien saga and the one I’m the most proud of.

Using both theatrical cut and assembly cut, I wanted this new cut to create the feeling of a definitive movie with the best of both worlds.

What has been used, changed and altered ?

• Assembly cut’s opening sequence but slightly faster

• Prisoners trying to rescue the EEV with Spike the dog but slightly faster. No more ox. The Alien is coming from the dog and the funeral sequence is from the theatrical cut. During the ventilator cleaning scene, Murphy is no longer mentionning Spike because the dog died in the same room where he finds him earlier with blood on his head. Murphy is also not saying the line “what kind of animal would do this to a dog ?” anymore.

• No more prayer in the beginning because we will see Dillon do it later with the prisoners. The religion side of the prison is really repetitive in the assembly cut.

• Extended autopsy sequence from the Assembly cut is used

• No more love story between Ripley and Clemens. Probably the biggest change of this cut. I’ve never liked the fact that Ripley was so easy to move from Hicks and Newt’s funeral to a love story with an unknown doctor on a unknown prison. Every scene mentionning their love story has been removed and you know what ? It works! Without those scenes, Ripley takes time to trust Clemens. There is indeed some kind of seduction between them but the love story doesn’t feel forced. It adds nothing to the main plot. She still seems touched by Hicks’s loss and on the other side, Clemens seems to develop feelings for her. It just feels more engaging for us because deep inside we hope Ripley will finally find some kind of peace and hapiness. And it doesn’t happen because of Clemens’s death in the nursery. It feels more nihilist. Because of this, Ripley doesn’t mention the barcode on his neck because. Dillon doesn’t mention Ripley and Clemens’s relationship anymore but still see she doesn’t look good. Director of the prison doesn’t mention his time with her during their conversation in his office.

• Most of the Assembly Cut’s last hour is used with the Golic subplot and the Alien trap.

• Theatricut cut’s ending is used with Ripley holding the Alien queen.

And with all of that, I think we have an amazing sequel with a great pacing. Without the closing credits, the movie clocks now at 2h07. ALIEN³ (1979) Theatrical Redux is now available in 1080p remux, FLAC 24/48 5.1 audio files in English and French, AC-3 16/48 5.1 audio transcodes and full subtitles in English and French. No VFX or altered work have been used for this project.

I might revisit it when A34K will release their version in October 2024 with updated VFX.