Poll of the Day > Original Alien film: Should I start with 1979 theatrical or 2003 Director's Cut?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm 26 years old and grew up with the more effects-savvy scifi, mostly anime. The first sci-fi I really remember are Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 and Gundam Wing, so, for that reason I'm leaning towards starting with the Director's Cut, but I'm not 100% sure.
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didn't realize there was a directors cut version

LaggnFragnLarry posted...

didn't realize there was a directors cut version

I got the Blu-Ray collection and the disc for the first of the 4 films is giving me those 2 options. Not sure yet which option I'll choose.
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It makes almost no difference.
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Kungfu Kenobi posted...

It makes almost no difference.

Did they add anything for the director's cut, or maybe take anything out?
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the theatrical alien is one of my favorite films so i would watch the directors cut just to see the differences. i have seen the directors cut version of aliens and thought the extra stuff was just fluff that was rightfully cut from the theater version. with that said i would watch both

LaggnFragnLarry posted...

have seen the directors cut version of aliens and thought the extra stuff was just fluff that was rightfully cut from the theater version

I feel the same way about the Aliens Director's cut. Sigourney Weaver was upset when they had to cut the scenes where they talk about the daughter Ripley left behind who lived her entire life and died of old age while Ripley was in stasis. Sigourney felt that scene contextualizes the entire film (which, strictly speaking, it does), but I never needed that to infer that Ripley probably had a family life she's now missed out on, and is projecting some of that on to Newt. And I feel that you take something away from the audience when you deny them the chance to figure that out - you're not giving them something by adding that extra information.
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Hmmm, even if there is extra fluff, I guess it wouldn't hurt to start with Director's Cut of both films.
Not sure if Alien 3 and Resurrection have Directors cut too, but if they do maybe I'll do the same for those films as well.
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The original cut is better

90% of the time, the theatrical release is better than the directors cut.

That being said, the sequel, Aliens, by James Cameron has a better directors cut as well as his next film Terminator 2.
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FrozenBananas posted...

The original cut is better

90% of the time, the theatrical release is better than the directors cut.

That being said, the sequel, Aliens, by James Cameron has a better directors cut as well as his next film Terminator 2.

Pretty much.

For Alien, I prefer the theatrical. For Aliens, I prefer Directors cut. Alien 3s directors cut actually changes a couple plot points of the film (most notably the creature the Alien gestates in). Regardless of which version of A3 you watch though, its a very love it or hate it film. As far as Resurrection goes...just don't. Seriously, don't.

And if you have not watched the Terminator films, watch the Directors cut of T2 when you get to it. The theatrical cut is already a classic, and the directors cut only adds to that. There is even an alternate ending on some versions of the Directors cut (some you have to type in a code for). It was actually Camerons original planned ending that actually wrapped up and finalized the story, before he was forced to make something more open ended (still a good ending though) so the studio could milk the franchise with perpetually worse films.

The director cut of Alien isn't a true directors cut, Ridley Scott says on the dvd it was made for marketing purposes. Either version is fine, the directors cut has one scene I don't like both are fine.

Aliens has some great stuff put back in but some of the mystery is spoiled. For a first viewing you should watch the theatrical cut of it and the directors cut everytime after that.

Alien 3 does have a directors cut and it should be the only version you watch. There's so,e thing like a half hour reinserted and it's all vital scenes that shouldn't have been cut.

Resurrection you can go with either version. The changes aren't significant really, it just makes the movie longer.
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Kungfu Kenobi posted...

LaggnFragnLarry posted...

have seen the directors cut version of aliens and thought the extra stuff was just fluff that was rightfully cut from the theater version

I feel the same way about the Aliens Director's cut. Sigourney Weaver was upset when they had to cut the scenes where they talk about the daughter Ripley left behind who lived her entire life and died of old age while Ripley was in stasis. Sigourney felt that scene contextualizes the entire film (which, strictly speaking, it does), but I never needed that to infer that Ripley probably had a family life she's now missed out on, and is projecting some of that on to Newt. And I feel that you take something away from the audience when you deny them the chance to figure that out - you're not giving them something by adding that extra information.

Honestly, I felt that the revelation added very little to the film and was a bit out of place since we didn't even get a hint of such a relationship in the original film.
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FrozenBananas posted...

90% of the time, the theatrical release is better than the directors cut.

I disagree with this completely. I can't even think of a Director's cut I've watched that I didn't prefer over the theatrical release.

Zeus posted...

Honestly, I felt that the revelation added very little to the film and was a bit out of place since we didn't even get a hint of such a relationship in the original film.

Actually, they do mention it.
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Ferarri619 posted...

I'm 26 years old and grew up with the more effects-savvy scifi, mostly anime. The first sci-fi I really remember are Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 and Gundam Wing, so, for that reason I'm leaning towards starting with the Director's Cut, but I'm not 100% sure.

Ideally, watch both but if you're not the type/don't have the patience, directors cut is a better way to start imho.

You want to see the oeiginal theatrical release. Even Ridley Scott prefers that version.

http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Alien_Director%27s_Cut

Scott has stated that he was very pleased with the original theatrical cut of Alien, saying that, "For all intents and purposes, I felt that the original cut of Alien was perfect. I still feel that way", and that the original 1979 theatrical version "remains my version of choice".

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Alright, about ready to watch soon. From my gathering of this thread, it seems it should go like this:
Alien - Theatrical
Aliens - Theatrical
Alien 3- Theatrical
Resurrection - Director's Cut.
Then the other versions will wait for another time.

Zangulus I bought the Anthology collection that was printed this year. There are digital codes for all the movies and 2 extra discs of special features.
I know it was technically released in 2017 but it might just be an older release reprint with digital codes that will take longer to expire.
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