Alien Anthology
Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 6
Rated: Unrated
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: October 26, 2010

Purchase Alien Anthology on Blu-Ray

Worth the price of the upgrade.

If you’re like me, you may have been on the fence about whether or not upgrading to Blu-Ray and having to replace all your old DVDs was going to be worth it.

Then along comes a release like the box-set “Alien Anthology” and you realize, yes, it is worth it.

The four films that make up this franchise have been released so many times, in so many sets that it might seem like 20th Century Fox is going to the well once again with this six-disc Blu-Ray set. But in this case, it’s worth the effort.

For one thing, each of the films is presented in the original version and a director’s version on each Blu-Ray. Couple that with some simply stunning transfers and clean-up work done to each of the films (“Aliens” looks great) and you’ve got reason enough to buy this box set. Assuming you’re a fan of the films, that is. Even if you’re only really a fan of the first two films, the set is worth the investment.

Why?

The extras.

We’ve got two discs packed with extras on the creation of the films. They’ll make you appreciate what went into the first two films and why they’re both so unique, influential and all around great. But the extras (they weigh in at over 60 hours and while I’ve dug through most of them there is still a good way to go on seeing everything included here) could make you re-examine the last two films. They won’t ever make them perfect, but you find yourself bumping them up a bit in your estimation.

In a year when we’re starting to see a lot of classic franchises get the deluxe treatment on Blu-Ray and the promise of more to come in 2011, this set could become the standard by which all others are judged.