Alien Quadrilogy

Alien (1979) - Alien Resurrection (1997).

This series of four films, featuring the greatest heroine of the Sci Fi genre, needs no introduction. Despite more recent spin offs that have seen a bastardization of two franchises, Predator Vs Alien, the original series stands alone as one of the most successful in combining horror, action and science fiction.

Largely due to the brilliance of directors Ridley Scott, combat film specialist James Cameron, David Fincher and to a lesser extent Jean-Pierre Jeunet, all four of these movies approach the battle between humans and a remorseless killing machine known as the Alien.

The Alien species is largely based on a hive concept with a Queen Alien introduced in the second installment but it was without doubt the infamous chest burster that had audiences aghast in 1979 and unlike in space, everyone heard them scream. The basic xenophobia ingrained in all of us on some level is enhanced when the foreign can gestate inside our bodies next to the heart, the symbolic emotional core in all of us. This series was also groundbreaking in its portrayal of gender in science fiction with many suprised that the female character Ripley would be the one to survive time and time again. Even more were suprised by the conflicting imagery of a nurturing mother juxtaposed with the shooting of advanced weaponry and protecting her young. The idea of an evil company (read corporation) was also relatively new in the late 1970s and early 1980s and has been replicated many times since to the point where viewers in the 21st century are used to profit driven executives making their subordinates expendable.

Many fans of the series regularly debate over which installment rates the highest. Alien and Aliens were certainly difficult acts to follow. Production was heavily influenced by studio executives during the shooting of Alien 3, to the point where Fincher would no doubt have drawn parallels between Fox and the dreaded Weyland-Yutani Corporation. This reviewer tends to rate the first two installments equally, followed by 3 and then Resurrection. Each to their own of course.

There is little doubt that this series has fans of all persuasions. Fans of action movies, horror, science fiction and even the feminist movement can find something in these four excellent films. Worth the box set.

Snap says 9.5/10