Before saying anything else, the first Alien is one of my top 5 movies of all time and I personally believe it is one of the best Sci-Fi/Horrors ever made. HR Giger is my favorite artist of all time as well, so I've watched and read endless amounts of info, docs, etc about both categories.
Overall I would say this is a decent documentary about how the first Alien film was made. It will never match the absolutely awesome documentaries on the Alien Quadrilogy box set, however, and I would recommend those if you want a "true" documentary on the films. That all being said, there was a lot here that I've never seen before which was I was thankful for.
I agree with others here that the first half is the most interesting. Learning about Dan O'Bannon's origins and how the story evolved (I had no idea how many other previous movies/stories he almost completely ripped off) was interesting. They also play some minor bits from the AQ Boxset docs when showing HR Giger and Ridley Scott, but they are presented in an odd sort of way physically as if broadcasting on a small electronic device. Not sure if that was a copyright/licensing issue or if they were trying to be clever but either way, it was weird.
However, I don't get all the "SJW" whining about this doc: two women not affiliated with the franchise speaking about it somehow makes it "catering to SJWs"? There are plenty of men talking here, both from the movie crew and otherwise, so all the Trump fanboys out there need to calm the F down. There is some great insight from actress Veronica Cartwright, though pretty much all that she says has been said before in the AQ docs, particularly what part of the male anatomy the newborn Alien looks like (I get it, seriously).
But perhaps what I found the least interesting is that they spent a lot of time covering the chest bursting scene. Really? That's all that the movie is remembered for after 40 years? I would have thought the sets, sound design, small group of excellent actors, the creature effects, and the fact that movies just aren't made like this anymore would have been the focus. Or maybe it's just me.
Regardless, I'm not sure if this is worthy buying, but for a rental and even a moderate Alien fan I would say give it a shot.
Overall I would say this is a decent documentary about how the first Alien film was made. It will never match the absolutely awesome documentaries on the Alien Quadrilogy box set, however, and I would recommend those if you want a "true" documentary on the films. That all being said, there was a lot here that I've never seen before which was I was thankful for.
I agree with others here that the first half is the most interesting. Learning about Dan O'Bannon's origins and how the story evolved (I had no idea how many other previous movies/stories he almost completely ripped off) was interesting. They also play some minor bits from the AQ Boxset docs when showing HR Giger and Ridley Scott, but they are presented in an odd sort of way physically as if broadcasting on a small electronic device. Not sure if that was a copyright/licensing issue or if they were trying to be clever but either way, it was weird.
However, I don't get all the "SJW" whining about this doc: two women not affiliated with the franchise speaking about it somehow makes it "catering to SJWs"? There are plenty of men talking here, both from the movie crew and otherwise, so all the Trump fanboys out there need to calm the F down. There is some great insight from actress Veronica Cartwright, though pretty much all that she says has been said before in the AQ docs, particularly what part of the male anatomy the newborn Alien looks like (I get it, seriously).
But perhaps what I found the least interesting is that they spent a lot of time covering the chest bursting scene. Really? That's all that the movie is remembered for after 40 years? I would have thought the sets, sound design, small group of excellent actors, the creature effects, and the fact that movies just aren't made like this anymore would have been the focus. Or maybe it's just me.
Regardless, I'm not sure if this is worthy buying, but for a rental and even a moderate Alien fan I would say give it a shot.