Alien Evolution

October. 12,2001      
Rating:
7.3
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Mark Kermode brings a tribute to the successful Alien series, featuring interviews with the cast members and directors, including Sigourney Weaver and Ridley Scott. This documentary is featured on the 9th disc of the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set, released in 2003.

Michael Biehn as  Self / 'Cpl. Dwayne Hicks'
Ralph Brown as  Self / 'Aaron'
James Cameron as  Self
Veronica Cartwright as  Self / 'Lambert'
Ron Cobb as  Self
Charles Dance as  Self / Clemens
Jenette Goldstein as  Self / 'Pvt. J. Vasquez'
Carrie Henn as  Self / 'Newt'
Lance Henriksen as  Self / 'Bishop'
Sigourney Weaver as  Self

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Reviews

Scanialara
2001/10/12

You won't be disappointed!

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Brenda
2001/10/13

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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Lela
2001/10/14

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

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Billy Ollie
2001/10/15

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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crazyrabbits
2001/10/16

The documentary "Alien: Evolution" follows the history and production of the wildly successful (well, in the 70's and 80's, anyway) "Alien" franchise, and offers quite a bit of amusing and interesting information about the making of the first film, and, to a lesser extent, the sequels made in later years. The show is hosted by Mark Kermode (also of "On The Edge Of Blade Runner" fame), who narrates the whole show, and is on hand to give little quips about the production of the films.The documentary primarily deals with the 1979 original masterpiece, and Ridley Scott, Dan O'Bannon, Sigourney Weaver and other participants are on hand to talk about their experiences making the film. Of course, where the real meat is (and is something that wasn't included on the cut version of the doc on the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set) concerns the making of Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. Granted, all of the participants in the Aliens interviews have nothing but glowing praise for the film, but when you get down to the later entries, people have some surprisingly interesting things to say, including H.R. Giger, who compares the alien suit design in Alien 3 to a piece of excrement, and Lance Henriksen talking about how the third film destroyed all the work that was put into the first two entries, it sheds a whole new perspective on what it was like for the cast and crew to experience these films.It is understandable that Fox would want to cut these offending bits (seeing as how they cut an hour of candid footage of David Fincher out of the Alien 3 Special Edition documentaries), so they recut the film and had it focus on the first movie instead. I don't believe this was a wise move, and I think that if the studio heads have a chance, they should release this documentary in it's original form for everyone to see.Bottom Line: I am giving this a 9 out of 10, because, as it is, the documentaries featured on the Alien Quadrilogy set actually have better in-depth coverage of the same material posted here, but not everything. If you can find it, the documentary airs on television sometimes. Watch it if you get the chance.

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Elswet
2001/10/17

Alien Evolution is a documentary-maker's dream. It gives you everything you could possibly want to know about your favorite creature feature franchise.It is a 64.21 minute long inside look into the minds of the writers, giving you the story behind the story. Many critics have dogged this work since its release saying it spent to much time with the writers, when in fact, many millions of fans were clamoring for more back story and conceptual histories of these wonderfully Machiavellian Aliens.There are also interviews with the Producers, special effects departments, actors, directors, and more, more, more.I thoroughly enjoyed this comprehensive and inspired Supplement which was Disk 9 of the Alien Quadrilogy Collector's Set.Fantastic.It rates a Documentary Scale 10/10 from...the Fiend :.

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InkJava
2001/10/18

I had the chance to see the North American Premiere of Alien Evolution and I was quite impressed by it. As a fan of this franchise and thinking that I knew everything about it, I have learned many things while watching it. It's a lovely documentary to see because it talks a lot about what the actors, directors, producers of each films think about all four movies. It's a must-see for every movie-goers especially for the first thirty minutes, I would say, because everyone who was involved in the 1979 classic "Alien" give their point of view (and H.R. Giger as well) on the creature and the sets where the story took place. It is great! Also, there is some actors from the first three movies who appear to say their impression about all kinds of things. Ridley Scott, H.R. Giger and Sigourney Weaver had many good things to tell us about.My only disappointment, I think, would be that Alien Resurrection was a little bit ignored in this 1 hour and a half long documentary. The only persons interviewed who were in this 4th installment were the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and of course Sigourney Weaver. It made me a little bit sad because Alien Resurrection is my favorite of them all but Alien Evolution was so well done and what the people had to say was so interesting that I still give it a perfect 10 on 10 because it was excellent!*I wish we could put 11...

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Kyle Reese
2001/10/19

This was great to watch, and as a fan of both the ALIEN saga and Michael Biehn, I enjoyed it a lot. The interviews with cast members like Harry Dean Stanton, Tom Skerritt, Jenette Goldstein and Michael Biehn were particularly enjoyable. I have to admit, it started off boring with "Alien" as the recollections of the ageing producers were not very exciting, but as the show moved on, it became very enjoyable. A rare treat to see Michael Biehn on an interview, especially on british TV, it's about time my idol got the status he deserved!

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