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[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Cosmic Nightmares And 2122 Terrors Part I


Another brand new entry!

Gonna do something I have never done before; talk about the making of this post before we get into this multi-part entry. Back in July of 2015 I had begun preliminary image work for this PT. Then nothing came from it. The reason became quite clear when I made this my focus.

There were so many rabbit holes with most of the data scattered; some were located online, others from my personal archives done with diligent detective work. In the end, three bits appear to have been lost to time - dead ends. I made multiple hunts. I tried, but there is no more net magic to conjure. I just don't know where to look. There isn't a master database or blogs to examine. That info somewhat pre-dates modern internet use - 1999.

Man, the amount of work needed to complete *shakes head*... not even talking about the images (more were added - many needed restoration); serious research on the subject was staggering. The dates, prices, TV Guide ad, omissions, the proto-movie, release day titles (that was nearly impossible), missing concealment, easter eggs, deception, YouTube and a mysterious gargoyle on top of it all.

Now I know why I didn't finish this Past Tense in '15 - too much trouble. Now close to five years later, I did it. Yeah. A step back. About a week after I had finished the first PT entry for January 2020, "The Lost City". I begun early efforts for the second. Images were collected to be worked on and various stats gathered. In the details I found a personal gap.

I was looking for a price on the regular edition, but only found the Wal-Mart exclusive price. Where's the amount? My main DVD index, list the price (when there isn't an exclusive), but my exclusives' page (which would have the regular price) - had no entry. I was lacking a title and price. Somehow had forgotten to include the write up. That took me on a quest - information which I found.

Turns out because of that discovered gap, that post could be branched off into two Past Tense entries - which comes next month... and begin "Sword And Sandal Quarter", three months of manly men in action. First two months - covering a single title since everyone had exclusives including itself (a gift set). Plus two brand new entries.

Very cool, but that ultimately means I need another post to round out January. And I had the misfortune of choosing this title.

I'm very proud of what I accomplished on this entry; I had given up on various items and while seeking another - came back for 'one more try' and was able to actually unearth. And in doing, discovered I had been lied to (rest of the public too) AND finding out that, that release has extras which didn't port over to the massive box set. A Black Friday 2019 purchase that had to be rebought from eBay to complete - scratched discs. I'm anal, I want my DVDs mint.

You will never know how many hours and hours of work went into this post. Hair pullers and collective small victories. Just wanted to make it known, this isn't one of my regular Past Tenses. The only thing comparable is the entries for "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" and "Terminator Salvation", but those multi-installments were created over the course of eight months - at my leisure. This...

Had to be finished in under two weeks to meet my schedule for February through April entries. PLUS I need to do a write up for my "Night Of The Living Dead DVD Retrospective" (a book review). Let that sink in - a rush job that needed to be up the standards of accuracy and depth - and snarkness. With enough time for me to digest and tinker to satisfaction. Ideas pop and pop which mean I need more pictures and pictures which need modding and/or repairs.

January turned to a busy month for writing.

And making a connection on an error which isn't so much an error as it was a deleted moment and finding additional proof - I'll get into that much later. It's an interesting 'what if'.

Okay I'm done. Lets dive in...

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"The Alien Legacy: 20th Anniversary Edition" was released on home video on June 1st, 1999 for both DVD and VHS collections. The video tape sets came in two styles: full screen or widescreen (a.k.a. letterbox).

DVD retailed for $79.98. Unknown for VHS.

It streeted against "Gleaming The Cube", Playboy's (not Pixar's) "Inside Out", "Silverado" and "So I Married An Axe Murderer" (snapper case).



The sets consist of "Alien" (1979), "Aliens" (1986; presentation of the 'Special Edition' cut - twenty minutes longer), "Alien3" (1992) and "Alien Resurrection" (1997) with various 'brand new' extras; the sister release had the movies with very minor extras - cassettes after all.

Also included were a coupon for a mail-in offer and a set of nine "Alien Legacy" chase cards from Inkworks' upcoming trading card collection. The cards were exclusive to the American release. All came housed in a embossed foil slipcase.

Each of the movies (DVD set) came in their own Alpha cases with individual booklets covering that film's trivia and photos. VHS each came with their own individual card stock slipcovers.



That coupon was for an additional disc/cassette, a documentary on the making of the first film, "The Alien Legacy" (1999). This wasn't included in the boxes since it as still in production when the sets streeted. The exclusive on DVD cost $1.75 (for shipping). Unknown price for the exclusive video tape. The offer was from June 1st to September 1st, 1999 or while supplies last.

The bonus doc is presented in full screen and is 1:06:47 minutes long. The VHS copy came in a similar card stock case. The DVD came in a printed cardboard sleeve (above). The DVD has no menu screen - just plays. It comes subtitled in English, French and Spanish. And has no chapters.

Should be noted, the bonus content came in the mail months later. It was not reisued for DVD - well not for the Legacy sets.

But the re-release of the VHS collection included the fifth tape in a larger box; price is unknown.

That extra DVD had a limited individual release - as a rental only. This came in a standard DVD case with a regular wraparound. Kinda wish I had picked that up when I had the opportunity. I own the sleeve version, bought off eBay years ago.

The bonus is online. Go to YouTube, type in "The Alien Legacy (1999), documentary about 1979 ALIEN film" in search. Or if you know how, "QTr-ptJGp0c". It's still there (as of writing), checked. Uploaded on May 3rd, 2016 by H0ll0wm9n.

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Footnotes.

Just noticed that - Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) is wearing high heel cowboy boots in that promo pix for "Alien".



Should be noted that this doc was not included in the mega (digipak) DVD collection that was "Alien Quadrilogy". The colossal collection, nine discs set streeted on December 2nd, 2003 for $99.99.

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Cosmic Nightmares And 2122 Terrors Part III


How did Lambert die? We don't see.

In the (1979) novelization by Alan Dean Foster - she was killed when the creature forced her body into a vent far too small, crushed. Which is why we see her bloody limbs suspended, dangling from the wall.

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Oh yeah... in lieu of "The Alien Legacy" - Quadrilogy has "Alien Evolution" doc. This was British TV special that aired on October 13th, 2001 on Channel 4. The sixty-four minute program only covers the making of "Alien"... the problem, that's not the full broadcast.

It included the making of the saga; all the materials and footage concerning the rest of the movies were taken out. The narration of Mark Kermode is gone minus just the opening. The full run time is seventy-five minutes.

- - -

Something I want to address; all the dripping water in the lower decks of the Nostromo, falling like rain. What was happening was mass condensation from temperature differential; upper decks and lower decks - heat from the engine room.

Any large (and I mean huge) structure can create their own evaporation cloud just as the Earth does. As heat rises so does water vapor. As these water particles cool, they form droplets. These droplets fall once they get too big - gravity and it rains, basic physics.

- quoting myself from the PT entry for "Under The Dome: Season One"

On July 30th, 1972 - rain inside the Astrodome in Houston, Texas; poor air conditioning was to blame. It failed remove excessive heat and moisture from the air. This is what's going on in the lower decks of the behemoth towing ship.

So why did I say I don't own this set and yet do now?



On October 7th, 2014 "Alien Quadrilogy" was re-released for $29.98. Now all in standard DVD case, reduced to a four disc set; one for each movie. No slipcover was issued. Wal-Mart by the way sold it with digital copies on their exclusive streaming service, VUDU.

Didn't buy at the time. As said in Part I, would be Black Friday 2019 (November 28th) when I took home that trimmed collection. Six bucks. A good price, I bit. The BF sale didn't include digital copies. Why? Why rebuy? I wanted convenience; all the movies to watch with easy access without having to deal with digipaks - very plural.

Best description for Quadrilogy I read - liken it to an accordion. This thing unfolds, unfolds, unfolds, unfolds and unfolds. A great and fantastic box set, but it's a pain to get to the movies.

So Quadrilogy 2.0 was taken home (among other DVDs); found three of the discs were scratched. So on the final days of 2019 I bought another copy off eBay for $7.50 - the collection was had for $2.50 - making an offer that the seller accepted (rest was postage). I did good. The package arrived on January 2nd of the new decade.

Mixed with my existing set, I now have a complete mint collection. Sway.

Another step back because I had thought this was something else. Which it wasn't. Yeah.

Quadrilogy is a nine disc set and expensive. Got my copy years after the fact. Want to say a sale from Deep Discount back when it was called Deep Discount DVD. Can't recall the price, too many moons ago. A hundred bucks for four movies is stretching for a lot of folks.



January 6th, 2004 - each of the movies were given two disc, individual releases. The two discs partitions from Quadrilogy, priced at $26.98 each. The ninth disc was not included.

That above image; Alien: The Director's Cut, Aliens: Collector's Edition, Alien3: Collector's Edition and Alien Resurrection: Collector's Edition.

Bought my sets from Wal-Mart for thirteen bucks each, their sale price. That's awesome, didn't buy them all together - took them home in one month.

Each digipak came in a slipcase with booklet. Very nice looking. These are films I want to come back to and I don't want to risk doing accidental damage while pulling them out to watch. So the slimmed down Quadrilogy actually made sense.

But it was a lie. We were all lied to.

The cover reads "Alien Quadrilogy" for crying out loud. I thought this collection was disc one from each of the Quadrilogy partitions. No. It's not.

You may have guessed, this is The Legacy Collection repackaged! They even have new disc art, tricking you - until you play them. You can imagine my mood. I paid how much for this 1999 compendium???

Only when doing the research for this Past Tense did I discover the various bonus content omissions. I'm not happy, but I'm living with it. You see, the real Quadrilogy, remastered the movies once more after the Legacy box.

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You know what I want?

I want a proper documentary on the lost proto-movie - "Star Beast". Or better yet, have the final draft become animated horror, like the video game adaptations "Dead Space: Downfall" (2008) and its sequel "Dead Space: Aftermath" (2011), both on DVD.



Here the crew of the Snark intercept a long ago made signal - on their way back to Earth; investigate and find themselves caught in the same mess that the crew of the Nostromo did. That communication dish recedes onto the hull when not in use. That ship has an excellent design.

The was no android or corporate conspiracy here. Just space explorers with a despicable stowaway. And yes, from a chestbuster.

Much of the artwork was done by Ron Cobb who does industrial tech illustrations.



Here's the earlier version of finding the Space Jockey.

So the crew receive the unknown signal and triangulate it's location a small planet. They land and discover the alien craft. But sensors reveal a large structure in the distance, they travel to it and find a long extinct civilization who had built a stone pyramid.

No way in around the base, but it can be accessed from a hole at the summit, they climb up and then tether down.

This was a people who were very similar to the Mayans. They engaged in sacrifice.... you can guess to what. And worshipped the xenomorph. Turns out that alien ship crash landed the locals thought them as gods. Created a religion out of it.

One on of the walls there's stone carving of the xeno life cycle. Inside of one them discovers the egg chamber. You can guess the rest.



This is what the creature was planned to look like. On left is the early stage, then it became a quadruped. Both iterations were quite violent. Reminds me like a cross between a cockroach and a squid. That's great design that should be used in a horror flick. Imagine that brute walking/running on walls trying to dismember you.

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Cosmic Nightmares And 2122 Terrors Part IV


*rise eyebrow*

Or... Legofy it. "The Lego Movie" and sequel, plus Batman Lego film showed that you could have a feature entirely made of (CGI) Lego parts. Why not have "Star Beast" done in the same way? It would be both cute and disturbing.



There's a guy online who sells custom Lego mini-figs - Dan's Collectibles. Above is the xenomorph, the mouth opens and closes. This is a do-able thing. He also does a Predator for twenty bucks.

...that's was odd.

Like magic.

Two days ago on the 21st, I found out that this is indeed happing in a round about way. Not a doc, but a five issue comic book mini-series from Dark Horse Comics.



Cristiano Seixas has adapted Dan O’Bannon original script and with artist Guilherme Balbi and colorist Candice Han have made - "Alien: The Original Screenplay". Above is the cover.

The comic streets on April 22nd, 2020 for $3.99.

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Just because.

You perv!



Let me make this wholesome - here's a pix of Ripley with her furry friend, Jones.

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Tangent.

What did I mean by gargoyle?

Just that - a gargoyle.

The xenomorph appears in a 12th century church; Paisley Abbey in Paisley, Scotland. It was a short lived intenet viral mystery in 2013. Though it did appear back in the early days of the internet - 1997, but nobody cared then.



The '13 stir was being used as claims - proof extraterrestrials to even time travel. Nah. No discontinuity here.

Early 1990s the church was being renovated. It had thirteen gargoyles - only one was kept in original form, didn't need fixing. The rest were built from scratch. So the iconic space monster was added, imagined as a demon.

Makes sense - in one of the many aborted screenplays for "Alien3", Ripley crashed into a man-made planetoid, a huge wooden church (just go with it). She is helped to rid herself of the queen inside by an android in the closet. The place is anti-tech, the synthetic would be an abomination in their eyes. Anyhow, the xeno is found in an ancient book as... a demon. *nods*

That was the 1990 Vincent Ward and John Fasano "Alien III" screenplay. A lot of history, so many writers wrote scripts for that sequel that failed to get picked. From author William Gibson of "Neuromancer" (1984) fame to even David Twohy writer/director of "Pitch Black" (2000) and "Chronicles Of Riddick" (2004). And many more.

Stonework was done by David Lindsay as a easter egg/lark. He no longer carves stone; no more money in it. A dead trade. That's sad.

Perhaps the film was fairly new when they were carving this [no it wasn't] and if he was thinking of an alien. Perhaps the alien from the film was his idea of an alien. I’m sure he wasn’t deliberately copying the alien in the film. [That's what it is] It was just a concept of an alien.

- Reverend Alan Birss on the topic

No sir. It was deliberate, Lindsay is a fanboy.

The gargoyle isn't obvious - unless you were looking, you wouldn't notice it. As it should be.

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Easter Eggs.

These were not carried over to Quadrilogy. Didn't know about these until I did the research - the eggs surfaced. You get three, one of which is so-so from The Legacy Collection.

USCSS Nostromo's crew histories and flight plan.

Main Menu -> highlight "Scene Selection", press right; highlight right 'data screen' - ENTER.

It reveals the Nostromo departed on June 12th, 2121 at 800 hours (8am) and landed on LV-426 (Acheron) on April 1st, 2122 at 1530 hours (3:30pm). The crew info is based on Ridley Scott's original character notes.

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Ash's secret transmission to Weyland-Yutani on the xenomorph's life cycle.

Extra Features -> press down six times, highlight the 'acid hole' in the corridor - ENTER.

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DVD production credits.

Main Menu -> highlight "Extra Features", press left; highlight left 'data screen' - ENTER.

Two final pictures before I close this PT.



Here is a BTS pix of Badejo taking a break on set; filming of the fates of Lambert and Parker; coolant tanks. Yes, that's a skull under the xeno's opaque head dome. Creepy. On the right is Cobb's design of the Snark's bridge. Damn, that is beautiful - the planet with the unknown signal shown in the windows and screens.

Man this thing sure ballooned from three parts into four.

Just so you know - the next Night Of The Living Dead DVD Retrospective post is up, a three parter.

Doing this write up had me re-watching "Alien"; forty years old - still hasn't lost its bite. A genuine horror classic. Come back here on February 6th, 2020 for the first installment of "Sword And Sandal Quarter"!