I was pleasantly surprised by this box set.
I won´t say that I was blown away by any of the films contained within "Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection" and it will probably be a very long time before I revisit any of the pictures after spending the amount of time I did reviewing the titles. However, I certainly do not feel as if my nearly dozen hours of watching, researching and reviewing the five films was time wasted. I enjoyed my few evenings spent with George and Matt and genuinely cared about what was going to happen with them. The actors all showed their experience with the characters and each did a wonderful job of bringing humanity (or Tenctonese) to their roles. These films were well written and benefitted from having a television series of background behind them. They are investigative family police science-fiction dramas. Wordy, eh? That is the best I can think of describing the tone of any of the "Alien Nation" films and it is never a bad thing to cross genres when you can do so effectively. I´d never call them great films, but they are pretty good for a made-for-television anthology of films.
Video:
All five "Alien Nation" films are provided in a full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Watching two of the films via a Toshiba HD-DVD high definition upconvert player and three of the films through a Pioneer Elite standard definition player, I was able to experience the pictures on different playgrounds. The movies looked just as you would expect a made-for-television film from over a decade ago to look. Detail and coloring are dated and I would venture a guess that the "Alien Nation" pictures were not shot with the finest camera equipment available at the time. Each film looked very similar in appearance to its kin and three years didn´t provide much improvement between "Dark Horizon" and "The Udara Legacy." There was some improvement in coloring and clarity, but it wasn´t anything overly noticeable.
While detail and coloring was muted, the films still looked decent enough and I really can´t fault them too much considering their source materials. Colors just lack the pop of what is considered the norm for modern day DVD releases and detail is in align with television shows of the mid-nineties. Throwing the second and fourth films through the upconvert player didn´t yield any great improvement either. There is some noticeable film grain and black levels are nowhere near that of a high-production major motion picture. Source materials were dated in appearance, but the transfers are clean enough that fans should not be disappointed.
Audio:
I´m not going to spend a large chunk of time covering the audio portion of "Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection." The sound is presented in both English and Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo sound. Closed Captions and subtitles are provided for both languages. The two-channel sound mix echoes the visual presentation and the five "Alien Nation" films sound just as you would expect from an average television production from nearly fifteen years ago. In short, it sounds dated. There is decent movement between the left and right channels, but dialogue is typically contained in both channels; which does allow for THX processing to anchor vocals into the center channel. The spoken word is clean and intelligible, but dialogue is about all you get with "Alien Nation." There are a few sound effects here and there and a musical score is provided with the films, but nothing in any of the five pictures contains much of a pop and with the .1 LFE channel and rear surrounds being kept silent throughout the film, "Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection" sounds awfully flat. Again, this is due to limited source materials and while the transfer sounds dated, it is clean enough that fans of "Alien Nation" should certainly not feel disappointed.
Extras:
Disc One: Dark Horizon
The first disc is singled sided and contains only the first television film, "Alien Nation: Dark Horizon." This is the first of five feature laden sides that constitute the "Ultimate Movie Collection," and fans may or may not be satisfied with the number of supplemental materials. I personally feel that Kenneth Johnson needs to be applauded for his efforts on the supplements of this DVD set. The Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson is the first of five commentary tracks by Kenny, as he includes us all as his friends. This disc also features Kenny´s daughter Kate and I find that the overseer of the "Alien Nation" franchise is enthusiastic about his creation and he includes a large number of tidbits about the film and how it relates to the original series as well as plenty of details on the making of this picture. Having not seen the television series, I found this commentary quite helpful.
A small number of additional materials are also included on the first disc. The Making of Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (22:20) finds Kenneth Johnson narrating and lending his time to discussing the making of his picture. This feature was created for this DVD set and provides a nice look back at the footage uncovered that showed many of the sets being created, scenes being shot and aliens gaining their makeup. This feature is essentially a series of home movies with commentary by Kenny and although it looks rough, it is worth watching. The Gag Reel (8:06) is funny, especially a scene remembering the cancellation of the television show. A series of four Still Galleries wrap up the bonus materials on this disc. Kenny´s Personal Album, Alien Nation Cast Reunion 2001, Production & Publicity Stills and Behind the Scenes are the four galleries.
Disc Two: Side A: Body And Soul
The second disc is very reminiscent of the features found for the first film. Kenny returns for another Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson and while I found the first commentary a spot more interesting than this one, the man responsible for these television films continues to show his love for "Alien Nation" and provides an interesting commentary. Another making of feature, The Making of Alien Nation: Body and Soul (22:45) finds Kenny returning to Hewitt Street again and remembering his experiences in making the second film. This is another nice featurette. A Gag Reel (7:28) and four more Still Galleries are also included. The galleries are titled Production Stills, Kenny´s Personal Album, Concept Art and Alien Nation Cast Reunion 2006.
Disc Two: Side B: Millennium
Flipping the second side over finds our friend Kenny putting in a few more hours into his beloved franchise. The third Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson continuing on with his scene-by-scene discussion of his series of five films and this is another good commentary, but only the most die-hard "Alien Nation" fans will probably make it into a third commentary track. I applaud Kenny´s hard work in sharing his love for all things "Alien Nation" and wish that other film makers cared as much as he apparently does. The Making of Alien Nation: Millennium (19:48) takes a trip back to 1995 and begins showing how a little engineering helped shoot a complicated dolly shot. Kenny continues his excellent coverage in this commentary track. A third Gag Reel (6:02) is included as well as the Still Galleries Kenny´s Personal Album, Behind the Scenes, Concept Art and Storyboards.
Disc Three: Side A: The Enemy Within
The fourth film was actually contained on the B-Side of Disc Three. I´m not sure if this is a production problem or not, but I will list the film in order of how the packaging states it should be. "The Enemy Within" has many of the same supplements as the first three films, but lacks the Gag Reel that was standard fare up until now. The Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson is similar in composition to the previous three (and following fifth) track and if you truly do enjoy "Alien Nation" and have followed the series since 1988, then you will not want to miss any of these commentary tracks. The Making of Alien Nation: The Enemy Within (23:09) takes another track to Hewitt Street and has Kenny taking a look at the back-to-back shooting of the final two films. The primary focus of this feature is on "The Enemy Within," but time is spent on the final film. This platter side also contains some Still Galleries, Kenny´s Personal Album, Behind the Scenes and Concept Art.
Disc Two: Side B: The Udara Legacy
The last film finds its supplements slightly different that the four previous films. Kenny still provides another solid Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson and his enthusiasm and discussion never tails off during any of the five commentary tracks. I didn´t listen to them all in their entirety, but spot checking the tracks never landed upon dead space or dull conversation. Great job Kenny! A series of Still Galleries is still included: Kenny´s Personal Album, Concept Art and IN the Make-Up Chair: From Human to Alien. The third gallery was a nice little shot of transitions for those curious about the make-up of the aliens. However, this final disc eschews a making-of featurette for the A Family Gathering: The Director and Actors Look Back on Alien Nation (25:02). This was shot January 6, 2007 and shows how tight and close the cast and crew were. This was a lot of fun and a nice way to close out the "Ultimate Movie Collection."
Closing Comments:
The number of episodes I had seen of "Alien Nation" on the Fox Network sat at exactly zero when I sat down to watch the first of five made-for-television follow-up films contained in the "Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection." I had seen the original James Caan film, but that experience has mostly left my long-term memory and about the most I could remember of the whole "Alien Nation" universe were the spots on the heads of the aliens in question. However, I found myself enjoying the five pictures contained in the three disc box set. I won´t go as far as saying that the five films were great entertainment, but they are accessible films that tell a story and teach morality based upon today´s social ailments that "Alien Nation" may find a few new fans via this box set. However, the box set is mostly geared towards the fans of the work done by Kenneth Johnson and the man who prefers to be called Kenny does an amazing job with the supplements and bringing his labor of love to DVD. Sound and Video are dated and will not turn any heads, but this should not sway any fans or somebody overly curious about the characters George Francisco and Matt Sikes. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this box set.
Video:
All five "Alien Nation" films are provided in a full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Watching two of the films via a Toshiba HD-DVD high definition upconvert player and three of the films through a Pioneer Elite standard definition player, I was able to experience the pictures on different playgrounds. The movies looked just as you would expect a made-for-television film from over a decade ago to look. Detail and coloring are dated and I would venture a guess that the "Alien Nation" pictures were not shot with the finest camera equipment available at the time. Each film looked very similar in appearance to its kin and three years didn´t provide much improvement between "Dark Horizon" and "The Udara Legacy." There was some improvement in coloring and clarity, but it wasn´t anything overly noticeable.
While detail and coloring was muted, the films still looked decent enough and I really can´t fault them too much considering their source materials. Colors just lack the pop of what is considered the norm for modern day DVD releases and detail is in align with television shows of the mid-nineties. Throwing the second and fourth films through the upconvert player didn´t yield any great improvement either. There is some noticeable film grain and black levels are nowhere near that of a high-production major motion picture. Source materials were dated in appearance, but the transfers are clean enough that fans should not be disappointed.
Audio:
I´m not going to spend a large chunk of time covering the audio portion of "Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection." The sound is presented in both English and Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo sound. Closed Captions and subtitles are provided for both languages. The two-channel sound mix echoes the visual presentation and the five "Alien Nation" films sound just as you would expect from an average television production from nearly fifteen years ago. In short, it sounds dated. There is decent movement between the left and right channels, but dialogue is typically contained in both channels; which does allow for THX processing to anchor vocals into the center channel. The spoken word is clean and intelligible, but dialogue is about all you get with "Alien Nation." There are a few sound effects here and there and a musical score is provided with the films, but nothing in any of the five pictures contains much of a pop and with the .1 LFE channel and rear surrounds being kept silent throughout the film, "Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection" sounds awfully flat. Again, this is due to limited source materials and while the transfer sounds dated, it is clean enough that fans of "Alien Nation" should certainly not feel disappointed.
Extras:
Disc One: Dark Horizon
The first disc is singled sided and contains only the first television film, "Alien Nation: Dark Horizon." This is the first of five feature laden sides that constitute the "Ultimate Movie Collection," and fans may or may not be satisfied with the number of supplemental materials. I personally feel that Kenneth Johnson needs to be applauded for his efforts on the supplements of this DVD set. The Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson is the first of five commentary tracks by Kenny, as he includes us all as his friends. This disc also features Kenny´s daughter Kate and I find that the overseer of the "Alien Nation" franchise is enthusiastic about his creation and he includes a large number of tidbits about the film and how it relates to the original series as well as plenty of details on the making of this picture. Having not seen the television series, I found this commentary quite helpful.
A small number of additional materials are also included on the first disc. The Making of Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (22:20) finds Kenneth Johnson narrating and lending his time to discussing the making of his picture. This feature was created for this DVD set and provides a nice look back at the footage uncovered that showed many of the sets being created, scenes being shot and aliens gaining their makeup. This feature is essentially a series of home movies with commentary by Kenny and although it looks rough, it is worth watching. The Gag Reel (8:06) is funny, especially a scene remembering the cancellation of the television show. A series of four Still Galleries wrap up the bonus materials on this disc. Kenny´s Personal Album, Alien Nation Cast Reunion 2001, Production & Publicity Stills and Behind the Scenes are the four galleries.
Disc Two: Side A: Body And Soul
The second disc is very reminiscent of the features found for the first film. Kenny returns for another Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson and while I found the first commentary a spot more interesting than this one, the man responsible for these television films continues to show his love for "Alien Nation" and provides an interesting commentary. Another making of feature, The Making of Alien Nation: Body and Soul (22:45) finds Kenny returning to Hewitt Street again and remembering his experiences in making the second film. This is another nice featurette. A Gag Reel (7:28) and four more Still Galleries are also included. The galleries are titled Production Stills, Kenny´s Personal Album, Concept Art and Alien Nation Cast Reunion 2006.
Disc Two: Side B: Millennium
Flipping the second side over finds our friend Kenny putting in a few more hours into his beloved franchise. The third Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson continuing on with his scene-by-scene discussion of his series of five films and this is another good commentary, but only the most die-hard "Alien Nation" fans will probably make it into a third commentary track. I applaud Kenny´s hard work in sharing his love for all things "Alien Nation" and wish that other film makers cared as much as he apparently does. The Making of Alien Nation: Millennium (19:48) takes a trip back to 1995 and begins showing how a little engineering helped shoot a complicated dolly shot. Kenny continues his excellent coverage in this commentary track. A third Gag Reel (6:02) is included as well as the Still Galleries Kenny´s Personal Album, Behind the Scenes, Concept Art and Storyboards.
Disc Three: Side A: The Enemy Within
The fourth film was actually contained on the B-Side of Disc Three. I´m not sure if this is a production problem or not, but I will list the film in order of how the packaging states it should be. "The Enemy Within" has many of the same supplements as the first three films, but lacks the Gag Reel that was standard fare up until now. The Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson is similar in composition to the previous three (and following fifth) track and if you truly do enjoy "Alien Nation" and have followed the series since 1988, then you will not want to miss any of these commentary tracks. The Making of Alien Nation: The Enemy Within (23:09) takes another track to Hewitt Street and has Kenny taking a look at the back-to-back shooting of the final two films. The primary focus of this feature is on "The Enemy Within," but time is spent on the final film. This platter side also contains some Still Galleries, Kenny´s Personal Album, Behind the Scenes and Concept Art.
Disc Two: Side B: The Udara Legacy
The last film finds its supplements slightly different that the four previous films. Kenny still provides another solid Commentary by Executive Producer and Director, Kenneth Johnson and his enthusiasm and discussion never tails off during any of the five commentary tracks. I didn´t listen to them all in their entirety, but spot checking the tracks never landed upon dead space or dull conversation. Great job Kenny! A series of Still Galleries is still included: Kenny´s Personal Album, Concept Art and IN the Make-Up Chair: From Human to Alien. The third gallery was a nice little shot of transitions for those curious about the make-up of the aliens. However, this final disc eschews a making-of featurette for the A Family Gathering: The Director and Actors Look Back on Alien Nation (25:02). This was shot January 6, 2007 and shows how tight and close the cast and crew were. This was a lot of fun and a nice way to close out the "Ultimate Movie Collection."
Closing Comments:
The number of episodes I had seen of "Alien Nation" on the Fox Network sat at exactly zero when I sat down to watch the first of five made-for-television follow-up films contained in the "Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection." I had seen the original James Caan film, but that experience has mostly left my long-term memory and about the most I could remember of the whole "Alien Nation" universe were the spots on the heads of the aliens in question. However, I found myself enjoying the five pictures contained in the three disc box set. I won´t go as far as saying that the five films were great entertainment, but they are accessible films that tell a story and teach morality based upon today´s social ailments that "Alien Nation" may find a few new fans via this box set. However, the box set is mostly geared towards the fans of the work done by Kenneth Johnson and the man who prefers to be called Kenny does an amazing job with the supplements and bringing his labor of love to DVD. Sound and Video are dated and will not turn any heads, but this should not sway any fans or somebody overly curious about the characters George Francisco and Matt Sikes. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this box set.
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[release]23625[/release]