The Beast Within: Making Alien (2003)

I think Alien (1979) is overrated, there I said it. So good to get that off my chest.Though it spawned an outstanding sequel I find it underwhelming and therefore I went into this documentary prepared to be unimpressed.I did however expect a better constructed making off film than this. Somehow, someway The Beast Within manages to be incredibly boring and make a cult movie look really quite poor.Featuring interviews with most of the cast, a few sfx explanations and lots of background on the film these 3hrs really drag as it's almost as if they just don't have much to say about the movie.Hurt & Weaver don't get much of a spotlight and Kotto is entirely absent. Most of the interviews are with those behind the camera, especially Giger & Ridley.Not being a fan of the film it was at a disadvantage from the outset, but regardless I can recognise a poorly contructed documentary when I see one.The Good:Few decent interviewsCouple of interesting storiesThe Bad:Remarkably boringVery little content considering the run timeThings I Learnt From This Documentary:Giger always made me feel very deeply uncomfortable

So many great interviews by the actors. So many great clips of scenes. So much behind the scenes the make the movies even better.Again Ridley Scott did a great job of directing. Sigourney Weaver did a great job in her first role. The special effects were excellent as was the action. The fear seemed real. A movie that still looks good after all these years.

This most comprehensive documentary takes you from the very seed of conceptional idea to the finished product of the Director's Cut DVD Alien Quadrilogy Collector's Set. It is longer in duration than the film itself, and documents every detail of pre-production, production, filming, post-production, marketing, and design. I found it interesting that Alien was conceived and molded into the movie it is, with Total Recall springing from it, as well as several other movies which would come onto the scene a few years later. I had never realized the relationship between Alien and Total Recall, before this documentary.I highly recommend this, which I found as "Disk 2" of the Alien Quadrilogy 9-disk Collector's Set, to any fan of the series. It is highly informative and extremely entertaining, complete with original pages of the script, some great conceptual shots, and the total Alien design.It rates a 10/10 on the Documentary Scale from...the Fiend :.

This massive documentary is very good, almost exhausive, ranking in at 178 minutes, longer than the film ALIEN (1979) itself. It's well-made and overwhelmingly informative at times.It features many interviews detailing the concept to the production of the film. For ALIEN fans this is a must-see but anyone interested in the history of the film for whatever reason should see it, too.Overall I've seen better but this is still a great documentary for a classic motion picture.4.5/5R.I.P. Jerry Goldsmith