Alien Anthology Blu-ray Boxset

Price: $74.99
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

In a year that's seen a massive amount of quality Blu-ray products to market, including a new line of Blu-ray 3D movies and an abundance of special collectors edition boxsets and other high quality merchandise, it's very difficult to pick just one of these releases to highlight.

However, after much deliberation I have decided to award the Alien Anthology Blu-ray boxset as the worthy candidate from the digital lounge, for reasons I'll outline.

For those that have seen the Alien films and to those that will now be introduced to the series via this high definition presentation , will know or find out that these films, and in particular, the first two films, are classics of the science fiction/ horror genre. The newly restored transfers of Alien and Aliens, undertaken by famed restorers Lowry Digital, are simply magnificent, revealing a beautiful image that whilst tastefully retains the emulsion of the film (otherwise known as grain), reveals a deeply detailed image with magnificent colour timing. The audio tracks too have seen a major sonic overhaul, revealing sounds and effects probably not heard before.

However, the beauty at the core of the Alien Anthology boxset is the magnificent collection of extras assembled by Ridley Scott's DVD producer Charlie de Lauzarika which run the entire gamut of the series production over a 20 year timeframe. Of particular note is the documentary on the notoriously troubled Alien 3 production, entitled 'Wreckage and rage', which now includes some newly uncensored, brimming with tense on set footage, interview segments and recollections.

Whilst the space allotted to me to review this product doesn't extend to a fully fledged review (this will hopefully be forthcoming), suffice to say; this is the Blu-ray boxset of the year and will rightfully reside in many Christmas stockings this year.