Most of the following production documents were originally owned by Michael Milgrom, the property master for the Los Angeles reshoots on ALIEN³. They provide a detailed overview of the scenes that were still left unfinished only a few months before release.
ALIEN DAY 2019 – Mediascene, Issue #35: Jan/Feb 1979 ALIEN Issue
Like ALIEN itself, this issue of Mediascene—a large format, newsprint-style magazine—is now forty years old, and includes a three-part selection of interviews, concept art, Ridleygrams and more, as well as a beautifully pulpy ALIEN centerfold. Reproduced here is all the ALIEN-related content from the issue.
ALIEN DAY 2019 – Portfolio of Crew Insignias from The UNITED STATES COMMERCIAL SPACESHIP NOSTROMO
Released in 1980 by Thinking Cap Company, ALIEN: The Authorized Portfolio of Crew Insignias from The UNITED STATES COMMERCIAL SPACESHIP NOSTROMO was a limited edition, individually numbered collector’s kit featuring prints, patches, buttons and notes by concept artists John Mollo and Rob Cobb.
ALIEN: 40th Anniversary 4K UHD Review
In celebration of Alien’s 40th anniversary, Fox has released a 4K UHD Blu-ray of the film. The new 4K master was transferred directly from the original camera negative, supervised by Ridley Scott and Pam Dery in 2018, and the HDR (High Dynamic Range) pass was supervised by Stephen Nakamura.
ALIENS Magazine: Highlights from the Dark Horse International Publication
Dark Horse’s various Aliens comics series have been a franchise mainstay since the late-80s, and are still going strong at the time of this writing; adaptations of William Gibson’s rejected Alien 3 screenplay and the Aliens: Resistance series are running concurrently. While US readers were presented with the various comics in traditionally published form, the …
Nostromo Costume Designs – John Mollo’s Sketchbook
While the costume for the titular beast in Alien was designed and built by H.R. Giger, the costumes worn by the human crew of the Nostromo were largely finalized by British costume designer John Mollo (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back). Presented below are rare pages from his sketchbook.
Alien Anthology: “Disc Unbound” Eject Screens
Upon ejecting one of the discs in the Alien Anthology Blu-ray set, viewers are greeted with a 1920×1080 screensaver image; each disc has its own custom-colored eject screen in multiple languages. Presented here are the actual eject screen themselves in original format, pulled directly from the discs. (They make a nice desktop background!) ALIEN (Disc …
40 YEARS OF ALIEN: 40th Anniversary Exhibit at USC
Currently running at USC School of Cinematic Arts (the alma mater of original Alien screenwriter Dan O’Bannon) is an anniversary exhibition celebrating 40 years of the Alien film franchise, showcasing props and other items from all six films. Alien Archives paid a visit and documented some of the highlights. For more, please see our article …
Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. – 30 Years of Make-Up, Monsters and Magic Exhibit
To celebrate their 30th anniversary, a selection of Studio ADI’s work was presented at the Hollywood Museum from October 3rd to December 31st, 2018, including many items from Alien³, Alien Resurrection and AVP: Alien vs. Predator. Presented here are some of the highlights featured at the exhibit.
Ridley’s Notes: The Original Character Biography of Ellen Ripley
The currently running 40 Years of Alien: 40th-Anniversary exhibit at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts has unveiled several previously unseen production documents from the making of the original 1979 film. Most notable among them are “Ridley’s Notes”—the original character biographies drafted by Ridley Scott to provide the cast with material to base their performances upon.
