ALIEN
NATION - ULTIMATE MOVIE COLLECTION
Alien Nation - Ultimate Movie Collection
Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen,
Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Region: 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 3
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Release Date: April 15, 2008
Run Time: 447 minutes
Movie:
  
Discs:
 The
1988 Alien Nation movie starring James Caan
and Mandy Patinkin which "inspired" the series of the same name and these
made-for-TV movies could be best summed up as Lethal Weapon, but
with aliens.
It was a prime example of what can be described as "fake" sci-fi: the
basic concept would have worked without any of its sci-fi trappings. To
recap: an alien space ship containing hundreds of thousands of aliens bred
for slave labor crash-lands on Earth.
The aliens (or "Newcomers" as they
are referred to in the movie) have no way of going home, even if they
wanted to and must stay on Earth becoming Los Angeles' latest minority
group in the process. It is an interesting concept, but the movie
preferred to be a typical mismatched buddy / cop action movie. Had the
human cop played by James Caan been teamed with some other minority group
member such as, let's say, a Hispanic or African American the net effect
would have been pretty much the same. The movie really never fleshed out
the concept or had much fun with it.
With more running time at its disposal the 1989-1990 TV series however
played around more with the ideas afforded them by the basic concept,
preferring to focus on its various characters instead of violent
action. Unfortunately the series was cancelled after only one season, but
the storyline was continued in five made-for-TV movies featuring the same
cast and characters.
The movies are:
Dark Horizon - aired 10/25/1994
Body and Soul - aired 10/10/1995
Millennium - aired 01/02/1996
The Enemy Within - aired 11/12/1996
The Udara Legacy - aired 07/29/1997
The movies are somewhat dated now. The haircuts and fashions
particularly in the first movie are quite jarring and feels like an
'Eighties left-over even though it was only made in 1994. Also, the movie
titled Millennium which aired in 1996 was set in the then future
year of 1999 shortly before the start of the new millennium (as one
character correctly points out, the new millennium actually kicked off
only in 2001). The effects, particularly of CGI space ships and the like,
are bad. Despite this, they have much more fun with the original concept
and it becomes a potent,
if
somewhat over-obvious,
metaphor for issues such as racism, xenophobia, bigotry and so on.
 Don't
fret however: these movies are never as heavy as it may sound and the
moralizing never feels forced. Part of why the movies still work is
because of their focus on the various characters and human (or is that
alien?) interaction. A light sense of humor also pervades the series. Even
when the plotting seems mundane -
Udara Legacy (the last movie) tiresomely rehashes the old
Manchurian Candidate plot line for instance
-
the acting and human interest pulls it through. In one movie, Body and
Soul, the subplot (of interspecies sex) is actually more entertaining
than the main plot involving dodgy genetic experimentation involving
Newcomer technology.
Even though Dark
Horizon picks up where the TV series stopped, newcomers to the show
(no pun intended) won't feel left behind and will easily catch up on
events. It is however recommended that you view the movies in the sequence
they were aired.
THE DISCS: All
five movies are presented in their original 1.33:1 full screen TV aspect
ratio on three discs. Two of the discs are double-sided and contain a
movie on each side. Only Dark Horizon is presented on a
single-sided disc. All the movies feature photo galleries and an audio
commentary track by show writer / director / creator Kenneth Johnson. It
is a pity that some of the cast members don't join him for these talks,
but Johnson's talks are interesting even though you'll probably end up
with a lot more info on Alien Nation than you would have liked. His
memory is quite clear though, and he supplies some interesting info on
low-budget film-making. In one scene for instance a small set is made to
look like a long corridor by making a character walk down it twice using
through different angles and some clever editing.
WORTH IT?
Entertaining in a there's nothing else on right now way, these Alien
Nation movies make for decent rentals. Fans of the show would want to
buy them.
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