Best products from r/LV426

The biggest problem with reading the comics is that the original ones were changed after Alien3 came out. They continued the story of Hicks and Newt, then later Ripley. For me, the first 2 series were the best. Along with the first Aliens vs Predator series. Oh how I wish the AvP movie followed that story line. The newer stories are decent. Defiance is pretty good. The Fire and Stone and Life and Death story lines are good tie-ins with the original and current movies also.

If you want to read the stories from the beginning, the best way is to get the Omnibuses from Amazon, a local comic shop, or Comixology if you want them digitally.

• The original 6 issue series before it was changed after Alien3. This series is sometimes called "Aliens: Outbreak" In my opinion this is the best one of all the comics. The art in black and white is some of the best and it's not diluted by the colorization of future printings.
  Aliens 30th Anniversary: The Original Comics Series
  
  
• The second and third series before being changed after Alien3
  Aliens: The Original Comics Series-Nightmare Asylum and Earth War
  
  
  Omnibuses that collect the series all together. Volume 1 will have names changed in the series due to Alien3.
  
  
• Aliens Omnibus Volume 1
  
• Aliens Omnibus Volume 2
  
• Aliens Omnibus Volume 3
  
• Aliens Omnibus Volume 4
  
• Aliens Omnibus Volume 5
  
• Aliens Omnibus Volume 6 For some reason this one is priced really high in physical format
  
  For good measure this one is good also
  
  
• Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus, Vol. 1
  
  Be careful when searching for other collected versions of Aliens/Predator books. There are novelizations of these comics that have the same name and are called omnibuses also. If you want the comics, make sure that's what you have selected.
  
  The cheapest and easiest way to get these books is through Comixology, which is also owned by Amazon. The links that I posted above also have a option to by them on Comixology.
  

I consider it a personal and professional highlight both that I was lucky enough to get to sit down and interview the man one-on-one when The Martian came out a couple of years ago. (I also talked to him on a panel later in the day, but the 1:1 was particularly interesting.)

For folks who don't know how movie junket interviews work, there's a system to them. You generally get 10 minutes with each "talent," and in those 10 minutes you've got to cram in enough questions to be able to produce some kind of write-up that people will find interesting enough to read. This is harder than it sounds, because you have to figure out what the fuck questions to ask that haven't been asked a trillion times before; with someone like Ridley Scott, it's even more difficult because the man has seen and done everything a director can see or do.

That being said...the dude was awesome. He caught me off guard because when we sat down, he wanted to talk about my recorder, which is just a cheap low-end 2-channel digital recorder. So we chatted for 30 seconds or so about XLR inputs, and then I hit the "record" button and we got down to it.

Ridley Scott is the kindest, most interesting grandpa any of us have ever had. He has stories, you guys. He has stories for everything. He answered my dumb questions with aplomb and gave me waaaaaaaaay more than I could have hoped for. More, he was fun to talk to. I could have spent the whole damn day talking about movies with Ridley Scott. He is riveting.

So, yes, happy birthday to a man who is not only a true master of cinema, but also just a really great guy.

Here's the full 10 minute interview straight from the recorder, if anyone's just particularly bored and wants to listen to Scott's excellent answers to my dumb questions. Audio is a little low because this was for a written piece, so the audio wasn't intended for professional publication. But it's mine so I'm happy to share!

edit - if anyone's interested, here's the audio from the panel later in the day, which was Scott, Andy Weir (author of the book) and Dr. Jim Green (NASA planetary science advisor), facing down me and 4 other reporters in a conference room. This one's fascinating because most of it is either Andy Weir talking to Ridley Scott, or Ridley Scott and Jim Green geeking out about space. They were way more interested in talking to each other than they were to us stupid reporters :D

If you're into action figures, for under $50 Neca is your best bet. They have Alien & Predator figure lines that are great quality for the price. A newly released Neca figure will run you $20-@25 dollars. Figures from previous releases increase in price as they become more scarce.

Here's a thread from a few days ago about alien figures.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LV426/comments/5lgfvt/which_alien_figures_are_good/?st=ixlv1mjr&sh=63b73d30

You could go the statue route as well.I highly recommended the Kotobukiya Big Chap ArtFX statue. It's near the same size as a Neca Alien figure and it'll run you $70-$80, but is well worth it as it has, in my opinion, the best sculpt and paint. To me it's the definitive Alien figure/statue available. I only wish they would make a larger scale one.

http://news.toyark.com/2016/02/12/kotobukiya-big-chap-alien-artfx-statue-191953

If you're into books and a fan of the movies, Alien the Archive: The Ultimate Guide to the Classic Movies is great.

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Archive-Ultimate-Classic-Movies/dp/1783291044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483711525&sr=8-1&keywords=alien+book

I think they were comics at first but I only got in to them once they were adapted in to book form (not out of snobbery, that's just how I stumbled across them). They just recently re released the books and I've been enjoying them https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Aliens-Omnibus-Nightmare-Asylum/dp/1783299010/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1494355484&sr=8-5&keywords=alien+omnibus
I looked for a free pdf and couldn't find one, sorry. Also, fans who read the comic versions might say try those first but I haven't so can't say, all I know is I very much enjoyed the books. The red vs black element doesn't occur until later in the series but don't let that put you off, they're all great. One last thing, the plot of both the books and comics is the same and were written before Alien 3 so you should probably consider it a different universe altogether. Hope you enjoy!

They talk about that scene, and how apparently 1 of them had to get cuticle repair after their fingers were jabbed during a reshoot of the scene, and how Bishop's actor barely got through the English version of TSA with the knives in his suitcase, etc.

On top of that, this film looks quite good in Blu Ray. And it has the 1990 special edition, which is good, as I consider that version superior to the 1986 theatrical release (I like that the deleted scene makes the leading character in Alien: Isolation canon, for one thing). And a few versions of the soundtrack.

I specifically picked a Blu Ray set which didn't have Prometheus / Covenant as I have zero interest in those films. Plus the version I got is half the price and has more special content than the more expensive version.

The 4 film version has all the same special content as the 9 disk DVD version but in Blu Ray disks, so better resolution. The 6 disk version is twice the price of the normal 4 disk version which lacks some special features. At $15 vs $30, I think the $15 is worth it since I buy movies for special content anyway.

Version with prometheus / covenant:

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-6-film-Collection-Blu-ray-Crudup/dp/B073FT8X16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523655578&sr=8-1&keywords=alien+blu+ray+collection

Version with only the 4 original movies but tons of special content:

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Anthology-Aliens-Resurrection-Blu-ray/dp/B001AQO3QA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523655578&sr=8-2&keywords=alien+blu+ray+collection

Most of them are pretty drab, but I read them anyway. Almost all of them feel like fan fiction for Aliens 1986.

I'm not a fan of the AVP movie franchise, but the very first AVP book (which was written long before the movies) was pretty excellent. It's called Aliens Vs Predator: Prey

If you like reading graphic novels, check out Aliens: Labyrinth. The novel adaptation wasn't as good.

Collection one is the earth hive trilogy (earth hive, nightmare asylum, & female war). I've got the first two omnibus collections off amazon (I think there are eight in total) and they are pretty nice quality. This is a pretty awesome value.

http://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Omnibus-Vol-Mark-Verheiden/dp/1593077270

Glad I was able to convince you! it really is worth it. i mean the results speak for themselves!

Just one thing though, make sure that this is the box set you get:

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Anthology-Aliens-Resurrection-Blu-ray/dp/B001AQO3QA/ref=tmm_mfc_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1469153835&sr=8-1

And not this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Quadrilogy-Blu-ray-Tom-Skerritt/dp/B00MBNZ1Y4/ref=tmm_mfc_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1469153835&sr=8-1


The 2014 blu-ray quadrilogy set (not sure why they brought that name back) from what i understand, is just the 4 movies and does not include the two bonus feature disks. so unless you dont want the extras, make sure you get the 2010 antholgy set not the 2014 quadrilogy set. (the disks themselves are the same though, so there is no difference in quality between the movies themselves in these sets)

You can't go wrong with the old Dark Horse series like Earth Hive. You can buy them as digital comics for Kindle now of you want to save some time and money from buying the original printed versions. Kindle appears to have a good selection of old and new series too.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00WCY4YVI/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1492750452&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=aliens+earth+hive

The Complete Aliens Omnibus: Volume One (Earth Hive, Nightmare Asylum, The Female War): 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WCY4YVI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nUKvzb5B07GPR

I figured $1.99 for each book but for the trilogy volume I had to jump on it. This may not be news; they could've always been listed at this price, but it really surprised me and I figured a signal boost may be appreciated here.

Justwatch.com is a great website to see which movies are in which platforms.

Honestly though, just buy the movies you really wanna watch on BluRay.

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Quadrilogy-Blu-ray-Tom-Skerritt/dp/B00MBNZ1Y4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=alien+quadrilogy+blu+ray&qid=1565191631&s=gateway&sprefix=alien+qua&sr=8-1

I haven't read it yet but I've heard this is great if you want to get into the comics

Here is info on the book. It's going to seemingly cover content that the movie would have, so it's likely they scrapped the idea for a prequel movie and are just releasing it as a novel so they can focus on a Covenant sequel.

Alien: Covenant 2 - The Official Prequel to the Blockbuster Film https://www.amazon.com/dp/1785654764/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_xGhmzbVNBK3YS

Wow, never noticed them. They are quite peculiar. Closest thing my androids and contacts at Weyland could come up with is this.

https://www.amazon.com/Tealyra-Glasses-10-1-ounce-Lightweight-Coffee/dp/B06XJF9QC6/ref=s

or maybe

https://www.amazon.com/Insulated-Heat-resistant-Espresso-Dishwasher-Microwave/dp/B077X96DVZ/ref=sr_1_32?qid=1556557627&refinements=p_n_material_browse%3A366825011&s=kitchen&sr=1-32

I'd try amazon or https://www.hpb.com. Just a warning that there are plenty of shit Alien comics out there too, so I'd suggest being picky. Aliens: Stronghold, and Aliens Genocide are also pretty great, though the ones to read are these.

Go with this order.

Apocalypse - https://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Apocalypse-Destroying-Mark-Schultz/dp/1569713995/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510783511&sr=1-7&keywords=alien+apocalypse

Alien Omnibus 1 - https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Aliens-Omnibus-Nightmare-Asylum/dp/1783299010/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0T04ZTJ91VPHR18RE7P7

Omnibus 2 (skip harvest) - https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Aliens-Omnibus-Genocide-Harvest/dp/1783299037/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JRG2N9JZNA93ZGQX0BVM

Omnibus 3 - https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Aliens-Omnibus-Three-Labyrinth/dp/1783299053/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FEZYJWJ1Z6ADFA1DZA1F

Aliens: Stronghold - https://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Stronghold-John-Arcudi/dp/1569711542

This trilogy is a great place to start. You won't be disappointed.

Get the super-fancy Blu-Ray, i'ts AMAZING.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AQO3QA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

Start with Omnibus Vol 1. It begins with Outbreak and Nightmare Asylum which are essential reading. The comics in the other volumes are of very mixed quality, from brilliant to utter shit.

I would also recommend reading the novelizations of the movies. I'm about to finish the first one and it was very well written.

To be honest i'm not really sure what to say or where to start. There are alot of great comics to draw inspiration from. The most important thing is that the right authors/directors are chosen. I have no clue why the hell Paul Anderson's bad script was chosen to write/direct AvP..
Just read this and you will know what i mean. In my mind these comics are as true to the ALIENS and Predator franchises as possible.

http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Hive-Aliens-Book-1/dp/0553561200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342622817&sr=8-1&keywords=ALIENS+EARTH+HIVE Here ya go! the summaries should match up pretty close

I won't spoil it for you but you should read the second AvP book Hunter's Planet. The first book Prey is very good and seems to have influenced the grand story arc (not the details) of the Prometheus move. When you get to book 2 shit gets real.

Do yourself a favor and buy the Aliens omnibus series it is what you are looking for!

Comics: Aliens Omnibus Volume 1

Books: Aliens: Earth Hive

The book is the 'same' story as the first part of the Omnibus. Start with whichever medium you prefer. Shop around for better prices. Both are also available as EBooks.

Lol seems to easy

Yup, this is the definitive blu ray set. For dvd it would be the quadrilogy. If you want to include Prometheus and Covenent, looks like this would be the go-to: https://www.amazon.com/Alien-6-film-Collection-Blu-ray-Crudup/dp/B073FT8X16

also - the blu-ray version says it comes with both versions as well:


Disc 2: ALIENS

1986 Theatrical Version
1991 Special Edition with James Cameron Introduction
Audio Commentary by Director James Cameron, Producer Gale Anne Hurd, Alien Effects Creator Stan Winston
Final Theatrical Isolated Score by James Horner
Composer’s Original Isolated Score by James Horner
Deleted and Extended Scenes
*MU-TH-UR Mode Interactive Experience with Weyland-Yutani Datastream

Yeah! I have it ordered there (if youre american just change the .ca to .com to order).

https://www.amazon.ca/Alien-Covenant-Official-Prequel-Blockbuster/dp/1785654764/

Alien Covenant:Origins. It doesn't have the title on amazon but here is the link

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Covenant-Official-Prequel-Blockbuster/dp/1785654764/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1496248012&sr=8-9&keywords=alien+covenant

Alien Anthology (Alien / Aliens / Alien 3 / Alien: Resurrection) [Blu-ray] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AQO3QA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_sVoezbD2XA3Q6

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001DDBD54/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1526053894&sr=8-11&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=alien+boxed+set#
this one has Alien 1-4, Predator 1&2 + Both AvP films

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073FT8X16/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526053894&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=alien+boxed+set
This has all 6 Alien films.

The kind of boxed set you are describing doesn't exist. Pick one.

Alien Anthology - https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Anthology-Aliens-Resurrection-Blu-ray/dp/B001AQO3QA

I did OP's job for them:

Alien - Alien: Covenant(6 box)

Alien - Alien: Resurrection(4 box)

I know the Alien Anthology has this going for it. I've got this box set in my collection.

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Anthology-Aliens-Resurrection-Blu-ray/dp/B001AQO3QA

You can buy them now with the original names restored.

I used to buy these from the newsagents every time they came out. Compiled with Aliens v Predator and stuff. Around the same time a bunch of Terminator comics came from the same publisher, Dark Horse I think it was.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aliens-30th-Anniversary-Original-Comics/dp/1506700780

and

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aliens-Original-Comic-Sam-Kieth/dp/1506703569/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/258-0541758-0363109?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1506703569&pd_rd_r=d73c0a96-f1a3-4480-9110-87c11e4a4847&pd_rd_w=jJBRv&pd_rd_wg=oXASj&pf_rd_p=31fcc995-2418-43ae-a37c-f1ef453a46b3&pf_rd_r=G1684RB7EVQCJ42DT4MK&psc=1&refRID=G1684RB7EVQCJ42DT4MK

​

They're good, but they're not amazing. They feel a bit rushed and the ideas are great but you can tell they're trying to cram in as much violence to each issue as possible. When they're put together as one coherent story they feel too frantic.

Try out these:

• Aliens Book One (30th Anniversary), and Nightmare Asylum/Earth War collection
  
  Aliens 30th Anniversary: The Original Comics Series https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506700780/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_syUWAb1PJ55PP
  
  Aliens: The Original Comics Series-Nightmare Asylum and Earth War https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506703569/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_AyUWAb4R2JY9X
  
  
• Aliens: Bug Hunt (short story anthology)
  
  Aliens: Bug Hunt https://www.amazon.com/dp/1785654446/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yBUWAbA1HYKCX
  
  ---
  
  As for Aliens: Colonial Marines, you could likely find a full playthrough of the game and cut scenes on YouTube.