In agreement with Surf Monkey. I find the "Director's Cut" of Alien to not flow near as well as the original superior cut. It is interesting to view though and works well as a "work-in-progress" version. I can imagine Ridley Scott, looking at this version in in the late 70s deciding what to cut.
The extended version of Aliens however, I LOVE how it flows. Granted this is the same version on the previous DVD but comparing it to the theatrical version, I have to ask why this wasn't the version released back in 1986. I like the revisiting of the Alien's ship at the beginning and seeing what life was like on the colony before the danger approaches. One of my favourite scenes of the marines setting up the perimeter with the motion detecting machine guns is fantastic. The level of suspense in that scene with Ripley & Co. watching the screens as the ammo count decreases before it stops with 10 bullets remaining. I think it is a great scene that should never have been taken out of the theatrical cut. Nevertheless, this is why DVD was invented
I have yet to watch the new extended cuts of Alien 3 & Alien Resurrection.
I am very psyched to see Alien 3 though, as I really enjoyed the visual style and thought that the story and characters were very interesting, if not well-developed. Alien Resurrection - I just hope is better then the theatrical cut, which I, like many others, gound to be the weakest in the series. I will comment on those when I see them though.