Over the years the slow controversy about great sounding Dolby Stereo films from the mid 1970’s though to the 1980’s and thou many of the Star Wars films have captivated the attention of my ears, Alien was one that was griping slow moving, but always maintaining a high presence in the soundtrack and the Jerry Goldsmith, score.
I first heard about this back in 1979, when it was playing at the local Gurmount cinema in Westover Road, screen #2 I believe at the time, and thinking about it to today those lucky older buggers who where listening to the fantastic Dolby film mix and getting the crap sacred out of them, WOW, I should have sneaked into to see it, hehehehe!
I did only see it once in the cinema, but this was in the later years, around 1989 the print was only a Dolby Stereo A type and thou the sound was a bit dated for the technology in the cinema, where the Dolby CP-55 was doing the best it could to reproduce the sound, it was a bit in the mid range thou. I guess the cinema didn’t have any sub bass for bass extension, the monaural-surrounds sounded great with dark scenes and ambient stillness waiting in the shadows of a large slimy beast lurking around with a die hard first for blood!
Now owning several versions of the film on laserdisc and DVD, I have to say the first edition of Alien on DVD is the best looking and sounding version that you our likely to get, forget the directors cut, that version is a waste of time for film viewing, thou the new audio commentaries are well worth the listen.
Alien first edition DVD rating
Alien directors cut edition rating
