[Canceled] Aliens TV Cut and Theatrical Regrade (Fox THX Laserdisc)

[TServo2049]

I had always heard the TV cut was the extended cut except that we don't see anything of LV-426 before Ripley and the Marines get there. Is that accurate?

[Stamper]

Nope. I'm about one third in. There is the Daughter scene, but there is no extended judgment inquiry, no Hadley's Hope, no Ripley asks Burke: "What's your interest in all this? Why are you going?", no goodbye to the cat, no longer tracking shot of the interior of the ship. I'll update it as it goes. It's a whole different hybrid cut.

[spoRv]

no goodbye to the cat

Sorry, because of that, I can't watch that version...

[Stamper]

LOL, they probably deleted it due to the harsh language.

[PDB]

Nope. I'm about one third in. There is the Daughter scene, but there is no extended judgment inquiry, no Hadley's Hope, no Ripley asks Burke: "What's your interest in all this? Why are you going?", no goodbye to the cat, no longer tracking shot of the interior of the ship. I'll update it as it goes. It's a whole different hybrid cut.

Hmmm, thanks then Stamper. I was operating under the wrong assumption. I guess it has been 25 years+ since I've seen it so I should sharpen up. I have to get that copy off the spleen and watch it tonight (is that what you are watching?). I assume the bee/hive/queen discussion is not in there?

[CSchmidlapp]

Ive never seen this cut, I heard about it but was also under the assumption that it was just the special edition minus the 'hadleys hope' footage and violence. Very interesting. Keep us updated on the differences Stamper.

[PDB]

Well you learn something new everyday. Looking over the TV cut, Stamper is right about everything. I quickly scanned through my copy so I didn't do a complete check but expanding on what Stamper said:

-has Ripley's daughter scene (Her 11th birthday)
-no extra conference room lines (...its the view of this inquest...)
-no colony scenes (has the TC dissolve from the inquest to Ripley's apartment)
-missing Burke's extra lines (...saw the commercial)
-no cat/Jonesy goodbye (for TV Censorship)
-no extra establishing scene in the Sulaco
-no "yours was male" discussion at the meal (for TV Censorship)
-no extra Hudson lines (...knives, sharp sticks...)
-no extra Hudson motion tracker scene (Good one, Hudson)
-no scene outside with Ripley, Burke and Gorman entering the colony (Are you alright?)
-does have the robot sentry intro (But the good news..., without they really kick ass line)
-does have the discussion about the planning the barricades (..we put the other sentry here..)
-does have the scene of setting up the robot sentry guns (Fire in the hole)
-does have the scene of the guns scanning the hallways
-does have Ripley and Newt discussing Ripley's daughter (She's dead)
-no bee hives comparison lines (...bees, man...)
-does have first sentry attack scene (..its a shooting gallery..)
-does have the second sentry attack scene (maybe we got them demoralized)
-no Ripley lines about "****ing each other over" (for TV Censorship)
-has the correct placement of the guns (pulse rifle first, then flame thrower)
-has the Ellen/Dwayne exchange

This has become far more interesting preservation. I love that it includes Ripley's daughter/talk with Newt for the emotional content (should of never been removed) and the guns since that is kind of cool (and even if it makes the Aliens seem a little less intelligent, it explains why there are so few in the hive at the end). Only other thing I miss is the Hudson sharp sticks joking. Only thing I'd probably like not to see is the first name exchange, simply because it destroys the pacing and tension.

Otherwise from the little I saw, the full violence is intact. The full chestburster scene. The blood on the windows in the dropship kill. Seems mostly language changes.

It sounds like Bill Paxton dubbed a few of Hudson's censored lines but not 100% sure. Might be fun to preserve the soundtrack for a TV cut recreation.

[Stamper]

It could be awesome to reconstruct it, however which soundtrack to add there? (apart from the TV soundtrack as an extra)

I mean the 4.0 version is the 86 cut only. So I'm guessing this should have the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) soundtrack of the Blu-ray, since it's the only one that exists for both the TC and the SE (you need a soundtrack that is common to both of those to reconstruct the TV cut). Unless the DD 2.0 english is available for both cuts? I need to check the actual Blu-ray in my box set to see if it is.

PS: my feeling is the TV cut was Cameron original theatrical cut, that he had to further cut down at the last minute to please Fox.
The SE like the T2 SE is more of a fan pleaser cut, with everything put back in that could fit, without worrying about running time.
However it adds some continuity issues. In the scene with Hudson bragging about the weapons, Hicks is asleep in the close-ups, and awake in the wide shots. It looks totally idiotic.

TV cut all the way as an alternate. All the way.

I would keep the Jonesy scene if you reinstate the bad language (ie UNRATED TV cut) because that scene missing is clearly a censorship of the language choice, not an artistic edit choice. She says the word "little shit" in it lol.

[PDB]

Well I was thinking the 2.0 PCM from the longer LD cut down to fit. Buster D was nice enough to give me a copy and then the BD's DTS tack for those who need/want a 5.1. Then the censored TV track.

Let me ask you Stamper, did you think that was Bill Paxton's voice in the TV cut dubbing in his lines? It sounds remarkable like him. Instead of one word you can clearly tell someone dubbed in whole lines to make it flow better. There is a noticeable audio difference.

Its an interesting theory, that this is an intermediary cut. I could see that. I like this cut since it has some interesting parts but it is a lot tighter then the SE version.

The interesting thing in this version is the gun order. In theatrical prints, old VHS, old LDs when Ripley gets ready to enter the hive, she pulls down flame thrower from the wall, puts down a pulse rifle on the table, pulls a pulse rifle puts down a flame thrower. Like the Bishop hole, its a famous goof. The SE LD I think has this order too (maybe someone can check). The 95 LD definitely has the wrong order, same with the DVD and the old HDTV master. The TV cut has the correct order. The only other time that has appeared is the BD. So clearly Cameron had a lot to do with this TV cut. Fixing that error, maybe re-dubbing lines? I remember at the time the SE LD was a curiosity because they they forgot to fix that part even though it was fixed in the TV cut but I might not be remembering that right. Does anyone have the linear notes for that LD?

With the Jonsey part, I'm not sure. My gut says to keep the language it but then the TV soundtrack won't match....

Yeah, I think at this point I rather just work on the TV cut. This kind of convinces me. It would make a project unique.

Edit: The longer cut of Aliens on Blu-ray has an ac-3 2.0 also

[TServo2049]

An ideal reconstruction of the TV cut would have the audio from a hi-fi stereo recording. But a lot of people recorded multiple movies on the same tape in EP to save money on blanks, and it seems that even into the mid/late 90s, most hi-fi VCRs could only record hi-fi sound in SP mode...

Is the Spleen copy regular lo-fi mono, or is it hi-fi stereo?