HBO First Look: Alien Resurrection - Behind the Scenes

HBO First Look: Alien Resurrection - Behind the Scenes
Cast & Crew
Directed by	Thomas Grane Vic Davis
Produced by	Thomas Grane Vic Davis
Starring	Ron Perlman Bill Badalato Sigourney Weaver Alec Gillis
Music	Jerry Goldsmith James Horner Elliot Goldenthal John Frizzell
Cinematography	Jose Luis Mignone
Editing	Les Kaye
Release Information
Release date(s)	November 17, 1997
Production comapnies	HBO
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Running time	30 minutes
Country of Origin	United States
Chronology
Preceded by	The Making of Alien3
Followed by	The Alien Legacy

HBO First Look: Alien Resurrection - Behind the Scenes, also known as The Making of Alien Resurrection, is a 1997 episode of the promotional documentary television series HBO First Look, directed by Thomas Grane and Vic Davis and presented by Ron Perlman. It details the production of the 1997 film Alien Resurrection. Originally broadcast on American television on November 17, 1997, it includes interviews with the film's cast and crew alongside clips from the film and behind the scenes footage of the production.

Overview

The documentary is presented by Ron Perlman, the actor who played Johner in Alien Resurrection. After briefly covering the plot of the movie, including the principle cast briefly discussing their characters, the feature goes on to discuss the popularity and themes of the existing films in the Alien franchise, including interviews with cast and crew from earlier entries and even professionals from other industries. The documentary then covers the making of the film, with particular attention paid to the underwater chase sequence and the creature design and effects provided by Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.. The interviews are interspersed with clips from the movie and a wealth of behind the scenes footage.

The documentary includes interviews with cast and crew from each of the first four films in the Alien franchise, including director James Cameron, writer Joss Whedon, producer Bill Badalato, actors Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Charles S. Dutton, Winona Ryder, Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman (in addition to his presenting duties), Kim Flowers, Dan Hedaya, J. E. Freeman and Brad Dourif, effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr., composers Jerry Goldsmith and John Frizzell, and stunt coordinator Erie Orsatti. It also includes interviews with individuals from various other fields, including psychologists Dr. Peter J. Panzarino and Steve Zucker, Entertainment Weekly reporter Pat Broeske, Fangoria editor Tony Timpone and USC lecturer Drew Capser.

Availability

Following it's original broadcast, the documentary was subsequently issued on VHS as part of the Alien Saga box set (released only in the United Kingdom); for this set, it was retitled The Making of Alien Resurrection, presumably because the HBO First Look series was not broadcast in the UK. It was later included on the Anthology Archives bonus disc of the Alien Anthology and Prometheus to Alien: The Evolution Blu-ray sets, under its original title.

Trivia

• Perlman's presentation segments were filmed at Amalgamated Dynamics's workshop; ADI provided the numerous Xenomorph Eggs and Drone puppets seen during these segments.
• The interviews conducted for the documentary were quite extensive and much of the footage filmed was not ultimately used in HBO First Look episode. However, a large amount of the material shot by the documentary crew has been included in subsequent documentaries, including The Alien Saga, The Beast Within: Making Alien, Superior Firepower: Making Aliens, Wreckage and Rage: Making Alien³ and One Step Beyond: Making Alien Resurrection.
• HBO First Look has also produced episodes looking at Alien vs. Predator and Prometheus.