Alien 3 Legacy Cut: "Unofficial" 4K version without consent of rights holders
It took a fan five years to create a new version from the two known cut versions of the sci-fi film, fixing numerous weaknesses in the process.
A fan has released a new version of the science fiction film "Alien 3" under the name "Project A34K": "The Legacy Cut" is a mixture of the 1992 cinema version and the "Assembly Cut", which was released in 2003 with the DVD box set "Alien Quadrilogy". At 138 minutes instead of 109 minutes, the latter runs almost half an hour longer than the theatrical version. The resulting Legacy Cut is even longer at 143 minutes.
The creator explains that owners of the previous official Alien 3 versions have a right to view the new version. Nevertheless, he is infringing copyright with the publication. This is because the rights holder 20th Century Fox not only has the sole right of reproduction. The film may not be altered without its consent.
It is therefore to be expected that the website a34k.net will soon be closed down and the operator – will be sued if he is found –. However, 20th Century Fox may find it difficult to completely remove the Legacy Cut from the internet.
The adjustments affect the story, render sequences with the alien, color and brightness corrections as well as the soundtrack. Although the 2003 Assembly Cut runs significantly longer than the cinema version, the production company 20th Century Fox and director David Fincher had deleted or altered some scenes from the cinema version.
If you want to avoid spoilers, please skip to the next paragraph. While in the movie version the alien attacks a dog and then mutates into a fast-moving creature, in the assembly cut it is an ox. A34K considered this chimera inappropriate and replaced the ox scenes with the old dog scenes. In the final scene, an alien also breaks out of Ripley's stomach in the movie version, which was removed in the Assembly Cut. The Legacy Cut reintroduces the original sequence.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externes YouTube-Video (Google Ireland Limited) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (Google Ireland Limited) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
New CGI lighting
At the beginning of the 90s, digital technology was still in its infancy. The alien was embodied by mechanical puppets and actors in costumes, but was also partially rendered as CGI. However, neither the lighting nor the proportions were right for these renderings. For "The Legacy Cut", the rendered alien scenes were corrected frame by frame with Photoshop so that the lighting fits better and the figures integrate better into the background. As the scenes are always very short, this is only noticeable in direct comparison.
However, the Legacy Cut also omits scenes: for example, the facehugger was removed from the opening credits to make it appear more "mysterious". Short interstitial scenes showing the planet have been mirrored so that the planet rotates the other way around. The lighting effects there have also been reworked.
The scenes in which the camera races through the corridors from the alien's point of view are now very striking: These are now colored red, apparently to make it clear that the alien has no eyes at all in the conventional sense.
The Legacy version does not use HDR, but has slightly adjusted the coloring. In some scenes, the image has a significantly higher proportion of yellow, which makes the writing on the computer terminals appear green instead of blue towards the end of the film, for example.
The editing rhythm was changed slightly in some places. This necessitated more elaborate adjustments to the sound, with the music sometimes being replaced by other pieces from the soundtrack. In addition, some alien noises were replaced and their volume increased.
4K upscaling
For the new version, the Blu-ray version was upscaled to 4K using an upscaler. The color space is still BT.709/SDR. Compared to the image that a good UHD upscaler (Panasonic DP-UB9004) can tease out of the Blu-ray disc, however, the 4K version offers no advantages in terms of detail resolution and film grain. The English sound is available in stereo and as a 5.1 mix, and there is also an audio commentary. However, the maker has decided not to upscale the 5.1 sound to Dolby Atmos.
The maker does not distribute the film freely on the internet, but rather free of charge on request by email to the A34k.net project page via various cloud networks. The film is available in various quality levels up to the 50 GB version with 4K resolution and uncompressed 5.1 sound. There are also additional files and newly designed disc sleeves.
Unlike George Lucas and James Cameron, AK34 has resisted the temptation to turn a film from the 90s into a contemporary blockbuster. In view of the only cautious interventions, it can be assumed that the maker has a professional background in the film industry. The fact that he allegedly worked on "The Legacy Cut" for five years would not be unusual. Some other very professional-looking fan edits also take years because they are created in spare time.
Such fan edits prove time and again what is possible with today's editing technology and meticulousness, from color corrections to new special effects, demastering and despecializing to restore original cinema versions. There are numerous such edits of popular film series such as "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" – all just as much copyright infringements as the "Alien 3 Legacy Cut".
(Image: a34k.net)
Is an official 4K version coming?
Director David Fincher had major issues with the studio's interventions at the time. The different cuts divided the fans. In addition to negative comments, there are also voices that particularly like the third part of the series. Among other things because Sigourney Weaver delivers what is probably her best acting performance in the series.
So far, there has been no official announcement whether and when a 4K version of "Alien 3" will be released on UHD disc. There are rumors that a release is being worked on. Two other early works by David Fincher, "Se7en" and "Panic Room", were recently released for UHD. In these, the director digitally reworked numerous scenes, which provoked mixed reactions. "Alien" 3 also offers plenty of room for corrections. "The Legacy Cut" raises the bar a little higher for the studio.
(hag)
