Alien 3 Special Edition...Plz FOX

[Desperate Jip]

Hi, I have written to Fox UK a few times asking them if they have any plans to release "Alien 3 Special Edition" on its own but they appear to have a "no reply but thanx for the feedback" kind of attitude. The reason I would like to know this is that I have had lots of probs with the 2004 re-releases of all the alien DVD's.

It started when I bought the Alien Quadrilogy. At first I thought I had a dodgy copy so the shop I bought it at replaced it with a different copy. This was just the same (aaaarrrggh) so I took it back and they ended up giving me my money back. I then saw the new re-releases on pre-order at an online retailer so I ordered all 4 of them straight away. when I got these guess what... yup, same probs occured (same discs as the quadrilogy I think), I then searched for answers and found out that alot of ppl were having probs with these discs because of the "seamless branching technology" contained within these discs (I myself did tests with 6 or 7 different players so I dont think it was a hardware prob).

The so called "seamless braching" is only used on editions of the film where there are 2 versions of the film on the disc (i.e. the theatrical and the special edition).

After sending these 4 films back I decided that I would try and track down the original DVD releases of the films (2000). I got the 1st one fairly easily and am at present bidding on ebay for the special edition of Alien's
but although the re-releases did have allsorts of playback probs (dropouts in sound, fractional video speed ups) It did help me decide which versions of each film I liked better. Which brings me to Alien 3. The special edition of this film is much better than the theatrical version (imo), prob is that FOX dont sell this version in its own right and they have never replied to my mail. If anyone has any views on this or ideas on how to get FOX to address these troublesome issues I would be very grateful indeed.

Thx jip

[pacmania_2001]

Couldn't you buy the re-releases and then remove the seamless branching on a backup copy you make?

[Desperate Jip]

Thx 4 the reply m8

Hmmm, never really considered that, I have done a bit of re-authoring but never tried that though, if you have any links to throw us for tools/guides and such I would be very grateful.

Thx jip

[pacmania_2001]

https://www.videohelp.com/sefy

That'll show you how to backup the movies to DVD however I'm not sure if that would also deal with removing the seamless branching technology.

I'd try it out, at worst you can just return the DVD's to the store if it doesn't work.

Perhaps someone with a disc that features this technology can give it a go to see if backing up the movie removes the technology.

[Desperate Jip]

Cheers pacmania,

Well beat me with the dopey stick, soz m8 I forgot to mention that I did try backing up these discs myself using DVD Shrink 3.1 but the results where the same. and unfortunately I sent them back the other week and got a refund on them.

P.S. I did search for guides on removing seamless branching but I couldnt find any, only problems about other films with this technology.

Think I might have to buy the original theatrical release if FOX dont get back to me.

Thx jip

[flaninacupboard]

Xmen was seamless branching, and i managed to make a single title backup. it depends on quite how it's authored, but it should be possible just using DVDshrink and selecting the special edition title to make a fully functioning non-split title. i believe a friend of mine has this disc, i'll have a look if possible.

[Desperate Jip]

N1 m8..I tried this with each title seperately and neither of them worked 4 me, If your m8 tries it I would be grateful if you could post the outcome

Thx,
jip.

[flaninacupboard]

he didn't have it but i rented the disc myself

pop it in, load dvdshrink. go to reauthor mode, drag title 2 on it's own to the left window. it will now re-check title 2. final size is 4628megs, 138 minutes. 4% compression will get it on a disc for you

i know this will just give you a bare disc with no features menus etc, but you have the original disc for that At least you'll be able to watch the longer cut problem free.