As Alien Anthology heads to Blu-ray, we discover how to explore the discs’ 60 hours content, as a trailer for its patented MU-TH-UR mode arrives…
A six disc reissue of all four Alien movies sounds like a hugely exciting proposition to us, and we can't wait to get our hands on the Alien Anthology, due out on 25 October.
The big question is, just how do you wade through the discs' overwhelming 60 hours' content? The answer is the Alien Anthology's patented MU-TH-UR mode, which provides a key to unlock the archive of interviews, deleted scenes, trivia and documentaries spread across the discs.
At a recent press event (which took place under the shadow of a gigantic alien queen), a brief demonstration of the feature showed us just how this worked. While watching any of the main films (which are presented in their original theatrical versions and their extended director's cuts), you can ‘tag' certain moments of interest and save them for later viewing.
While watching, say, the original Alien, you can activate MU-TH-UR mode, which provides a handy menu that lists all the potential material relevant to the scene you're watching. When viewing the film's infamous chest-bursting segment, for example, you can tag the multi-angle version of the sequence housed on disc six, which will be stored in memory for you to watch afterwards.
In this manner, you can build up a list of tags which, when you place the relevant extras disc in the Blu-ray player afterwards, will jump to the content you've previously selected.
As a way of navigating through the potentially overwhelming range of content presented on the discs, it's a surprisingly workable system that provides a refreshing alternative to scrolling through endless menus and lists.
We'll be taking a closer look at the Alien Anthology Blu-rays very soon, but until then, here's the MU-TH-UR mode trailer...