I rented “Alien” and “Aliens” this weekend, mostly because the neighbor kid had never seen them before. Mostly. This was about the 5th time for me and it won’t be the last.

Alien came with a bonus disk about the making of the movie. I think I saw it as a documentary a long time ago. It contained threaded interviews with the writer, the producer and the director.

The creative process was complex. The writing and the collaboration on the writing was enthralling. Ridley Scott drew all the storyboards himself and did most of the major camerawork. According to the actors, he shot the movie at a blistering pace while the money folks were breathing down his neck to go faster.

The inspiration for the creature and sets came from the artwork of Swiss artist H.R. Giger. His haunted “visions” were brought to life by Scott and his team of highly skilled film makers.

Disk 2 is worth a look if you haven’t seen it. But beware, navigating the damn thing is like learning a pc game. Next weekend- Bladerunner.