Alien Vault: The Complere Story and Legacy Hardcover – Illustrated, 26 Mar. 2025

This book is a high quality hardback, presented in a very nice slide-in box. It is printed on thick semi-gloss paper, and in colour throughout. The content design combines the author's descriptions of each scene and setting, with recollections from various people involved in the production, including of course Ridley Scott. There are also numerous acetate envelopes throughout the book, each one containing interesting extra items, such as plans of the Nostromo, set designs, and storyboards. The whole thing makes for an entertaining and engaging journey through the making of the movie. There is certainly enough content to keep you returning to it time and again.I found myself comparing this book with "The Book of Alien" (by Paul Scanlon and Michael Gross), which is an excellent companion now long out of print. The books contain many of the same illustrations and photos and, in my view, the older book has a much better range of concept artwork and designs. Indeed, the older book was a source of information for this new one. Where the new book wins is on the input from the production crew, and especially Ridley Scott. Scott clears up many of the myths that have followed the movie, and sheds fresh light on his design decisions that will make you see things in the movie you had not noticed before. For example, there are many subtle themes and visual metaphors running through the movie, which I had never noticed, but which Scott makes plain. He also explains something about the legendary Space Jockey - what it is and what it was doing when it died, though the explanation falls apart somewhat in light of the character's rather different appearance in the movie "Prometheus".Ian Nathan writes a decent bit of text. As editor of Empire Magazine, his knowledge of the movie business pulls the whole thing together well. However, it is Ridley Scott's contribution that makes this thing un-put-down-able. As such it is a rare treat for any fan of the movie. I would still also get a copy of "The Book of Alien" (available for very little money on Amazon), but this is a must-have. It gets a comfortable 5 stars.

This book is a must-have for any fans of the movie. A MUST-HAVE! I first saw it in France where it was issued with a different cover, the xenomorph's mouth (which is the back of the book in this edition), a solid good-sized hardcover book.It's what everybody wanted to know about this movie.Not only does it tell a lot of backstories about the movie, it also fills it with personal experiences from the crew, people from the industry. Even the writer's own recollection of the movie. It's like watching the movie with a pop-up commentary.It has a lot of praise, and so if you are totally in love with this movie, this book will make you so happy. I never thought I could like a book this way. Seriously, buy it, you will not regret it.There are a lot of pictures, but there is a lot of text, and coming from someone like me who usually only loves picture books, this text is very welcome, because I can never get enough of reading about this iconic movie, especially if it's praise. Because, let's face it, it's a masterpiece. Hands down.The book is covered by an opaque film, the front is Ripley in her space suit, the back is the xenomorph's mouth. The spine is glossy/laminated, as it's the only part of the book that can be seen when it's inside the box, which is also laminated. Here's where I think the French edition made it better: it is all opaque and velvety.The front of the box is what is show here, the egg and the green light coming out of it. Classic.There are several pages in the book that are pockets containing reproductions of early poster variations, storyboards, even the Nostromo's crew suit patch as sticker! It's good value for money.

I bought this for my brother and he was over the moon with it.

Such a great present for anyone into alien films

Whilst not going into the depth of Scanlon and Gross' "The Book of Alien", "ALIEN: Vault" is a must have for fans of Ridley Scott's ground-breaking 70's sci-fi horror. On the wealth of behind the scenes stills alone, worth it's RRP, where "Vault" goes above and beyond is through the glorious collection of sleeved memorabillia you'll find secreted within. A hardback book bound in a resilient outer sleeve, not only is this aesthetically pleasing, it's abundant with thoughtful insights into the pre and post-production of the film itself. Conceptual artwork, floorplans of the Nostromo and storyboard facsimilles aside, the authors love for the movie is what sells this most. An extremely well executed piece of work that advocates of ALIEN will return to time and time again, I simply couldn't recommend this one enough.