It’s not unusual, especially in the era after the introduction of home video releases, for directors to go back to pet projects and reassemble them as official “Director’s Cuts.” The studio releasing these films, you’d think, might be opposed to playing with a movie’s history, contents and approach – but to a movie, an alternate release merely means a new stream of revenue, giving the most loyal fans something else to watch and purchase. Ridley Scott’s Alien, a space thriller starring Sigourney Weaver in one of the most influential action movies of its era, was released in 1979. This new version, supervised by Scott himself, was released 28 years later, in 2003. And unlike almost all other re-edited projects of this sport, Alien: The Director’s Cut actually comes out shorter than the original – by 47 seconds. Scott did add several alternate or deleted scenes to his new version but also tightened the edits and pacing throughout, streamlining its pace for a more modern generation of viewers.