The laserdisc release features a separate section with the scenes not included in the theatrical release. This is the new material:
- After being awakened from hypersleep, Kane wanders out to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, he says "Rise and shine Lambert".
- The crew gathers on the bridge and listens to the signal coming from the derelict craft.
- Lambert confronts Ripley about Ripley's reluctance to let them back on the ship with Kane and the facehugger. Lambert tells Ripley, Parker and Brett how the face hugger got on Kane.
- Ripley radios down to Parker and Brett to see how they're progressing on the repairs, Parker and Ripley exchange tense words over the radio.
- After the face hugger's acid eats through a few floors, the crew returns to the med lab to check up on Kane's condition. Ripley sees an X-Ray of Kane's chest and asks Ash, "What is that dark stain on Kane's lung?" The rest of the crew starts asking if Kane's going to live, Dallas tells everyone to go back to work.
- After Kane's death, the crew gathers around at the meal table to discuss what they're going to do with the escaped alien. Brett announces the cattle-prod idea and suggests "catching" the alien in a net.
- Longer version of Brett's death. This scene had Brett frozen with fear as the alien grabs his head, he yells "Parker!" and then blood poors from beneath his cap. The alien lifts him up into the landing gear and Ripley and Parker come rushing in. Parker stands where Brett once was and looks up; blood drips on his shirt and then Brett's cattle prod falls to Parker's feet.
- Part of a scene that involves Parker, Ripley and Lambert trying to flush the alien out of the air lock. As they are about to succeed, an alarm is triggered and the alien rushes out of the airlock (getting its tail caught in the closing door, and spilling acid that causes a hull breach). Parker falls unconciously to the floor, Ripley does the same and Lambert and Ash come to their rescue. Ripley vocalizes her suspicions about Ash by accusing him of setting the alarm off.
- After Dallas's disappearance, Ripley (being suspicious of Ash) asks Lambert if she's ever slept with him.
- The build-up to Lambert's death is much longer. (Watch the alien's shadow on the wall, it walks in, crouches down, then immediately gets up) A scene where we see the alien enter, crouch down and wait until Lambert notices its presence was cut. When Lambert sees the alien, it uncoils its tail and walks (like a crab) over to Lambert.
- After Ripley discovers the remains of Parker and Lambert, she makes another discovery. Ripley enters the landing gear area of the Nostromo (where Brett got killed) and discovers a cocooned Dallas and Brett mutating into an egg. Dallas pleads, "Kill me". Ripley flames Dallas and the Brett-egg and then runs to set the ship on self-destruct.
The latest video release of Alien in Norway has been severely cut. There are no indications given on the cassette box that this has been done. Total playing time missing is about 15 minutes. Key noticeable scene cuts include Kane's apparent revival, and subsequent chest bursting scene; Ash's demise.
The picture and the Dolby Digital soundtrack used to make the THX laserdisc was mastered from the 70 mm release version. The soundtrack contains therefore some alternate dialogue, rough sound editing, different/enhanced sound effects, and is missing some dialogue which was contained on the Dolby Stereo sound mix of the 35 mm version.
The present Norwegian DVD release is uncut and the first video-release from CBS/FOX video is also uncut with an 18 rating. The cinema version was cut to get an 16 rating.
The Sci-fi channel version (taken from the Widescreen series video transfer) doesn't cut the violence, only the profanity. About 45 seconds is cut from the scene where the Nostromo approches LV-426. Some shots of the crew walking to the derilect are cut. Rated TV14LV and running at 2 hours 30 minutes without commercials.
Only released on certain special edition versions of Alien, there is a 55-second side shot of the Nostromo passing by. This shot was originally intented to show just how enormous the Nostromo's cargo was (which supposedly is over a mile in length) but was removed because the size of the cargo really isn't that important and the scene was really long.
Ridley Scott, for the Director's Cut, slashed 10 to 15 seconds off many scenes, supposedly because he felt they dragged on a little too long. However, in a 2006 interview, the director remarked that he had been unhappy about The Director's Cut, feeling that the original was "pretty flawless" and that the additions were merely a marketing tool.
Extra scenes in the 25th Anniversary Edition:
- Lambert slapping Ripley in the face before being restrained by Parker and Brett outside the infirmary.
- Brett's blood falling on Parker as he is carried off by the Alien into the heating ducts.
- Ripley finding Brett and Dallas cocooned while trying to make it to the shuttle craft.
- Kane pulls out and sets down a weapon of some kind while investigating the alien eggs.
Also included in the Director's Cut is a scene where the crew listen to the alien signal and discuss the nature of the planet just before they prepare to land.
Scenes trimmed or deleted in the 25th Anniversary Edition:
- The camera panning right towards Dallas before he goes into the hallway to talk to Mother.
- The scene where Ripley talks to Ash if Mother translated the Alien Transmission.
- After Ash losses contact with Dallas and crew after they walk into the Derelict ship, the last shot looking back at Ash's face is cut.
- The shot looking at Dallas climbing up the Space Jockey.
- Some shots of Kane being lowered down into the Egg Chamber are trimmed.
- The shot of Ash leaving the Medical room after talking with Ripley.
- Dialogue between Ripley and Dallas discussing Ripley's distrust in Ash is cut.
- The beginning shot of Ripley, Parker, and Brett searching down the corridor for the Alien.
- The shot with Ripley saying 'Open the Door.' behind the partially opened door.
- The last moments of Brett soaking his face.
- After the crew discusses the Vent plan, the shot of the Nostromo traveling through space is cut.
- The whole scene with Dallas talking to Mother on how he should neutralize the Alien.
- Some shots of Dallas crawling down the vent are trimmed.
- The shot of Parker going to refuel the Flame-throwers.
- Ripley going to talk to Mother just shows her walking to the door instead of getting the key.
- Shots of Ripley leaving the Mother Chamber.
- The sequence where Ripley, Parker, and Lambert walking through the hallway has been trimmed.
- Ripley preparing the shuttle has been trimmed.
- Certain shots of Ripley running through the corridors after the self-destruct has been activated have been trimmed.
Effects, and Sound Effects changed in the 25th Anniversary Edition:
- While Ripley is contacting traffic control now, the last shot of the Nostromo in space now has a star field where there was just a Black Background.
- The Alien Transmission and the keyboard button sound effects are much different from the original deleted scene.
- The shot of the Nostromo rolling 92 degrees to port now features a star field to the left of the planet where there was just black.
- When parker gets drenched in Brett's blood, the sound effects of the cattle prod hitting the ground is different the original deleted scene.
- When Ripley tries to contact Lambert and Parker through the coms after leaving Mother's chamber, static can be heard when she tries a different channel.
Other changes in the Director's Cut: As in the Theatrical Version, Brett stops in the the landing strut chamber to wet his face during the sequence where he is searching for Jones the cat. In the Directors Cut, we see a shot looking up at the landing strut with the Alien rather unexpectedly in the foreground, head bowed, swaying from side to side. Another change concerning Jones the cat: when Ripley encounters the Alien in the corridor having just set the self-destruct sequence, instead of the Alien looking curiously at Jones in his cat box, it gives him a brief glance before violently swatting the box aside. (This explains why in both versions of the film the cat box is flipped on its side and not where Ripley left it when she returns to collect Jones.)
Many of the restored scenes have alternate takes or even total re-edits from the deleted scenes on the Laserdisc and original DVD releases. The cocoon scene is a great example of this; originally opened with flat, static shots of Ripley clumsily descending a ladder, now opens with a low-angle tracking shot of Ripley descending much more smoothly.
