A Few Words About A few words about…™ Alien — in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[WillG]

Just finished watching the Director’s cut. This is what 4K should be about. It’s never looked better outside of the theater. When Kane is first examining the face hugger I thought I saw a problem with color shift. I then realized that this was lights on the console changing colors. I don’t remember noticing that before. There’s a new depth looking down corridors.

I did not notice a degradation of image quality in the additional scenes.

I noticed that exact thing as well, but a little earlier as well, when Ash was at the window when Dallas, Kane and Lambert were off exploring, his face got on and off bathed in reddish light due to a rotating light somwhere off camera. So much new detail. One cool thing about these 4K discs is that is makes you look for more detail that may not necessarily have to do with the resolution. For example one new detail I caught was right after Kane is killed and they’re describing the plan to catch the alien, Ash describes the tracker he built. Ripley asks what tiggers the device to repsond and I just now noticed the subtle grimace he gives at being annoyed by Ripley’s question.

I’m not there yet, but I suppose another test is how well I can read the self destruct instructions.

 

[TonyD]

I have always loved this movie.
It made a long lasting impression on a 13 year old who went to the movies to see this in 1979.

But there has always been one thing that drives me nuts about the movie.

Near the beginning after the facephugger is on Kane when Dallas and Ash are examining him they are wearing plastic breathing devices that aren’t attached to anything. They even have the little plastic thing that connects to a hose still on there.

I can’t get passed it. Drives me nuts.

 

[WillG]

I have always loved this movie.
It made a long lasting impression on a 13 year old who went to the movies to see this in 1979.

But there has always been one thing that drives me nuts about the movie.

Near the beginning after the facephugger is on Kane when Dallas and Ash are examining him they are wearing plastic breathing devices that aren’t attached to anything. They even have the little plastic thing that connects to a hose still on there.

I can’t get passed it. Drives me nuts.

What about where Ash tells Dallas he can take his mask off just because Kane is in the bio scan, like that would make whatever kind of difference.

 

[TonyD]

Oh yeah that’s a part of it that drives me nuts.

 

[Dave H]

Yes, there were quite a few options for film makers and collectors. Mine is the Kowa 8Z 2x. Aspect ratio is actually 2.66:1 on Super 8 and 16mm. Plus, most higher-end projectors had 2-track stereo audio by late 70s.

Very, very cool! I especially appreciate this kind of history being a scope projection owner (JVC RS440 paired with Stewart ST100).

This UHD BD is absolutely stunning.

 

[TonyD]

So there’s a 5.1 and a 4.1 track on this but the disc menu doesn’t say what the difference is. What is the difference besides the obvious?

 

[Lord Dalek]

So there’s a 5.1 and a 4.1 track on this but the disc menu doesn’t say what the difference is. What is the difference besides the obvious?

If it's anything like the Anthology blu, its EQ choices. The 5.1 was louder with deeper bass on that disc.

 

[titch]

I’m not there yet, but I suppose another test is how well I can read the self destruct instructions.

Very clearly, on this superb 4K UHD disc! It was fantastic revisiting it again last night and enjoying the picture detail like never before. Actually, on the former blu-ray disc, the emergency destruction instructions are also easy to read. However, the picture was graded slightly differently, so that it was even more obvious that the "DANGER" text was hand-coloured in with a marker pen, and was not printed! In fact, the only thing I couldn't read were the smaller stickers at the top, medial to the CAUTION BEWARE STATIC DAMAGE stickers - they are slightly less lit, compared to the rest of the instructions, so that is a contributing factor.

This time I did the full OCD and I paused the film both when Ripley initiated the self-destruct mechanism, and when she tried to abort it, and I noticed for the first time, after all the times I've watched Alien, that Ripley is following the instructions in FRENCH on the right hand side, when she tries to abort the self-destruct! And then I noticed that the French instructions were not properly translated! I'm sure plenty of other obsessives have noticed this before - was the poorly translated French a factor in Ripley failing to abort the self-destruct? Just kidding, but still!

Punch NUCLEAR BOLT CODE No 1 Verify BOLT CLAMP release

Perform INSERTION of BOLT No 1 to HOLD No 1 Remove NUCLEAR HEAD

Activate PUSH BUTTON SWITCH Replace NUCLEAR HEAD Verify SECURED

Verify DETONATION ACTIVATED Repeat for HOLDS 2, 3 & 4


Poussez le NUCLEAR BOLT CODE No 1 Vérifier CRAMPON de L’ACHEMENT

Exécutez INSERTION/BOULON No 1 a la cale No 1

Vérifier SÉCURITÉ du SOMMET NUCLEAR

Vérifier SÉCURITÉ du SOMMET NUCLEAR Vérifier la DETONATION ACTIVE

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I have always loved this movie.
It made a long lasting impression on a 13 year old who went to the movies to see this in 1979.

But there has always been one thing that drives me nuts about the movie.

Near the beginning after the facephugger is on Kane when Dallas and Ash are examining him they are wearing plastic breathing devices that aren’t attached to anything. They even have the little plastic thing that connects to a hose still on there.

I can’t get passed it. Drives me nuts.

There are other disconnects in the film. Ripley sends Parker and Lambert to gather some tanks which are supposedly vital to them being able to leave in the shuttle, yet after they are both killed Ripley is somehow able to leave without gathering any tanks. Apparently it was just a plot device to send off a couple of other crew members to be slaughtered.

I still love the film after all these years, despite the flaws (saw it for the first time while in high school during its initial theatrical run). We watched the theatrical cut on UHD, and the level of detail was amazing.

 

[Worth]

...This time I did the full OCD and I paused the film both when Ripley initiated the self-destruct mechanism, and when she tried to abort it, and I noticed for the first time, after all the times I've watched Alien, that Ripley is following the instructions in FRENCH on the right hand side, when she tries to abort the self-destruct! And then I noticed that the French instructions were not properly translated! I'm sure plenty of other obsessives have noticed this before - was the poorly translated French a factor in Ripley failing to abort the self-destruct? Just kidding, but still!

Maybe the ship was Canadian.

 

[Brian Kidd]

There are other disconnects in the film. Ripley sends Parker and Lambert to gather some tanks which are supposedly vital to them being able to leave in the shuttle, yet after they are both killed Ripley is somehow able to leave without gathering any tanks. Apparently it was just a plot device to send off a couple of other crew members to be slaughtered.

I still love the film after all these years, despite the flaws (saw it for the first time while in high school during its initial theatrical run). We watched the theatrical cut on UHD, and the level of detail was amazing.

I don't know that it's a flaw. Those tanks were necessary for all of them to be able to escape and survive. The bad thing is that the folks who went to get the tanks died. The good thing is that, well, two less people to take into account when calculating fuel and oxygen needs. When Ripley finally left in the shuttle, it was because she didn't have a choice. She didn't have what she needed, but the odds weren't exactly in her favor if she had decided to stay aboard the Nostromo. She ended up taking a chance and putting herself into hypersleep to conserve resources while she waited to see if anyone would find her. They eventually did, of course, though it was a few years later than she had hoped.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Very clearly, on this superb 4K UHD disc! It was fantastic revisiting it again last night and enjoying the picture detail like never before. Actually, on the former blu-ray disc, the emergency destruction instructions are also easy to read. However, the picture was graded slightly differently, so that it was even more obvious that the "DANGER" text was hand-coloured in with a marker pen, and was not printed! In fact, the only thing I couldn't read were the smaller stickers at the top, medial to the CAUTION BEWARE STATIC DAMAGE stickers - they are slightly less lit, compared to the rest of the instructions, so that is a contributing factor.

This time I did the full OCD and I paused the film both when Ripley initiated the self-destruct mechanism, and when she tried to abort it, and I noticed for the first time, after all the times I've watched Alien, that Ripley is following the instructions in FRENCH on the right hand side, when she tries to abort the self-destruct! And then I noticed that the French instructions were not properly translated! I'm sure plenty of other obsessives have noticed this before - was the poorly translated French a factor in Ripley failing to abort the self-destruct? Just kidding, but still!

Punch NUCLEAR BOLT CODE No 1 Verify BOLT CLAMP release

Perform INSERTION of BOLT No 1 to HOLD No 1 Remove NUCLEAR HEAD

Activate PUSH BUTTON SWITCH Replace NUCLEAR HEAD Verify SECURED

Verify DETONATION ACTIVATED Repeat for HOLDS 2, 3 & 4


Poussez le NUCLEAR BOLT CODE No 1 Vérifier CRAMPON de L’ACHEMENT

Exécutez INSERTION/BOULON No 1 a la cale No 1

Vérifier SÉCURITÉ du SOMMET NUCLEAR

Vérifier SÉCURITÉ du SOMMET NUCLEAR Vérifier la DETONATION ACTIVE

I noticed this in the theater during my first ever viewing while looking thru my fingers.

There are other disconnects in the film. Ripley sends Parker and Lambert to gather some tanks which are supposedly vital to them being able to leave in the shuttle, yet after they are both killed Ripley is somehow able to leave without gathering any tanks. Apparently it was just a plot device to send off a couple of other crew members to be slaughtered.

I still love the film after all these years, despite the flaws (saw it for the first time while in high school during its initial theatrical run). We watched the theatrical cut on UHD, and the level of detail was amazing.

Weren’t Parker and Lambert at the entrance to the Shuttle? I thought they had already unloaded some of the tanks.

 

[WillG]

There are other disconnects in the film. Ripley sends Parker and Lambert to gather some tanks which are supposedly vital to them being able to leave in the shuttle, yet after they are both killed Ripley is somehow able to leave without gathering any tanks. Apparently it was just a plot device to send off a couple of other crew members to be slaughtered.

I still love the film after all these years, despite the flaws (saw it for the first time while in high school during its initial theatrical run). We watched the theatrical cut on UHD, and the level of detail was amazing.

Yeah I always noticed that too. Even if you excuse the fact that it ended up just being one person in the shuttle instead of three, we found out later that the meager life support ended up lasting 57 years.

I finally screened Alien to my 8 year old son (don't judge, with the exception of one scene which he closed his eyes for, Alien is less viscerally violent than "Jaws" which he's also seen several times). When Dallas was in the vents he asked "how can the alien fit when he can barely fit?" And the after that scene asked "where does the alien take them" (I showed him the "answer" to that question after the theatrical cut finished). Smart kid, I didn't think of those questions when I watched the movie at that age, myself.

He's now eager to see "Aliens" and on that subject there are a few holes there too

It's far fetched that Ripley would ever trust WY enough to go back
Why would WY even want her on the mission
Why no standby crew remaining on the Sulaco?

 

[TravisR]

I finally screened Alien to my 8 year old son (don't judge, with the exception of one scene which he closed his eyes for...

It had to be when the Alien pops out at Dallas, right?

 

[titch]

I was listening to the Ridley Scott 1999 commentary on the theatrical version and I noticed that he said right at the beginning, at the 3.30 minute mark, that he was going to explain later about an idea he had about the bird dipping into the water, just before the Nostromo blew up. But he never did! I always liked the bird dipping into the water, as I was given one as a present when I was hospitalised with serious internal bleeding at the age of five. Started to wonder a few years later, when I first saw the film, if the haemorrhage was caused by an alien!

 

[WillG]

It had to be when the Alien pops out at Dallas, right?

No, chestburster scene

 

[Bryan^H]

Fantastic visual presentation, The lack of Atmos is just criminal! This film would benefit 100% from an Atmos track. So many atmospheric scenes screaming for height channels, and this scene with Brett looking for the cat with the rain, chains and well you get the idea


I have been saving for an Atmos setup for well over a year now after experiencing how amazing it is. And I can say I feel extremely cheated on this. Of the many movies I own in 4K, this is the one I would have liked it on the most.

 

[titch]

After enjoying the 4K Alien so much, I decided to just cancel everything important yesterday and do the whole Alien marathon (Alien vs. Predator excepted) for the first time. It's a great universe to be pulled into!

No doubt in my mind that the first is easily the best, perfectly directed, fantastic sets, superb acting, great score, cinematography etc. etc. I used to enjoy Aliens the most, but now, compared to the original, Aliens has probably dated the worst - when compared with all the other entries, it sticks out as the only one not filmed in 2.40:1 aspect ratio. But still so edge-of-your-seat exciting for the last hour. And then diminishing returns more or less for the next eight hours, or so. But if you are familiar with all the films, you already know all the flaws the sequels have.

Made me SO want newly scanned, 4K UHD discs of Aliens, The Abyss and True Lies.....

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Fantastic visual presentation, The lack of Atmos is just criminal!

I have to admit I don't really get why film fanatics clamor for revisionist presentations of any sort.

The movie wasn't mixed with Atmos in mind since it didn't exist in 1979. Movies should come out with presentations as close to theatrical as possible.

Seems like people go nuts if the visual side gets changed but are eager for alterations to audio, and that confuses me...

 

[Johnny Angell]

Fantastic visual presentation, The lack of Atmos is just criminal! This film would benefit 100% from an Atmos track. So many atmospheric scenes screaming for height channels, and this scene with Brett looking for the cat with the rain, chains and well you get the idea


I have been saving for an Atmos setup for well over a year now after experiencing how amazing it is. And I can say I feel extremely cheated on this. Of the many movies I own in 4K, this is the one I would have liked it on the most.

A couple of things about that scene have always bugged me, just a little. When Brett raises his face to drink in the dripping water, on a ship like the Nostromo, wouldn’t it be dirty? I know it was clean water the dripped on the actor, but the character would have gotten dirty water. Second, in a later scene, Parker describes the Alien as big, but even in this uncut scene Ripley and Parker do not see the creature. He’s gone.

I thought the directors cut was the complete scene, but this clip contains even more than that cut.