Aliens - 4K Digital Review

[Michael Scott]

Aliens

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
“It’s game over man, game over”! If you’re a fan of sci-fi, action, horror or any combination of the three than you’ve watching James Cameron’s Aliens. It was one of the defining movies of my childhood and scared the living SNOT out of me as a 6 year old kid watching over his brother’s shoulder when he should have been in bed (If you’ve read some of my reviews you’ll find out that I did that a LOT when I was a child, much to my mother’s chagrin). 35 (ish) years ago Ridley Scott rocked the world with his suspenseful sci-fi/horror film Alien that was sent a seismic ripple through film history. It was tense, minimalistic, and genuinely frightening back then (still is if you’re a fan of horror where the monster doesn’t show his face every 10 seconds and dole out gallons of blood). Probably considered one of the greatest films of its kind, “Alien” is only rivaled by its wildly different sequel, Aliens (directed by James Cameron, back when James Cameron wasn’t blinded by dreams of Avatar”2, 3 and 4). Instead of following up with the creature feature that involved a ferocious alien on the loose in cramped quarters, Cameron amped up the sequel to level 11 by including a gang of space marines, grenades, pulse rifles, one liners, Bill Paxton (who actually has the distinction for being the only actor alive who has been killed by an Alien, a Predator AND a Terminator), more Aliens than you could throw a stick at, and EXPLOSIONS!

When we left off from Alien Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) had escaped from the Nostromo with her life (and that of Jonesy the cat) only to float in hibernation sleep in her escape pod for 57 years. Over half a century after she left, she is picked up by a salvage ship and reawakened to find out that everything and everyone she had ever loved was dead. However, The Weyland-Yutani Corporation that she had worked for back then was still going strong and NOT happy that she had blown up a 43 million dollar spaceship, despite her rantings about the mysterious alien species they had encountered on LV 426. After warning the higher ups about the alien force on the planet, she is horrified to learn that LV 426 has been inhabited by colonists for over 20 years without incident. However, you can be pretty certain that well enough cannot be left alone, and a rogue scouting party encounters the same alien ship that the Nostromo did 57 years ago, unleashing hell on earth amongst the 70 colonist families.

After contact has been lost on the LV 426 base, the Corporation sends out a ship full of armed and ready Marines out to investigate, and they decide that Ripley is best suited to act as a consultant due to her previous experience with the supposed race of monsters. As guessed, things go from bad to worse, as the Marines are ambushed by dozens of the creatures, cutting off their only escape route and downing the drop ship. Now it’s up to the remaining survivors to hole up and survive the night, hopefully getting access to the second drop ship and getting off the planet before it’s too late. Oh, and doe the SMART thing for once by nuking the installation from orbit and leaving a crater the size of Nebraska behind.

Aliens is probably my favorite film of the entire Alien franchise, even though Alien itself is only the BAREST fraction of a hair behind it. I guess it comes down to me tending to like the action oriented structure of the sequel. It has everything that made the 80s awesome. Guns, knives, grenades, flame throwers, and awesome characters. Bill Paxton as Private Hudson is simply phenomenal as the comedic relief for the series, and Paul Reiser is despicable as the slimy and sleazy corporate scumbag. Biehn is excellent in his role, but even the supporter characters and cheesy 80s one liners are awesome. Still, Sigourney Weaver RULES as Ellen Ripley. Whenever people mutter that women don’t have strong roles in film, I always point to this series as one of the best representation of a woman who is completely bad to the bone. She’s vulnerable, feminine, but oh so determined and just as powerful as any other character that you can imagine. The fact that she doesn’t have to be something she’s not, yet STILL is portrayed as confident, appealing (without being slutty) and completely awe inspiring says something about Weaver herself as well as the impeccable direction she had by both Ridley Scott and James Cameron.

The film has always been slightly divisive due to the fact that Cameron took the franchise in a completely different direction than Alien. While Ridley Scott was content to work at a slower pace and have the singular Alien in the shadows, Cameron wanted more aliens, more guns, just more more more to the extreme. Instead of feeling terror or the impending doom as the alien slips around the Nostromo, we have marines with guns, exploding grenades, and turret mounted machine guns that mow through hundreds of the beasts, AND a hive queen to battle at the end with a mecha suit. Still, no matter how over the top the sequel is, Aliens is still just as beloved as Alien and for good reason. It hits all the right buttons in all the right ways without making the original seem inferior or let it down in the slightest. It is a great evolution and the changes were necessary (in my opinion) to continue the franchise without becoming stale.




Rating:

Rated R for monster violence, and for language




Video:

Ironically I realized after my initial viewing that I was going to be reviewing these from “most screwed over by James Cameron remastering to least”, so as you can guess Aliens was LESS messed up than True Lies was. That sadly doesn’t mean it’s out of the woods though. Upon initial viewing of the film you might say “this actually looks rather good”, but it starts to fall apart real quickly. My initial thoughts when I started viewing the 4K stream was “something looks off, what is it?”. Was it the heavy blue color grading that was applied? Was it the waxy AI faces? Then it hit me. The grain was GONE. And I mean GONE from this film. Which is one of the most shocking things ever if you’ve watched Aliens before as the film is pretty much defined by having a heavy grain layer. Much like True Lies the grain has been AI algorithmd straight out he back door. Plus it’s done the same “faces look like putty” effect that True Lies suffered from, just not AS MUCH. I’d honestly say it has more to do with the source material rather than any actual effort by the remastering team, but Aliens has moments where it looks really good. Close ups of Bishop’s face, or Bill Paxton’s face tend to look good, as does the glossy look when they’re underground in the Alien lair, but my oh my do those faces look mushy and pasty when you compare against the Blu-ray.

I know some people have theorized or been told that this is a new 4K scan, but I just don’t visually see any evidence of that. This looks like the older 2K scan used for the Quadrilogy set years ago just uprezzed and AI remastered to death with a new blue color grading and waxy faces. There’s some minor detail upgrades to be had, but upon popping in my old Blu-ray of the film it’s a SHOCKING difference in both facial detail and tone due to the color grading. Faces look pink and like actual skin, while in this stream they look like gray putty (check out the boardroom scene where Ripley has to give her speech to the unbelieving board members. It looks gray and smeary with puppet like faces, while the Blu-ray makes everyone look natural”. Sadly the lack of grain also is a detriment to this flick as it needed the grain to sort of cover up the flaws and cheapness of the 1986 set pieces as well. It’s always looked like a great sci-fi film before, but with everything scrubbed away and re tweaked with AI it looks more and more like people cos playing on a plastic human built set. I generally thought the image wasn’t bad in many ways, and definitely had some decent detail upgrades throughout, but his is a highly problematic encode for sure








Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track is rock solid as well. It needs the typical Disney volume boost, but after level matching is quite the stunner. mix is clean and clear as can be, with amazing vocals and crisp dialog throughout. The action is always fast and frenetic, coming from all angles as the aliens shriek in anger while the pulse rifles blast off in every direction. LFE is tight and powerful, and while the movie is not mixed like modern films where every second of the movie is a bass attack, it still is full of a LOT of powerful moments. The footsteps of the mech mover that Ripley uses throbs with weight and power, adding probably one of the most impactful LFE moments of the entire film. Once again I still think it's going to sound better on the physical release due to bitrate constraints, but for a streaming Atmos track it's quite good.






Extras:

1. James Cameron Introduction – A message from writer/director James Cameron introducing the Special Edition version of the film.​
2. 2003 Audio Commentary by James Cameron and the Cast and Crew-Special Edition – 1990 Special Edition Commentary by James Cameron and the cast and crew.​
3. The Inspiration and Design of Aliens – For the 30th anniversary, writer/director James Cameron reveals new insight into his own inspiration and the design elements for Aliens.​
4. 2003 Audio Commentary by James Cameron and the Cast and Crew – 1986 Theatrical Version Commentary by James Cameron and the cast and crew.​
5. Isolated Scores
   1. Final Theatrical Isolated Score – This isolated track presents, as accurately as possible, James Horner's music score in its final form following extensive reworking during the post-production process.​
   2. Composer's Original Isolated Score – Although there are a few instances where the length of individual sequences was changed slightly after the music was recorded, this isolated score track presents, as accurately as possible, James Horner's original intentions.​
6. Superior Firepower: Making Aliens – Immerse yourself in the world of Aliens with 11 fully-loaded featurettes that deconstruct all that went into making this sci-fi thriller, from casting to creature design to post-production and everything in between.
   1. 57 Years Later: Continuing the Story​
   2. Building Better Worlds: From Concept to Construction​
   3. Preparing for Battle: Casting and Characterization​
   4. This Time It's War: Pinewood Studios, 1985​
   5. The Risk Always Lives: Weapons and Action​
   6. Bug Hunt: Creature Design​
   7. Two Orphans: Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Henn​
   8. Beauty and the oopsy do: Power Loader vs. Queen Alien​
   9. The Final Countdown: Music, Editing and Sound​
   10. The Power of Real Tech: Visual Effects​
   11. Aliens Unleashed: Reaction to the Film​
7. Superior Firepower: Making Aliens Enhancement Pods – Supplemental video pieces to complement Superior Firepower: Making Aliens.
   1. Without Sigourney Weaver​
   2. Origins of Acheron​
   3. Building Hadley's Hope​
   4. Cameron's Design Philosophy​
   5. Finding an Unused Power Plant​
   6. Cameron's Military Interests​
   7. Working with Sigourney Weaver​
   8. The Importance of Being Bishop​
   9. Paul Reiser on Carter Burke​
   10. The Paxton/Cameron Connection​
   11. Becoming Vasquez​
   12. On Set: Infiltrating the Colony​
   13. Props: Personal Light Unit​
   14. Simon Atherton Talks Weapons​
   15. Praising Stan Winston​
   16. Test Footage: Chestburster​
   17. Fighting the Facehugger​
   18. Test Footage: Facehugger​
   19. Stan Winston's Challenge​
   20. Test Footage: Queen Alien​
   21. Stan Winston's Legacy​
   22. Cameron's Cutting Edge​
   23. Sigourney Weaver's Triumph​
   24. Re-Enlisting with Cameron​
   25. From Producer to Stunt Double​
8. Pre-Visualizations: Multi-Angle Videomatics
   1. Angle 1: Videomatic​
   2. Angle 2: Videomatic/Final Shot Comparison​
   3. Audio Commentary by Miniature Effects Supervisor Pat McClung​
9. Direct Access to New/Additional Scenes From Special Edition
   1. Ripley's Daughter – Burke informs Ripley that her daughter died two years ago.​
   2. Van Leuwen's Verdict – Van Leuwen reads the findings of the court of inquiry.​
   3. The Colony/The Jordens' Discovery – The colony is bustling with life and activity. Newt, along with her brother and parents, come upon the Derelict ship.​
   4. Burke's Answer – At Ripley's apartment, Burke explains why he's making the trip to LV-426.​
   5. INT. Sulaco – Establishing shots of the interior of the Sulaco before the crew awakens from hyper-sleep.​
   6. Hudson's Hubris – As they descend in the drop ship to LV-426, Hudson boasts about their advanced weaponry.​
   7. False Alarm – Hudson and Vasquez detect motion in the colony, only to find it is pet hamsters.​
   8. Ripley Pauses – As she enters the colony, Ripley hesitates for a moment.​
   9. The Sentry Guns – Hicks reveals they have robot sentry systems. While examining the colony blueprints, Ripley and Hicks discuss where to place the robot sentries.​
   10. Fire in the Hole – Hudson and Vasquez set up the UA 571-C remote sentry weapons and following a quick test, seal the tunnel.​
   11. Last Line of Defense – The Sentry Guns dutifully scan the tunnel for incoming targets.​
   12. Newt's Questions – Newt quizzes Ripley about the fate of her parents.​
   13. Hudson's "Ant" Theory – Hudson speculates on how the Aliens are organized and reproduce.​
   14. The Aliens Attack – The Sentry Guns unload on multiple targets.​
   15. The Aliens Retreat – Under withering fire from the sentries, the Aliens are temporarily repulsed.​
   16. First Name Basis – As Ripley departs the drop ship to try and rescue Newt, she and Hicks share their first names with each other.​
10. Deleted Scene: Burke Cocooned – Long one of the most sought-after lost moments from the entire Alien Anthology, this scene depicting Carter Burke's fate is now revealed.​
11. Deleted Scene Montage – This collection of scene extensions and omitted moments represents the remainder of deleted scenes not appearing in either the Theatrical Version or the Special Edition.​
12. Still Galleries and More
    1. Original Treatment by James Cameron​
    2. Storyboard Archive​
    3. The Art of Aliens​
    4. Cast Portrait Gallery​
    5. Production Image Galleries​
    6. Continuity Polaroids​
    7. Weapons and Vehicles​
    8. Stan Winston's Workshop​
    9. Colonial Marine Helmet Cameras​
    10. Video Graphics Gallery​
    11. Weyland-Yutani Inquest: Nostromo Dossiers​
13. Post-Production Aftermath
    1. Image Galleries​
    2. Laserdisc Archives​
    3. Main Title Exploration​
    4. Teaser Trailer​
    5. Theatrical Trailer​
    6. Domestic Trailer​
    7. International Trailer​

Final Score: ​

Aliens is still one of the most influential action sci-fi films of the 1980s and for good reason. It took the creative horror of Alien and expanded the universe to add in full blown blockbuster spectacle without invalidating the creation that came before it. I’m ecstatic to see Cameron has finally come back to remaster the film into 4K since all we’ve had in 4K UHD has been Alien for the last several years, but am left frustrated by his use of AI alterations to the visuals. Fans of the movie will have a hard time justifying replacing their 30th anniversary edition Blu-rays with this new transfer, but there ARE some moderate advantages to the new release. Simply put, this is not as bad as True Lies, but still heavily revisionist in it’s application so I’m sure it’s going to be VERY controversial for some time.

Technical Specifications:

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Paul Rieser
Directed by: James Cameron
Written by: James Cameron, David Giler
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English Dolby Atmos
Subtitles: English
Studio: Disney/Fox
Rated: R
Runtime: 137 Minutes
Digital Release Date: November 12th, 2023

Recommendation: Great Movie

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Great movie. I will have to do a marathon session.

• Alien vs. Predator
• Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
• Prometheus
• Alien: Covenant
• Alien
• Aliens
• Alien 3
• Alien: Resurrection

 

[Todd Anderson]

Your video commentary on this version is disappointing. After True Lies, I'm not sure I'll purchase Aliens in 4K.