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Alien 40th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray
Posted February 26, 2019 04:28 PM by
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has officially announced that it will celebrate the 40th anniversary of director Ridley Scott's classic film Alien (1979) with a brand new 4K Blu-ray release, which will be available for purchase on April 23rd.
Synopsis: In the film that birthed the wildly successful ALIEN franchise, the crew of the deep space tug Nostromo awaken from stasis during a voyage home to Earth when their ship's computer detects what is believed to be an alien distress signal coming from the desolate nearby moon, LV-426. While investigating, one of the crew, Kane (John Hurt), is attacked by an alien creature that latches to his face and he is rushed back to the Nostromo to receive medical treatment. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the ship's warrant officer, advises against Kane's return due to quarantine regulations � but her orders are ignored by Ash (Ian Holm), bringing the Nostromo under threat from a mysterious, extraterrestrial apex predator with violent and lethal survival instincts.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM, COMPLETED IN 2018 BY 20TH CENTURY FOX AT COMPANY 3/DELUXE ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES CORP., SUPERVISED BY RIDLEY SCOTT AND PAM DERY, WITH THE 4K SCANS DONE AT EFILM
Theatrical Version (1979)
Director's Cut (2003)
2003 Audio Commentary by Ridley Scott and the Cast & Crew
1999 Audio Commentary by Ridley Scott (1979 Theatrical Version Only)
Final Theatrical Isolated Score � Dolby Digital 5.1 (1979 Theatrical Version Only)
Composer's Original Isolated Score � Dolby Digital 5.1 (1979 Theatrical Version Only)
Deleted Scenes
Additional 4K Blu-ray Technical Specs:
Audio: English DTS-HD-MA 5.1 / English DTS-HD-MA 4.1 (Theatrical Version Only) /
English Surround DTS-HD-MA2 2.0 / Spanish DD 5.1 / French DTS 5.1
Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles for the main feature
Really interesting. However, there's no mention on whether it's going to be HDR10 only, or if there will be Dolby Vision, or HDR10+. There was a demo of Alien Covenant if I remember correctly, during CES 2018, showing a modified scene with HDR10+. Since it's the same studio and same franchise, I wonder....
Ooooh exciting! If it was a Universal or even Warner release I'd wait it out, but Fox has had a pretty good track record with UHDs so I might just go ahead and pre-order this, one of my favorite movies.
Wow! I've never seen that theatrical version(1971) listed above, so I may have to get it just for that. I saw it in the theater in 1979. Need to know what HDR is being used before I order this one. Too many other titles I want to get in April. No Atmos or DTS X for audio is not encouraging me to double dip. I can live with my blu-ray for now. Will wait for reviews so I won't be chasing that steelbook which is sure to sell out.
There could be some really creepy and effective atmospheric audio with this one (thinking of the scene with the hanging chains and dripping water, for one example), but still happy this is getting a 4K release.
I'm happy with the Alien Anthology Digibook. 'Alien' itself was a new 4K master for that BD release. It looks great and the others less great but fine. Cheers
Ugh, use original theatrical artwork for the cover, please! These revisionist covers do not do a service to the hardcore fans that the UHD format caters to.
I will get this for sure hoping it gets an aussie release. I just hope we can get a release of Aliens in 4K soon as i'd like to see the blanket teal a bit less overdone
Tsunamijhoe
No atmos/dtsx no sale. News flash Fox only remix movies that were stereo in 5.1, they keep 5.1 mixes 5.1 mixes, They only have Atmos mixes on movies that had Atmos mixes in the theaters.
I have the anthology on BD but this is a day one purchase for me as this is the only film of the franchise I'll be upgrading to 4k. I'm fine with the BDs for the others.
There's a box set coming out in Japan with all 6 films, with Alien, Prometheus, and Covenant being in 4K and the rest being regular blu-ray. I'm hoping this doesn't mean that if the U.S. gets a box set it'll be the same. There's no reason all 6 films shouldn't be given the UHD treatment.
search for "UHD-BD-ALIEN STLBK" on BestBuy.com to find it, just add to cart from search results as the product page currently throws an error, currently priced at $22.99
Everyone waiting for an anthology, I wouldn't count on it. Why? Disney for one coming in to run Fox firstly. Secondly, James Cameron has not been able to find time to approve the studios HD masters of True Lies and Abyss which is why there's no blu-ray of those films. If we get a 4K of the other films, it'll be years ahead considering Cameron is swamped in Avatar sequels. As for no Dolby Atmos, if the studio had it, I'm sure they'd put it on the disc. Like the Die Hard 4K release where they put the original 2 track channel audio on there, the goal with these titles is to recreate the original viewing and listening experience as best as possible. And yes, the artwork sucks.
Am I actually going to quadruple-dip for this movie? Yes I am! My wallet will sting a little as this release is near the date of the new Gatchaman box set which I'm getting as well, but it'll heal. :-)
If they can put a Dolby Atmos track on things like Cliffhanger and Christine, then surely Alien deserves it!? Imagine what could be done with it. There are such a lot of ambient sounds and moments where Atmos could really shine. Neither Die Hard or Predator got upgraded soundtracks either. Props to Fox for releasing it though....
Will wait for the box set with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant and all with both versions of all the Alien movies no rush, plus no Dolby Atmos or DTS:X? Yeah I will wait.
I will have to get this but I still want to see some reviews first. Not yet clear what has been newly remastered in 4k, the original theatrical or 2003 version or both. Or, is the new 4k mastered version something new with the original theatrical and 2003 versions as extras? I only care about the original theatrical with theatrical audio mix. Otherwise, I am good with my Alien Anthology box set.
Stunning cover art on this but I'm going to hold out until they do the rest of the series for a box set. I'm particularly interested in seeing what Fox will do with "Aliens" as I watched the Blu recently and found it to be a mediocre transfer at best. Great news for this UHD!
For those asking, both the theatrical and director's cut are on the disc in the new 4K transfer.
Anthology release? Won't happen anytime soon. Fox have been unable to release True Lies and The Abyss on Blu-ray because Cameron has to sign off on them and he's been very busy making Avatar sequels and producing Alita: Battle Angel. If anyone recalls, the Alien anthology set was delayed because of the work required on "Aliens". Alien 3 and Resurrection could be done easily but if you're planning on waiting for an Anthology release, I'd say you've gotta wait until Cameron is done with his 4 Avatar films
If there's not an ATMOS upgrade for this release, I can't see a need that justifies a purchase from my set of the 4 movies (with slipcover) that's more than adequate for this, admittedly "great" film.
this movie with it's super dark set could look great on an OLED w/ DV and could sound super creepy with some height channels engaged.... but it looks like (on the surface) that an upscaled BD with the same track may be close.
I just hope that UHD 4K movies won't wind up going down the same path as 3D....and eventually become another "extinct" species. I actually see this as a REAL possibility, in light of the fact that if the medium doesn't "start" giving us much other than PIXAR and superhero releases, then it will be seen as nothing else than a medium designed for "silly" movies...instead of serious, deserving cinema.
If the UHD 4K industry is REALLY interested in both creating (and sustaining) a market....they're going to HAVE to start "lowering" their price for initial and current offerings to make the technology more "attractive" for the average consumer. 30 bucks and above for the usual "pop" just ISN'T going to cut it, if they're looking for long-term success. Just sayin'.....
That's the standard release for $18. The Steelbook is still a reasonable $23 right now though (but marked "coming soon"). I don't think I've seen many catalogue titles start at over $25 except for maybe in the very early stages of the format.
That hideous dilettante artwork has absolutely NOTHING to do with the aesthetics of the 1979 movie. Your target audience isn't a casual Walmart customer; it is discerning fans and movie buffs who are ready (or not) to quadruple-dip for this one. Go with the original movie poster art, which is an effing classic in its scary simplicity. It absolutely transports what the movie is about and remains fresh to this day. It is cool and will even attract new buyers better than that presented abomination.
This is the movie I bought a 4K OLED TV for! The artwork however is one of the worst I have ever seen (and as an ALIEN fan, I have seen a lot of bad artworks over the years)...
Fox seems to have no idea that this movie is a classic and not some kind of cheap action movie....
As a companion, J Rinzler of the Making of Star Wars books has a Making of Alien book due out in early summer. Just a heads up for any folks who may not know about it.
OMG no Dolby Atmos or DTS X! Who f**king cares. This film doesn�t need that kind of an audio upgrade, besides DTS-HD MA is just fine. I�m excited that we�re getting a 4K restoration. Stop complaining about the cover art and audio. Just be happy and thankful that 4K Ultra Blu-ray and Blu-ray are still around. And let�s no forget that Disney now owns Fox and this will most definitely be the last time that we�ll ever see �Alien� released on disc. More likely will see �Alien� on the Disney streaming service sometime next year.
Agree with Robert Siegel, that really annoys the heck out of me. The 5.1 isolated score of Inception is on the second Blu-ray in lossless 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio, is that too much to add? I'm not even going to listen to studio music mixed in 5.1 if it's just lossy 448 Kbps or worse Dolby Digital. So little effort to make it lossless, and if you don't want to pay any codec fees then just give me LPCM, you know that audio track that's compatible with every Blu-ray Disc player since the BD-P1000 from June 2006?
Hoping against hope, that with a new restoration, the theatrical version would be restored to it's original color scheme. Not optimistic though. Agreed that is a big mistake not giving lossless for the isolated score, at least we have the double CD. Ditto, why not the original artwork, or something less tacky.
Great price in America not so here in the U.K. Suprised it doesn�t have Atmos. It will have to go some to beat the Blu-ray as that was pretty good in my book.
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