UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Aliens -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

[jayembee]

While film preservation status per se as in the negative being in good shape and so on is nothing to be worried about for these movies it looks like it is getting more difficult to also see the movies in a way that within reasons replicates the look of the theatrical release.

Unfortunate or not, though, as time goes by, the number of people who actually saw Cameron's older films -- and plenty of other classic films -- theatrically is dwindling. Chances are, a significant percentage of the people buying this UHD will have only seen Aliens on their TV screens, whether through broadcast/cable or a physical home video release.

 

[JoshZ]

Back in the day, Widescreen Review published an article about Aliens that discussed at length how dissatisfied James Cameron was with the high-speed film stocks Adrian Biddle had shot the movie with, and the efforts he went through to mitigate the grain in the Laserdisc video transfer - to very mixed results with the tools available at the time. What the article made clear was just how much Cameron loathed film grain and, if he could, would do anything possible to remove every speck of it, no matter the consequences to the rest of the image. He was very single-minded in his focus that he wanted a "clean" picture.

So, it's really no surprise that he switched to digital photography at the first opportunity, and would DNR the hell out of video remasters like Terminator 2. I think he simply has always disliked film as an image capture medium, and only used it as a necessary evil until video caught up with the resolution standards he was waiting for.

I don't have the disc yet and haven't watched the digital version, but I assume that this new 4K master for Aliens builds off the work done on the prior Blu-ray, which used the Lowry Digital process to strip out grain without affecting piture detail too badly.

 

[Alan Tully]

I saw Aliens the week it opened (I think it was the Odeon, Leicester Square, London) & remember it looking great, but when the DVD was released, my god, it looked so grainy, I thought it was almost unwatchable (did it really look like that in the cinema?), the de-grained Blu-ray was fine, very happy with that, I might weaken if the price dips later in the year. But as has been mentioned, who really remembers what these films looked like on release.

 

[JoshZ]

Mr. Cameron’s films are fully preserved as they were. The 4k home video release is merely a modern variant.

That may be true in a technical sense, but if that "preserved" copy is locked away, never to be seen by anyone again, while the "modern variants" are the only thing the public are ever allowed to watch going forward for all perpetuity, does that truly meet the spirit or intention of preservation?

 

[Tino]

I will simply say that I hope this bodes well for The Abyss.

RAH has already chimed in on The Abyss. He gave it a 10/10.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Are people certain Aliens is a new 4K transfer? Here's a quote from Bill Hunt's review:

"(possibly new and 4K, but it’s also possible that the previous 2K Blu-ray scan was used; I haven’t been able to confirm that with Lightstorm yet in this particular case)"

 

[Robert Crawford]

I’m leaving this discussion.

A wise decision!

 

[titch]

Actually, a 4k DCP can be made to appear like an original print. Just without flicker, wear, cue marks, reel to reel color and density changes, etc.

Actually, a 4K DCP can be made to appear like an original print WITH flicker, wear, density changes, etc - just go and see The Holdovers.

 

[Dave H]

Pretty sure most of the "grain" on Aliens transfers prior to the Blu-ray anthology was actually just mpeg artifacts

I was also under the impression that the Lowry process used at the time for the BD completely de-grained Aliens and then added fake grain afterward.

I ordered the UHD BD and plan to compare them.

 

[Konstantinos]

I know Mr. Harris has left the discussion, but I'm really and genuinely curious:
If some classic old films like My Fair Lady, Lawrence of Arabia etc. had undergone this kind of treatment, would they get the same rating? 10 for video quality?

 

[PMF]

I know Mr. Harris has left the discussion, but I'm really and genuinely curious:
If some classic old films like My Fair Lady, Lawrence of Arabia etc. had undergone this kind of treatment, would they get the same rating? 10 for video quality?

How does one De-Grain a dessert?

 

[Robert Harris]

I know Mr. Harris has left the discussion, but I'm really and genuinely curious:
If some classic old films like My Fair Lady, Lawrence of Arabia etc. had undergone this kind of treatment, would they get the same rating? 10 for video quality?

I’ll answer this one.

By virtue of generally accepted archival standards, films of a certain historical (and AMPAS) importance are considered very separate from those that may be important, but are still considered more “entertainment.”

Best Pictures are generally considered untouchable. Grain and resolution may be massaged as part of the restorative process, as would damage. For example, I modified sharpness in MFL, as it was necessary for continuity of shots. Can you see it?

Absolutely not.

An outlier here is obviously Titanic, which was done at the behest of the filmmaker.

Lest anyone now retort with “but what about x,” don’t expect an answer.

 

[PMF]

I consider myself lucky, as I never saw Aliens. With no points of reference, I’ll be able to just sit back and enjoy. A rare opportunity.

Love my 4K/UHD of Alien (singular) and now can finally bridge the gap with Aliens (plural); as I am now years later interested in exploring the post and pre entries to which so many fine directors have lent their vision.

 

[John Sparks]

Does how cheaply made the movie was have anything to do with filming and the film used?

 

[PMF]

Does how cheaply made the movie was have anything to do with filming and the film used?

I am not an authority towards the answer of John Sparks question, but I have heard that the greatest costs of making a film are the actual magazines and celluloid stocks which are used by the cameraman.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I consider myself lucky, as I never saw Aliens. With no points of reference, I’ll be able to just sit back and enjoy. A rare opportunity.

Love my 4K/UHD of Alien (singular) and now can finally bridge the gap with Aliens (plural); as I am now years later interested in exploring the post and pre entries to which so many fine directors have lent their vision.

I consider myself lucky too because I watched Aliens in a movie theater 3 times. However, I don't have any point of reference either because I don't recall grain structure like some others do around here. Recollection of color schemes and grain structure isn't my forte when it comes to movies, I watched decades ago in a movie theater and then have seen again on various home video formats. Mixing the different viewing experiences has a tendency to muddy the waters for me. My mind works differently because I'm more apt to specifically recall the cast of actors, spoken dialogue and plot points.

 

[JWC1969]

I consider myself lucky too because I watched Aliens in a movie theater 3 times. However, I don't have any point of reference either because I don't recall grain structure like some others do around here. Recollection of color schemes and grain structure isn't my forte when it comes to movies, I watched decades ago in a movie theater and then have seen again on various home video formats. Mixing the different viewing experiences has a tendency to muddy the waters for me. My mind works differently because I'm more apt to specifically recall the cast of actors, spoken dialogue and plot points.

Well said, Robert. And it's not just you. There's research that notes color memory isn't remotely accurate. Check out this article from one of The Digital Bits contributors: https://www.patreon.com/posts/single-least-in-100006052 (Hopefully the article, which I got from a Patreon account with The Bits, is viewable to all.)

 

[Dave Moritz]

I will be adding this 4K disc to my collection and ordering it this coming Tuesday. I have been waiting for this release for some time now like many of us here.

 

[dpippel]

(Hopefully the article, which I got from a Patreon account with The Bits, is viewable to all.)

It is not. You have to be a paying member of the Bits' Patreon to access this content.

 

[sbjork]

I consider myself lucky too because I watched Aliens in a movie theater 3 times. However, I don't have any point of reference either because I don't recall grain structure like some others do around here. Recollection of color schemes and grain structure isn't my forte when it comes to movies, I watched decades ago in a movie theater and then have seen again on various home video formats. Mixing the different viewing experiences has a tendency to muddy the waters for me. My mind works differently because I'm more apt to specifically recall the cast of actors, spoken dialogue and plot points.

You're mind works just fine. It's fair to have a bit of skepticism about decades-old memories of color in particular because that's a detail that human memory doesn't store in detailed fashion. Actors, dialogue, and plot points are things that our memories are designed to retain -- although that's still one case where some of us struggle!