Multigrain, harvest grain, 12 grain, whole grain, there’s a whole lot of grain for everyone. Now, if this irritates you to your core, then you’re probably happy about the reports that the James Cameron restorations look like Madame Tussauds, however, if you’re in the rather mass majority of people who prefer their restorations to look clean, with some natural grain remaining and not look like something you’d find on your slice of cake after Gramma finally manages to blow out all 99 candles, then you’re in luck because those reports are horrendously over exaggerated and moreover wrong. Aliens, Cameron’s sequel to the Ridley Scott classic (that can be argued is a rare case of the sequel being superior to the first installment), comes to glorious 4K UHD, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, available now wherever you buy digital content and to glorious physical media March 12^th, 2024.

L-R: Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley and Carrie Henn as Rebecca “Newt” Jorden in James Cameron’s ALIENS. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios and Lightstorm Entertainment.

Now, I think it is a little redundant and silly to provide a full review of a film that is not only revered as a classic, but has been around for nearly 38 years at the time of this writing. But it would be a disservice if we didn’t at least briefly summarize the events of what can be argued as the quintessential perfect entry into a franchise that has three sequels now (looking at you Covenant and Prometheus, and the child no one wants to ever address, Alien 3). The film focuses on Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) as she is awoken decades later to re-establish a base of communication with a terraforming colony, but finds herself ultimately up against an Alien queen and her off spring. There are, of course, obstacles and challenges Ripley finds herself up against leading to the tense third act where she has the final dance between herself and the Alien queen, but overall the 137 minutes of one of Cameron’s masterpieces is undeniable.

Now, to get to the part that we are all intrigued by and curious about. To start, I watched this presentation of Aliens through my first generation 4K Apple TV through the Movies Anywhere app on my Sony television. So by no means is this an OLED, top-of-the-line television with the newest and best equipment out there, but with that being said, unless your setup has some weird settings or you didn’t turn off motion smoothing (which please, if you haven’t done this, do this immediately), this is the absolute best Aliens has ever looked, bar none. It is exquisite, the picture is clear and crisp with a healthy amount of minimal grain throughout the picture. The only scenes where the grain looks like something truly as a product of its time of the ‘80s is when they’re watching CCTV footage of what’s happening on the colony and it looks like a VHS tape ran too many times by little Timmy. However, the rest of the presentation is simply spectacular. I was at an honest shock of disbelief at how clean and beautiful this presentation looked, and as a digital release to boot!

If there is a question as to what I mean in that last sentiment, it is that a digital file is always going to suffer from a form of compression one way or another and is never going to be as clean or as crisp as a disk. Now, there is no knowledge as to what kind of disk is going to be released for Aliens (or the other unreleased Cameron entries, True Lies and The Abyss), however, per the press release, the 4K UHD is a 100 gigabyte disk and the new Blu-ray is 50 gigabytes. This means that the disk of Aliens is going to make this digital copy look like a decently released Blu-ray. That is not to say, in any way, that the digital is inferior or lacks quality, because it certainly does not in the slightest. It boasts beautiful colors and imaging that has been restored and redone to what a first run print of this now-38-year-old film probably looked like back in 1986. However, this source material uncompressed and uncompromised promises the possibility of creating a reference-quality disk that will surely blow audiences at home out of the water and create an experience unmatched to anything they’ve ever seen before. So, if you’re anxious and cannot possibly wait another singular minute to see James Cameron’s Aliens in all of its restored, 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos beauty, then snatch up your digital copy (available from all digital retailers) now and snag that probable reference- quality disk March 12^th wherever you buy physical media.

Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in James Cameron’s ALIENS. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios and Lightstorm Entertainment.

In regards to the special features that are included with the digital release and are presumably the same features that are going to be on the physical release, we can break them down. There is a metric ton of features here, most of which appear to be legacy features though, making this the ultimate edition of Aliens for the collectors to desire. We start with legacy features from the 1990 special edition which features a 34-second introduction from Cameron himself, the entire special edition of the film (2 hours and 34 minutes), and the audio commentary from Cameron, cast, and crew. Continuing with the legacy features is the inspiration and design of Aliens, a shorter commentary for the version of the film that is 2 hour and 17 minutes, two versions of the isolated score, the final theatrical score isolated and the composer’s original isolated score. It also appears that there is a feature showcasing the new/additional scenes from the special edition which cumulatively comes to roughly 20 minutes which brings everything together between both versions of the film. While looking at the press release and comparing that to the features that are on the digital copy of the film, there appear to be more features on the physical presumably than the digital, so owning this on home media March 12^th, 2024 is the most complete way to bring Aliens home with all the features and the best way to view the film.

Aliens Special Features*:

James Cameron Introduction – A message from writer/director James Cameron introducing the Special Edition version of the film.

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.

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.

2003 Audio Commentary by James Cameron and the Cast and Crew – 1986 Theatrical Version Commentary by James Cameron and the cast and crew.

Isolated Scores

• 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.
• 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.

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.

• 57 Years Later: Continuing the Story
• Building Better Worlds: From Concept to Construction
• Preparing for Battle: Casting and Characterization
• This Time It’s War: Pinewood Studios, 1985
• The Risk Always Lives: Weapons and Action
• Bug Hunt: Creature Design
• Two Orphans: Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Henn
• Beauty and the Bitch: Power Loader vs. Queen Alien
• The Final Countdown: Music, Editing and Sound
• The Power of Real Tech: Visual Effects
• Aliens Unleashed: Reaction to the Film

Superior Firepower: Making Aliens Enhancement Pods – Supplemental video pieces to complement Superior Firepower: Making Aliens.

• Without Sigourney Weaver
• Origins of Acheron
• Building Hadley’s Hope
• Cameron’s Design Philosophy
• Finding an Unused Power Plant
• Cameron’s Military Interests
• Working with Sigourney Weaver
• The Importance of Being Bishop
• Paul Reiser on Carter Burke
• The Paxton/Cameron Connection
• Becoming Vasquez
• On Set: Infiltrating the Colony
• Props: Personal Light Unit
• Simon Atherton Talks Weapons
• Praising Stan Winston
• Test Footage: Chestburster
• Fighting the Facehugger
• Test Footage: Facehugger
• Stan Winston’s Challenge
• Test Footage: Queen Alien
• Stan Winston’s Legacy
• Cameron’s Cutting Edge
• Sigourney Weaver’s Triumph
• Re-Enlisting with Cameron
• From Producer to Stunt Double

Pre-Visualizations: Multi-Angle Videomatics

• Angle 1: Videomatic
• Angle 2: Videomatic/Final Shot Comparison
• Audio Commentary by Miniature Effects Supervisor Pat McClung

Direct Access to New/Additional Scenes from Special Edition

• Ripley’s Daughter – Burke informs Ripley that her daughter died two years ago.
• Van Leuwen’s Verdict – Van Leuwen reads the findings of the court of inquiry.
• 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.
• Burke’s Answer – At Ripley’s apartment, Burke explains why he’s making the trip to LV-426.
• Sulaco – Establishing shots of the interior of the Sulaco before the crew awakens from hyper-sleep.
• Hudson’s Hubris – As they descend in the drop ship to LV-426, Hudson boasts about their advanced weaponry.
• False Alarm – Hudson and Vasquez detect motion in the colony, only to find it is pet hamsters.
• Ripley Pauses – As she enters the colony, Ripley hesitates for a moment.
• 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.
• Fire in the Hole – Hudson and Vasquez set up the UA 571-C remote sentry weapons and following a quick test, seal the tunnel.
• Last Line of Defense – The Sentry Guns dutifully scan the tunnel for incoming targets.
• Newt’s Questions – Newt quizzes Ripley about the fate of her parents.
• Hudson’s “Ant” Theory – Hudson speculates on how the Aliens are organized and reproduce.
• The Aliens Attack – The Sentry Guns unload on multiple targets.
• The Aliens Retreat – Under withering fire from the sentries, the Aliens are temporarily repulsed.
• First Name Basis – As Ripley departs the drop ship to try and rescue Newt, she and Hicks share their first names with each other.

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.

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.

Still Galleries and more

• Original Treatment by James Cameron
• Storyboard Archive
• The Art of Aliens
• Cast Portrait Gallery
• Production Image Galleries
• Continuity Polaroids
• Weapons and Vehicles
• Stan Winston’s Workshop
• Colonial Marine Helmet Cameras
• Video Graphics Gallery
• Weyland-Yutani Inquest: Nostromo Dossiers

Post-Production Aftermath

• Image Galleries
• Laserdisc Archives
• Main Title Exploration
• Theatrical Trailers
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
• Domestic Trailer
• International Trailer

*Bonus features vary by product and retailer

Available on 4K UHD digital December 12^th, 2023.
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray Combo Pack March 12^th, 2024.

Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming

Tags: 20th Century Studios, 4K UHD, action, Al Matthews, Aliens, Bill Paxton, Carrie Henn, Dan O'Bannon, David Giler, drama, home release, home video, horror, James Cameron, Lance Henriksen, Lightstorm Entertainment, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Ricco Ross, Ronald Shusett, science fiction, Sigourney Weaver, thriller, Walter Hill, William Hope