Why So Blu?

Alien: Romulus (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

The Alien franchise has gone through many phases.  1979’s Alien remains the ultimate in sci-fi and horror.  1986’s Aliens epitomizes the mixture of sci-fi and action. 1992’s Alien3 fuses all three genres.  There are also inferior sequels, and some prequels that depending on who you talk to are either great or terrible.  When Alien: Romulus was announced it was originally slated for a Hulu release.  Seeing the potential and the enthusiastic early response, Disney called a great shot, and the film got a theatrical release.  The film was a well-received hit, ushering in a melding of old-school Alien fans and newcomers just learning about the previous films.  So, where on the Alien-O-Meter does Alien: Romulus sit? Find out more in the review but watch out for flying facehuggers.

 

Film:

This truly terrifying sci-fi horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful Alien franchise back to its iconic roots. While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young colonizers come face-to-face with the most relentless and deadly life form in the universe.

It’s 2142, and Weyland-Yutani has just recovered a cocoon from the wreckage of the Nostromo. On Star Colony, LV-410, Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson) and their friends Tyler (Archie Renaux), Kay (Isabella Merced), Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Navarro (Aileen Wu) all want to make their way off of the Star Colony.  The goal is to get to Yvaga III, a planet not associated with Weyland-Yutani.

The group plans to steal a hauler and fly up to Renaissance, a W-Y Space station split into two – Remus and Romulus. There the group will steal the cryostasis equipment and fuel to make the multi-year journey to Yvaga safely. Tyler and Bjorn convince Andy, a reprogrammed synthetic, to talk to the Renaissance to gain access to the Remus side. In the meantime, Rain learns Yvaga III does not allow androids on planet.  This means having to leave Andy behind, which makes Rain feel guilty.

As Tyler and Bjorn locate and begin to procure all the equipment needed for their journey, a lockdown occurs, and dozens of parasites (facehuggers) are thawed and released onto the ship.  Navarro is attacked by the facehugger who impregnates her, leading to her death from a chestbursting birth. As the rest of the crew works to avoid being attacked, they discover Rook (a posthumous Ian Holm), who is basically android remains, whose security access they steal to place into Andy’s chip space. Andy is programmed to be loyal to Rain, but now becomes loyal to Weyland-Yutani after they change the clearances.

Looking for answers, Rain reactivates Rook who then tells them the cocoon hanging from above held a Xenomorph, dead from the Nostromo. Rook continues to tell the group about the experiments that were performed on the Xenomorph along with info that Weyland-Yutani created the bioengineered facehuggers now running loose on the ship. The rest of the group fights for survival, running from facehuggers and Xenomorphs that are rapidly being born on the ship.

The Alien: Romulus story is one that takes place between Alien and Aliens. The star colony resembles some of the human elements we see in Aliens early on as we see Newt with her brother playing among the workers on their star colony.  This is also now the entry point the audience gets to Weyland-Yutani being something of a villain company, unleashing killer aliens upon humans in search of a “perfect entity” so to speak.  Director Fede Alvarez fills his film with callbacks to the first 3 Alien films, from the extensive use of practical effects, to the late 70’s/80’s look of ship electronics.  The fandom within Alvarez has helped make Alien: Romulus the most authentic Alien film since the first 3.

The visuals of Alien: Romulus are claustrophobic, tense and dense.  The Remus and Romulus sides of the Renaissance station both hold styles symbolic of the first two Alien films. The vintage feel pulls you back into that universe with authenticity and range deeper than most filmmakers would bother to give to a film.  There’s beauty to behold in the creation of the tension in the script.  We believe in the young group of actors embodying their characters. We are still terrified of the Xenomorph and any iteration of it, be it a Prometheus-like scientific mistake or these new jumpy facehuggers.

While the film is unmistakably modern, the classic touches really shine through.  The little bits of CGI meld wonderfully into the more present practical effects and full sets.  Benjamin Wallfisch’s excellent score brings out the best in James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith’s scores for their respective Alien films.  The sound design and creature design provoke further bits to squirm about as well, with aggressive sounds pushing the viewer to fits of fear, and slimy almost genital-like creatures coming at you on screen, it’s easy to feel unease as you watch the film.

Alien is an undeniable film franchise.  Alien: Romulus presents a new entry that points the series in the right direction.  People may complain about some elements, as all movies carry fan complaints, but you’d be hard-pressed to find much fault within the film.  There are moments of pure horror, sci-fi excellence and a tension missing from horror and sci-fi movies often.  Director Fede Alvarez puts all his love for the Alienseries into this film, and the love radiates from the screen, even as we cover our eyes and scream at it.  This is how legacy sequels should be, and hopefully this film becomes a blueprint for more quality Alien related films and shows.

Video:

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-66

HDR: Dolby Vision

Clarity/Detail: Alien: Romulus comes to 4K UHD Blu-ray with a fantastic looking transfer that is very close to the Dolby Cinema experience I took in when the film debuted in August.  The overall look is digital with homage to filmic looks.  The dense practical set pieces and effects look amazing, with detail sharp as ever and colors only made better by the Dolby Vision HDR.

Depth: Care has been taken to deliver the most focused, perfectly executed shots throughout.  The film looks clean, with care taken to keep things easy to see even in dark moments.  There is not a moment of softness anywhere to be found, and background and foreground images are given equal treatment on screen.

Black Levels: Black levels are deep and rich, with no detail lost in the shadows.

Color Reproduction: Reds and oranges are a big part of the look of the film.  Glowing lights, red lockdown scenes, drooling blue-headed aliens… colors are impeccable here, looking subtle in their brightness but are indeed, accurate perfection.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones look natural, with sweat, blood, tears and alien acid showing up on skin in detailed ways.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English AD 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Japanese 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus

Subtitles:  English SDH, Japanese, Spanish, French

Dynamics: Seeing the film theatrically in Dolby Cinema, Alien: Romulus was a visceral experience.  Bringing the film home on 4K UHD Blu-ray more than effectively recreates that sound experience.  Thundering bass, height effects and perfect dialogue all make the Renaissance space station live in your living room. This Atmos track would be considered reference grade in my opinion.

Height: Up top, you hear ship noise, space sounds, echoes, off camera sounds, clicking facehuggers… it may pop out from up top, enhancing the creepiness of the action on screen. Music sometimes creeps into the height space at times too.

Low-Frequency Extension: Ship takeoffs, big landings, power coming on and off, explosions, gunfire… so much of the film has bass response that you feel the rumble for much of the film.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds provide a uniquely immersive experience along with the height channels.  Fitting in with the rest of your speakers, these specifically amp up the echo, hiss and off-screen evil that lurks throughout the movie.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is perfect throughout.

Extras:

The extras for Alien: Romulus are not the most in-depth but are still fantastically interesting.  The making-of documentary is short but informative, while the alternate/extended scenes are good, but wouldn’t add more substance to the film.  An extended feature on the final Xenomorph battle and a conversation between Alvarez and Ridley Scott round out the extras.

Alien: Romulus comes to 4K UHD Blu-ray in a standard edition with slipcover, Blu-ray and digital code, and a steelbook variation with the same 2 discs and code. There is also a very limited edition of Alien: Romulus – A VHS Tape, available from Walmart.

Bonus Features*
Return to Horror: Crafting Alien: Romulus

• The Director’s Vision – Discover how one of today’s greatest horror directors, Fede Alvarez, collaborated with master filmmaker Ridley Scott to craft a new, heart-pounding chapter in the Alien franchise.
• Creating the Story – Learn what inspired the story of Alien: Romulus and see the many easter eggs from previous Alien installments that you may have missed.
• Casting the Faces – Meet the stars of Alien: Romulus as they take us inside the hearts and minds of their characters. Explore the parallels between Rain and the iconic franchise heroine, Ripley, and learn how filmmakers brought back a face from the past.
• Constructing the World – Explore the massive, practical sets of Alien: Romulus that hearken back to the futuristic style established in the ’80s and get up close and personal with a hoard of practically built facehuggers, chestbursters, and xenomorphs.

Inside the Xenomorph Showdown – Experience the film’s climactic zero-gravity sequence from every angle as filmmakers break down what it took to make the moment spectacular. From sets and performances, to wirework, stunts, and VFX, see how it all came together.

Alien: A Conversation – A special conversation with Ridley Scott and Fede Alvarez for the Alien 45th Anniversary theatrical re-release.

Alternate / Extended Scenes – Check out scenes that didn’t make the final cut.

Summary:

I can’t say that Alien: Romulus is a perfect film, but that’s just fine.  What we have here is nearly that, with easter eggs aplenty for fans, right down to the length of the film, which is identical to the 1979 original. There feels like a lot of love and effort went into this film, with some of the bonus features showing dates work was done as late as April of 2024.  The film is an excellent blend of Sci-fi and Horror with exceptional performances and fantastic direction by Fede Alvarez who hopefully continues to make creative, creepy horror films.  He’s really good at it.  This 4K UHD Blu-ray edition of the film will stand as the way to watch the movie at home, and with audio/video quality like this, it’s safe to say that everyone involved in this film did the franchise justice, and fans should be so very pleased.

Get Your Copy of Alien: Romulus HERE

Get Your Copy of Alien: Romulus Steelbook HERE