Frankly from these stills I think it looks spectacular. Fact is we can still watch the older bluray I have it it's fine

No matter which way you look at it, subjectively and objectively, but removing or even reducing grain is still reducing detail inherent to the 35mm source and by applying A DIGITAL tool such as an AI algorithm to apply sharpness to details that have already been reduced is processed, unnatural and not the best way to preserve a film shot on film. Personally, im not a fan of this processing, but will respect others who do, however at the end of the day, this film deserves far better treatment from my point of view.

The SUPER HIGH DEFINITION is the definitive pick. I got it on pre-order. Thanks for this. I can VERY clearly tell the diffrences.

Are we sure this isnt just an AI upscale of the existing 2K master with colour regrade and HDR? Edge enhancement and uncanny valley facial features are the dead giveaway.

Thanks for the comparison. It's interesting how many people don't have a problem at all with these "enhancements", but probably have an issue with Lucas messing with Star Wars. This is even worse - AI re-interpreting things in the picture that isn't there to begin with (most visible on actor's faces in zoom-in images). It's got more in common with coloring B/W films or re-doing them in 3D, and nothing to do with preservation of the original movie shot on 35mm film. What's next? "Enhancing" the other works of art like paintings, to make them more vibrant, sharpen or whatnot in the museums?

in short, the green color filter is gone, but so is most of the film grain. welp...

A I paintings look pretty awful. I can't say I'm looking forward to the disc release if it's going to look like this. That shot of Ripley looking up at the Queen looked horrendous.

7:30 The edge enhancement on Sigourney's nose is none too flattering.

I'm glad you do zoom in shots as it can be hard to tell if it's an actual upgrade in resolution, or if they just color corrected the original blu-ray and slapped it on a 4K disc.

It would be better to compare that actual 4k disc when it arrives rather than this streaming version. As they will be a difference. Streaming in HIGHLY compressed in comparison. The Internet connection doesn't have a fat enough pipe to fit all of the bits of data for a UHD resolution film. So, the picture and sound are both compressed. That's why i always stick with phisycal media. Plus, if the Internet connection drops, the quality is lost

I’ve got a copy on hold for the release but I’m with most of you guys on this, it look too clean

This looks very AI uncanny valley in enough shots. I'm sticking with my blu ray

Thanks for sharing this. I`d read some Amazon reviews saying that the 4K version has been spoilt by altering the 4K transfer? As an Aliens fan, I`ll be sure to buy it once I have a 4K TV.

@My moonization What happened to the 4k Blu-ray on Amazon?

The cool thing is you can own all versions of this awesome movie! If you don’t like the 4k treatment, you still have your HD, SD, blu-ray, VHS, or whatever to pop in and enjoy. Oh, and that’s only if you buy physical media. Otherwise, enjoy this new version in your online library.

Magnificent ! I love the details and the colors !

It's weird seeing a 4K presentation of a movie shot on celluloid that looks like it's shot on a digital camera circa 2010! I remember the controversy over the Blu-ray being 'degrained', but this is really overboard. Some of the faces look full-on CGI! Trouble is, Cameron is a revisionist director, akin to an artist who goes to a public gallery and tinkers with his paintings. A major reason I upgraded to 4K was for the higher bitrate handling grain better. I want Aliens to look grainy: it's part of the film's atmosphere. I'm still undecided on buying it.

DNR being incorrectly used by some and in the Conan release in Feb 2024 already being seen is Top Of Line when DNR is used correctly or not at all can preserve the original. But film grain is a normal part of actually film and being overcorecting makes it worse.Aliens is less offensive than True Lies the next to see is the Abyss 4k. It going to be a constant reminder if your seeing the best version or an AI WAXING HORROR MOVIE. I keep versions on Blu-ray before this DNR SCRUBBING 😮.

Bro's...they've been using machine learning to clean up movies for about a decade now. There wasn't any generative Ai used in these restorations, so chill. Every visual choice made here was actually made my Cameron and team...if you don't like those choices...that's your prerogative. But stop treating it like "Ai did all the work".

Yes there are some scenes in which the AI treatment and noise reduction really messes things up. Ripley's face, especially her pastel paint looking eyes, at 15:30 is a good example for this. But the majority of these stills really look good. Of course, Aliens special effects always benefited from the lower resolution releases. The further we journey into the realms of higher resolutions, the more unrealistic they look. The colony buildings, the Newt family rover and the dropship looked awesome in the VHS and DVD releases as the blurry image and low detail did a good job at concealing all the many giveaways of them just being small plastic miniature models. The Bluray unwillingly brought all those giveaways to light, greatly harming the overall quality of those peticular scenes. The 4k version increases this even further. The dropship hangar scene at 9:50 is testimony to this. The Bluray´s slightly blurry image still upholds the illusion to certain degree , but the 4k version clearly exposes this scene as what it always has been : a still shot of minituare model diorama made of painted wood and plastic. The immersion has finally been destroyed by showing too much details.

I would consider updating if the audio has been remastered in Atmos?

Very digitalised. Where is the grain?

Need Goldilocks. Just tone down the contrast/or really mid tone and highlight brightness, tone down the sharpness aka and/or add more grain back in and it would be pretty impressive in terms of artificial detail. Not a restoration but as a creative remaster it’s impressive. Film doesn’t need it, just needs added bit depth, but it’s interesting.

Cameron is literally using AI to upscale his films and its not right

You Can Bet That The Entire Quadrilogy Will Get Sometime Get A Full Release Like It Did Years Ago But Should Come With Over An Hour Of Additional New Features Like How The Films Still Have Impact After More Than 38 Years And Maybe Bios Of The Actors (Like On Some DVDs) And Maybe An Improved MotherMoad👍

You big tease! It’s finally here. Some shots I can definitely see an improvement: Jones’s, the cat, looks amazing. Other shots I’m conflicted: Ripleys side profile - grain in gone, I can see halos on her profile from hedge enhancement. Ripley looking up at the Queen: her eyes look ‘artificial’, her sweat looks very digital. What size screen did you watch it in? How did you find the image?

Thank you for this! The 4k is definitely an upscale, not a 4K Digital Intermediate... unless you were stating from 4K Digital release. 👍

Would you kindly make an unboxing video for the Aliens 4K set. Or share some pictures. Are there any cool inserts like postcards of artwork for the movie? Also could you please share the BDInfo for both discs? Thanks.

Dark areas on 35mm prints hold very little detail, and filmmakers made their films knowing that dark areas would look really dark on the prints. What you're seeing on blu-rays is often not what was originally intended to be seen. If you can get 35mm film scan you'd be doing yourself a favor (it pops up on eBay and Ecrater). For instance the fact the marines are using flashlights is redundant in the Blu-ray and 4k because everything is so brightly lit in those transfers. Also Newt attempting to hide in the vent, only to be illuminated by Ripley's flashlight... in Blu-ray she's visible the entire time. The scenes would be shot differently if there was so much light to begin with. That's the whole point of Cameron firing the original director of photography who wanted everything brightly lit, but now Cameron who's known for his perfectionism approves it !?!

Some shots look less cyan-biased on the 4K edition, but it is definitely overly grain managed.

Just curious ... Wouldn't playing the 2010 edition look close to 4K if you go into the tv menu and alter the contrast / brightness / sharpness / saturation etc turning it up a notch or so ?

4:19 is that not a shot only included in the special edition of Aliens? I had heard that only the theatrical cut was getting the 4k disc and the special edition was going to be an included blu-ray disc. Is this incorrect or did you just use that shot from the included special edition blu-ray.

Remember that massive leap from DVD to Blu Ray? Unfortunately the law of diminishing returns has reared its head. Some shots look slightly sharper, and they've reduced the teal, but I could hardly tell any difference.

Keep in mind guys, that YT is further reducing any detail that is left… but I absolutely agree that techniques such as DNR should be avoided!

Thanks for doing these as always. After reading the controversy around the master it doesn't look as bad but will wait to see what it's like in motion.

Why Cameron, why???

16:12 4k disaster, look at the ship outline

The bluray has a bluish tint. The 4K has a purple tint, which I have not seen before. Overall the 4K is a definite improvement.

So glad I canceled my order on all 3 of his movies on 4k. Gonna stick with my blu ray and DVD I hope Arrow or Shout etc will get the license to do them in the future. But I won't hold my breath on that.

From laserdisc to VHS to DVD and now either way you watch you can still walk away knowing the story. I feel these critics are watching details and not watching the movie

great job Moon :)

Is this from the 4K disc (releasing 3/12/2024)?

The 4K version has more detail than real life.

What’s strange here is that normally these new 4K masters have that horrible teal tint slapped on them but in this case it seems it’s the 2010 master that has the teal wash and not this new 4k master . I think it looks great personally . The details are incredible but the only thing I don’t like in new masters these days is the dnr taking all the film grain out . Film grain is important for the time when the film was done on actual film and you feel like you’re watching the proper film with the grain intact but this dnr crap makes everything look too fake and digital

How did a copy so early? Did Disney send you a preview copy?

Reading the comments, I'm not sure why people think seeing this sharper image is "good". Its an awful AI upscale, not an original negative scan. All the depth perception is completely gone so now you have a totally flat image. When composting images in backgrounds, you're told to add a natural haze to give the impression of distance...everything like that is completely stripped away. Your eyes are drawn to things you weren't supposed to be able to see..Good example is Gormans patch at 8:00 that emblem wasn't designed to be seen with such clarity....so all the imperfections are painfully obvious. Same goes for the matte painting backgrounds, they stick out like a sore thumb now. As a lifelong fan of this movie I would still say the 1080 bluray is the best option, they've tried to make an old movie look modern here, like it was never shot on film. I hope they eventually re-release this from a proper film negative scan, only way to do it properly

Damn it really does look like AI art sad news

So it means that we finally see the quadrilogy in 4k in 2024 or do we need to wait another 5 years until the series is complete?

So it is THAT bad

I may give this a change when the disc is released….but true lies is definitely a no go for me unfortunately

Excited to watch the 2014 Blu-ray I got in the mail today. The 4k left a strange taste in my mouth my mouth. I’ll either gain more respect for the 4k or dislike it more.

Definitely a good transfer. True Lies and The Abyss looking very good also. Thanks Moon.💯👍

I don’t get why people are moaning, from these pictures I think it definitely looks superior. But what do I know and what does James Cameron know?

HOLY MACARONI! This is beyond my expectations, I am glad I preordered the physical copy coming out in March. Thank you for the video!

the AI processing looks very heavy. A real 4K transfer with a proper cleaning would be much better than this.

One thing to remember while watching this video, the max bitrate I've seen is about 15MB/s for the digital online only release(streaming), while the BR 4KUHD will probably be closer to 50MB/s when it releases in a few months. Still shots never look as good as motion, so they look off compared to actually watching it. Plus KZfaq compression is whack and makes everything look worse than it really is.

What the hell is up with that waxy 4K... IT'S ATROCIOUS 👎

10:20 what is happening to Burke's face? Why is Ripley's overall so smooth? 15:29 wtf happened to her face? Nice trip backwards into the uncanny Valley. I'm keeping my 1920 BR, thanks.

05:20...YIKES! This 4k is a trainwreck of epic proportions.

I think it looks awesome. Day one buy here. Yes there is some DNR. Can tell in some of the closeups like the alien inside Ridley but....so many awesome upgrades. The soldiers patch, the pod shot where you can actually see the venting in the foreground. The Blu ray looked great but this is better imo even if a few shots look off

Great! Overall texture, sharpness, detail... I feel like near sight boy who finally wear a glass for the first time lol~

But why still not available on Disney + in 4K when everything else just about is? Unless their aiming to get as big a bang for bucks from 4K Blu-Ray sales first.

The only good thing might be the Dolby Atmos sound. There's no difference in the picture quality.

Cant wait to buy the 4K. And i thought the Quadrilogy version on blu ray back in 2010 looked outstanding.

You do such fantastic work... MUCH appreciated. Keep it up good sir

You do not have a copy of the 4K UHD disc. Please feel free to remove this comment. Thanks.

no grain = no detail

I just watched the entire movie side by side on a 65 inch TV. The 4K version looks like plasticine garbage.

Goodby teal!

Is this an AI custom or is it the actual 4K release? If it’s the later, it looks like it’s the least “teal tinted” from the 3 releases. I’ve seen other screen captures from the 4K release that are _more_ tealed up than the blu-ray (such as the hallway scene at 11:41)… so where do these come from? 🤷

OMG NO, come on look at the DNR and oversharpening going on here, and some of that AI enhancement we have been hearing about. Look at the difference in her face and hair and such at 5:22 and 4:04 look at how unnatural and unfilmlike that is. We should not at all be encouraging these kinds of 4k releases or 'remasters' where they so blatantly manipulate or 'enhance' the image. I'd love to know why a simple 4k scan of the Camera Negative and HDR colour grade is so difficult and Alien for Cameron.....Everyone else's remasters basically go fine...

The box art wrong is so laughably bad that I can't add it to my movie collection. As per these examples, the 4k transfer and the cover deserve eachother.

Bonjour, oui C'est pas mal mais un vrai scan 4K aurait bien aidé ! Encore une fois, d'autre films ont un scan 4K, et sont bien plus net. Certains plans sont flous, bon, mouais, la définition générale est bien mais pas honnête. Les couleurs, ont s'endort un peu. J'attends des scènes intégrales HDR pour juger plus précisément. Et à quoi ressemble le blu ray des 30 ans svp ? Il est supérieur au blu ray de 2010?

Jonesy's Fur...... 🤯

Love your work. So glad the 4k of this film is on point. Was worried they do a shoddy job. Looks sublime 😅👌

Can't wait, thanks !

Bishop, quit screwing around....

In many pics comparisons I was completely whooaaaaa, in a good way ofc! Top work as always 😁 The visual upgrade is damn nice and the audio track is promising too. This will be a must buy for sure😃 Happy holidays to you 😆

Holy shit. I was worried but now I’m excited. I’ll always have my blu-rays as a backup but most of these stills are shockingly good. A few feel a little AI so I hope they feel fine in motion.

Is this comparison the 4K Disc Version or the Web Prasentation?

Extremely disappointed in James Cameron, the 4K version looks so bad because of the trash upscaling. Why did we wait years after they were supposed to come if they weren't even going to bother doing anything you couldn't already find online from some random guy? I'm astounded they released this with how many of these scenes look straight up worse and less realistic than the blu-ray. So much just becomes mushy and misshapen, the drawn backgrounds get the worst of it for sure.

Oh my god, he will do the same with The Abyss.. It's damn unnatural. Celluloid is a canvas, it is organic. You don't 'clean' the Gioconde by AI. I don' care for detail if it waxes out the image. I want grain because grain is on the celluloid. You can tweak contrast and color to some degree, but be true to the source..

merci pour ce partage, il me tarde de le revoir en 4k

I see a lot of edge enhancement. I'll pass, happy with my Blu-ray.

"Is the 4k been released"?

Omg thank you, it looks so horrible, it’s one thing to read the hot takes another to finally see the tragedy of all the grain removal and AI painting. What a shame. Thanks for doing this comparison. Save me some money.

No Titanic comparison?

Wow, did the older Blu-ray have that much pixelization, and look like a DVD upscale, or is that some streaming version screenshots. What are the sources for this?

Just watched the 4K stream and it's worse than T2 UHD, a very inconsistent AI upscale job that sucked the life out of the film, the old blu blows it out of the water, let's hope that they backtrack and just give us the unfucked 4K scan on disc.

Hey Moon, overall looks fantastic - sharpness, colours and contrast all much improved. Though a few shots looks like the film grain has been drastically reduced, e.g. the close-up of Ripley's chin in her side profile. What did you think of it in motion? Thanks again for another awesome video! 🤙

I don't know why I watch these comparisons. They just piss me off.

Most of this is HOLY S*** great, but the occasional bit looks really weird. Gorman’s uniform outside Ripley’s looks like it’s made out of a solid block of plastic on the 4K version, and the increase of actual pixels on the screen behind Ripley in the debrief scene is downright crazy. On the whole though it looks stunning.

There is always some wannabe know-it-all who thinks they're an A/V expert telling us "this transfer is bad, actually" but to me this is one of the best and most obvious upgrades in picture detail I've seen recently. Aliens has always, imo, looked a little too soft. The roughness and graininess imo has never been successfully managed in disc. I'm no expert but I assumed the rough look of the film was always due to what film that shot it on and the processing of it, etc. It looked more aged compared to Alien. You look at Alien and you're still blown away it came out in 1979. It's timeless. But Aliens always looked firmly stuck in the mid 80s. This 4K is a magnificent upgrade imo. The fine detail sings, the contrast is finely tuned - giving the Adrian Biddle's lighting more room to shine and make an impression. The detail work REALLY makes the model work pop. The film looks, finally, like it can stand next to the visual clarity of the original. Do I see some DNR? Maybe. Probably. But to me the film still looks to retain enough fine grain detail to stay faithful to the overall look of the film.

wow, I cannot wait to grab this in March :)))

4K edition with its weird AI sharpening sucks big time. I will not touch it.

RETAIN THE GRAIN!

I guess I'm skipping this 4K and keep my BD. The 4K just seems so odd and artificial, everything is so over sharpened, over contrasted but lacks actual detail. It is passable for some shots but falls apart when people are present. The shots with Ripley and then Gorman on the hallway are outright ugly, and the soaking wet Ripley at the end feels like a bad attempt at an oil painting instead of a human.

I'll stick with my old DVD from 1999. This looks straight up dreadful

insane it makes look like a modern movie

Why did they have to slather it in AI "enhancements"? Most of it looks great, except for faces and textile materials which look really unnatural.