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Alien (1979)
Alien (1979) poster
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Alien (1979)

Horror, Science Fiction • 1h 57m

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Bolaji Badejo, Helen Horton

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IMDbThe Movie Database (TMDB)

Best English-friendly & video release

Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

Video notes:

(additional scenes appear to be upscaled)

Updated 1 month ago


Best audio release

Original Theatrical 70mm 6-Track Stereo: Fox 4K Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 4.1)

Original Theatrical 35mm Matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1999 DVD? (2.0 mix on the UHD is a downmix)

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray, Fox Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

UHD tiers


About the film

During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.

TSPDT
2026: #122
2025: #128
2024: #131
2023: #132
2022: #132
Alternative Titles
Alien: The Director's Cut, Alien 1, Star Beast, Alien I Directors Cut

Part of Alien

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Director: James Cameron

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Any 2010s Fox Blu-ray

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Disney 4K Blu-ray has AI enhancement see youtube comparison

Director: David Fincher

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Director: Paul W. S. Anderson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Directors: Colin Strause & Greg Strause

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Director: Ridley Scott

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

4K release is missing the bonus disc from the old Collector's Edition Blu-Rays

Director: Ridley Scott

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Director: Fede Álvarez

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Featured in National Film Registry

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Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Director: George B. Seitz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: Elaine May

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:

The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.

Audio Notes:

Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.

Director: Sidney Lumet

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K

Video Notes:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered

Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice

Audio Notes:

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: F. W. Murnau

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

MoC OOP Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.

Audio Notes:

DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix

Additional Info:

Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Plaion Germany Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

4K Blu-ray said to be coming from Criterion, per Bill Hunt

Video Notes:

Includes Director's Cut and Roadshow Version

Same master as old WB Blu-ray but better encoding

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.

Best Audio:

1984 MGM Hi-Fi VHS

More from Ridley Scott

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Director: Ridley Scott

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Final Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray (Caveat: No Dolby Vision from Streaming)

Other Cuts: WB Blu-ray

Workprint: WB 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Set for a better AVC encode

Best Audio:

1982 Theatrical Mix: Embassy Video releases, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix

International Cut Dolby Stereo: Criterion Collection LaserDisc, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix

1992 Director's Cut Dolby Stereo: WB CAV LaserDisc 2.0 PCM-best fidelity of any mix, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix

Workprint: WB 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Set DTS-HD MA 5.1

2007 Final Cut remix: Blu-ray Dolby TrueHD 5.1

Additional Info:

WB 4K Blu-ray only has Final Cut and contains a bad Atmos remix with new sound effects. Original Final Cut mix was removed.

Director: Ridley Scott

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal UK 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

UK Universal 4K Blu-ray is missing Kino Lorber extras

Director: Ridley Scott

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Capelight 4K Blu-ray has better encode than Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Ridley Scott

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

UK/Germany Warner Bros Blu-ray has the Atmos mix

Director: Ridley Scott

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Director: Ridley Scott

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

US Target exclusive Blu-ray has a bonus disc

Director: Ridley Scott

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 2023 steelbook 4K Blu-ray release

Best Audio:

Cinema DTS

Director: Ridley Scott

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Director's Cut/Roadshow Cut: Disney 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical: 2014 Fox Blu-Ray

Additional Info:

The 2014 Fox Blu-ray has the Theatrical Cut, The Pilgrim's Guide for the Theatrical, as well as a few documentaries on the bonus disc that are not on the 2025 bonus disc

Director: Ridley Scott

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Extended Cut 4K Blu-Ray

Director: Ridley Scott

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount/Universal 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Paramount/Universal 4K Blu-ray but: it has a few shots that are blurrier than the older Blu-ray, for unknown reasons see BR post.

Best Audio:

Cinema DTS or Signature Collection DVD AC-3

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· last reviewed 1 month ago

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