Alien Romulus 4K UHD Review

Alien Romulus exists in a tug-of-war between a director’s desire to embellish the long-standing Alien franchise and Fox/Disney determined to provide nostalgic references/easter eggs the studio thinks fandom wants. Neither win, totally anyway.

This is identifiable an Alien movie in structure, in focus, and in tone. Even thematically, Alien Romulus punches up the sexual visualization, victims killed less by a xenomorph threat onboard their ship than penetrative, gooey, and aggressive manifestations of a woman’s fears. Protagonist Rain (Cailee Spaeny) turns into Ripley visually (if not emotionally), a split between the vision and the studio, as it’s not an Alien film without a potent feminine side, but Alien Romulus does everything to evoke Ripley in style and form.

Fede Alvarez makes an Alien film that looks like an Alien film

It’s an interesting result in the modern major studio franchise churn. The general rule is to involve new threats, a method meant to sell action figures at a continuous rate. With an exception, Alien Romulus does not, sticking to what’s known about the xenomorph and doing creative things with that rather than establish something new. If any one part of Alien Romulus sticks in the mind, it’s a zero gravity attack against a dozen or so creatures that’s compelling and genius. That goes for the both the action itself and resulting imagery that has Rain trying to dodge acid blood, a generous allegory for other bodily fluids.

But then it misses opportunities, such as a time limit placed on this mission as Rain’s commandeered ship drifts towards a planet’s rings, yet no one appears in any rush to save themselves. Much as this works as a narrative device, it runs counter to the brooding, vintage-like tension that fills Alien Romulus; the story needs time, but time is an inconsistent constant in this script.

There’s also a major ask in that Alien Romulus must connect to Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, a movie intelligent enough to latch onto concepts of creation and life itself, but never evolving from those ideas. If nothing else, Romulus provides purpose to Scott’s take, if not the answers. This also means bringing back a character – in digital form – “played” by a now deceased actor in a questionable part that seems included to justify the connections to Alien.

For whatever its errors, director/co-writer Fede Alvarez makes an Alien film that looks like an Alien film. It sounds like one and it acts like one. Even the characters are oppressed workers, angered and tired of the corporate abuse that commands their lives. It’s the best cinematic slice of the series since Alien 3, even that success often comes from familiarity.

From a sharp, pristine 4K digital source, Alien Romulus doesn’t offer much to find fault with. A touch of grit resolves cleanly, allowing detail and texture in the world to flourish. The worn, rusted, and dirty existence of the characters is preserved totally by the available resolution. It’s possible to read text on individual buttons even at distance when viewing the ship’s panels.

The palette favors warmth, with bronzes, golds, and ambers dominant. It’s appealing, with high density, firm hues, and when needed (computer readouts and such), Alien Romulus produces some bright vivid tones. This is aided by Dolby Vision, bright and rich whether that’s a star against the pure black of space or a lighted button on a control panel. Flashlights cut through the flawless shadows.

Boomy, powerful, and intense, Alien Romulus exists in a near constant state of ambient sound, whether it’s a voice bouncing off the walls, steam hissing when a door opens, or the creaking metal of the ship, all of these elements converge in a sensational way. Face huggers chitter throughout the soundstage, looking for victims. A sequence with the Xenomorph walking overhead creates added tension with the sound directly from the heights.

Wide range and great balance continue the audible wins for this disc, providing generous rumble when engines engage or gravity kicks on.

A 25-minute four-part collection of featurettes fits together a general making-of (story, casting, creating the world, etc.). Extended and alternate scenes, a scene breakdown, and a 10-minute conversation between Ridley Scott and Freddie Alvarez on the series make up the basic bonus menu.

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 53 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD: