Page 1 of Alien Quadrilogy - (Aliens) grainy picture...

I just got round to watching my Alien Quadrilogy and got as far as Aliens when I hit a problem. While the picture quality for Alien is fantastic, I noticed a very large amount of grain throughout Aliens, and it didn`t stand out like Alien did. :(

Is this the case with everyone?

Yep! my copy too is grainy too.

It`s because of the film stock it was filmed on. If you listen to the commentary, James Cameron tells you he isn`t happy about the picture either ;)

Sadly, this is the best Aliens has ever looked. Personally, I don`t notice it that much, especially since the film is ace :D

Phew, thanks! Just so long as I haven`t got a duff copy.

I`ll have to give the commentary a try. Cheers. :)

Grr...

We all know what this will mean in a couple of years - "TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX ANNOUNCE ALIEN ULTIMATE BOXSET, FEATURING REMASTERED...yadda yadda"

>:(

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Quote:
We all know what this will mean in a couple of years - "TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX ANNOUNCE ALIEN ULTIMATE BOXSET, FEATURING REMASTERED...yadda yadda"

No, it won`t. The picture on the DVD is perhaps the best possible quality you can get out of it. It`s a physical problem with the filmstock.

They`ll try whatever they can...I bet some re-release will appear, whether it is false advertising or otherwise. And anyway, wasn`t a lot of grain removed from the Indy films? Can`t the same be done for Aliens?

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Nope. Aliens was shot on a Kodak filmstock, which basically wasn`t as "good" as even the original Alien (although I think that was shot on Kodak film also, but a different type). I`m a little rusty when it comes to film, but think of it in terms of resolution. Enlarging a small, low resolution picture doesn`t look as good as enlarging an equal sized, high resolution picture. I haven`t explained this very well, but the problem is physical. The heavy grain is part of the picture so if you try to erase that you erase the picture. I suppose you could smooth it out, but then you would get a soft picture that looked out of focus.

I`m sure whoever did the DVD mastering did it to the best of their ability and a re-release based purely on a "new video transfer" is not going to happen.

Boy, you said it, Chewie.

Actually I`d rather the transfer look grainy than be softened up. It`s also less ugly than the horrible digital artefacts evident on some transfers. I think that the grain adds character and has a cinematic feel about it. Just my opinion...and yes, I know I`m in the minority on this.

Shenk.

This item was edited on Friday, 13th February 2004, 18:21

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Actually I`d rather the transfer look grainy than be softened up

So do I. The reason we can see and identify the grain so easily is because the transfer is very good.