Alien & Predator Blu-ray to 4K Comparisons

[Voodoo Magic]

I've been meaning to get this thread started for months. Here's some comparison screenshots I personally took of blu-ray and 4K releases of our favorite other worldly life form films, accompanied with lackluster analysis and/or random thoughts.

I'm going to start with Predator, but will be following up with some Alien and more Predator down the road.

Predator 2
This is a really nice 4K release!
Zoom in on the detail between the buildings, the fire escape, and the cement ledge Mike Harrigan is on. The 4K release sure brings out a lot of extra, fine detail doesn't it? Thumbs up!





Predator
In regards to extra detail, I was very disappointed with the Predator 4K release. Zoom in on the writing on the weapons crate or the paperwork to see what I mean.



I've read that the film cameras used in Predator 1987 were not the best, therefore perhaps is the reasoning behind why the 4K doesn't really bring out any additional detail in my comparisons to the Blu-ray. And sometimes to be honest, the grain experienced was insufferable, especially due to the constant use of fog machines used in production. So I personally choose just the brightened & digitally noise reducted blu-ray when it comes to Predator 87, waxy faces and all. Thumbs down on the 4K.

Hey let's go back to Predator 2 and check out that high dynamic range! Well damn if those walls don't have a helluva glow in 4K!



Also, removing the brightened, then subsequent digital noise reduction work in the Blu-ray out of the process, the eerie shadows have returned making the City Hunter look that much more menacing. Nice!



That's it for now...

[SiL]

Not a fan of the colours on the P2 4K, but the shadows and detail are lovely.

Fun fact: Predator and Aliens used the same terrible, grainy film stock during production, hence both of them having awful looking sections throughout.

[Elmazalman]

ALIEN is a better looking film on 4K.

[SiL]

In no small part because they got rid of that damn colour grade from the Blu.

[Voodoo Magic]

ALIEN is a better looking film on 4K.

I'll have some Alien comparison pics up tonight or tomorrow. 

Not a fan of the colours on the P2 4K, but the shadows and detail are lovely.

I find that not the extra resolution but the HDR is mostly what enhances my overall viewing experience, especially when it pops with gunfire and explosion warm color. And those deep blacks! 

On it's own the extra resolution is nice, but often not noticeable unless your eye is looking for it, more valuable to film fanatics I think that have seen a film dozens of times and are looking for something new. Extra details on a Stan Winston costume for instance. That's been my experience, at least.

Fun fact: Predator and Aliens used the same terrible, grainy film stock during production, hence both of them having awful looking sections throughout.

Yeah, even as a lover of Aliens, that would indeed make me apprehensive over a 4K release.

[SiL]

Considering how much they're crushing the blacks on the P2 version, the HDR doesn't seem to be getting a whole lot of love. There's clearly a lot of detail in the shadows and they're all lost in that shot of the City Hunter you posted above. Is that a limit of how you were capturing the images or is it actually that crushed?

Yeah, even as a lover of Aliens, that would indeed make me apprehensive over a 4K release.

Bah, gimme the grain! The benefit of these 4K releases is you're often getting a better look of them as they were shot, for better or worse. If it was shot through a sandpit, bring it on.

[Voodoo Magic]

Considering how much they're crushing the blacks on the P2 version, the HDR doesn't seem to be getting a whole lot of love. There's clearly a lot of detail in the shadows and they're all lost in that shot of the City Hunter you posted above. Is that a limit of how you were capturing the images or is it actually that crushed?

If you're referring to this:



As often with DNR work, in regards to the Blu-ray, the scene was brightened, then went through the digitally noise reduction process. Although I did see this in the theater as a youngblood, my memory is better served by my VHS and Laserdisc Predator 2 viewings, and I distinctly remember it darker than the Blu-ray version and not being able to see the Predator's eyes in his eyesockets, which made the City Hunter appear so much more menacing. So while brightening does bring out more detail, hence the dnr 1080p point I would guess, the 4K matches my memory of the original version.

Just like you see it darker here in Predator, and subsequently lose details in Dutch's shirt for instance without the artificial brightness:



So it's less "crushed" than "de-brightened" restored to it's former glory I think.  I just wish I had a working vhs player and/or laserdisc player to make reference pics, because memories are often faulty!

[SiL]

P2 was the first film I saw of all the Alien and Predator films. Watched it on VHS and never remembered it being quite that black (but it was over twenty years ago so who knows).

[Voodoo Magic]

Yep, reference pics would come in handy right about now. 

[Elmazalman]

The 4K Chestburster sequence is darker than I've ever seen it before, but the bonus is, the desaturated colour makes Kane's blood look real.

[Huggs]

I gotta give it to the bluray for P2.

[Elmazalman]

I gotta give it to the bluray for P2.

The first P2 4K screenshot (the building ledge) looks teal. I have the P2 4K disc and may give it a rewatch soon.

I HATE teal. It looks sickly - a big turn off for me - I'll avoid it like the plague.

[SiL]

I noticed the teal, but it's not far off how it looks in the original version of the scene. The magenta in the ship I do not love -- I prefer the warm orange, yellow and red of the Blu.

[Voodoo Magic]

I gotta give it to the bluray for P2.

The first P2 4K screenshot (the building ledge) looks teal. I have the P2 4K disc and may give it a rewatch soon.

I HATE teal. It looks sickly - a big turn off for me - I'll avoid it like the plague.

One day we need to get you on the psychiatrist couch and find out where this HATE for the color teal comes from! 

The good news is I'm pretty certain it will be less teal for you. I noticed the inferior equipment I'm using to photograph tends to read blues as teals, and that pic was never meant to be that color scientific for me enough to address it. It's more about the visible extra resolution.  Like the graffiti on the garage door, or the door itself:



Alien
I do love my Alien in 4K disc. From what I read, there was still a small degree of digital noise reduction in this 4K presentation, so the "natural grain" has been reduced to some degree.  If the DNR has anything to do with the extra detail found in the 4K Alien compared to the blu-ray not being as dramatic as say Predator 2, I don't know, but I have to keep in mind one is a 1979 film. The other is 1990.



So I did notice signs, tools, buttons, general objects in the background do appear just a tiny bit sharper.



Now in regards to brightness, I noticed the 4K Alien is darker than the Blu-ray in many, many places. I chalked this up again to, often with blu-rays, scenes are brightened, followed by a digitally noise reduction process. So I assumed these darker levels are more on point with the theatrical release. Maybe Elmazalman can shed some light on this topic (pun intended).



That's it for now. Just one fan's experience. 

[Huggs]

That last shot of Ripley coming up the ladder on 4k is way too dark.

They all seem a bit too dark for me.