Alien: Covenant - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Alien: Covenant

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
2012’s Prometheus was a bit of a controversial movie for director Ridley Scott. It was his first time back into the Alien franchise since he started the whole thing, but it ended up being a film you either loved, or one you hated. The tight, visceral, horror movie that was Alien is a legend for being so simple that it just WORKS, but Prometheus went the opposite direction and got mired down in an overly long philosophical debate about Gods and monsters. Where we came from and delving into the whole meaning of existence. The Engineers were brought in to explain the essence of the alien Xenomorphs, as well as the use of “black goo” (the Ridley Scott’s version of Midichlorians) that ended up really frustrating most long time Alien fans. Some people were really on board with the changes, but a lot resisted the movement away from visceral horror and the result is Alien: Covenant.

It’s been years after Elizabeth Shaw and David (Michael Fassbender) escape in the Engineer spaceship, and we’re privy to a whole other host of new space faring minions. This time it’s a colony ship that is on its way to a brand new world when a solar storm creates enough damage to awaken the crew out of cryo sleep. The ship’s captain (played by James Franco for a 2 minute role) is killed in the emergency awakening, leaving second in command Oram (Billy Crudup) in charge of getting the crew home. As repairs are underwent a strange garbled transmission of a John Denver song is intercepted, and tracked down to an out of the way planet nearby. Against the wishes Mrs. Daniels (the deceased captain’s wife played by Katherine Waterston) the new captain decides to check out the transmission. There they come across a strange set of alien spores (hint hint), and soon a few of the crew are infected and giving birth to those little nasties we saw in Prometheus.

Before the crew is completely slaughtered, David appears out of nowhere and scares off the pro-Xenomorphs. Taking them under his wing, David explains that he is the last survivor of the Engineer’s spaceship that took off in the previous film , as well as the sole survive of this planet after the black good payload was accidentally dumped during re-entry. Captain Oram and Daniels are a bit suspicious of the android, but they agree to his hospitality as the monster outside appears to be worse than the monster inside. Unfortunately that assertion may doom them all, as David is hiding a secret that will unlock the coming of the most horrible alien threat humankind will ever have to fight.

Alien: Covenant was originally going to be titled Prometheus: Paradise Lost and be a direct sequel to the plot points opened up in Prometheus. However, the prequel was NOT met with the kindest of criticisms towards those deviations from the original Alien core structure. It seems that Ridley Scott tried his best to adjust to those criticisms and that’s how we come up with Alien: Covenant. You can tell that Scott wanted to keep the same general timeline and still include the black goo into his mythos, but he also seems willing to try and tie the series into the original franchise as well. This is sadly where it starts to go awry. Once the crew steps off onto the Alien world it’s your basic Alien movie all over again. The traditional blue collar workers, the shadowy confines, the Xenomorphs, all there. The old “Gods” are only mentioned in passing, as Scott seems intent on bringing the series back around to the old monster movie mayhem instead of overly pseudo intellectual mumbo jumbo like Prometheus.

Some of the stuff really works, but some of it feels like Scott is straddling the fence a bit too much. He didn’t want to give up ALL that he worked for in Prometheus, but he also didn’t want to stray TOO far so he ends up copying a lot of Alien in the process. I definitely preferred Alien: Covenant by a large margin to Scott’s last entry into the universe, but it is definitely a flawed film for sure. There’s a simplicity to the film that just doesn’t always work, and you can see the few “twists” coming from a mile away (the David/Walter one was so blatantly obvious that I thought it COULDN’T be true just because of HOW obvious it really was). Still, the action was great, and the cinematography was amazing, with a few fun twists (such as how the Xenormorphs BECAME the Xenomorphs we know today).




Rating:

Rated R for sci-fi violence, bloody images, language and some sexuality/nudity




Video:

On 4K UHD, Covenant is STILL a gorgeous looking film. Shot on Arri Alexa cameras and finished with a 2K DI, Covenant shows a healthy upgrade over the 1080p Blu-ray. The cool blues and gray tinges are fantastically rendered in HDR, but the lack of any real bright colors limits the ability of the transfer to really "pop" as so many other HDR applications have done. It's not a fault of the disc, but rather the color grading doesn't lend itself towards "bright and shiny". Black are sickeningly deep, though, and the textures of the alien world are vivid and sharp to the core. You can see little nicks and shifts in the texture of the stone walls, as well as David's/Walter's face showing some incredibly line details. Dirt and debris is visceral and almost photorealistic at times. The uptick in resolution is noticeable, but it's mainly a textural and light color banding thing more than anything. The upgrade is noticeable and distinct, and it's a beauty, as the transfer is still stunning to see and the use of HDR is a solid upgrade.








Audio:

While the Blu-ray had a 7.1 DTS-HD MA track on board, the 4K disc gets the full Atmos treatment. Now, while the 7.1 mix was GREAT (it really was), the Atmos track adds that little bit of "oomph" turn it into a simply fantastic mix. The wild use of surrounds is enhanced with the object directional shifts, and the experience is that much better. Listen to the end rescue scene again with the Atmos track and you feel right in the CENTER of the action, with activity happening ALL around you (including some nice use of the overheads as the ship blasts over the top of the viewer). LFE is brutal and punishing, but still not overbloated and thundering all the time. It knows when to recede into the background when necessary and when to vibrate the pant legs. Dialog is strong and clean, and shows incredible clarity at all times, even in the heat of the moment.





Extras:

• Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Prologue (Extended)
- Walter in Greenhouse
- Oram and Daniels (Extended)
- Walter Visits Daniels
- Daniels Bedroom Flashback
- Jacob's Funeral (Extended)
- Ledwards Fall
- Crossing the Plaza (Extended)
- Daniels Thanks Walter
- Rosenthal Prayer
- Walter Reports Back
- Stairs to Eggroom (Extended)
• USCSS Covenant
- Meet Walter
- Phobos
- The Last Supper
• SECTOR 87 - PLANET 4
- The Crossing
- Advent
- David’s Illustrations – Image Gallery
• Master Class: Ridley Scott - Documentary on the making of Alien: Covenant
• Director Commentary by Ridley Scott
• Production Gallery

Final Score: ​

Alien: Covenant carries over some of the baggage from Prometheus, but it also is a decently fun Alien film with some great special effects. It may not be perfect, but it’s still a fun movie and carries the thrills and chills quite easily. Fox’s Blu-ray is near impeccable in the audio and video department, with a solid array of extras as well as options for a limited edition Steelbook and an even better 4K edition. If you really really liked the direction that Prometheus took, then you might be a bit disappointed, but if you’re looking for a return to a more traditional Alien universe, then Covenant should do well to entertain. Fun for a watch




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Danny McBride, Billy Crudup, Katherine Waterston
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett
Aspect Ratio: 2.39.1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, Spanish, Portuguese DD 51.
Studio: Fox
Rated: R
Runtime: 122 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 15th, 2017

Image

• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will have to do an "Alien" marathon one of these days..

 

[Michael Scott]

do you ever sleep!!??

 

[tripplej]

lol.. only when needed!

 

[Michael Scott]

lol

 

[Jon Liu]

I am interested in this movie despite the polarizing opinions on it. I am one who enjoyed Prometheus, but I also liked the Alien quadrilogy as well, so this one might be right up my alley.

Thanks for the review!

 

[phillihp23]

Just got my copy today. Must say it has an interesting sticker on it.

 

[JBrax]

I'll be watching this tonight thanks to Family Video 4K rentals. Nice review Mike and like John I enjoy both directions (Prometheus/Aliens) but do lean more towards the Prometheus side of enjoyment.

 

[phillihp23]

Really enjoyed the film, picture was great in HDR. The open scene is so clean, the whites and darks... and the water rippling in the background. The storyline is somewhat confusing and hints at the history behind the evolution of the creatures....Alien.

 

[JBrax]

Thoroughly enjoyed AC and both the audio and video were top notch. As mentioned previously I rented but after watching I'll be adding this to the collection. The ending was a bit confusing and I think I might need to watch it again just to confirm some things. SPOILER......stop reading now! Multiple Davids had me a tad confused.

 

[typ44q]

I was hoping for a 4K boxset with all the Alien movies in it but might break down and pick this up and just hope for the rest to follow.