It wouldn't be filter to switch on. It'd be another film to have. The work placed in them is extensive and detailed. Branching is easy. The colors? Not so much.

I suppose some fan editor could try as best as he could to fix it, but even the best video scaler in the world could only do so much. I've heard rumors that apparently this teal fad has varying my affected a number of other video releases too, I guess it's a major trend with no sign of stopping.

I just pulled some 1080 caps of the original Alien and the sequel off another site to use as examples for adjusting the image at the display level in another post.

I was startled by just how gorgeous many of the images looked. Like I said in my first post here on the subject, if I didn't have a personal history with the film from many original theatrical viewings and further down through the years on every home video format- I would just be able to take the images for what they are and be VERY happy with it.
Many are close enough that I don't think I would have ever made a fuss. But then there are other shots (many with the ship and with the Space Jockey) that are now so cartoonishly over-exaggerated in the color and/or contrast and black levels, that it's a blaringly obvious false note to me.
Sort of like how I interface with the SW SEs now- I could accept a whole lot of little tweaks without a problem and enjoy the film just fine. But then he goes and adds a Ronto and tonally discordant slapstick, or obnoxious and intrusive background effects in a scene where subtleties of the characters performances should be center stage and it sours the whole experience.

A real shame as many of those caps are damn near swoon inducing.

Sadly, doubt he ever will.

Sad, as Alien is my all time favorite film. (Or close tie with a couple of others.)

Although striking in difference, I can't say the alterations to Aliens are as "evil" as most here make them seem: http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/181...n-blu-ray-caps

But the teal and orange scheme is undeniable.

Some doesn't look too bad, like the skin-tones on Weaver or the flamethrower lighting (I guess there was a little orange to begin with), but that final shot of the Queen is really a hideous eyesore. The blue there looks like its drowning everything, even her white shirt for God's sake. The Queen is supposed to be grayish black, not freezer blue.

In all fairness the Queen is also blue in the DVD screenshot. There is also blue on Ripley's shirt. However, the blue is paler on the DVD version.

Blue is correct. Not green.

You are suppose to show your disatisfaction by not giving the man any more of your money. But just like with Lucas, the minute he puts out a new product those same people complaining will be the first ones foaming at the mouth waiting on line ready to have their wallets (and other things) violated by Cameron.

I haven't bought any Star Wars products since the 2004 back job. And unless the OOT comes out, I'm not going to again. The average purchaser doesn't care though, I'd bet.

It's a shame mono audio is ignored on blu-ray for the most part. I always opt for the original audio mix if available on a release. So that leaves me either avoiding various releases, or hoping the remix isn't too distracting that it detracts from the film. It shouldn't be that hard to include both the original mix and the remix( both in lossless format). And if they only include one audio mix, then the original mix is what it should be. At least Criterion usually gets that aspect right, but they're one of the few that care in that regard.

I don't get why it's so difficult. Just put the mono on as an alternate audio track. The disc is 25-50 GB, if it's a person who's interested, he'll switch to it, if it's the average viewer, he won't know it's there. Criterion cater to a niche audience of people such as we who actually care about such things, but mainstream releases are for the average viewer, who's likely not as informed or as interested in being informed.

There's an IFC presentation in HD of the film on and and weirdly, it doesn't appear that the color-timing changes have been applied to this. Probably just an upscale though. I'd forgotten just how great this flick is.

And incidentally, I didn't know about this before buying, otherwise I might've had decided second thoughts. Shame upon me for not doing my research, I suppose.

I own the blu-ray set, but have yet to watch the films, since I've mostly been trying to get through the documentaries first, since I've never seen them before. I'll give the films a fair chance and see whether the color timing annoys me or if I hardly notice the issue.


But you do tolerate violence to cows?

I only watch an alternate version of a film if it's better than the original released version. I won't refuse to watch the superior version(and I'm speaking hypothetically) based on one sequence alone, and yes I like dogs as much as anyone, and can be upset when they're mistreated in films. But if a movie is good, I'm not going to let such a thing prevent me from viewing the movie, unless the violence is real and not acted/fake/fictional.

I have not seen the SE of Alien 3 yet, but it's on my to watch list once I get around to viewing the series for the first time in years. I almost want to watch the theatrical cut first to be reacquainted with that version before experiencing the SE. I do prefer the theatrical cuts of the first two films however. But the third was never a favorite of mine, but has it's moments.

You expect feathers to make any sense?

Bummed I no longer have IFC.

Well, this is the issue I have. The average consumer will never be informed if we don't have more studios releasing titles with alternative audio and video. I sincerely hope we just don't have Criterion to release worthy titles. Because they only have small inventory and amount of resources...not to mention the titles are expensive, which limits a typical consumer's collection goals.

I think if a director screws up with the coloring of a movie and taking out audio clips...branch the fucker out and leave the original there for classics-sake and let the viewer decide. Or just include another disc. Blu-ray discs are not expensive anymore, as we readily see in these Super Deluxe Supreme with Nacho Cheese releases that have 4 or even 5 discs.

More directors need to have their viewer in mind, rather than some myopic idea of perfection or self-satiation.

Alternate video in terms of branching is doable. Alternate video in terms of different color timing is a wholly different thing, which would require a whole separate encoding, and most of those changes are made for keeps. It's clearly not an issue for most consumers. Between it and the lack of mono, I certainly bailed on the Blu of T1, Evil Dead, and numerous others. Inri222 is quite right that you shouldn't out up money for a product you believe has been compromised, and I usually don't, this one just slipped through my radar because I hadn't kept up. It was reading right, I just wasn't reading it right.

Criterion should make their blu-rays Region Free, since there is no counterpart production in Europe.

What about Masters of Cinema?

Eureka! Masters of Cinema is the European counterpart to Criterion.

Criterion only has North American distribution rights to the titles it licenses. Criterion is contractually required to lock its discs to Region A so as not to compete with foreign distributors selling the same movies overseas.

They can't make them region free because of licensing issues. A company like Warner Bros who might have worldwide rights to movies could make their discs region free without running into any problems. Criterion leases their films from studios, so their deal is for the U.S and Canada only (though the discs can be played in Japan since it's the same region).

but its cropped to 1:78 "to get rid of the black bars' on the IFC version

IFC now stands for "includes frequent commercials," and the breaks are at the most inappropriate times possible. Plus it was the theatrical cut rather than the extended edition, and IMO this is one of the few extended cuts which actually does improve the film. Aliens OAR is 1.85, so the 1.78 cropping was negligible. I didn't watch the whole thing, just combed through to see about the color timing, and my poorly calibrated HDTV probably isn't the best judge, but it didn't look awash in teal to me. Also, I'd forgotten just how great this flick is. Cameron right at his peak, back before the PG-13 excesses. What a rush.