Special VHS Release for 'Alien: Romulus' Announced by 20th Century Studios (comicbook.com) 119
An anonymous reader shared this report from ComicBook.com:
On Saturday, 20th Century Studios announced that the latest entry in the Alien sci-fi horror franchise will get a limited-edition VHS release on December 3 — just in time for the holidays.
The VHS release of Alien: Romulus is the first such release from a major studio since 2006... a major win for fans of physical media. In recent months, there has been a great bit of conversation surrounding the so-called death of physical media with the rise of digital and streaming with some retailers even having previously announced that they have or will be stopping sales of physical media. But with streaming platforms removing content for various reasons, there's been a rise in appreciation for physical media which has, in turn, resulted in increased sales, particularly when it comes to limited edition items such as Steelbooks [collectible steel-case disc releases]... Given that the Alien: Romulus VHS release is part of an overall celebration of the franchise for its 45th anniversary year, leaning into that nostalgia for feels pretty spot on.
The release will present the movie "in a 4:3 aspect ratio," writes the Verge, "hopefully with well-done pan-and-scan..." (Their post includes a promotional picture showing the "slick, vintage-style" box-cover art.)
"The tape has only the film," notes Gizmodo, "and no special featurette attached at the end, like some used to back in the day."
Gizmodo also reminds readers of Hulu's 2025 series Alien: Earth and an upcoming videogame sequel to 2014's Alien: Isolation.
The VHS release of Alien: Romulus is the first such release from a major studio since 2006... a major win for fans of physical media. In recent months, there has been a great bit of conversation surrounding the so-called death of physical media with the rise of digital and streaming with some retailers even having previously announced that they have or will be stopping sales of physical media. But with streaming platforms removing content for various reasons, there's been a rise in appreciation for physical media which has, in turn, resulted in increased sales, particularly when it comes to limited edition items such as Steelbooks [collectible steel-case disc releases]... Given that the Alien: Romulus VHS release is part of an overall celebration of the franchise for its 45th anniversary year, leaning into that nostalgia for feels pretty spot on.
The release will present the movie "in a 4:3 aspect ratio," writes the Verge, "hopefully with well-done pan-and-scan..." (Their post includes a promotional picture showing the "slick, vintage-style" box-cover art.)
"The tape has only the film," notes Gizmodo, "and no special featurette attached at the end, like some used to back in the day."
Gizmodo also reminds readers of Hulu's 2025 series Alien: Earth and an upcoming videogame sequel to 2014's Alien: Isolation.
So... (Score:2)
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Do not underestimate the power of localised markets for cheap older tech goods in places like Africa or Asia...
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Do not underestimate the power of localised markets for cheap older tech goods in places like Africa or Asia...
Do not underestimate the powerful stupidity of this products release, several thousand miles away from said markets.
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The point of my post was to give a valid reason for VHS industrial capacity duplication machines to still exist - they are just targeting specific markets.
The point of this VHS release is nothing more than marketing - and it worked, people are talking about it. No one seriously expects to watch Romulus on VHS, they will go into collections along with all the other memorabilia.
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Do tvs still accept component inputs? My Samsung QLED do not I do t think. VHS were engineered around CRT displays. Its more than a compressed video file on a storage medium.
Re: So... (Score:2)
If you can't afford a $40 DVD player, it's very doubtful you have a television built in the last 10-15 years...
This is a vanity item, not meant for actual, serious use by the buyer. There have not been new VHS releases for over 15 years, at least not from major studios in the developed nations.
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then the liklihood there are factories making and recording VHS also unlikely then? For all anyone knows this could be a fake tape with a label slapped on it? LOL. Maybe someone found a stockpile of old Memorex blank tapes?
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Ah, but what about all those old VHS tapes of Uncle Bob and Aunt Dob's 40th anniversary party? Lots of households have these around, and are keeping around their VHS players. (I keep my DVD player, though rarely used, because I'm never going to get BluRay) If the intended market is solely 16-36 year olds, then it's pointless to have VHS, even as a joke because the joke will go over their heads. But if the market includes 40-70 year olds as well then they might find it useful.
Personally, I'm waiting for th
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Your VCR will have a coaxial output with a switch that lets you pick a channel (say 3/4) Use the analog tuner of your TV and tune to that channel.
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lol that really drops the resolution to 352x240 :-) might as well be watching an Atari 2600
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interesting thing about those old formats. Back in like the late 90s maybe 2000 I was making VCD of Babylon 5 episodes. Someone was posting the files on usenet where they did a vertical 2:1 deinterlace to improve the resolution. I would then burn those 43min episodes to a blank CD. I would then play those from my computer output to my 27in CRT using an S-video cable from an ATI All-in-Wonder. The picture looked really good. Well as good as CRT is every going to look. I mean it did look like you were looking
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Yup, moved my mother into an assisted living facility, and the television hookups were coax. One for the free facility channels and one for local cable company (possibly needing a box). My home has coax connectors in every room, even though I never had cable, and I had considered at one point about buying coax-to-ethernet adapaters when I went to streaming.
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Hmm, I got a TCL TV for my mom about 5 years ago that I recently unhooked to move somewhere else. I think it did have component inputs and I was a bit surprised, but I think it was there because there were still enough stuff out there that used them. Even if they're not modern for 5 years ago, plenty of households still have the older DVD player, or older game consoles, etc, and why throw everything away every couple of years?
That said, component-to-HDMI adapters are common, and also HDMI-to-component goin
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Yes I remember having bought one of those for my car
Re:So... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
We all know VHS give a much warmer image.
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>"We all know VHS give a much warmer image."
LOL! Nearly fell out of my chair :)
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We all know VHS give a much warmer image.
I was a fan of VHS long before it became trendy.
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Except for that one nude scene where the tape inexplicably breaks into static.
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Re: So... (Score:2)
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There's also the "V/H/S" series of movies, there's 7 of those plus 2 spin-off movies.
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Well if it's a "limited release" that means that you don't need a big facility. I mean we are talking about an US movie. Those are already super niche and rarely have pressed Blurays or DVDs. Often movies are sold as "DVD on demand". A "limited release" might just be something like 10 or 100 cassettes, something you can easily manage by buying some duplicators of eBay.
Re: So... (Score:2)
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Nobody's forcing you to buy it, you can buy any number of high-quality formats.
So why the hell do you care? It's not money out of your pocket.
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Nobody's forcing you to buy it, you can buy any number of high-quality formats.
So why the hell do you care? It's not money out of your pocket.
Hey, we have some new wax tube recordings you might be interested in.
But seriously, my guess to why people are ridiculing this release is that it is ridiculous. VHS was a crappy format when it was introduced.
So it's hard to imagine the market. Maybe for some stoners looking to get baked and pretend they are living in the 80's, or an older couple nostalgic about the movie that was playing at the drive in the first time they banged? People who want only a little better quality than the old school bank
One word: letterbox (Score:2)
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They probably prefer the warmer sound of vin... -- I mean VHS.
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Ask anyone who didn't see it in the uncropped IMAX 1.9:1 ratio.
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If you care about the film's aspect ratio, then buy the UHD bluray and not a VHS.
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Because your only TV set in the house was bought 20 years ago and it has a narrow screen.
Re:One word: letterbox (Score:4, Interesting)
I vaguely remember the last 4:3 TV I owned, it was a maybe 22" CRT, I don't remember the brand, must've actually been about 20 years ago. It broke down, and then the repair shop got robbed before it got fixed (what kind of loser steals broken TVs?), so eventually I got a compensation cheque from shop. That part-funded a Philips 28" widescreen CRT, the last CRT TV I owned, which is still working and parked in a room in my parent's house to this day, mostly because it's too damned heavy for anyone to want to move it. It has a VHS player attached to it, and I do occasionally pop in a tape for nostalgia purposes when I'm over there.
Sorry, slightly off-topic with the story time there.
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I remember when my Dad passed about 6 years ago he still had a fairly large CRT TV in his living room. Boy had I forgotten how heavy those damn things are, it took both my brother and myself to move it and it was still a total bitch.
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My friend gave me a big CRT TV back in 2000, for free with the proviso that I come and pick it up myself. It was good, with a decent screen size as well. A big enough screen that moving the TV with one person was very difficult.
Fast forward to me cutting the "cord" on satellite and wanting to do streaming. Which worked on the CRT just fine, though maybeit needed degaussing, but it wasn't 1080p. So I get a flat screen, one of the dumb ones at the time, which I still have.
The snag was... I've got this b
Re: One word: letterbox (Score:2)
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Where's the Laserdisc version? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Where's the Laserdisc version? (Score:4, Funny)
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I think it comes with a couple of paper rolls so that you can put the audio onto your player piano.
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Laser disc?? Im holding out hope for Movie Record and BetaMax myself.
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I want a silent version with dialog cards and a guy accompanying it on piano.
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Someone recommended this recently because of the analog audio capabilities. I think he was serious.
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I believe it. Those machines were expensive and they never had large selection of content. So to amortize the cost you need to occasionally buy a new laserdisc release just to justify the price to the wife! (or justify it to the cat, if you're a slashdotter)
"a major win for fans of physical media" (Score:5, Interesting)
What a stupid line. A release on a format few people can play now isn't a win in any philosophical battle over intellectual property. It's just a publicity stunt. Releases on formats consumers can easily pay back from and can be assured will continue to work even if stakeholders go bankrupt is what people want, and DVD/Blu-ray are those formats now.
Re: "a major win for fans of physical media" (Score:2)
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It is analogue, but that's not why it degrades. It's not always analogue either, see D-VHS.
Magnetic particles can flake off, magnetic transfer happens over time which makes for even fuzzier images. And while not a degradation product, none of the channels bandwidth is good, but the red channel's bandwidth is less than 1 MegaHertz.
Re: "a major win for fans of physical media" (Score:2)
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"Magnetic particles can flake off, magnetic transfer happens over time which makes for even fuzzier images."
Yes, it degrades because it is a magnetic tape, and that is how magnetic tape degrades, but the OP is correct that it is not degrading because it is an analog medium. It is possible for a magnetic tape to be digital, or an analog medium to not be a magnetic tape.
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"Magnetic particles can flake off, magnetic transfer happens over time which makes for even fuzzier images."
Yes, it degrades because it is a magnetic tape, and that is how magnetic tape degrades, but the OP is correct that it is not degrading because it is an analog medium. It is possible for a magnetic tape to be digital, or an analog medium to not be a magnetic tape.
Right - I was just adding to the part where he said that being analog is not the reason it degrades. Anything on magnetic tape can and will degrade because of the media not being archival.
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This one time I had a digital compact disc I played once a week. It played well for a while, but then started skipping and stuttering. Eventually my CD player couldn't even find the digital signature on my CD and it wasn't playable any longer.
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It was caused by laser rot, or Laser Diode degradation. The early players had lasers in them running as hard and hot as they could make them at the time, and over time the power output would decrease and the players would start skipping, or only work on their side, and it would get worse over time.
I had 3 of the Sony D-5 original "Discman" players and they all did the same thing, they lasted with daily use for about a year or so then started to exhibit the problems. This was only a problem for the first f
Re: "a major win for fans of physical media" (Score:2)
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A release on a format few people can play now
It probably comes with a key for a digital download.
Re: "a major win for fans of physical media" (Score:2)
You mean a key for a license for access to a steam of the film on a popular platform? It's not a "download" any more than just temporarily caching for convenient playback.
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You mean a key for a license for access to a steam of the film on a popular platform? It's not a "download" any more than just temporarily caching for convenient playback.
Funny, my streaming service lets me download movies. Convenient when flying and in Airplane Mode..
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The bluray format has a feature for revoking keys, you still have the risk that undamaged media will become unplayable in future thanks to DRM.
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Because 320i is such amazing resolution lol
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Even DVD is anamorphic widescreen for 16:9 TVs for the last 15ish years. VHS is 4:3 pan&scan with 480x320 only with s-video. You would need a CRT display just to prevent the upscaler giving you pattern bleed on the component video input.
Oh, Cool! (Score:3)
This is intensely stupid! And a waste of time, energy, and resources!
What, no PSP UMD release? Whereâ(TM)s my Betamax copy?!
And play it on what? (Score:5, Interesting)
The only reason the continued production of vinyl records isn't a complete dumpster fire is that you can technically still play them on a current model turntable that doesn't suck. Granted, according to polls about half of the people buying new vinyl records don't play them anyway, but it's nice to know if you did actually want to use them for something other than a wall decoration, they are actually still a playable form of media.
VHS VCRs on the other hand, haven't been manufactured in probably close to a decade. The ones that are still out there are all nearing the end of their useful lives. It's as dead as a dead format can get. So they're basically selling a VHS-shaped collectible. About the only saving grace making it not entirely the dumbest thing people could buy as a collectable is the fact that NFTs are also a thing.
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My vinyl sound quality overall is excellent. My wife was like "I feel like we're missing some of the sound" and I asked what she meant - she literally meant the popping and hissing. I told her "Yeah, this is an aerospace quality turntable and modern fantastic perfect amplifier and speaker. What you're remembering is what our poor ass parents used, without washign their hands, and allowing tiny children us beat up the needle and drop dog hair on the record."
Vinyl on its own is great.
VHS ... VHS blows. It
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At least do SVHS.
VHS is OK for recording, but not my preferred format for buying movies. However, I'd rather take a VHS release than pay for subscription (though I could pay for one month and record the movies I want to VHS).
On the other hand, if they are going for nostalgia, VHS is probably the only possible format - nobody has the equipment to make laserdiscs anymore and film is expensive, so an 8mm or 16mm release would cost a lot.
I still use VHS once in a while to record stuff from TV. The stuff I'm rec
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A brand new VHS tape on a new-ish high quality player didn't suck too much, especially when that's all you had. And if you could feed the audio through your home stereo, it was a big step up from a CRT TV's internal speakers.
I'm quite proud that I wore out the rental shop's copies of Animal House and Blade Runner.
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So they're basically selling a VHS-shaped collectible. About the only saving grace making it not entirely the dumbest thing people could buy as a collectable is the fact that NFTs are also a thing.
If you think selling a VHS-sized collectible is dumb, wait until we see the sales numbers.
PT Barnum proved why the marketing works, long ago. Technology may get MUCH better over time, but the irony is the hairless monkeys inventing and using it, don’t.
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The only reason the continued production of vinyl records isn't a complete dumpster fire is that you can technically still play them on a current model turntable that doesn't suck. Granted, according to polls about half of the people buying new vinyl records don't play them anyway..
There were over 40 million vinyl albums sold in the US last year. More than CDs. If “about half” of those sales are chalked up as art hanging on walls, that is still a massive market. By comparison, how many legitimate art genres would need to be combined, to account for 20 million pieces sold? That’s not a music industry selling music anymore. It’s a music industry with a legitimate revenue stream, selling art.
The overwhelming majority struggling in the art world, dreams of
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Vinyl's second coming is fad with about five to ten years to run. As a format it CAN sound good, on really good equipment that must be carefully kept clean and maintained, must be used on absolutely bounce free floor unless the only thing anyone is doing is sitting critically listening in a chair. Oh and even under the best of conditions if you play an album alot it will wear out.
The cover are and fold outs and stuff were/are a nice value add, but if you are not buying the album to play it - just buy a dam
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With a vinyl LP you get a nice big sleave with artwork on it that you can mount on the wall. Maybe a big book inside with notes. Often the LPs sound better than the CDs too, due to more dynamic range and less excessive loudness.
With VHS you get the same size artwork and booklet, and much worse picture and sound quality.
The only real benefit of VHS is that the boxes are great for storing 3.5" HDDs.
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"Often the LPs sound better than the CDs too, due to more dynamic range "
What Koolaid have you been drinking? The dynamic range is WAY lower with an LP because there's a physical limit on how wide the groove can be and how fast a needle can physically respond at higher frequencies.
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On paper a CD is better, but due to the loudness wars in practice the LP is usually better mastered.
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You guys keep missing the most important factor. Signal quality. Vinyl people will claim, with the right needle and turntable, combined with a vacuum tube amplifier, the sound from vinyl can rival CD. No such thing exists for VHS. Its 320i resolution with abhorrent 2-channel sound. Forums will claim 480i for resolution but compare early DVD to VHS and even when both using the composite video output DVD looked sharper. Then came s-video and progressive scan DVD. Even Laserdic outperformed VHS, not only in re
It might be for the best. (Score:2)
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Eh, it looked fine. Particularly since much of its appearance was via a small low-resolution CRT monitor. The appearance wasn't the issue with the character. Copy and pasted dialogue, on the other hand, was one of the issues.
DVD would have been more practical (Score:5, Insightful)
VHS tapes wear out pretty quick, unless you just don't plan on viewing the movie very often. DVD isn't perfect but it's generally a lot better, and you don't have to worry about the built-in DRM from Blu-ray.
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No one in this discussion is giving any consideration into what is "better", that is evident from this announcement.
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They sort of are though. The reason/excuse for releasing a new movie on VHS is that streaming services are inconsistent at best. Yeah there's a stupid hipster element to it as well, but at least the summary pays lipservice to the idea that physical media has its advantages.
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I just buy the BluRay and download a rip from The Pirate Bay. No point wasting energy doing my own encode, especially when the "pirate" one has been quality checked and produced to exacting standards.
Occasionally I rip the disc myself but don't encode it, when I want the best possible quality, but for most stuff the pirate version is indistinguishable.
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DVD is 480p. Its more easily upscaled and has AC3 (dolby digital) 5.1 Surround. Its like comparing a Model A ford to a 60s muscle car. While its no Lamborghini, it still beats the shit out of a model A Ford.
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VHS tapes wear out pretty quick, unless you just don't plan on viewing the movie very often. DVD isn't perfect but it's generally a lot better, and you don't have to worry about the built-in DRM from Blu-ray.
Erm... this isn't a VHS for watching, it's for marketing purposes. They're still going to sell the DVD for those who want to watch the movie.
Why VHS instead of say a CD, DVD or Bluray ? (Score:1)
Why VHS instead of say a CD, DVD or Bluray ? Those are physical media too. Or is it about being analogue ?
Originally CDs used to be analog if i remember right. No one has VHS playback equipment
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I beg to differ. I have 3 S-VHS/MiniDV JVC DVS1U/DV2U/DVS3 decks (one of each) which can output copy protected VHS video stripping the DRM out via a IEEE-1394 (4-Pin) and It can play & record to S-VHS tapes, VHS, MiniDV, MiniDV SP/EP/LP and can output MiniDV in RGB/S-Video or composite/component, and even pass through RCA input to the FireWire port, and dub between the two decks and has jog shuttle for searching, is Adobe Compatible (can import via Premiere) and in general has a Cable TV tuner and incl
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Wow ! Nice equipment. How does your wife/GF let you buy and keep all that ? Or maybe it's for work
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They are making a BRD UHD (4k) media release. Amazon bought BestBuy's business and there are quite a few smaller retailers who produce physical media. The big deal about Target is smoke being blown. Target is for appliances and cheap clothing mostly.
https://www.amazon.com/Alien-R... [amazon.com]
Re: Why VHS instead of say a CD, DVD or Bluray ? (Score:2)
Why VHS instead of say a CD, DVD or Bluray ?
They didn't exist back when Alien was released back in 1979. The new film is very heavy on nostalgia for the original.
Not enough plastic (Score:2)
"How can we make fans buy this turkey?" (Score:2)
"How can we make fans buy this turkey?"
Consumer Intelligence. (Score:2)
a major win for fans of physical media.
*snorts*
The release will present the movie "in a 4:3 aspect ratio,"
*spits coffee*
If you think consumer intelligence isn’t dropping, sit back and watch this abandonware sell like hotcakes. If you’re going to sell wall art, why bother even winding magnetic tape around the reels? Not like we’re gonna start cranking out VHS players in response.
D-Theater? (Score:2)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Alien Versus Predator almost made it to that format.
"In 2002, prerecorded D-VHS cassettes were sold under the brand name D-Theater in the US. While D-Theater is a D-VHS tape, it is incompatible with D-VHS decks not bearing the D-Theater logo. They provide content in both 720p and 1080i as well as at least one Dolby Digital audio track."
Not good (Score:2)
I watched it last night and it was not very good. Ian Holm's CGI avatar was just too much, who thought that looked good?
Hungry VCRs (Score:2)
A disappointing number will pull out their old VCRs from the storage unit for some nostalgia fun and the machine will promptly eat the tape.
Clarity (Score:2)
Ew (Score:2)
Don't get me wrong I count myself as a "fan of phsyical media", but VHS was basically the worst physical media ever made. All the downsides of tape (need to rewind, playing it wears it out, etc) and literally the shittiest video quality you could ask for.
I get that this is probably only a collectable and not meant to be actually played, but still . . . I don't even get the desire to collect it.
Not buying it unless... (Score:2)
... it has Macrovision :- )
It's not even Ridley directing ffs (Score:2)
Is it even good? It's not breaking any ground. I guess there's some market for requels. Or there's a lack of new ideas, which is more likely.
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I remember watching a comic book style Star Wars A New Hope in elementary school made for film projectors. It was like slides but in a film format that you change the frame when the audio beeps. It had the audio on either cassette or vinyl.