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Sci-Fi Movies

Special VHS Release for 'Alien: Romulus' Announced by 20th Century Studios (comicbook.com) 130

Posted by EditorDavid from the let's-go-to-the-videotape dept.
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.
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Special VHS Release for 'Alien: Romulus' Announced by 20th Century Studios More

Special VHS Release for 'Alien: Romulus' Announced by 20th Century Studios

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  • There's some facility somewhere with VHS duplicating machines sitting around since 2006, and they all still work?

    • Do not underestimate the power of localised markets for cheap older tech goods in places like Africa or Asia...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by e3m4n ( 947977 )

        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.

        • 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.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by e3m4n ( 947977 )

            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?

          • 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

        • TVs still accept component inputs and they also accept analog Coax inputs for connecting an antenna. If they don't have that, they aren't a TV, they are a monitor!

          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.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by e3m4n ( 947977 )

            lol that really drops the resolution to 352x240 :-) might as well be watching an Atari 2600

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by e3m4n ( 947977 )

            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

          • 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.

            • My house was built in 2020. Came with WiFi repeaters (no access points) built into the house as well a coax to all of the places you were intended to put a TV.

        • 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

    • Re:So... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 ) on Sunday October 20, 2024 @10:25PM (#64880185)
      I picked up some B-horror movie called Kill Her Goats released in 2023 specifically because they had a VHS release. Thought it was neat. So yea, somewhere out there some company is making VHS tapes, and (probably some other company) is still manufacturing VHS releases for films.

    • Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Joce640k ( 829181 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @01:44AM (#64880391) Homepage

      We all know VHS give a much warmer image.

    • Kinda like cassette tapes with indie bands there's at least some interest in these sorts of formats as functional collector's items. Needing to fuss with some garage sale VHS player to actually view the thing probably adds to the appeal.
    • The only movie it makes sense to do this for is The Ring.

    • 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.

    • W0t? No Betamax?
  • Why would I want to see a cropped movie?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You're probably not an embearded Brooklyn hipster.

    • Ask anyone who didn't see it in the uncropped IMAX 1.9:1 ratio.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guspaz ( 556486 )

      If you care about the film's aspect ratio, then buy the UHD bluray and not a VHS.

    • 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)

        by Tx ( 96709 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @03:35AM (#64880503) Journal

        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.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by skam240 ( 789197 )

          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.

          • 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

      • 20 years ago 16:9 was already a normal aspect ratio, hell even 30 years ago it was already becoming standard... Oh dear, I'm old....
        • It was 21 years ago (2003) that Blockbuster started ordering widescreen version of movies.
          • I meant TV's. I myself already had a 32" Widescreen tv in 1994.
            • Yes, I think there were some widescreen TVs as early as 1980 or so. However, prior to 2003, wide screen *content* was not mainstream. Blockbuster refused to carry widescreen anything. If you play a widescreen video on a 4:3 TV, you end up with horizontal bars on the top and bottom. The vast majority of customers would see this and bring the tape back to Blockbuster and demand a refund because it was defective.

              I was always told by the art majors I knew that if a movie wasn't good in P&S with the

              • Yeah, people are weird about that, black bars top/bottom. Personally I prefer to watch any movie only in the original aspect ratio (with subtitles in the active image, NOT in the black bars). I even prefered to buy widescreen VHS tapes and just set the TV to a specific mode which would zoom the image to the correct aspect ratio. These days, well since 2006, I just watch everything using a projector on a 118" screen, so even with 4:3 movies I don't mind the black bars on the side.

  • Where's the Laserdisc version? (Score:5, Funny)

    by sinkskinkshrieks ( 6952954 ) on Sunday October 20, 2024 @09:57PM (#64880151)
    Such discrimination!

    • Re:Where's the Laserdisc version? (Score:4, Funny)

      by q_e_t ( 5104099 ) on Monday October 21, 2024 @01:24AM (#64880367)
      I demand a version on 8mm film for my projector. And interspersed text for the dialogue so I can accompany the viewing on the piano forte as I have a baby grand in my home theatre.

      • I think it comes with a couple of paper rolls so that you can put the audio onto your player piano.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      Laser disc?? Im holding out hope for Movie Record and BetaMax myself.

    • I want a silent version with dialog cards and a guy accompanying it on piano.

    • Someone recommended this recently because of the analog audio capabilities. I think he was serious.

    • 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)

    by SeaFox ( 739806 ) on Sunday October 20, 2024 @10:00PM (#64880159)

    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: (Score:2)

      by drnb ( 2434720 )

      A release on a format few people can play now

      It probably comes with a key for a digital download.

      • 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.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by drnb ( 2434720 )

          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..

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 )

      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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      Because 320i is such amazing resolution lol

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      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)

    by nsuccorso ( 41169 ) on Sunday October 20, 2024 @10:12PM (#64880175)

    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)

    by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Sunday October 20, 2024 @10:13PM (#64880179) Homepage

    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.

    • It would be funny if it was literally the VHS box art with a blank VHS tape in it. If it's even got a tape in it. When was the last time VHS tapes were physically made? These must be NOS tapes, hopefully they have been stored properly and arent growing mold. If these are NOS tapes, then they must be getting sold to 20th century studios for a pretty penny considering the rarity of NOS VHS tapes.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skogs ( 628589 )

      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

      • 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

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dwywit ( 1109409 )

        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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      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

  • With the lower quality that CGI character might not look so janky. They'd have been better off trying to find another actor that looks like a younger version of him.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guspaz ( 556486 )

      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)

    by DrMrLordX ( 559371 ) on Sunday October 20, 2024 @11:27PM (#64880251)

    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.

    • No one in this discussion is giving any consideration into what is "better", that is evident from this announcement.

      • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      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.

  • Hey great, because we're simply not producing enough plastic waste in the world yet. They're probably also selling tonnes of over-priced plastic merch-toys to the man-children-fans. It's all just future landfill & ocean pollution.

  • "How can we make fans buy this turkey?"

  • 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.

  • 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."

  • 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?

  • 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.

  • I'm waiting for it to come out on VHS Blu-ray.

  • 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.

  • ... it has Macrovision :- )

  • 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.

  • ... for Super 8.

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