Ridley Scott’s Alien will finally be released in 4K HDR for its 40th anniversary

The long wait is over for sci-fi and horror film buffs: the 1979 classic Alien will be released in 4K and HDR for the film’s 40th anniversary. The remaster will be available on an UltraHD Blu-ray disc.

20th Century Fox and partners embarked on an effort to remaster the film in 4K last year, under supervision by Pam Dery and director Ridley Scott. Alien was originally shot on 35mm film, and the remaster was made using the original negative.

Remastering older films for the UltraHD era has sometimes proven challenging for studios. In many cases, original film masters have degraded, and 4K on a 65-inch TV is adept at revealing graininess and other flaws that result from aged or damaged film.

Both the 1979 theatrical version and the 2003 director’s cut of Alien will be included. The audio for the director’s cut will be mastered in DTS-HD MA 5.1, but it will just be 4.1 surround for the theatrical version. However, the theatrical version will offer two versions of the film score.

The discs will include new commentary from Ridley Scott and members of the cast and crew, and it will also include a previous commentary by Scott from 1999 and a number of deleted scenes. While the UltraHD Blu-ray disc will be available from a variety of retailers, Best Buy will offer an exclusive steelbook edition with artwork and other extras.

Alien is an undisputed classic, and it spawned a franchise and universe that continues to this day. It stars Sigourney Weaver as part of the working-class crew of an interstellar freighter that stumbles upon the eggs of an apparently alien biological entity. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that the resulting encounter with the alien (designed by famed gothic artist H.R. Geiger) takes a horrific and deadly turn for the crew.

The remaster will be available starting April 23.

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