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Alien: Covenant (Blu-ray)

Ridley Scott (Director), Katherine Waterston (Actor), Danny McBride (Actor) Format: Blu-ray
4.6 out of 5 stars 7,035
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Genre sci-fi
Format Blu-ray
Contributor Danny McBride, Ridley Scott, Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudup
Initial release date 2017-08-16T00:00:00.000+10:00
Runtime 2 hours and 2 minutes
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A dream is born

20th Century Fox’s story begins in a tiny theater on New York’s Lower East Side. In 1904, fresh from Hungary, 25-year-old William Fox amazed audiences with his magical hand-cranked films. The beginnings were humble – folding chairs, a painted wall for a screen – but the desire to entertain and move people has been at the core of what 20th Century Fox has been doing ever since. By 1915 Fox’s five-cent movie shows were wildly popular and his single screen grew first into a chain of 25 theaters around New York City and then into a movie making business.

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Synopsis

Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created, with ALIEN: COVENANT, a new chapter in the groundbreaking ALIEN franchise. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

Genres: Action/Adventure | Horror | Science-Fiction | Thriller/Suspense
MA15+ Not suitable for people under 15; under 15s must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian

Cast and crew

  • Michael Fassbender
  • Demián Bichir
  • Katherine Waterston
  • Billy Crudup
  • Danny McBride
  • Ridley Scott

Product description

The path to paradise begins in hell. Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created, with ALIEN: COVENANT, a new chapter in his groundbreaking ALIEN franchise. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

Product details

  • Product dimensions ‏ : ‎ 135 x 13 x 170 cm; 40 Grams
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Ridley Scott
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 2 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ 16 August 2017
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudup
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ 20th Century Fox
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B075JZGMBC
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 7,035

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Top reviews from Australia

Paul Collier
5.0 out of 5 stars Alien Fan
Reviewed in Australia on 31 August 2019
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I am a diehard and dedicated Alien Movie fan. This movie was going to be enjoyed from the get go. It did not disappoint.
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Strahan Scobie
3.0 out of 5 stars It's 'Alien'. Again.
Reviewed in Australia on 6 August 2019
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Great image quality, decent special features, film itself is a bit lacking. But if you like 'Alien', it's 'Alien' again so if you're cool with that it's worth a watch.
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Julian
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time or money.
Reviewed in Australia on 23 August 2019
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The first two Alien films are classic. The follow ups till Prometheus are reasonable. Covenant is quite appalling.
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sebastiano giuliano
5.0 out of 5 stars Alien Covenant blu Ray
Reviewed in Italy on 8 January 2024
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Spettacolare, specialmente in 3D..
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Noé Martín Carreón Aguiñaga
5.0 out of 5 stars Una secuela digna del 4k
Reviewed in Mexico on 11 December 2017
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Esperé pacientemente a esta versión. Admirar los efectos en 4k es simplemente increible. El audio con un buen sistema de teatro en casa es digno de un oscar. La película se rompe en opiniones, en lo personal me parece una digna secuela de Prometheus con un plot twist muy agradable pero predecible al final. No imagino esta película en otro formato que nosea 4k. El slip cover le da a la caja un toque de elegancia, que los coleccionistas agradecerán. 100% recomendada.
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Charles Schmeltz
5.0 out of 5 stars The Path to Paradise Begins in Hell - "Alien: Covenant" (2017) - Retrospective
Reviewed in the United States on 19 August 2017
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Five years after Ridley Scott triumphantly returned to the "Alien" franchise that he started with 2012's "Prometheus", the director is back with another chapter in the "Alien" prequel series with 2017's "Alien: Covenant". While technically a continuation of the story that unfolded in the divisive 2012 prequel, "Covenant" manages to strike a more favorable balance between director Scott's desires to push the series in a new direction while paying homage to the series' sci-fi/horror roots that long term fans felt "Prometheus" lacked.

Monsters and buckets of blood abound when the crew of the colony ship Covenant is awoken seven years early from hyper-sleep on their way to a far away planet to start a new human settlement. While making repairs to the ship, the crew intercept a strange transmission coming from a nearby planet that appears on the surface to be an uncharted paradise and a much more favorable location for their new colony. When the crew lands on the planet and track the signal to crashed alien ship, they discover a horror unlike anything they ever imagined, as one by one the crew and colonists are killed gruesomely by the alien creatures that inhabit the planet. The aliens however prove to be a much smaller threat to them when they encounter the android David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the Prometheus expedition who has been stuck on the planet ever since he crash landed there with Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace).

After watching "Covenant" in theaters, it was painfully obvious at points in the film that Ridley Scott, and 20th Century Fox, has listened to the cries of disappointed fans that had less than positive remarks about 2012's "Prometheus", a film while flawed in several ways, was a mostly satisfying return to the sci-fi roots of Scott's earlier work, as well as a welcome return to form for the "Alien" franchise. While many fans bemoaned that film's philosophical themes and ponderous tone, as well as the story about the origins of mankind, I found the focus on these new themes and the turn away from the monster violence and action of the previous films to be a welcome change of pace for the franchise, as well as the deepening mythology and exploration of several unanswered mysterious from the 1979 classic original, "Alien". For me, "Prometheus" returned the class and rich tone back to the series, and after leaving theaters, I was eagerly awaiting a follow up.

Flash forward to 2017, it appears that instead of giving fans a proper follow up to Prometheus, Scott and Fox are trying to please all sides of the fan base by returning the titular Xenomorph to the franchise and providing plenty of murderous mayhem, while also continuing the themes of creation and the origin of life that began in the previous film. True to form for the series, the film opens, after an extended prologue featuring David and his creator/father Peter Weyland (Guy Pierce), with the crew of the space colony ship Covenant begin awoken from hypersleep after a neutrino burst damages the ship and kills several crew and colonists, among them Capt. Branson (James Franco in a "blink in you'll miss it" cameo). After the crew mourns their fallen Captain, they set out to repair the ship and resume course to their destination. However, the crew pick up a strange transmission of a mysterious woman singing "Take Me Home (Country Roads)" by John Denver that is coming from a nearby planet. Scans of the planet show that is it seemingly a much better candidate for colonization. Despite objections from terraforming expect Daniels (Katherine Waterson), newly appointed Captain Oram (Billy Crudup) decides to investigate to see if the planet is indeed a better settlement. Once the crew land, they find that they've made a grave mistake.

The first act of the film was for me the freshest and most engaging part of the film, as we are introduced to the cast of the film and explore the Covenant a little bit. While some critics of the film have noted that the characters barely stand out or register as people, I beg to differ. All the actors here manage to deliver, even the one relegated to secondary roles. Waterson, Crudup, and Amy Seimetz, who plays Farris, are all standouts for me. Even Danny McBride, who plays Farris' husband Tennessee, manages to subvert expectations and deliver one of the more nuanced and emotional performances. Daniels, who comes across as a Ripley substitute for some of the more vocal critics of the film, manages to carve out a niche for herself as the more levelheaded and intelligent members of the crew. Make no mistake though, when pushed to the brink, Daniels rises to the challenge and embodies that fierce spirit and fighting energy that Sigourney Weaver managed to pull off so effortlessly as Ripley.

I also loved the colony crew/couples angle the film went with in this area.The film, taking cues from the 1986 classic "Aliens", follows the colony crew as they prepare to set up a human settlement on a far way planet. It was refreshing and made for a more emotionally resonate film, as the deaths of each characters are mourned by their loved ones and friends. Take Daniels for example, who was married to Captain Branson before his death. We get to see her mourn his death and cherish some of their memories and mementos before having to resume her duty to the crew and colonists.

After the crew lands on the planet and traces the signal to the crash Juggernaut from "Prometheus", the tables drastically and horrifically turn on the inexperienced crew, who soon find themselves infected by alien spores that birth new alien creatures not seen before in the saga, to so called Neomorphs. In a particularly gruesome scene, a crew member is infected by an alien spore, and after being rushed back to the landing ship, has a Neomorph burst violently from his back, in an homage to the classic chestburster scene in the original film. Farris attempts to kill the newborn alien but in the chaos inadvertently blows up the drop ship, thus stranding the crew on the planet. Another crew member births a Neomorph through his throat. After several crew members are killed by the alien creatures, they are scared away by a mysterious cloaked figure. The remaining crew follow the figure to a walled off city littered with thousands of petrified corpses of Engineers. The figure reveals himself as David, survivor of the Prometheus expedition. He reveals that he and Dr. Shaw landed there after fleeing LV-223 and searching for the Engineer homeworld. When they arrived, the Juggernaut unleashed the deadly black pathogen upon the populace and in the resulting chaos, the ship crashed, killing Dr. Shaw. While David seems welcoming at first, Daniels and Walter, David's android counterpart for the Covenant, distrust him from the beginning.

This second act of the film is where "Covenant" embraces its "Prometheus" connections and follows up more on the events of that film, filling us in on what became of David and Shaw after their flight from LV-233. The interactions between Walter and David are by far the highlights of the film, as David displays a rabid fascination with Walter, while Walter himself is more reserved and intrigued by the fate of Dr. Shaw. We see David sorrowfully tell Walter how he misses and loved Shaw and wished she were still with him. This is a fantastic portrayal of artificial intelligence, and raises many questions about the nature of creation and robotics. It nicely connects with the prologue from the beginning of the film, and furthers the development of David's character arc that started in "Prometheus". The film makes many references to "Paradise Lost" and Fassbender himself quotes "Ozymandias", an attempt no doubt by Scott to retain the philosophical tone of "Prometheus". It mostly works in this film, though it stands in sharp contrast with the final act and the sci-fi/horror tone the rest of the film has.

However, it is also here that the film commits it's cardinal sin in my opinion, in regards to its treatment of Dr. Shaw. Her arc in "Prometheus" was that film's emotional core and backbone, and we later find out she was killed in the interim between "Prometheus" and "Covenant". Along with "Alien 3", this continues the franchises sad history of discarding its best characters for the sake of introducing new ones. It is a stab in the back to both Noomi Rapace, who is sorely missed here, and the fans of "Prometheus" that waited five years to see what became of her and David. While Rapace did reprise her role in the promotional short film "The Crossing", none of that footage is featured in the film. Shaw's dog-tags, found by the Covenant crew in the crashed Juggernaut have more screen time than Rapace does. Had said footage been included in the film, it would have certainly softened the blow, while providing a suitable send off for the character. The later reveal of what actually happened to her hammers the point home, but more on that in a moment.

The Neomorph is shown to follow the Covenant crew into the Engineer city, and resume its murderous killing spree. After coming across the creature interacting with David, Oram kills the Neomorph, to which David violently and emotionally reacts to. After luring Oram into a room filled with the classic facehugger eggs, David watches in delight as Oram is attacked by said creature and is horrifically killed when a chestburster is born from him. It is at this point that Daniels and Walter, both unnerved by David's actions and presence, both independently come across evidence of David's experiments with Engineer technology and the black pathogen, revealing that David is the creator of the classic Xenomorph. Walter himself also come across Shaw's mutilated and dissected body, to which David reveals he killed her in order to use her body to create the "perfect specimen", in another homage to "Alien".

This was a major bone of contention with many long term fans of the franchise. While many argue that the reveal of the Xenomorph's origins robs the said creatures of their mysterious nature and ability to terrify, I'd argue that those had long since been taken away from the franchise after years of exposure and their continued popularity within mainstream media. The long line of subpar installments in the franchise before "Prometheus" also contributed to this. For me, not only was this a natural extension of David's arc from "Prometheus", it provides further extension of the new mythology of the prequel series, something "Covenant" mostly skips by on. One can only keep something dark and mysterious forever before it becomes stale and boring. By providing us with answers, we can now explore new sides of the Xenomorphs and the series as a whole. It also fits in quite well with the themes of life and creation the series has thus far been centered around. The only gripe I have with this is once again the treatment of Dr. Shaw, whose body is used by David to aid him in the creation of the aliens. This was not the way to end her character arc and it will now forever be a missed opportunity and an example of "what could have been". It does provide a layer of dark irony however, as Dr. Shaw noted she was unable to "create life" due to her being infertile, and now David has corrupted her body to give birth to a race of creatures that would kill hundreds if not thousands of people later in the saga.

David and Walter square off, with David seemingly gaining the upper hand and dispatches Walter. He then sets his sights on Daniels, who has uncovered David's drawings of Shaw and finds out the horrible truth of what happened to her. Promising to do to her what he did to Shaw, David attempts to murder Daniels but is rescued by Walter, who is revealed to have upgraded healing capabilities to David's surprise. Walter fends off David long enough for Daniels to escape with the only other surviving crew member, Sergeant Lope (Demián Bichir), who was attacked by another facehugger but was saved by another crew member only to be killed by the now fully grown adult Xenomorph. Back on the Covenant, Tennessee manages to deploy the second terraforming drop-ship to rescue Lope and Daniels, but is intercepted by the Xenomorph, who climbs aboard the ship. Walter also emerges, seemingly survived his encounter with David and is rescued by the crew. As the drop ship is taking off, the crew notice the alien has followed them, and Daniels tethers herself to the ship and attempts to kill the alien.

This sequence is probably the best action set piece of the entire film, and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Waterson shows off some commendable acting chops as she single handily takes on the alien. Ripley would be very proud. The only complaints I have with this scene is that some of the CGI used to recreate the alien is rather spotty and sticks out like a sore thumb. I was told that during most of the production, practical effects and stuntmen were used on set. It is disappointing to see, like so many other would be blockbusters, that the hard work put in by the special effects team has been painted over by CGI. Although it does allow us to see the alien from a new perspective not seen in the previous films, the effects do not hold up nearly as well as they did in the older films. Bad CGI looks like bad CGI and completely takes me out of the film.

Daniels manages to lure the alien into some of the terraforming equipment and incinerates it. Overjoyed and seemingly out of danger, the crew returns to the Covenant to mourn their fallen crew members and resume course to their original destination. However, it seems despite only being briefly attached to the facehugger, Lope has given birth to another Xenomorph which quickly grows to full size and kills the last two remaining crew members besides Tennessee and Daniels in a violent and bloody shower sequence. While some derided this scene as being too similar to slasher film, the horror film lover inside me loved and squealed in delight. Daniels and Tennessee, with Walter's help, begin tracking the Xenomorph aboard the Covenant in what is mostly a condensed remake of the original Alien.

This is the part of the film where Scott and Fox most obviously tried to appease fans of the series that were disappointed by the lack of monster violence in "Prometheus". While I do appreciate the homages throughout the rest of the film to the original "Alien", here is comes across much more cliche and unoriginal. It was as if Scott, unsure of how to end the film, just decided to remake his original film in the attempt that it would win over fans that otherwise would prefer a classic "Alien" film. Fox is also to blame here as well, as they no doubt pressured Scott to include more familiar elements of the franchise in the film to ensure its success. The CGI used on the Xenomorph is probably the worst in some of these sequences, adding even more insult to injury. However, it eventually pays off in the climax as the Xenomorph is lured to the loading dock, and in what is probably the scariest sequence of the film, the alien obsessively pursues Daniels with such single minded determination that we are finally able to fear the xenomorph again. Seriously, the sequence where the alien tears through the terraforming equipment, trying to get to Daniels gave me chills. Still, after the more "Prometheus" like second act and that wonderful first act, you can't help but feel slightly let down by Scott, as a director of his caliber should have fought harder to retain his original vision.

Anyway, after luring the Xenomorph to the loading dock, Tennessee manages to open the airlock and send the alien, who has been impaled by some terraforming machinery plummeting out of the ship and down to the planet below. Finally able to rest for the first time in the film, Daniels and Tennessee prepare themselves to reenter hypersleep for the voyage to their new home. As Walter helps Daniels get into her hypersleep chamber, it is here where the film reveals its final twist; Walter is actually David, who killed Walter and took his place. Daniels realizes this too late, as she is already inside her sleep chamber, and can only scream in horror as David puts her back into stasis. For a film that goes above and beyond in its attempts the scare the audience, this was probably the single most chilling scene in the entire film. Now that the entire ship and crew along with the colonists still in hypersleep are completely at David's mercy, Daniels is powerless as this corrupted creation of mankind seals her fate and the rest of the ships as well. David will no doubt make good on his threat to do to Daniels what he did to Shaw. David then returns to the chamber containing the sleeping colonists, and regurgitates two facehugger embryos that he was storing inside his body, and places them into a cryo-storage unit containing other human embryos. David then makes one final transmission as Walter to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, stating that the entire crew minus Daniels and Tennessee died in the neutrino blast, and the ship remains on course for its original destination, thus ending the film on a dark and bleak note.

The film both succeeds and fails because of Ridley Scott. His trademark photography and grand, visual style remain intact, as well as his broad sweeping themes that were so integral to "Prometheus". The picture is probably the most visually appealing and beautifully shot of the entire series, and carries with it a tone of pure menace and foreboding like no film before it. The film's score, composed by series newcomer Jed Kurzel is breathtakingly beautiful and a highlight of the entire franchise, probably my favorite since Elliot Goldenthal's score for "Alien 3". The reprisal of the main theme from "Alien" as well as "Prometheus" helped establish a connective tissue between all three films, and the new themes written for the film stand out as well among the rest of the score. The bleak, woodwind based score and sound helped greatly contribute to the film's tone and foreboding themes. The "Alien Covenant Theme" and "Dead Civilization" stand out as highlights of the score. However, the mishmash of tones and Scott's forced hand at including some of the more iconic touchstones of the franchise as a whole hurt the film and prevent it from standing on its own in the franchise. This is entirely Scott's fault, as he had to contend with not only the studio but the scores of fans as well. The film doesn't always work when combining the tones and themes from "Prometheus" and the rest of the series, but when it works, it truly shines. It's not a perfect film by any means of the word, but I for one loved it and will gladly be in theaters for the follow up, assuming Fox allows Scott to wrap up this exciting and multidimensional prequel series.
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5.0 out of 5 stars ALIEN: COVENANT [2017] [Blu-ray + Digital]
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2017
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ALIEN: COVENANT [2017] [Blu-ray + Digital] Ridley Scott On Terrific Form! Witness The Creation Of Fear! Spine Bursting Action!

Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ‘ALIEN.’ With ‘ALIEN: COVENANT,’ the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with the film ‘PROMETHEUS’ and connects directly to Ridley Scott's 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world, whose sole inhabitant is the "synthetic" android named David [Michael Fassbender], who is the survivor of the doomed and ill-fated Prometheus expedition.

FILM FACT: Principal photography began on April 4, 2016, at Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, and wrapped on 19th July, 2016. Effects houses Odd Studios and CreatureNFX provided the film's makeup and animatronic creature effects. Director Ridley Scott reported that the first cut of the sci-fi film was two hours and twenty-three minutes long, and was eventually edited down to the two hours and three minutes of the released version.

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Amy Seimetz, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, Benjamin Rigby, Uli Latukefu, Tess Haubrich, Lorelei King (Voice of Mother), Goran D. Kleut, Andrew Crawford, Javier Botet (uncredited), Steve Doyle (uncredited), James Franco (uncredited), Juke Hardy (uncredited), Scott James (uncredited), Billy Mansell (uncredited), Guy Pearce (uncredited), Noomi Rapace (uncredited) and Benjamin Taylor (uncredited)

Director: Ridley Scott

Producers: Amy Greene, David Giler, Hannah Ireland, Mark Huffam p.g.a., Michael Schaefer p.g.a., Ridley Scott p.g.a., Teresa Kelly and Walter Hill

Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon (characters created), Dante Harper (screenplay), Jack Paglen (story), John Logan (screenplay), Michael Green (story) and Ronald Shusett (characters created)

Composer: Jed Kurzel

Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)

Image Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Audio: English: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English: 5.1 Descriptive Audio, Spanish: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, Spanish: 5.1 Descriptive Audio, French: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, French: 5.1 Descriptive Audio, Português: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, Português: 5.1 Descriptive Audio and English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Português and Swedish

Running Time: 122 minutes

Region: Region B/2

Number of discs: 1

Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / TSG Entertainment / Scott Free / Brandywine Productions

Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ [2017] is the best instalment since the films ‘ALIEN’ and ‘ALIENS’ was released onto the public and of course director Ridley Scott's latest sci-fi horror film creates terror on a towering scale and wisely focuses on the extra-terrestrial suspense, and sadly some pompous critics have been allowed to voice their negative nasty comments about this 2017 film. When the director Ridley Scott released the film ‘PROMETHEUS’ in 2012, he was strangely reticent on the question of whether it was a prequel to the famed ‘ALIEN’ sci-fi franchise, maintaining that only “the keen fan will recognise the strands of Alien’s DNA structure.” More importantly regarding the cinematic genealogy, is the fact that ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ is actually pretty darn good and extremely very scary, and totally your worst nightmare.

The year is 2104, 11 years after the events of the film ‘PROMETHEUS’ and we find ourselves, as we so often do, on a space ship in the midst of a long journey. This is the Covenant, a colony ship bearing 2,000 frozen souls and 1,140 embryos on a terraforming mission to a planet called Origae-6. Along the way, however, a “neutrino burst” damages the ship and the android on call, Walter [Michael Fassbender] wakes the crew up early.

The Captain Branson [James Franco] is tragically killed by a malfunction in his sleeping pod, leaving his first mate, Christopher Oram [Billy Crudup], in command. While repairing the damage to the ship, the pilot, Tennessee [Danny McBride], detects a signal from a nearby planet. Remarkably, it could even appear to this naïve crew, that this world appears even more suitable for colonization than the ship’s original destination; the crew decides to reroute and find out what’s going on.

The landing party descends onto the planet’s surface and soon discovers, however, that all is not as it seems. Suffice to say that this is the home world of the Engineers, the towering race that seeded Earth with human beings millions of years earlier, and towards which the survivors of the film ‘PROMETHEUS,’ Elizabeth Shaw [Noomi Rapace] and the android David [Michael Fassbender] and of course we saw them charted their course at the end of the sci-fi film ‘PROMETHEUS.’

There is plenty to admire here, especially the stunning awesome sound design that is totally masterful, and especially the deadly silence on this petrified planet crackles with icy dread. Michael Fassbender’s performance is an elegant pas de deux that effortlessly delineates between the two identical androids, but the only difference with this android is that he talks with an American accent, which I cannot understand why they decided to do this? But the film is laboriously talky, filled with expository dialogue as stale as the recycled air on a spaceship. Long gone is the naturalistic banter that made the film ‘ALIEN’ so potent and, with it, the ability to explore its ideas through image alone rather than pages of over-written words.

An eerie prologue reintroduces the android David [Michael Fassbender], one of the films Prometheus’s few survivors, whom we see talking to his creator Weyland [Guy Pearce] in flashback. Piero della Francesco’s Nativity hangs on the wall beside them, and David regards the painting quizzically: something about the notion that the most enduring gods are born rather than just invented seems to seep into his circuits. This is the first of the film’s near-countless allusions to devotional and gothic art. In 2017, no one can hear you scream for an existential sci-fi thriller.

To director Ridley Scott’s credit he has taken the best aspects of the first ‘ALIEN’ sci-fi film and put in extra shock scenes together in the sci-fi film ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’. There is the typical slasher film horror scenario of the first sci-fi film, punctuated by the gun firing mayhem of the second one. There is as usual plenty of gore and people get killed in deliciously gruesome ways, and your appreciation of said scenes depends on your proclivity towards horror cinema. The ‘back burster’ Xenomorph is a nice update to the original chest burst scene with the actor John Hurt, and the new age special effects take things to their ultimate extreme level, getting a sufficiently squirmy reaction for sci-fi horror fans. It is also never a boring sci-fi film, especially in the scenes featuring Michael Fassbender as a potentially dangerous character of the evil kind, in fact he acts like a typical Machiavellian character where he is in control, meaning the android is devious, cunning, crafty, artful, wily, sly, scheming, designing, conniving, opportunistic, insidious, treacherous, perfidious, two-faced, tricky, double-dealing, unscrupulous, deceitful and totally dishonest.

We are all for more ALIEN franchise sci-fi films in trying to give us the answers we seek, as long as the storyline is inventive like what Ridley Scott has done with ‘ALIEN: COVENTANT.’ But the question that remains, where does the ALIEN franchise sci-fi films go to in the future? Ridley Scott is now 80 years old and plans to make more ALIEN sci-fi films, but going by the formulaic nature of this sci-fi horror film, hopefully someone might suggest a new angle on how to stop these monsters procreating. It’s difficult to figure out what other surprises are left for these grotesque and horrific Xenomorphs, as sometimes it feels slightly exhausting to watch another ALIEN film waiting for the eggs to attack these not very smart people on these spaceships. Perhaps it’s time to let someone else to take a stab at this sci-fi franchise to explore a totally new avenue.

‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ is director Ridley Scott’s latest ALIEN sci-fi horror film finally answers some important questions while returning to the serious horror roots and one that was not afraid to ask big questions but, more often than not, it does so by unsubtly spouting them out of the mouths of its characters. It is unapologetically bold and brash in its handling of intellectual material, but it sort of works for a few reasons. For one, the reveal of how and why the xenomorphs were created is rewarding within the terms director Ridley Scott laid out in the film ‘Prometheus.’ And none of this would’ve worked without the performance of Michael Fassbender, who once again plays the ship’s android and delivers a lot of the stodgier material with ease while gracefully wading through the rising melodrama, conducting Scott’s bombastic sci-fi symphony with total conviction. Even when things become faintly ridiculous, he remains utterly compelling.

‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ strikes a more favourable balance between the unwieldy philosophical ideas of Prometheus and the classic horror and suspense of the 1979 original film. Despite continuing the film ‘Prometheus’ questionable line of inquiry into the xenomorphs origins and occasionally adopting its histrionic tone for entire scenes, and ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ framework and exciting action put enough new spins on the series most reliable touchstones that the cast is able to carry it through to a satisfying end. Those who enjoyed the film ‘Prometheus’ and I am one of them, will really enjoy how the ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ sci-fi film continues on the themes and story from director Ridley Scott’s return to the franchise, which really excited me whenever these sci-fi franchise films are released and now the wait is over. The only slightly negative aspect of this film, is that it is crying out to have been made in 3D as follow up to the previous ‘PROMETHEUS’ sci-fi film.

ALIEN: COVENANT MUSIC TRACK LIST

THEME FROM ALIEN [1979] (Composed by Jerry Goldsmith)

DAS RHEINGOLD, SCENE 4: ENTRANCE OF THE GODS (Written by Richard Wagner) [Performed by Stephen Barton]

TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS (Written by John Denver, Taffy Danoff and Bill Danoff)

THE MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK AT MONTE CARLO (Written by Fred Gilbert)

ANCIENT FLUTE (Composed by Harry Gregson-Williams)

LIFE and WE WERE RIGHT (Composed by Harry Gregson-Williams)

LET ME DOWN EASY (Written by Paolo Nutini, Rollo Armstrong, James McDougal and Wrecia Holloway) [Performed by Paolo Nutini]

DAS RHEINGOLD, SCENE 4: ENTRANCE OF THE GODS (Written by Richard Wagner) [Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Conducted by José Serebrier]

Blu-ray Image Quality – 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment presents this Blu-ray disc in a stunning 1080p image presentation that looks totally top notch and is totally enhanced with the 2.40:1 aspect ratio and it is Dariusz Wolski, who previously shot ‘Prometheus,’ returned as the cinematographer on ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ to give it that extra dimension of the awesome atmospheric dramatic effects. The black levels are natural throughout and very deep at times. The scenes that transpire at night in the wheat field look totally amazing. Since it’s a dark space opera so to speak I would go as far as to say the colour palette is pretty well spot on for how you would want it to look. There’s nothing exaggerated or overblown and when those explosions go off it blinds you like any good explosion in the dark of night should. As to the skin tones, they are all very pasty white and natural throughout because of being stuck in outer space for the very long period in travelling outer space and I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary and every one had a healthy glow to them unless they were ill, you know sick from the alien bug in them. But there is one very negative aspect of viewing this film, is that it should have been shot in 3D, especially being a follow up to the previous film. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Blu-ray Audio Quality – 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment presents this Blu-ray disc in an awesome 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience and gives a great deal of soundscape expansion here and all the sounds we hear are fine and totally pristine down to hearing a pin drop. Other good sound effects is when you experience the harsh weather environments, crashes, explosions, rain, bumps in the night and so much more in a soundscape audio experience and absolutely nothing gets lost here. Even the quietest whimper is heard above it all and I really have to commend on the way they brought this track to life with the utmost of authenticity. The rear speakers were constantly engaged, but never at a level that sounded forced or unnatural. What is also very atmospheric is the interior of the spaceship, especially whenever the doors are sliding open and closed and the smoke steaming up all around you and to hear the growl of the alien hatchlings and the screams you get to hear as a result. The rain sound effects are another totally cool sound effect, which lends in credibility to putting you in the middle of it all here. The dialogue levels were always clean, prioritized and intelligent throughout and I never strained once to hear any of the spoken words from the actors, which is another total plus!

Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:

Special Feature: Deleted and Extended Scenes [2017] [1080p] [2.40:1] [17:37] Here you get to view twelve individual items and they are as follows: Prologue (Extended Scene); Walter in Greenhouse (Deleted Scene); Oram and Daniels (Extended Scene); Walter Visits Daniels (Deleted Scene); Daniels Bedroom Flashback (Deleted Scene); Jacob’s Funeral (Extended Scene); Ledwards Fall (Deleted Scene); Crossing the Plaza (Extended Scene); Daniels Thanks Walter (Deleted Scene); Rosenthal Prayer (Deleted Scene); Walter Reports Back (Deleted Scene) and Stairs to Eggroom (Extended Scene). As usual you can either view them separately or Play All. As an added bonus, you can view these clips in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

Special Feature: USCSS COVENANT [2017] [1080p] [2.40:1] [16:00] With this special feature it includes three separate videos that add a lot more to the characters backgrounds, and they are as follows: MEET WALTER [2:20] Here we get to view how Walter the Android was built and then finally we get to see the all-new Walter, who has been created to serve. PHOBOS [9:09] Here we get to see the crew being processed via the Phobos Group “A” Test Assessment to see if they will be suitable for a long journey into space upon the Covenant space ship to the planet Origae-6. Please be warned, there are certain scenes in this video that you might find too extreme. THE LAST SUPPER [4:37] Here we get to see the crew on the Covenant space ship starting out on their journey to the planet Origae-6, and having their last meal before they embark on their long hibernation journey into deep space.

Special Feature: SECTOR 87 – PLANET 4 [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] Here you get to view three separate special features and they are as follows: THE CROSSING [2:34] Here we are informed that in 2093, the Prometheus Expedition went looking for humanity’s creators. The mission ended in total disaster after discovering a deadly alien pathogen and the two survivors continued their search and we see what happened when the human Elizabeth and the android David finally arrived at the planet Origae-6. ADVENT [6:41] Here we see David the android explaining his inner thoughts of a new Eden and planting an alien inside Elizabeth while in hibernation in wanting to create a new species of alien and thinking he is God the Creator. DAVID’S ILLUSTRATIONS: Here you get to view five separate categories and they are FLORA; FAUNA, SHAW; SPECIMENS and ALIEN. So when you click on each category you have a massive amount of beautiful stunning black-and-white illustrations and it informs you how to view all the illustrations you get to view.

Special Feature: MASTER CLASS: RIDLEY SCOTT [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 2.40:1] [55:30] With this special feature you get to view an in-depth look at the making of the film and is in four individual and they are as follows: STORY; CHARACTERS; SETTING and CREATURES, and as usual you can either view them separately or Play All. It also features a host from the cast and crew interviews interspersed with tons of behind-the-scene footage, and viewers can learn a great deal on the director's creative style and approach to the plot, the characters, the visual effects, the shooting location, lots of behind-the-scene filming and lots of clips from ‘ALIEN; COVENANT’ and the original ‘ALIEN’ sci-film. This is highly recommended watch and well worth of its title “Master Class.” Contributors include: Ridley Scott [Director/Producer], John Logan [Screenwriter], Dante Harper [Screenwriter], Mark Huffam [Producer], Callie Hernandez [Upworth], Katherine Waterson [Daniels], Billy Crudup [Oram], Amy Seimetz [Faris], Benjamin Rigby [Ledward], Michael Fassbender [David/Walter], Danny McBride [Tennessee], Demian Bichir [Lope], Kyle Gardener [Stunt Coordinator], Carmen Ejogo [Karine], Chris Seagers [Production Designer], Neil Corbould [Special Effects Supervisor], Dariusz Wolski [Director of Photography], Charley Henley [Visual Effects Supervisor], Dane Hallett [Set Dec Illustrator], Matt Hatton [Set Dec Illustrator], Uli Latukefu [Cole], Janty Yates [Costume Designer], Conor O’Sullivan [Creature Design Supervisor], Adam Johansen [Creature Effects Supervisor] and James Franco [Branson].

AUDIO COMMENTARY BY DIRECTOR RIDLEY SCOTT: Here we are welcomed by Ridley Scott who informs us he was the director of the film ‘ALIEN: COVENANT,’ and he also informs us that with this audio commentary of this film, it will be off the cuff and that nothing is really planned, just making comments that will be totally fresh. Ridley talks about his first film ‘ALIEN’ and he felt he had to revisit the Alien story by making the sci-fi film ‘PRMEHTEUS’ and asking the questions, who would make such nasty bio mechanoid intergalactic hideous thing and for what reason, so Ridley felt ‘PROMEHTEUS’ was a step forward to discover how and why, so Ridley felt at the beginning of ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ he felt we needed a link between the two sci-fi films and then starts to talk about the PROLOGUE at the start of ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ and the banter between the two people that were seen in the sci-fi film ‘PROMETHEUS’ and explaining the scenario, especially via the A.I David and how dangerous the human realises David could be and how the human is vulnerable, because the human is jealous of David as he cannot live forever, but of course in the sci-fi film ‘PROMEHTEUS’ the human gets dealt a mighty blow in shortening his life. Ridley gives great praise about the genius film music composer Jerry Goldsmith and why Ridley Scott decided to use again the original composed music from the film ‘ALIEN’ for the start of ‘ALIEN: COVENANT,’ as Ridley really feels Jerry Goldsmith is a genius and always does the best film music scores and very relevant for ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ as it links the two films so perfectly. When the space craft Covenant hits the solar flair and causes damage to the solar flares and wakes up the main crew, Ridley talks about all those actors and why they were chosen for this mission and what their jobs would be in real life. Ridley explains about the massive solar panels and what they would be made of and says NASA is thinking of using the same material for any future long distant space travel and in reality would be the same size as four English football fields. Scientists have spoken to Ridley in saying they get their ideas from watching his sci-fi films, as Ridley seems to solve any problems beforehand that might happen with real life space travel and so they feel Ridley Scott has helped the advancement of space travel. When the team from the Covenant land on the planet, Ridley talks a lot about the locations in Fiordland National Park, South Island in New Zealand, and informs us what is real and what was CGI computer generated images. A lot of the time Ridley just rambles on about the technical aspect precise details of the filming and why they did certain scenes and just talked in general terms that would be more interesting to people who work in the film industry and just went over my head, as some of the details was not very interesting. What also made me annoyed is that with certain scenes we view near the end of the film, unfortunately Ridley states the obvious and something we can work out for ourselves what we are viewing. When you see the control room on the Covenant, with the round table that was used in the ‘PROMEHTEUS’ sci-fi film, you see in the middle the nodding toy, well Ridley informs us that this is the same object that was seen in the original ‘ALIEN’ sci-fi film. One bit of exciting news Ridley informs us, is that he is in process of doing a screenplay for ‘ALIEN: COVENANT 2’ and ‘ALIEN: COVENANT 3.’ As we get to view the start of the credits, Ridley hope you enjoyed his little chat, and also asks if you enjoyed the film, bye!

Special Feature: PRODUCTION GALLERY [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] With this special feature you get to view four individual gallery images, where you get a selection of massive amount of awesome still images and with each titled gallery, you can either select AUTO ADVANCE to launch the images slideshow, where the images you view will change every five seconds or you can select MANUAL ADVANCE for your own individual preference in view the different image galleries and they are as follows: RIDLEYGRAMS [19 images]; CONCEPTUAL ART [115 images]; CREATURES [34 images] and ;OGOS AND PATCHES [34 images.

THEATRICAL TRAILERS: Here you get to view two stunning theatrical trailers and they are as follows: Theatrical Trailer 1 [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:26] and Theatrical Trailer 2 [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:04]. One added bonus of viewing these trailers is that it is viewed in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

Finally, ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ [2017] Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment presents Ridley Scott’s return to the universe he created, especially with this follow up from his previous directed film ‘PRMETHEUS.’ ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ is the newest chapter in the ground-breaking ALIEN franchise. Some harsh critics say that the film and pacing could be much better, but after all it is what it is, all about nasty Aliens! ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ is an unrelenting action movie where the horror arrives from unexpected quarters. But more importantly ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ pulls together some of the story threads thrown our way with the previous film ‘Prometheus.’ But with this Blu-ray disc release includes a series of refreshing extras to explore that further flesh-out the Alien ecosystem. ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ is an unrelenting action movie where the horror arrives from unexpected quarters. But more importantly ‘ALIEN: COVENANT’ pulls together some of the story threads thrown out with the previous ‘PROMETHEUS’ sci-fi film, But most of all it has magnificent visuals, mayhem and loads of buckets of the usual gore ensues, so enjoy! Highly Recommended!

Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Fil Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
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Lamotte
5.0 out of 5 stars J’adore
Reviewed in France on 23 March 2024
Verified Purchase
J’adore les films d’alien super super
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