It took forever, but James Cameron finally brought three of his classic films into the modern age a few months back with the release of “The Abyss,” “True Lies” and “Aliens” on 4K UHD disc and streaming. “The Abyss” and “True Lies” had previously been stuck with DVD-only copies or HD cable/streaming transfers, while “Aliens” did have a Blu-ray prior to these releases. The results were.
.. mixed, to say the least.
Of the trio, “The Abyss” came out the best as it had only been available on a low-quality DVD prior to this, and the new print was obviously handled with care. The other two have suffered heavy criticism for the A.I.
used to strip the film’s grain. “Aliens” was shot on a film stock famous for being heavily grainy and looks positively odd with this new look, whereas “True Lies” looks like a bad DVD. With “Aliens” there’s a touch more detail on hand than the 2010 Blu-ray, but in all other aspects it seems visibly worse – some tech boffins suggest that it seems to be an upscaled and A.
I.-powered digital noise reduction version of the print used for that old Blu-ray. Speaking with about his new documentary series, Cameron was asked about the poor reaction to the “Aliens” 4K disc and he didn’t mince words: “When people start reviewing your grain structure, they need to move out of mom’s basement and meet somebody.
Right? I’m serious. I mean, are you f—— kidding me? I’ve got a great team that does the transfers.