5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A spaceship lands back on Earth after a failed mission, but the astronauts have been replaced by hideous creatures that can penetrate people's bodies and make them explode. A group of cave explorers are attacked by the monsters inside an underground cave, but the survivors are in for a surprise when they finally manage to escape the trap...
Starring: Belinda Mayne, Mark Bodin, Michele Soavi, Fabrizia Castagnoli, Luigi DibertiHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit)
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Ciro Ippolito and Biagio Proietti's "Alien 2: On Earth" (1980) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors 88 Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; video interview with Eli Roth; and special effects test. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
It is as bad as advertised.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alien 2: On Earth arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.
The release is sourced from the same master that Midnight Legacy used to produce this release in the U.S. back in 2011. The master that was prepared is actually very strong, but it appears that at some point very light degraining was applied across the entire film. Unfortunately, the effects of it can be quite obvious on larger screens as they impact delineation, shadow definition in the darker footage, and depth. The good news is that there are still some pleasing visuals, but it is very easy to tell that without the degraining the technical presentation would have been quite impressive. Also, there are no age-related imperfections and image stability is excellent. (Note: This is a Region-Free release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.
The film was overdubbed in English, but this was almost certainly a very cheap job and it easily shows. To be perfectly clear, the entire track has more or less the same dynamic level but in some areas balance actually becomes quite unconvincing. As a result there are a few quite awkward flat spots where one can easily be fooled to believe that there is some sort of a mastering problem. Unfortunately, this is how the dub was finalized.
The Italians have a very long history of trying to capitalize on the success of Hollywood blockbusters while financing strange copycats and 'sequels', and they have actually produced some quite wonderful gems. Unfortunately, Alien 2: On Earth is not one of them. It is a cheaply made and rather poorly shot horror thriller whose only redeeming quality is its decent soundtrack. There is a nice video interview with Eli Roth on this release in which he argues exactly the opposite, but I just never saw any of the things that he was apparently impressed with.
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