Since Alien first burst onto cinema screen in 1979 the franchise has seen many sequels and spin-offs, with varying levels of success. Alien: Romulus is technically the ninth in the series (if you could the Alien vs Predator films too) and the largely positive reviews suggest that director Fede Alvarez has achieved the difficult task and put together a film that competes with the best in the series.
As befits a major blockbuster movie there are several distinct formats you could choose to see it in, which I’ll run through here.
Laser up if you can
The standard choice will be your standard screen, likely in your local multiplex, in 2D, (there are no 3D presentations) on a digital projector, with standard 5.1 surround sound. The quality of these screens is going to be variable, and many will still employ a Xenon lamp-based projector. As the lamps age, they lose brightness, which isn’t what you want for a film with dark, moody scenes. but one way of ensuring you’re likely to get a better experience is looking for one that advertises itself as “laser”, which will always give you a brighter, cleaner picture with stronger colors.
For example, AMC is now advertising “AMC with Laser” at many of its locations. This means you’ll see an image projected by a Barco 4K projector onto a specially optimised screen.
If you want to make it more of an occasion then you’ll want to find a premium larger format screen. These start with a larger than normal screen, with a 4K laser projector and Dolby Atmos surround sound, which will give precise and powerful sound, which will be perfect for a movie such as Alien Romulus. You should also get better-than-average seating.
In the UK the Cineworld chain calls this ‘ Superscreen’, while in the US Regal advertises them as ‘RPX’ and AMC calls it ‘PRIME’. Regal says RPX screens include “Buttkickers”, which means you’ll feel impact in the seat of your pants, for that extra level of immersion.
The “fun” choices
If you want to maximise that immersion though you might want to choose 4DX. This is where the seats move, you get pummelled in the back to feel the hits, as well as rain, flashing lights and smoke effects. I’ve experienced this a few times, most recently for Twister, and it was a frankly hilariously entertaining experience. Not one for the purists so maybe a good choice for a second viewing.
Another variant is ScreenX, which offers additional images down the sides of the movie theatre. I’m less sold on this than other formats. It worked superbly well for Gran Turismo, with the sides a perfect match for the in-cockpit racing car sequences. However, it wasn’t as effective for me for The Creator.
The premium choices
A much better choice is Dolby Cinema, which combines several features to make it a premium experience. There’s the 4K laser projection system from Christie, which gives the widest dynamic range of any currently deployed cinema system. It’s not full HDR, but you’ll get deep blacks clean whites and vivid colors. You also get Dolby Atmos, which delivers the most precise 3D audio of any system and has plenty of tight powerful bass too. The theaters are also specifically designed and optimised for the sound – and the seating will be more comfortable too.
Proper Dolby Cinemas are still relatively rare however, so the big alternative for Alien: Romulus is IMAX particularly as in all IMAX theaters the entire movie will be shown in a 1.90:1 aspect ratio, offering more screen information at the top and bottom.
Not that the film was captured on an Arri Alexa 35, which as far as I am aware is not part of the ‘Certified by IMAX’ program. This is why the film is advertised as “Experience in IMAX” rather than “Filmed for IMAX”. However, with its 4.6K sensor and 2.5 F-stops, there’s plenty of resolution and dynamic range capture to create an image that will look great on an extra-large IMAX screen – the bigger the better.
Unfortunately, many IMAX theaters are still using Xenon lamps so if you have the choice, travel further to see it in laser for a brighter, punchier, image.
Either way, it will be worth it for the IMAX sound alone. If mixed appropriately the IMAX system will always deliver a tremendous sonic experience, offering tremendous bass welly and precise tonal clarity.
That’s your list of choices for Alien: Romulus – and remember in theaters everyone can hear you eat noisily and see you use your phone – and anyone that does deserves a few and inevitably brief moments alone with a Xenomorph.