Romulus director Ian Holm’s CGI resurrection was fixed in the home release

After the original 1979 “Alien” film, each subsequent film seems to have featured certain elements that immediately led to a backlash among audiences. James Cameron’s sequel was criticized for stripping away horror and replacing it with watered-down action, while “Alien 3” represented widespread fan dissatisfaction by killing off beloved heroes Newt and Hicks… before doing the same to its main character. Lady, Ripley. (The less we say about “Alien: Resurrection,” a movie I enjoyed a lot, the better.) Both of Ridley Scott’s previous films rubbed many viewers the wrong way, though, as they received more and more appreciation over the years, but it’s a safe bet To say the least, last year’s “Alien: Romulus” was meant to be a much-needed return to form.

In many ways, I did just that, and maybe a little too much also Good, As Chris Evangelista of /Film wrote in his review — but it also continued the franchise’s grand tradition of alienating audiences with (pun certainly intended) another divisive creative choice.

This time, it was about Spoilers development It’s about halfway through “Alien: Romulus” that our new heroes discover a very familiar face aboard the abandoned space station Romulus. Meet Rook, the newest model of the prosthetic who still bears the same face as the late, great Ian Holm, who so memorably portrayed Ash all those years ago. Although not exactly the same personality, the same malevolence as Weyland-Yutani remained ingrained in his system. But the scene was not without all kinds of controversywith fans outraged by the grainy-looking visual effects, along with the whole idea of ​​digitally recreating another dead actor. However, for the home release, director Fede Alvarez claims to have “fixed” the issue… but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

What’s the Xenomorph equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig? Whatever the case, this appears to be the “solution” to what has easily become the biggest flashpoint surrounding the release of “Alien: Romulus.” Although many fans (myself included) took issue with the concept of Ian Holm’s likeness being used as a cheap Easter egg in an old sequel, it seems the anger directed at this scene has been slightly misunderstood and is on its way to Fede Alvarez’s doorstep. . Instead of addressing actual In this case, the director only addressed the most superficial criticism in a new interview with empire. Alvarez admitted that the visual elements were not up to par, and explained:

“We ran out of time in post-production to get it right. I wasn’t 100% happy with some of the shots, where the CG could have felt more intrusive. So, for the people who react negatively, I don’t blame them.” “

So what’s different this time? Apparently, 20th Century Studios (now owned by Disney, of course) made a rare commitment to pouring more resources into improving the visual effects, post-release. According to the manager:

“We fixed it. We made it better for release now. I convinced the studio that we needed to spend the money and make sure we gave the companies that were involved in making it the time to finish it and do it right. It’s so much better.”

This is all well and good, but it doesn’t quite solve the main problem at hand. It’s worth noting that Ian Holm’s estate signed off on the decision (and agreed, presumably, to receive compensation for the film’s box office success), but does that automatically make it okay? This same discussion proved to be the case A major sticking point in the 2023 Screen Actors Guild strike The least that can be said is that the discussion will not stop anytime soon.

Now that I’m out of my soap box, readers may be wondering: How exactly did the creative team recreate Ian Holm’s image for “Alien: Romulus” in the first place? It helps that director Fede Alvarez sheds more light on this in the same interview with Empire. Much of the film brought back the same sense of tactility that the original “Alien” film boasted, opting for effects and sets that were as practical as possible which were then enhanced by visual effects work. The same goes for the character of Rook, though Alvarez admits that the balance between the practical and the digital in the final cut didn’t fully reflect their intentions from the beginning:

“(Puppeteer) Shane Mahan actually did this animation for Ian Holm based on the cast from ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ and that was the only one that existed. What we did (in the home entertainment version) was a lot more puppet-friendly and it’s way better.”

Apparently, during the production process, this “initial mix of technologies” ended up skewing more towards digital as the creative team rushed to get the film done in time for release. In addition to Mahan’s animation, actor Daniel Bates was credited with providing the facial and vocal performances on the set. Add in the digital work used to recreate Holm’s face and expressions in action, and it took a village to bring this entire sequence to life. Was it worth it in the end? Again, I would argue that this was largely not the case, and it overshadowed the entire film, which was otherwise enjoyable (And really really gross) He watches. However, you can experience “Alien: Romulus” again on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and digital now.