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Matt Ferguson
News + Trends
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VHS comeback! "Alien: Romulus" is released on video cassette

Luca Fontana
21.10.2024
Translation: machine translated

Retro alert: 20th Century Studios is releasing "Alien: Romulus" not only digitally, but also as a limited edition VHS cassette. Director Fede Alvarez announced the unusual format at a film screening in Los Angeles.

In a world dominated by streaming services, 20th Century Studios is going back to the good old days and releasing "Alien: Romulus" as a limited edition VHS cassette. This was announced by director Fede Alvarez during a "Beyond Fest" screening in Los Angeles.

It remains to be seen whether the image material was specially adapted to the 4:3 format of the cassette. The exact number of available cassettes and their price are also unknown.

An additional detail that potential buyers should bear in mind: The VHS will be released in NTSC format - which means that it cannot be played on European PAL recorders without special hardware modifications. If you want to secure this VHS, you either need a VHS recorder that supports both formats or simply see it as a collector's item - which is likely to be the primary appeal for many anyway.

Pure nostalgia - or the return of physical storage media?

VHS cassettes shaped an entire generation: the chunky, black housing and the ability to record films on television defined home cinema in the 1980s and 1990s. Including the VHS cassette of the first "Alien" film.

The fact that "Alien: Romulus" of all films is getting a VHS release is no coincidence: if any of the now seven "Alien" films has the most in common with the original from 1979, it's this one. I already wrote this in my film review:

Now, almost 20 years after the last major VHS release, this format is returning in the form of a collector's edition. Interestingly, the VHS release of "Alien: Romulus" not only marks a nostalgic trip down memory lane, but also a return to physical media.

However, if you have a DVD, Blu-ray or even a VHS on your shelf, you don't have to worry about such licence problems.

Header image: Matt Ferguson

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Luca Fontana
Senior Editor
Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» 

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