4K Review: “The Arrival”: an underrated classic, remastered

THE ARRIVAL is one of those now-classic late night movies that is a fun mix of a science, science fiction, and the paranoid “are aliens among us” invasion thriller. Tying the alien plot to the existing threats that weather patterns and climate change pose to life on Earth, the idea to use global warming as a credible avenue for extraterrestrial influence to exploit was a unique “alien invasion” take in the late 1990s.

This set contains a 4K UHD disc, a Blu-ray disc, and a code to redeem for a digital copy. Both discs contain the same remastered feature film and the same collection of new and legacy bonus features. The legacy features are from the original DVD releases, and maintain those original aspect ratios (and video quality). The digital code bonus is for the feature film only.

The feature film picture quality on both the 4K and Blu-ray discs is wonderful, and the movie is still a fun watch, holding up well after 30 years. The computer interfaces and the vehicles really do stamp the time period of the movie, but they don’t distract from the story.

The 4K UHD disc has an Atmos track and an Uncompressed (PCM) audio track, and the Blu-ray has the same audio tracks, and both discs contain the David Twohy commentary track. One problem I ran into was with the Dolby Atmos track on the 4K disc. There had been a number of scenes where the audio stutters and sticks. This audio issue didn’t appear with either track on the Blu-ray disc, and appeared only intermittently on the 4K disc. The Uncompressed track on the 4K disc appeared to play fine, but took a while to “settle” in… not sure what was going on there.

Both discs also contain settings where the viewer can bookmark scenes of their choice, allowing more granular navigation that the standard scene selections. They also both have English and Spanish subtitles.

Another interesting feature is that the Blu-ray has a different Vestron Video disc intro than what the 4K UHD disc has. Curious, but nostalgic and also amusing, for those of us who watched a lot of Vestron Video VHS tapes and DVDs way back when.

The new featurette about the process of remastering the film’s video and audio, and doing so with David Twohy’s oversight and input the entire way, is a delightful little addition.

SPECIAL FEATURES
Lionsgate Limited Extras
– CONVERGENCE: David Twohy on The Arrival
– PRESCIENCE: Actress Lindsay Crouse
– INTO THE VORTEX: Special Effects
– TECHNOSIGNATURES: Remastering Picture + Sound

Legacy Bonus Features
– Audio Commentary: David Twohy (director)
– New Horizons: story featurette
– The Making of The Arrival
– Alternate Ending
– EPK B-Roll
– Interviews with Cast & Crew
– EPK Featurette
– Promo reel
– Theatrical Trailer
– Home Video Trailer
– TV Spot

I must admit, hearing the music in the alternate ending caused a funny flashback, because in its unfinished form, it used the same dramatic theme cue from DANTE’S PEAK, which was released in 1997. And DANTE’S PEAK is another movie that was also recently remastered and released as a 4K UHD + Blu-ray set by Kino Korber Studio Classics.

THE ARRIVAL 4K from Lionsgate Limited is a “Vestron Video” Collector’s Series release, and while not officially listed as a 30th Anniversary release, the year 2026 is indeed the 30th anniversary release of THE ARRIVAL.

I’d give the set 5 stars for the picture quality and the number of special features, and for including the legacy bonus features. Because of the issues I experienced during playback, I’d have to give it a 4 for 4K audio, but a 5 for Blu-ray audio. I would like to know if this is an isolated issue (meaning my equipment) or a known wider issue. This could simply be a matter of me not having a sound system capable of fully processing the advanced settings on the 4K UHD audio tracks.

THE ARRIVAL 4K UHD is in stores now.

Lionsgate provided this copy of THE ARRIVAL for review