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Review#85: Predator 2 (With a rerun of Review #11: Predator and Review #42: Predators)
Set in 1997, 10 years after the original movie, one of the alien species has found itself in the urban jungle of Los Angeles.
What surrounds him is a target rich environment and an ultra violent society on the streets.
Trying desperately to police these streets is a tough, violent but exceptional cop called Lieutenant Mike Harrigan. The Predator, being a sporting hunter, has taken a fancy to Harrigan as he is one of the toughest humans in the city and is seen as almost an 'ultimate prey' to the alien.
In the meantime, the alien has also decided to pick off the various gangs that fill the city streets, the very same gangs that Harrigan and his team of cops is trying to stop and has even decided to kill a few of Harrigan's team of police officers.
It's up to Harrigan to find out what is ritually killing these gang members and his friends, and discover why some secretive Government agents are interested in this shadowy killer.
At first, I wasn't a fan of Predator 2. It lacks some of the style of the original movie.
After waiting a few years to view it again with a more adult point of view, I actually think it's on a par with McTiernan's original masterpiece.
It's a very different movie in feel, it borders on OTT violence and completely crosses the boundaries of ultraviolent that was set up by Verhoeven's movie Robocop.
It's hard, harsh, gory, violent and at times genuinely has a few scares too.
What makes the film work though, is the fantastic direction and the raw grittiness of the screenplay.
The film plays out in an extremely in-your-face-violence kind of way, but the screenplay is brilliantly put together and there's more of a look into the Predator's way of life.
Predator 2 is also the film that expanded the Predator Legend for the viewer by building on the honour and the dignity of the sporting warrior hunter and has many subtle levels of how the Predator species likes to pick out it's prey, including two or three scenes of actually teasing his intended targets.
There's also that trophy cabinet at the end of the film which sparked a few whispers.
The acting is also another plus. Danny Glover, Ruben Blades, Bill Paxton and Gary Busey all add massive amounts of authenticity to the superviolent city streets.
Calvin Lockhart makes a brillianty memorable, but small appearance, as a Jamaican drug-lord too.
With Kevin Peter Hall reprising his role as the main alien and playing another, smaller role at the end in the original Predator suit too, the movie has incredible authenticty as a sequel and carries a lot of weight in continuity.
The effects are certainly on a par with the first movie too.
Though the film shows the odd breakup in the effects due to being a 'film' movie (digital film hadn't been utilised fully at the time of production), they're still very real and extremely believable and work with the continuity of the franchise.
All in all, I'm glad I waited a few years before rewatching.
Though it's a completely different film to the lead up, it's certainly better than being just a cash-in rerun of the first film and has masses of expansion in legend, species, history and future.
Certainly a top-class sequel.
My rating is on a par with Predator at 99%
Review #11: Predator.
Ok, another alien sci-fi, but hey, it's my forte.
A heavy hitting cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Sonny Landham.
Based in a Central American Jungle, a Special Forces Group go in search of what they think is a Cabinet Minister and his company, whom found themselves lost across a National Border and end up captured by an enemy force.
Their mission is to go into the danger zone, find the V.I.Ps and bring them home.
They hit their targets with ease, these guys are the best of the best of the best…
… yet find themselves picked off one by one from a strange and upsetting outside force.
One of the men in the Special Forces group is seriously spooked from the deaths of his team-mates and says of what’s killing them off: "It ain’t no man".
Extremely guerrilla film making, relatively low budget with most of the cash spared for the special effects, this movie is an absolute must see for any sci-fi fan.
A well written yet extremely simple storyline make for even more entertainment.
The very well and simply written characters and their personas are even more of a bonus to the film.
Arnie is at his best, as too are the other actors for what they’re worth, the director John McTiernan has eeked the most and the best from the cast. Keeping in mind Arnie’s English was almost non-existent at the time of filming, both Arnie and McTiernan did an exceptional job.
One thing that makes the movie great, is the fact that even after only a short amount of screen-time, you still give a sh*t about the characters. Awesome.
If sci-fi isn’t your thing, still watch. Horror, intrigue and fear are the order of the day for any first time watchers.
The special effects, even for the mid-80s, are spectacular and have even set the benchmark for every Predator film that has followed since, yet has never been bettered.
A sense of claustrophobia is felt throughout the entire movie, the jungle setting adds to that and the sci-fi feel never lets up as you always feel as though you’re being watched by something other-worldly. Again, awesome.
By far the best, and probably ever will be the best Predator movie and very close to being the best movie in my Library.
The perfect horror for first time watchers with a chunk of action thrown in and, yet, also the perfect 'horror action' for 'vets' of the movie.
For me, just near the perfect movie.
My rating (my highest out of all my reviews so far) 99%
Review #42: Predators.
4 soldiers, all from different armies, a Yakuza hitman, a Colombian gangster, a criminal and a doctor, all strangers, find themselves waking up in mid-airdrop and land in a jungle.
Quickly they learn that an unseen force is hunting them and have to team up with one another and find a way out of their predicament and out of the jungle before they’re killed off one by one.
It’s a happy return to a more serious Predator movie. AvP had almost killed off the franchise with the universe crossover that it failed to construct.
Rodriguez has taken all the things that were great with the Predator franchise and utilised it in the best way that he could have and has added new takes and expansion to the mix as well.
The writing is simplistic, but there are a few touches of originality in the storyline and the filmmakers have gladly kept to the original Legends as much as possible. They’ve also expanded only just enough to make it watchable for those who have never seen the original movies and make it an acceptable movie for the already existing Preds fans.
The action too is very Predator-esk. It’s loud, fast and exciting to watch and often appears out of nowhere.
The effects of the film are another welcome return. The CGI is utilised brilliantly and the ‘dogs’ seen in the film are certainly a threat and look the part too.
The acting is pretty standard for the type of movie. I was dubious about Adrien Brody in the lead role but he really encapsulates the no nonsense soldier role brilliantly.
A sexy Alice Braga with a gun, is also good to watch. Her @ss is awesome.
Walton Goggins is probably the best of the lot as the convict. He’s rather strange and plays the role with a memorable, ‘bull-sh*tter’ style.
The main fault with the movie is that the snot and gore has, to an extent, been toned down in place of more stylish violence.
There are scenes of blood and guts, just not as graphic as the original movie and certainly less than Predator 2, though I guess that’s Rodriguez’ way of making a movie.
The thing is though, it works and makes the movie memorable.
Many say that Predators is a re-run of the first movie and I’d agree, it feels very samey, almost being the Superman Returns of the Predator franchise, but Rodriguez’ and director Nimrod’s collaboration really does work very well.
All in all it’s a surprisingly good, if less gory re-run of Predator and expands the legend in all the right places and at just the right amount.
My rating is a well deserved 85%
Set in 1997, 10 years after the original movie, one of the alien species has found itself in the urban jungle of Los Angeles.
What surrounds him is a target rich environment and an ultra violent society on the streets.
Trying desperately to police these streets is a tough, violent but exceptional cop called Lieutenant Mike Harrigan. The Predator, being a sporting hunter, has taken a fancy to Harrigan as he is one of the toughest humans in the city and is seen as almost an 'ultimate prey' to the alien.
In the meantime, the alien has also decided to pick off the various gangs that fill the city streets, the very same gangs that Harrigan and his team of cops is trying to stop and has even decided to kill a few of Harrigan's team of police officers.
It's up to Harrigan to find out what is ritually killing these gang members and his friends, and discover why some secretive Government agents are interested in this shadowy killer.
At first, I wasn't a fan of Predator 2. It lacks some of the style of the original movie.
After waiting a few years to view it again with a more adult point of view, I actually think it's on a par with McTiernan's original masterpiece.
It's a very different movie in feel, it borders on OTT violence and completely crosses the boundaries of ultraviolent that was set up by Verhoeven's movie Robocop.
It's hard, harsh, gory, violent and at times genuinely has a few scares too.
What makes the film work though, is the fantastic direction and the raw grittiness of the screenplay.
The film plays out in an extremely in-your-face-violence kind of way, but the screenplay is brilliantly put together and there's more of a look into the Predator's way of life.
Predator 2 is also the film that expanded the Predator Legend for the viewer by building on the honour and the dignity of the sporting warrior hunter and has many subtle levels of how the Predator species likes to pick out it's prey, including two or three scenes of actually teasing his intended targets.
There's also that trophy cabinet at the end of the film which sparked a few whispers.
The acting is also another plus. Danny Glover, Ruben Blades, Bill Paxton and Gary Busey all add massive amounts of authenticity to the superviolent city streets.
Calvin Lockhart makes a brillianty memorable, but small appearance, as a Jamaican drug-lord too.
With Kevin Peter Hall reprising his role as the main alien and playing another, smaller role at the end in the original Predator suit too, the movie has incredible authenticty as a sequel and carries a lot of weight in continuity.
The effects are certainly on a par with the first movie too.
Though the film shows the odd breakup in the effects due to being a 'film' movie (digital film hadn't been utilised fully at the time of production), they're still very real and extremely believable and work with the continuity of the franchise.
All in all, I'm glad I waited a few years before rewatching.
Though it's a completely different film to the lead up, it's certainly better than being just a cash-in rerun of the first film and has masses of expansion in legend, species, history and future.
Certainly a top-class sequel.
My rating is on a par with Predator at 99%
Review #11: Predator.
Ok, another alien sci-fi, but hey, it's my forte.
A heavy hitting cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Sonny Landham.
Based in a Central American Jungle, a Special Forces Group go in search of what they think is a Cabinet Minister and his company, whom found themselves lost across a National Border and end up captured by an enemy force.
Their mission is to go into the danger zone, find the V.I.Ps and bring them home.
They hit their targets with ease, these guys are the best of the best of the best…
… yet find themselves picked off one by one from a strange and upsetting outside force.
One of the men in the Special Forces group is seriously spooked from the deaths of his team-mates and says of what’s killing them off: "It ain’t no man".
Extremely guerrilla film making, relatively low budget with most of the cash spared for the special effects, this movie is an absolute must see for any sci-fi fan.
A well written yet extremely simple storyline make for even more entertainment.
The very well and simply written characters and their personas are even more of a bonus to the film.
Arnie is at his best, as too are the other actors for what they’re worth, the director John McTiernan has eeked the most and the best from the cast. Keeping in mind Arnie’s English was almost non-existent at the time of filming, both Arnie and McTiernan did an exceptional job.
One thing that makes the movie great, is the fact that even after only a short amount of screen-time, you still give a sh*t about the characters. Awesome.
If sci-fi isn’t your thing, still watch. Horror, intrigue and fear are the order of the day for any first time watchers.
The special effects, even for the mid-80s, are spectacular and have even set the benchmark for every Predator film that has followed since, yet has never been bettered.
A sense of claustrophobia is felt throughout the entire movie, the jungle setting adds to that and the sci-fi feel never lets up as you always feel as though you’re being watched by something other-worldly. Again, awesome.
By far the best, and probably ever will be the best Predator movie and very close to being the best movie in my Library.
The perfect horror for first time watchers with a chunk of action thrown in and, yet, also the perfect 'horror action' for 'vets' of the movie.
For me, just near the perfect movie.
My rating (my highest out of all my reviews so far) 99%
Review #42: Predators.
4 soldiers, all from different armies, a Yakuza hitman, a Colombian gangster, a criminal and a doctor, all strangers, find themselves waking up in mid-airdrop and land in a jungle.
Quickly they learn that an unseen force is hunting them and have to team up with one another and find a way out of their predicament and out of the jungle before they’re killed off one by one.
It’s a happy return to a more serious Predator movie. AvP had almost killed off the franchise with the universe crossover that it failed to construct.
Rodriguez has taken all the things that were great with the Predator franchise and utilised it in the best way that he could have and has added new takes and expansion to the mix as well.
The writing is simplistic, but there are a few touches of originality in the storyline and the filmmakers have gladly kept to the original Legends as much as possible. They’ve also expanded only just enough to make it watchable for those who have never seen the original movies and make it an acceptable movie for the already existing Preds fans.
The action too is very Predator-esk. It’s loud, fast and exciting to watch and often appears out of nowhere.
The effects of the film are another welcome return. The CGI is utilised brilliantly and the ‘dogs’ seen in the film are certainly a threat and look the part too.
The acting is pretty standard for the type of movie. I was dubious about Adrien Brody in the lead role but he really encapsulates the no nonsense soldier role brilliantly.
A sexy Alice Braga with a gun, is also good to watch. Her @ss is awesome.
Walton Goggins is probably the best of the lot as the convict. He’s rather strange and plays the role with a memorable, ‘bull-sh*tter’ style.
The main fault with the movie is that the snot and gore has, to an extent, been toned down in place of more stylish violence.
There are scenes of blood and guts, just not as graphic as the original movie and certainly less than Predator 2, though I guess that’s Rodriguez’ way of making a movie.
The thing is though, it works and makes the movie memorable.
Many say that Predators is a re-run of the first movie and I’d agree, it feels very samey, almost being the Superman Returns of the Predator franchise, but Rodriguez’ and director Nimrod’s collaboration really does work very well.
All in all it’s a surprisingly good, if less gory re-run of Predator and expands the legend in all the right places and at just the right amount.
My rating is a well deserved 85%
