Predators

Richard J. Johnson

Richard J. Johnson

Joystick Member
Just saw it. I loved it. It was very similar to the original. Even the score was damn near identical. But The first one is one of my all time faves so it wasn't a bad thing for me. It was very simple and I liked that. I did not mind spending $8.50 to check it out.
 
i just came back from the theater.

i agree with you about the simplicity, it worked well.

i wish there was more of Laurence Fishburne.
 
Richard J. Johnson said:
Just saw it. I loved it. It was very similar to the original. Even the score was damn near identical. But The first one is one of my all time faves so it wasn't a bad thing for me. It was very simple and I liked that. I did not mind spending $8.50 to check it out.
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Going to check it out this weekend. Really enjoyed the original myself.

MAH
 
Fahad said:
i just came back from the theater.

i agree with you about the simplicity, it worked well.

i wish there was more of Laurence Fishburne.
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Fishburne was oddly placed. I think it should have been more or not at all.

Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Going to check it out this weekend. Really enjoyed the original myself.

MAH
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Let me know what you think. If you liked the original you should like this. It's has so many similar elements.
 
I honestly enjoyed it. But I felt like I wanted more. I wish they should a little more personality from the Predators themselves. Maybe a little more interaction with the humans. Overall, it was fun and that's really all that matters. The Isabella character, didn't she reminded you of Michelle Rodriguez?
 
I found her more attractive than Michelle Rodriguez though. I enjoyed it as well, but I also wanted to see more interaction between humans and predators...a little more character development with Lawrence Fishburne would have been nice too.

Kegan
 
Just got back from Predators. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It wasn't as awesome as when I first saw Predator way back when, but that is a pretty big one to live up to. I'd say I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than Predator 2 though. Something about this kind of story taking place out in the wilderness instead of in an urban environment just works much better. I guess they need to keep things primal for a Predator film, which they did here.


SPOILERS AHEAD...


The biggest thing that could've made this better would have been to keep the reveal that the jungle they were dropped in was on another planet. That was such a great moment where the camera cranes down and reveals the sky with all the characters standing in the foreground. Since the look of the jungle was earth-like and not an alien world like in Avatar, they could've kept that a secret by keeping it out of the previews and marketing for the film. Oh well.

Also, they got a little carried away with trying to cram as many of the classic lines from Predator into this one. I'm not saying they shouldn't have fit a few of them in, but when they try to put in too many it comes off a bit cheesy after a point.

Same thing with some of the plot points. Many of the beats of the story were retreads of the original. Now, that's not really a bad thing. Hopefully if they make another one, they'll not stray too far but also add some of their own ideas a bit more and do some new things that differentiate the new Predators films from the classic first one. Things like the two tribes of predators having the blood feud. That was a cool idea that adds to the mythology while not taking away too much of the mystique.

Another minor nitpick, when Isabel talks about the Predator encounter from the first film, she says it took place in Guatemala. Thats not correct, as the first Predator took place in the fictional nation of Val Verde. If you're not familiar with Val Verde, it is a fictional Latin American dictatorship that was also used in Commando and Die Hard 2. Sorta like Zamunda in Coming to America.

END SPOILERS


So it wasn't as good as the original, but was still a lot of fun. I'd definitely see another Predator(s) film directed by Nimrod Antal and produced by Robert Rodriguez. I'd even feel safe with these guys doing an Aliens vs Predator film, as long as its set in the future with Colonial Marines.
 
It was brought in under budget ($38M ish) but this is one of those movies that really should have had $10M-$15M more on screen. I think RR was more worried about keeping the studio happy financially in a bad economy than making a good movie.
 
This movie rocked. Real guys in suits, not CG Predators; no confuse-O-vision action sequences--hell, for that matter, they had an actual, honest-to-God human v. Predator SWORDFIGHT with some of the longest takes since... since... I dunno, Kurosawa?

Not only that, but there's all sorts of potential for new stories, and not just the obvious sequel with Royce and Isabelle trying to escape the game preserve. For example, how does an Israeli grunt know so many details of what happened to "Dutch" in '87? I just hope, if they do make more movies, that they're either done by the same team, or by somebody who studies why this movie worked, rather than somebody wanting to make a quick buck by Michael Bay-ing it up...
 
from wikipedia:

Rodriguez has expressed that he has interest in a sequel because of the large number of potential ideas the Predator planet setting provides; "There are so many great ideas... Just following Laurence Fishburne's character (Noland) around in a prequel would be a great movie. Just the tales he tells in this movie alone, I want to see those experiences... That's why I wasn't precious even about the original script I had, because once you come up with the idea of a Predator Planet, that Predators use as their hunting grounds and humans are involved somehow, the story ideas that you can come up with are so numerous that you can come up with any approach. So we already have several ideas that we can go with for a sequel. They would all be good ideas but we would probably put them together to see which one rises to the top, if we made another one."[49]
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Wow, guess I am in the minority. I went and saw it the other night and was disappointed. Like has been mentioned, it was like the first one, which to me, makes this movie more pointless.

SPOILERS

First, I really wanted to see some more development and movement towards the predator homeworld(s). I would have liked them to add something newer than just a larger predator, which in some shots, looked larger, and in others, was not as large. While they were on some sort of alien world, it really wasn't alien at all. And the fact the doctor knew the neurotoxin plant was lame. the plantlife would probably NOT be the same. If the predators created this world from the habitat of earth, or some more information on the drill ships. that would have really helped sell the place. they did not do that.

Many of the wide shots were VERY out of focus. I was very surprised by this. Also, the score of the film was REALLY weird. In spots the music was great, but there was a few short segments in the middle where the music DID NOT FIT. It was VERY odd to hear. Even my GF commented on it.

It was fun, and Lawrence Fishburne's character was fun as well, but overall, it really didn't add anything to the genre for me.

Now, in that they are thinking of a sequel, that actually has me more excited, as I would like to see where they can go from here and actually add in a bit more science fiction into the story.

And funny enough, yes, the lead female is VERY much like Michele Rodriguez, to the point my GF thought it was her at first :)
 
Captain Pierce said:
This movie rocked. Real guys in suits, not CG Predators; no confuse-O-vision action sequences--hell, for that matter, they had an actual, honest-to-God human v. Predator SWORDFIGHT with some of the longest takes since... since... I dunno, Kurosawa?
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I agree completely with Pierce. The fact that they kept the story simple - just a band of misfits trying to survive - is why the film works. No heavy CG, no staccato editing, no romance. All the elements that made the first film a classic.

Now if only they'd had Danny Glover instead of Laurence Fishburne, that would have been something!

P.
 
Captain Pierce said:
This movie rocked. Real guys in suits, not CG Predators; no confuse-O-vision action sequences--hell, for that matter, they had an actual, honest-to-God human v. Predator SWORDFIGHT with some of the longest takes since... since... I dunno, Kurosawa?
Click to expand...

A feudal Japan setting with Predators, directed by Kurosawa would've been pretty awesome.

grimepoch said:
Now, in that they are thinking of a sequel, that actually has me more excited, as I would like to see where they can go from here and actually add in a bit more science fiction into the story.
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Same here. I'd love to see a Predator hunt on a more exotic alien world. That could be fun.

And funny enough, yes, the lead female is VERY much like Michele Rodriguez, to the point my GF thought it was her at first :)
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I thought the exact opposite. To me she seemed to be as far from Michelle Rodriguez as possible, besides Latino ethnicity. Not that I have anything against Michelle Rodriguez.

Peter Reynolds said:

Now if only they'd had Danny Glover instead of Laurence Fishburne, that would have been something!
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I'd love to have seen a crazy Mel Gibson with his Apocalypto beard as the guy who survived the predator hunting seasons. That would've been inspired casting.
 
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I suppose I should mention that I'm getting SPOILER-ish in this post... possibly my last post too, sorry. :)

I don't know that I want to see the Predator Homeworld. I think knowing too much about the Predators is only going to make them less cool. I don't know much of anything about why there's a feud between the "classic" and "new" Predators after seeing this movie, and I don't really care, honestly. Just the fact that there is works for me--well, maybe finding out about from a slightly deranged Larry Fishburne helped. :) (And how cool was it seeing the "classic" Pred put on the "classic" helmet after Royce cut him down? :D )

(Speaking of Fishburne, is there any info on how long "ten seasons" might be on this planet? I'm guessing a long time, since the days seem longer; when he said he was Air Cav, I had this weird idea that he might have been grabbed during the Vietnam War and been there ever since. Probably just "Apocalypse Now" flashbacks... :D )

And I also don't know that I want more sci fi in my Predator. Obviously there always has been, and needs to be, some--but how much is too much?

Granted, any of these concepts, well done, could be amazing. The problem is that, not well done, they could be incredibly lame, and I don't want the Predators to be lame again. (Aliens Vs. Predator movies, I'm looking in your direction...)
 
I though this movie was just average. The first half felt really pedestrian and looked kind of cheap, like it was shot in the woods behind RR's house. Everything from the point when Fishburne showed up to the end was fairly solid and had some interesting turns. What they did with Topher Grace's character was clever. In the end though, I don't know if I needed to see this movie. Too much of it seemed like a movie I'd seen too many times already, a feeling I suppose compounded by the fact that I just finished editing a movie that was a pretty shameless knockoff of the Predator franchise. And I didn't find either of the two leads remotely interesting.
 
I think I'd go with average as well, not something I would want to own either. The whole time I am watching it, I am thinking about other movies or silly plot points.

SPOILER ALERT

The whole people wake up together trying to figure out where they are or what they are doing or why they are there. All I could think of was how 'The Cube' really did this the best (I am sure there are other examples as well).

When Fishbourne's character shows up, all I can think of is the guy in Pandorum that tricks them for survival purposes. I was like WOW, talk about similar characters.

When the plant is discovered that has a neurotoxin, I was like, Ummmmm, why would an earth plant be here? I could accept that the predators terraformed or something, but it would be nice to actually have explained that and not make that point of the story so cheap feeling. As a matter of fact, that little tidbit of information could have sold the location A LOT more than they did.

I understand this film was supposed to 'reboot' the franchise, but they could have loaded a new program first :) Something like 'Batman Begins' is a good reboot.

Some friends felt like this was an attempt to capture those into the Predator world who are too young to know the original. I can see that, but for me being a Predator fan, it was boring. There was nothing really to reveal.

And the mining ships? Give us SOME story of SOME kind to grab onto.

At least with Alien, the downed ship they find is part of the whole story in that, the reason it is there was due to an Alien infestation and that was happening again.

Maybe my problem was, it wasn't epicly cheezy which the first one had a lot of. Maybe it was too serious and that's what lost it for me. The charm just wasn't there.
 
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