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So, Aliens vs. Predator. On paper, a fantastic idea. The combination of two of the best designed creatures from eighties cinema was heralded as a dream come true to most fanboy’s. Giger’s quick, agile and deadly xenomorph, the perfect organism, lining up against Stan Winston’s invisible ... Read review
In delivering non-18-rated excitement,Alien vs. Predatoris an acceptably average ... more
science-fiction action thriller with some noteworthy highlights, even if it squanders its opportunity to intelligently combine two popular franchises. Rabid fans can justi...
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The iconic monsters from two of the scariest film franchises ever battle each other on ... more
Earth for the first time. The discovery of an ancient pyramid buried in Antarctica sends a team of scientists and adventurers to the frozen continent. There, they ma...
In delivering non-18-rated excitement,Alien vs. Predatoris an acceptably average ... more
science-fiction action thriller with some noteworthy highlights, even if it squanders its opportunity to intelligently combine two popular franchises. Rabid fans can justi...
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Whoever wins...we lose. It may be our planet but it's their war! The deadliest creatures ... more
from the scariest sci-fi movies ever made face off for the first time on film beginning when the discovery of an ancient pyramid buried in Antarctica sends a tea...
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Crafted by acclaimed comics scribe Jason Hall creator of Pistolwhip and fan-favorite ... more
comics illustrator Roger Robinson (Azrael Batman: Gotham Nights) all in a value-priced original graphic novel. Cover painting by Society of Illustrators award-winner David Michael Beck.
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The deadliest creatures from the scariest sci-fi movies ever made face off in Alien vs. ... more
Predator. The adventure begins when scientists investigate an ancient pyramid buried in Antarctica. But they soon make an even more terrifying discovery: two alien races engaged in an all-out war. And whoever wins... we lose.
It's the ultimate sci-fi showdown as the deadliest creatures from the scariest films ever ... more
made face off! The discovery of an ancient pyramid buried beneath Antarctica sends a team of scientists and adventurers to the frozen continent. There, they make an even more terrifying discovery as they inadvertently awaken two alien races engaged in an all-out war. And whoever wins... we lose.
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Production Year: 1979 - Science Fiction - Director: Ridley Scott - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright
Advantages: It features Aliens and Predators, in the same film! Woo-Hoo!! Disadvantages: Pretty much everything else!
...monstrosity at the end of Alien Resurrection, there are six decent films (three of them flawless) that highlight how both creatures can be perfectly implemented for the action/horror junkies amongst us. Perfection! So what could possibly go wrong?
The reality… Paul W S Anderson! (shudder)
A man that has produced more turd on screen than a diarrohoetic camel has produced during several nasty bouts of Bangalore Belly. ... ...up to awaken a deep-frozen Alien Queen from her slumber, so that three young Predators can complete a coming of age ritual. Yet the Predators were unsuspecting of the human presence and after a few face-hugger implants later, more than enough Alien warriors are running around making a nuisance than the Predators were expecting. As the tagline suggests, within the ensuing battle between Alien and Predator, whoever wins… we lose.
Some films, on paper at least, seem to be the stuff that great ideas are born from. In the hands of a capable director, scriptwriter, special effects team and actors who can do the business, the image on paper is likely to transcend all expectation on the big screen. Witness the Matrix - a great idea, much cherished by Andy and Larry Wachowski through their intimately adorned storyboards and concept art, provoked a sense of intrigue in Warner Brothers, enough to green light the $75 million dollars required to re-imagine their wet dream on screen at least. Add Keanu and chums to the mixer, along with John Geta’s spectacular vision in bullet-time and an intelligent script buzzing underneath all the style, and what you have is one of the finest modern art masterpieces of recent time playing out before your eyes.
So, Aliens vs. Predator. On paper, a fantastic idea. The combination of two of the best designed creatures from eighties cinema was heralded as a dream come true to most fanboy’s. Giger’s quick, agile and deadly xenomorph, the perfect organism, lining up against Stan Winston’s invisible eight foot Hunter, complimented with a full armament of clever tools and extra sharp weaponry. It had all the hallmarks of being the intergalactic equivalent of Mohammed Ali and George Foreman’s rumble in the jungle. Dark Horse comics had previously managed to get it right on the page, finding a perfect balance between the two creatures’ characters and motivations, amongst the lavish depictions, in the early nineties comic books they produced. And if we can all forget the idiocy of the cross-breeding birth of an albino monstrosity at the end of Alien Resurrection, there are six decent films (three of them flawless) that highlight how both creatures can be perfectly implemented for the action/horror junkies amongst us. Perfection! So what could possibly go wrong?
The reality… Paul W S Anderson! (shudder)
A man that has produced more turd on screen than a diarrohoetic camel has produced during several nasty bouts of Bangalore Belly. And Twentieth Century Fox decided to not only hire him to direct this clash of the titans, but to write the screenplay that would see these two eighties behemoths collide as well. Bugger…
After thermal imaging satellites pick up an underground heat source in Antarctica, Charles Weyland (of Weyland-Yutani, the company that sends the crew of the Nostromono to encounter the original Alien), an industrial billionaire, sets up an excavation team consisting of the worlds greatest archaeologists, chemical biologists and survival experts to investigate the nature of this heat source. Finding an ancient pyramid that pre-dates the Aztecs (seriously), the team become embroiled in a battle for survival, as it becomes apparent the heat source was only fired up to awaken a deep-frozen Alien Queen from her slumber, so that three young Predators can complete a coming of age ritual. Yet the Predators were unsuspecting of the human presence and after a few face-hugger implants later, more than enough Alien warriors are running around making a nuisance than the Predators were expecting. As the tagline suggests, within the ensuing battle between Alien and Predator, whoever wins… we lose.
The plot is certainly your typical convoluted Hollywood mess, no thanks to Anderson’s remit of wanting to make the film appeal to as many people as possible. The central concept, for instance, of setting the action in Antarctica, blithely ignores the Predator is a creature that is drawn too and survives in hot environments. The face hugger incubation period has also been thrown out of the window, in order to get the Aliens running amok and the audience to the action quicker. With the marked intelligence behind previous instalments removed, it provides fleeting time for any real character development to be introduced. Instead cardboard cut-out victims are quickly earmarked, most a parody of previous characterisations (spot the Vasquez look-alike, who has one supposedly hardcore Vasquez like line, before biting the bullet), to enhance the films more sustained action credentials and, most importantly, the big clash between the titans. Problem is said clash is pathetically limp. Apart from one frantic battle between a Predator and an Alien, which actually provides one of the films few highlights due to the weaponry employed and the Alien becoming characteristically marked for the rest of the film from the Predators mesh net, the two creatures barely share the screen together. Even the climatic battle reverts to trends as the Alien Queen chases a bewildered Alexa Woods (Sanaa Lathan), in Ripley mode, around the disused Antarctic camp in the stead of one of the Predators. For a film entitled Alien vs Predator, you don’t really get to see what you’ve paid for on the fight card.
Anderson’s direction at times is certainly ham-fisted. After pulling his punches regarding the main bout, he’s pretty much ineffective elsewhere. The visceral gore and violence, systematically characterised by both creatures previously and highly expected, is missing. No violent chest-burster scene or spine-removing for the trophy cabinet is to be found here. Playing out in the now all too common politically correct Hollywood way to garner a less restrictive film certificate (hence making more money), the film somewhat alienates (pun intended) those that cherish the previous incarnations of the creatures on show. Both Alien and Predator come across as a mere mockery of their former selves, as the violence and gore that once made them formidable foes is replaced, almost to excess, by over elaborate and often unnecessary CGI. Anderson believes that such an innovation as flashy graphics can replace the visceral tension and character building amongst the short, controlled bursts of action that previous Aliens and Predator films accounted for, to make his take on the franchises successful. Whilst some of the CGI is certainly impressive, you only need to see the awful bullet-time face hugger leap to highlight how unnecessary it often turns out. Against James Cameron’s simple Aliens shoot at Battersea power station, consisting of six acrobats on wires and in Alien suits, a grandstand bitch-fight finale and the building of palpable tension before it transcends into sublime chaotic action, Anderson’s action credentials and reliance on CGI effects, pale into insignificance.
Perhaps I’m being a little harsh on Anderson. Aliens vs. Predator is in no way his worst directorial effort. It’s certainly a damn sight better than the travesty’s of filmmaking that are Mortal Kombat, Soldier and Resident Evil. It’s just a shame that what made the Aliens and Predator franchises so good previously have been left on the sidelines, leaving the audience with the bare bones of two of cinema’s most iconic creations. Some of the action and CGI is decent enough to keep the majority entertained and some sections near the beginning of the film do provide some tense moments, even at the expense of a redundant script and often laughable acting. Indeed Raul Bova need not have turned up; Ewen Bremner is highly irritating; Tommy Flanagan’s hardcore marine stint is laughable and has been done better elsewhere; only the return of Lance Henriksen as Charles Weyland and Sanaa Lathan’s turn as the forced into action heroine provide any respite from the otherwise cardboard and two-dimensional cast.
In spite of its numerous faults, Aliens vs. Predator is average stuff. Enjoyable in some basic, animal instinct kind of way, merely because it features a few Predators and many Aliens. You will be disappointed if a fan of both franchises as so much that made the original films a success has been erased. However, if not watching through the jaded eyes of a disappointed fanboy, Alien vs. Predator might entertain you, if only for a short while and in an instantly forgettable way. Yet you just can’t help thinking that this is a missed opportunity to rejuvenate both franchises for a new generation and that in the hands of someone more imaginative and creative, this could have made Twentieth Century Fox the cash-in opportunity they were after as well as being a great film in its own right. A shame!
Overall – Typical twenty-first century Hollywood filmmaking. Crap script, poor acting, unimaginative, overly CGI’d and only alleviated by periods of interest when the action kicks in. That it features Aliens and Predators (and to a small extent the appearance of Lance Henrikson) is a bonus, but the words cash-in spring instantly to mind. Anderson’s best since Event Horizon, but that’s still not saying much. Very disappointing.
Director: Paul W S Anderson
Screenplay: Paul W S Anderson
Cast: Sanaa Lathan .... Alexa Woods Raoul Bova .... Sebastian de Rosa Lance Henriksen .... Charles Bishop Weyland Ewen Bremner .... Graeme Miller Colin Salmon .... Maxwell Stafford Tommy Flanagan .... Mark Verheiden Joseph Rye .... Joe Connors Agathe De La Boulaye .... Adele Rousseau Carsten Norgaard .... Rusten Quinn Sam Troughton .... Thomas Parks
Advantages: Hardly Any, Suppose Good Ending and Leading LAdy Disadvantages: Nearly Everything In The Whole Film
...muscle and acid blood!
Alien Vs Predator doesn't work as a horror, a thriller or even a film. It's not scary, thrilling or remotely interesting whatsoever. It has to be one of the most boring movies I have seen in my entire life and is instantly forgettable. The biggest travesty that the crew has done is making the two mega monsters into silly profoundly dumb freaks who are most certainly not scary and just plain pathetic. The Predators are absolutely ... ...Paul W.S Anderson directs Alien Vs Predator extremely lazily, he doesn't imprint any visual flair particularly (although the production values are good) and there is little to no tension in the whole film. Half of the time the whole movie loses direction and becomes more of a love story that anything else. Anderson really doesn't manage to keep the pace up and allows the whole thing to become a tad boring. He does manage to stage the fight scenes ...
JayHall1991 09.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Alien Vs Predator (DVD)
Advantages: Potential of story. Disadvantages: Everything else.
...joking, either. I mean Alien Resurrection was bad, but AVP is even below that level. The characters are lame, the acting cringe-worthy, and the PG rating is just a pathetic attempt at persuading younger audiences to hit the cinema and make more money for the corporate whores within the FOX network. With very little violence or gore, even the much anticipated alien vs predator fight is a huge disappointment. The only ever-so-slightly saving grace ... ...everything we loved about the Alien and Predator franchises within the space of one hour fifty mins. Oh, and there was the small issue of the Alien 5 project been completely dead and buried after Aliens Vs Predator was given the green light to be made. Talk about a kick in the teeth. I'm going to go cry now. (C) Andy Carrington, 2009 [as part of www.andycarrington.co.uk] ...
andycarrington 09.06.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Alien Vs Predator (DVD)
...onto a ledge where an alien just was, even if she is hanging over a chasm? From certain death into certain death? Why when the 1st alien is speared by the girl does it not attack with it's arms at all? Why when the predator cuts the aliens head off his knife doesn't melt? Likewise with blades of spinner on facehugger? How come Millar seems to lose his Scottish accent just before he dies? The Queen is bitten multiple times but is fit to go on a rampage? ... ...all? Why are there so many Aliens? Only 8 people are facehugged! When the bomb is detonated how come there seem to be about 20 aliens in the main chamber as they board the sled? Clearly this film was not researched at all. Aliens and Predator fans will be picking holes in it for years to come. As for the pred-alien at the end? We'll be lucky to see a sequel I think, seeing as how long it took to get this movie on the screen. In the end, the jury ...
atytyut2434 04.09.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Alien Vs Predator (DVD)
Advantages: Good for a slow sunday afternoon Disadvantages: spoils the real predator/Alien movies
...jumping my way through the Alien films, i was under the impression that Predator Vs Alien would be the beast of all films, how wrong can a person be?
After showing the Alien creatures skull on the predators space craft in Predator 2 this stated that the Alien creature were weaker than the Predators, but to actually make this into a film was always going to be a difficult task for the writers.
The film was slow to start and it desperately tried ... ...meet.
The three types of creatures fighting for survival in the dark depths of planet Earth, only for the strongest and smartest species to survive, but who would come out of the pits of hell.
It sounded a good plot and the action scenes were well shot but the entire storyline was too far fetched, even for a sci-fi movie.
For me it spoilt the previous 2 Predator films as they had both been very well written and could almost have been reality at ...
blissman70 13.12.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Alien Vs Predator (DVD)
Advantages: Some good effects. Disadvantages: Slow start, bad location, bad story.
Ive got all the old alien films, you cant flaw them, maybe number 4 but this is AvP.
The war between Aliens and the Predators. Im not even going to give this a introduction, considering the film itself gave a poor introduction.
Ok, so i did pop the disk in the DVD player and sat down to watch something i expected to be hitting the "wow" factor, oh god was i wrong.
The start of the film was incredibly slow, i mean, you didnt see any action till ... ...blender. They find the alien lair underground, well, they actually find a huge tunnel, which for 5-10mins, you watch them slide down, seriously, what the hell was they thinking?
Half of the group gets slashed to pieces by the predators, gotta love the "seen that coming" comments this film must of had. You know whats worse? the group wasnt even marines. Oh! i opened my doomed eyelids to see an alien! wrapped in chains and brought back to life by ...
sbreame 27.10.2006 (28.10.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Alien Vs Predator (DVD)
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Advantages: great, fun movie, excellent C.G effects and loads of extras!!!!! Disadvantages: a little tame on the gore and violence factor compared to the previous films!
DVD title: AlienvsPredator
Certificate: 15
Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi
Sales and distribution: 20th Century Fox
Other information: two disk extreme edition, letter box version 16:9
The battle we have all been waiting for since predator 2. Two of the most fearsome alien races face off in a battle to the death, only this time they have brought it to our world, earth.
Well AlienvsPredator has been on the movie list for a long time. The idea for the two races to face off was the brief glimpse of the predator's trophy, an alien skull in the predator's ship at the end of predator 2. This sparked of a frenzy of excitement, the two races fighting each other for the title of champion species. The fans hunger for both the aliens and predators to confront each other set of the series of comic books and computer games, which would undoubtedly ...
Advantages: Predator looks slightly better than usual Disadvantages: Surprises are poor, whilst being mostly predictable
* WHOEVER WINS... WE LOSE
The tagline to AlienvsPredator could not be more aptly put, but from a viewers point of view. Whilst the movie is billed as the decision to which breed of alien will take over the world, it turns out as nothing more than just humans getting caught up with two bad guys rather than the usual one and trying to survive. I remember I did watch this movie around when it was first released in 2004, when these clash of franchise movies were becoming popular, around the same time as 'Freddy vs Jason'. You know there's a lot on the line for each of the franchises when it comes to these movies, as it's going to be difficult for anyone to want their franchise to look bad, however in this case they both end up coming out like poor excuses for entertainment. I honestly could not remember a thing about the film, and was ...
Advantages: Errrrrrrr............. Disadvantages: Where do I begin?
NO, no, no, no, NO, no, NOOOOO!!!
I could really end the review there, but how would that be helpful to you? Answer? It wouldn't. It might give you an indication of my frustration, but not in terms of why.
Let me explain. Take Alien, and Aliens, and Alien 3, and even to a certain extent the fourth Alien film. They all had one common appealing factor: the Alien, right? Right! Take Predator. Okay, not so much Predator 2. It wasn't Danny Glover's finest hour, really. But that's not why I'm writing this. Let's combine the two legendary sci-fi alien villains, and make a film, pit them against each other, and call it AVP (AlienvsPredator).
Okay, so I thought this was a great idea, and watched it, all the way through, and hated the fact that they tried to build this around a bit of a plot, focusing on the people instead of the two 80 ...
A group of archaeologists find themselves fighting for survival when they discover a number of aliens buried in the ice. Their survival rate is hampered further by the arrival of more aliens on a training mission.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Deluxe Video Service - Fox
Gordon Carroll, Walter Hill, David Giler, John Davis
Languages
Main Language
English
Subtitle Language
French, Spanish
Hearing Impaired Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Commentary By Paul WS Anderson And Lance Henriksen And Sanaa Latham, Commentary By the Special Effects Team, Inside Look Hide And Seek, Inside Look Elektra With Jennifer Garner, Inside Look Robots With Chris Wedge
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Wide Screen
Sound
DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
DTS 5.1 English Dolby Digital 5.1 English
DVD Description
When audiences caught a glimpse of an alien skull mounted in the trophy cabinet of a Predator in the 1990 film PREDATOR 2, it seemed a franchise was about to be born. Sure enough, comic book artists immediately seized on the possibilities suggested by the brief scene, and a number of skirmishes between the deadly foes were played out on the printed page. Fans have had to endure a lengthy wait for a cinematic match-up, but writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson (EVENT HORIZON) has finally delivered the blood-splattered goods in ALIEN VS. PREDATOR. Set in the near future, a team of archaeologists lead by Charles Wiedland (Lance Henriksen, returning for more ALIEN action after appearances in the second and third films) ventures towards an inexplicable hot zone detected in Antarctica. Joined by Alexa Woods (Sanaa Lathan) and the requisite amount of human fodder for the otherworldly creatures to feast on, Wiedland and his cohorts discover a sizeable underground pyramid. Chaos ensues as they awake the Queen alien from her blissful slumber, causing face-hugging and chest-bursting scenes aplenty. But the ailing crew has a further quandary to grapple with in the shape of some fearsome Predators, who are using the aliens as bait for their offspring to brawl with in an ancient initiation ritual. With the human team trapped in the labyrinth-like pyramid, the battle evolves into a nail-biting three-way tussle between the archaeologists and their extraterrestrial adversaries. Fans of both the ALIEN and PREDATOR movies should find much to satiate their appetites here, and with an ending suggesting further hostilities between the pernicious coupling, this one looks set to run and run.
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