Predator (DVD)

Advantages: Claustrophobic and thrilling, on top of the usual Arnie fayre
Disadvantages: Tacked on Spanish farmer lady just a plot afterthought.

Predator (1987) Dir: John McTiernan Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Kevin Peter Hall For me, Predator is one of Arnie's finer action movies, along with Commando and Total Recall that exemplify the genre. Minus the special effects of later films, it still matches them for action and visceral thrills. Predator is a blend of macho and science fiction. With Die Hard director John McTiernan at the helm it is ...
...troop fall prey to the Predator until just he is left. A life and death jungle struggle ensues.. You can almost sense the testosterone seeping through the screen during the 106 minutes run time of this film. This was one of Arnold Schwarzeneggers first major features and he plays the role of Dutch straight pretty much throughout. No wisecracking, monotone one man army here, Arnie displays a full range with emotions like fear and worry in this movie: ... Read review

Advantages: Arnie, Guns, Cheesy Lines, Huge Explosions
Disadvantages: None!

...line in chain mail vests?). Predator falls into this "good, but not perfect" film, unless you happen to have the same point of view as myself. -=-=-=- Basic Plot -=-=-=- An special forces unit, led by hunking great man mountain "Dutch" Schaefer, and filled out with other men mountain specialise in rescues. They are called into an un-named South American country where a helicopter has crashed in enemy territory in a neighbouring, hostile country. ...
...-=-=-=- Trivia -=-=-=- The Predator was originally to be played by none other than the Muscle from Brussels, Jean Claude van Damme who took the hump at an uncredited appearance and left after two days of filming. The predator was then redesigned, and in stepped Kevin Peter Hall to great effect. Arnie actually got married during the shooting of this movie to Maria Shriver, one of the Kennedy family, prompting much speculation about Arnold's future ... Read review

Advantages: Classic sci fi, plenty of violence and action, thrilling!!! some tense action to be enjoyed without a doubt
Disadvantages: Getting on abit now, was made in 1987, but special effects are ace for the time

...force one by one. The predator makes short work of its prey, using its hightech arsenal of weaponry and utilities it hunts them through the jungle, watching their every move with its infra-red vision. Using its wrist - blades, Shoulder canon, medic-comp and its superb camouflage it rises above all as a supreme warrior... or has it? Major Dutch proves to the huge 7'2" Predator that its met its match, with a duel at the end of the film, being the last ...
...to hand combat inevitably, the predator battles worthy opponents but doesnt go "over-kill" and jus blow the poor guy up when hes un-armed, fairly he fights Dutch man to Predator, scrapping until Dutch traps the Predator and fatally wounds it. The Predators know seals its fate by confirming the selfdestruct sequence in his arsenal of weaponry and refuses Dutch the honor of defeating the Predator. The tension and testosterone in the last fight scene ... Read review

Advantages: Script, action, sound fx, special fx, direction
Disadvantages: too much macho posturing, weakish ending.

...thrills in equal measure. Predator is no more than "Alien" versus "Rambo" for a rumble in the jungle. This could quite easily have been a Z-rated movie ending up on the video shelf with not even a fanfare to cheer it along. However, this film rises above the dross because of three solid elements - Director, John McTiernan (of Die Hard fame); Jim & John Thomas writing a very tight screenplay. And of course a testerone-filled film like this wouldn't ...
...weigh it down. Predator is an action fans dream. It's so masculine & proud of itself you'd be pushed to find a subtle moment throughout. The commandos are all muscular types with 6-pack chests and rippling muscles, sharp one-liners and sweaty brows. Arnie acts like Arnie always acts....but for a change this kind of scenario & savage environment suits him down to the ground, so we can ignore his male posturing and chewing of huge cigars while keeping ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent special effects which wouldn't be out of place today
Disadvantages: none

John Mctiernan is the director of this brilliant action packed blockbuster. If you were to combine Alien and Rambo with a bit of Vietnam into one film this is what you would get. After being recruited by the CIA Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite squad of US Commandos to the center of the South American Jungle where they have been assigned to rescue some milatry hostages held by Guerilla fighters. Instead of what would be a fairly straight foward ...
...hanging from trees and realise they are fighting a much more sinister force. They manage to pick up a women who had hid from the attack and begins to tell them off the evil creature as it follows them through the woods and begins to pick them off one by one in deadly style for sport. Soon Arnie finds himself at battle with a hideous alien creature that is armed with high tech gadgets and wearing a spacesuit which can make him invisable. The films ... Read review

Advantages: Hardly Any, Suppose Good Ending and Leading LAdy
Disadvantages: Nearly Everything In The Whole Film

...the production values were impressive and the end was good. DVD Special Features: Extreme Two Disk Edition 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 Conception Featurette Visual Effects Featurette Alien Vs Predator The Comic Book Monsters In Miniature HBO Special The Making Of ADI Workshop Miniature Whaling Station Face Huggers And Eggs Trouble At The Mouth Of The Tunnel Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary Storyboard Gallery Concept Art Tom The Alien Factor You Can Buy Alien Vs Predator From Amazon for £9.97 ASIN: B0006IWQIU Thank You All, As Always, For Reading And Rating, Really, Really Appreciated : ) Jay... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great fun, lots of guns, original idea, good extra features
Disadvantages: Arnies acting contains more wood than the jungle.

...feel as if you're there with them. The sound effects are astounding, especially those of the weapons and of the Predator itself. Visuals I don't know if any work was done on the film before it was transferred to DVD, but the visuals are very clear, and it's only the opening shot of the 20th Century Fox logo that appears dodgy. (McTiernan explains in his commentary that it's because 20th Century Fox refused to let him use a Widescreen version, so he had to stretch a "normal" version). Director's Commentary While offering up lots of interesting pieces of information, I found the commentary to be a little 'dry'. It is interesting to hear how McTiernan went about making this, his first full feature, with all the troubles that were associated with working in Mexico, but he says himself that he hasn't watched the movie in a long time... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A nice box, a good game
Disadvantages: The film and most of the special features

...I had not seen Predator for about 18 years, despite already having it in my DVD collection however I decided that with my HMV vouchers I?d splash out and buy the ?Definitive Edition?. The case is rather cleverly done, in the shading etc. The case is one of the ever increasing steelbook editions, basically a tin box. The definitive edition release like to use the tin?s natural colourings as well as painting over the top in places. The Predator release works better than any other, because if you look at the case head on, you see the predator image, which is half predator, and half you. Maybe it was this very reason that I lost clarity and purchased this edition of the DVD. Definitive edition release try to get the best quality print possible of a movie and its special features on DVD form, for those I assume too tight-fisted to go out... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful