It’s 1986, and you’re a successful young producer. You decide to take a risk by putting a rising star in an action/sci-fi film being directed by a virtually unknown director who has never filmed an action movie. The filming takes longer than expected, the actors get food poisoning, and the location where you are filming looks nothing like where the action is supposed to be taking place. What is the end result?
Predator – one of the coolest action flicks of the 80’s.
The producer was Joel Silver (Lethal Weapon, The Matrix). He enlisted then-unknown director John McTiernan to direct this tale of elite commandos facing an unseen enemy in the jungles of South America, but the studio was still uneasy about the project. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the lead actor they secured to seal the deal.
John McTiernan’s background was in theatre, and he had only directed one film previously (hence the hesitation from the studio). This was to the movie’s benefit because he focused more on the characters, the acting, and the drama of the situation in which the characters found themselves. Thusly, he crafted a movie that was more than just a shoot-‘em-up, special effects-laden action flick – it was an intensely thrilling action flick that made you care about the characters, even though you knew were about to die horribly. (And die horribly they did!)
The Predator alien is one of the coolest, most bad-ass villains in film today. He is a lethal killing machine who can make himself invisible, sees with heat-seeking vision, and has a small nuclear bomb strapped to his arm. He takes the spines and skulls of his prey as trophies, much the same way human hunters have animal heads hanging on their living room walls. Plus, he has Rastafarian dreads. How can you beat that?!?!
This week, 20th Century Fox released a 2-disc Collector’s Edition DVD of Predator. The packaging is very nice, but it’s what’s inside that counts. Here is a breakdown:
THE GOOD
The film has been cleaned up and looks better than ever.
All New 30-minute Documentary “If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It”. Highlights include:
Jesse Ventura’s brash, over-inflated ego VS. Arnold’s cool, collected confidence.
Detailed description of the special effects and how they created the Predator.
Footage of the original Predator design that’s horribly cheesy and cliché.
The studio didn’t break even on the movie until several years of video sales.
THE BAD
Full-length commentary from John McTiernan – I almost fell asleep 3 different times while listening to this commentary. McTiernan has such a gentle and soothing voice. There are a few interesting tidbits about the production, but it would have been so much better if Arnie had been commentating, as well.
A collection of behind-the-scenes featurettes detailing individual aspects of the film (stunts, weapons, makeup, location, casting, etc.) – They are only about 5 minutes each and don’t really expound upon anything that wasn’t already discussed in the documentary.
Outtakes and a Deleted Scene – Yes, A deleted scene…as in only one. And all it shows is Arnold setting up a trap for the Predator. The outtakes aren’t even what we’ve come to know as outtakes. To me, an outtake is when they cut in the middle of the scene because someone flubbed a line, or started laughing, or Spiderman runs into the scene for no reason at all. These outtakes are more along the lines of extra footage that got cut because they served no purpose whatsoever.
“Red Suit” Special Effects Clips – In the scenes where the Predator is invisible, they used a red suit in the shape of the Predator as a substitute. They took that footage and created the eerie transparent effect. They had to use red because there was too much green background in the jungle to do a green-screen effect.
A Sneak Peek at Alien Vs. Predator – By “sneak peek”, they mean the behind-the-scenes featurette and a trailer that you have already been able to watch on Apple.com for about two months now. Interestingly enough, there’s also an “exclusive” look at the “upcoming” movie I, Robot. This might have been worthwhile if the movie hadn’t already been out for 3 weeks! Way to go, 20th Century Fox!
THE UGLY
The claim that the bonus material on the second disc is ‘All New’ is completely false. This DVD is nothing but a repackaged version of the same Special Edition DVD that was released in Europe, Japan, South Africa, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America back in 2002! In fact, all of the bonus material was filmed in 2001! This DVD has been sitting on a shelf for two years all because they wanted to wait and coincide its release with Alien Vs. Predator. That’s a shame. They’ve had two years to come up with something a little more fresh for this DVD but, instead, let it sit around collecting dust until it could be used as a marketing ploy. Shame on you, 20th Century Fox.
MOVIE RATING: Four out of Five Really Cool Rotary Machine GunsDVD OVERALL RATING: Two out of Five Cheesy Arnie Quotes
