In the urban jungles of Los
Angeles, a tough street cop (Danny Glover) must match wits with the
galaxy's most deadly hunter. the Predator. The film co-stars Gary
Busey and Ruben Blades, among others.
CRITIQUE
What makes
Predator 2 is a pretty good sci-fi horror film, instead of just
another mindless sequel is that it not only follows the rules set up
in the first film, it adds a few new rules that expand on the Predator
and it’s culture. While the characters are somewhat shallow (Bill
Paxton’s character especially,) the film makes up for it by
continually finding ways to make this Predator an even more fearsome
killing machine than the previous one. Director Stephen Hopkins finds
fantastic ways to keep the Predator a mystery and add tension to
action scenes that would (in a standard sequel) simply exist to
exploit the creature since we already know what it looks like. The
plot is full of holes and there are many silly things going on in it,
but the film stays true to itself and its predecessor. Predator 2
is a fun little thrill ride that won’t fail to please fans of the
genre.
THE VIDEO
The transfer looks
wonderful. The image is sharp and the colors are rich and balanced.
The black levels are consistent and there is no digital artifacting at
all. It’s a really good transfer of the film.
THE AUDIO
The film is
presented Dolby Surround 5.1 as well as in 5.1 DTS and has a very good
mix. The ambient sound works well and adds a level of creepiness to
the film. The dialogue is clear and is never buried underneath music
or sound effects.
THE EXTRAS
Disc One:
Commentary by
Director Stephen Hopkins:
His commentary is wonderfully insightful and gives the listener a good
opportunity to understand what it is like to work on a big budget
effects film.
Commentary by
Writers Jim & John Thomas:
The writer’s commentary is pretty good, but doesn’t add that many new
insights that Hopkins’ commentary didn’t have already.
Disc Two:
The Hunters and the
Hunted:
A mix between retrospective and old interviews about the making on the
film. This is a pretty good making of featurette, though it would’ve
been nice to see a little more of the actors looking back on the film
as opposed to their interviews done during the making of.
The Predator goes
to Town
& International Featurette: The domestic and international
making-of featurettes. All we really need is one of these.
Creating the
Ultimate Hunter:
A very interesting look at the Predator effects in the film including
the Predator vision and the costume design.
Predator 2 Evolutions:
A breakdown of a few effects shots in the film, including the opening,
the Ally, and the subway.
Predator 2 Weapons of Choice: A look at the different weapons used in the film.
“Hard Core” News
Reports:
The full versions of the fake news reports that are featured in the
film.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a really
good presentation for Predator 2. It’s a shame there isn’t any
deleted sequences (granted the writers say that pretty much everything
they wrote made it into the film) but there may not have been anything
worth checking out anyway. This Special Edition DVD is worth checking
out for fans of the series and those who enjoy sci-fi horror films.
