Alien vs. Predator

The 'Aliens versus Predator' storyline has been with us ever since the 'Predator 2' when Danny Glover huffed and puffed his way across what looked like an alien's skull in the Predator's trophy cabinet. This brief image sparked a storm among fans, whose dreams and wishes were subsequently realised by volumes of comics and graphic novels regarding the subject matter. And they were actually pretty good! Having read a fair few of them, it seemed no end to the possibilities of pitting two of the big screen's most famous monsters against each other. With so many ideas as to what could be done, how could they possibly lose?

The answer: they gave it to Paul W S Anderson. Now, Paul W S Anderson is a very competent director who can stylishly bring action scenes to life. However, his films' major flaws all are that they're 'almost great.' They're not bad. They're watchable. And that is their major crime. They leave you thinking that if you were given $60 million to make a film (in this case one starring the aliens and the Predator) then you could do better than him. And there's a reason for this - you could. And so could I.

Aliens vs Predator sports the tagline 'Whoever wins - we lose.' Isn't that the truth? The film gets its rating taken down from an 18 to a watery 12A, removing all gore and much of the suspense with it. Instead of brutal tough Predators we have a trio of young, inexperienced ones who are - quite frankly - a bit rubbish at killing aliens. Instead of the gun-totting Colonial Marines from Aliens, we have a team of bland, disposable scientists who are there simply to increase the body count. At least the aliens perform on camera, but the battles you may expect between the two races are few and far between. Also, if you saw the trailer and witnessed a million aliens tearing towards some Predators on top of an weird and wonderful pyramid, that's only a flashback. That's about the best bit of the film.

It sort of tries to tie into both the 'Aliens' and 'Predator' mythology, but fans really don't want it to. Like I say, it's not bad. I know I'm making it sound terrible, but it really isn't. It has action, special effects and, um, that's about it. It's perfect for your average sci-fi monster-munching movie. However, when you have either an Aliens film or a Predator film, people expect a little more than something that's 'just okay.'

At least it was more understandable than Prometheus I suppose.

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A team assembled by a billionaire investigate a heat signal that reveals a pyramid below the surface of a whaling station in Antarctic. However, the pyramid is a hunting ground for Predators who kill Aliens as a rite of passage and the team find themselves caught in the middle of their hunt.

It shouldn't have been mixed, Paul W.S. Anderson's AVP: Alien vs. Predator was more so unjustly panned by critics and fans due to the hype and anticipation. It has the feeling of an Alien film, a great premise, good cinematography, some amazing effects and a fine score.

Paul W.S. Anderson is successful in bringing the franchises together, respecting ideas from both Alien and Predator movies. I haven't seen a bad film that he's made and I'm not sure why there is such a geek gang hatred against the mans work. The ever-improving Uwe Boll he is not! The strong leads include Sanaa Lathan as the heroine and Raoul Bova. However, unfortunately actors Carsten Norgaard as Rusten Quinn and Tommy Flanagan as Mark Verheiden disappear far too early. Overall the acting is good, Lance Henrikson shows up as the 'real' Bishop but some of the characters lack development and the editing feels choppy in places.

The Predators and Aliens look great apart from some badly executed CGI. It not Ridley Scott or John McTiernan, but Paul Anderson pulls off the almost impossible task of putting these to aliens together on screen.

If there was not an Alien or Predator film prior to this it may have been haled as a science fiction adventure classic, but alas that's not the case.

I first saw in in a theatre in 2004. Revisited the 109 mins unrated version recently.

This is the first film installment of the Alien vs. Predator franchise, bringing together the creatures of the Alien and Predator series. In this one, scientists are caught in the crossfire of an ancient battle between Aliens and Predators as they attempt to escape a bygone pyramid. The film is fast paced with tons of action, aided by top notch special effects n amazing set design. Thankfully it doesnt have any shaky cam stuff, no flickering lights n none if the scene is shot in dark light. We can make out what is going on. Compared to most films where too much darkness takes away the fun, this one doesn't have bad lighting. They have toned down the human body count n reduced the gory moments. Nonetheless, it is a good monster action flick. Gore wise, it is nowhere close to the original Predator.

Reading some of the harsh reviews I thought I would comment. The big disappointment for me in the movie was the lack of gore , fox did get it wrong to make it a pg13 even though they tried to substitute it with monster gore. All that being said this movie is a visual master-peace, the effects are top notch with very good fight scenes and creature effects with the best looking Alien Queen to hit the screens, The story is pretty cool and it gives more insight of the Predators, It takes a while for the introduction of the creatures but once the ball is rolling its none stop action. Not the horror feast we all wanted but fun.

Alien vs. Predator (2004) is a movie in my DVD collection that I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a research expedition that recently was discovered miles under the ice. The research team doesn't know the pyramid was setup as a hunting playground for Predators to test their hunting skills against the ultimate beings...and we aren't talking about humans.

This movie is directed by Paul W. S. Anderson (Event Horizon) and stars Sanaa Lathan (Love & Basketball), Lance Henriksen (Pumpkinhead), Ewen Bremner (Rundown), Tommy Flanagan (Gladiator), Raoul Bova (Under the Tuscan Sun).

The storyline for this picture was actually okay and was a good setup for this premise. I enjoyed the settings and the cast. I'd never complain about Lathan and Henriksen movies. The special effects were awesome and the kill and action scenes were very good, loved the depiction of both the Aliens and Predators. The alien vs predator fights were excellent, including how the face huggers were mixed in.

Overall is this a perfect movie? No, this premise had no chance of that. Is this worth viewing and entertaining? Absolutely. I'd score this a 6.5-7/10 and strongly recommend seeing this.