Alien vs. Predator

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.

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.

Just watched it again yesterday - it's striking how good the action is compared to the ridiculous dialogue. I completely understand why this movie got such terrible reviews; after all, it marked the first "let's make a quick buck" entry in the two beloved Alien and Predator franchises and was done by a director who many felt didn't treat the material with the respect it deserved. When I watched it yesterday I got angry at times because some of the dialogue - well, most of it, actually - is truly awful. It's hard to take characters or a story seriously when nearly every sentence spoken resembles lines from a parody of cheap science-fiction and horror movies from the fifties and sixties. But despite all those flaws I have to admit I enjoyed the movie from start to finish - because of the amazing set- and creature-design and the more than decent action sequences and special effects. Whoever designed those really scored and seems to have a great love for the art of Giger and the previous films. So if you can get past the silly characters and you're able to ignore the more obvious shortcomings (like the idiotic decision to make the film PG-13) you're in for a fun ride. My vote: 6.5 out of 10.

Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

AVP is one of my favourites from both the Alien and Predator franchise. It does not attain the golden standard that the first two movies in both franchises have set, but no other movie has done that. And it's now 20 years and several sequels/prequels later. I have to say AVP aged really well.

But I always liked it from the start. It's very entertaining. There's all kinds of interactions between humans, predators and aliens. There's a lot going on at once, it's not simply linear when it comes to the action scenes. The same doesn't really go for the story itself (yes the plot could be a bit thicker here or there). However, while it may not be perfect, I had absolutely no problem running along with the story. I also like the setting and how it gives off this part sci fi, part thriller, part action movie vibe.

It's still good after all this time, possibly even better when you compare it to many of the so called blockbusters that are poured out over us nowadays, a lot of which ar so lacking in quality and originality.

Maybe it's not iconic enough for the general public, like Alien and Aliens. Those were groundbreaking, I admit that. I guess I happen to be a fan of the genre and this movie fits right in.