DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Alien vs. Predator - Unrated (1 Viewer)

[Vader]

Is there any reason to hold on to the first release (in terms of extras that were not carried over)?

Edit: never mind....:b Missed David_Blackwell's post.

 

[DwayneH]

I did not buy the original release but since I had a $7.50 off coupon I went ahead and purchased this edition. Too good of a deal. I saw it at the theater and was not too impressed but hope this edition will be a little better. Thanks for the review.

 

[Porfirio]

The new edition might not have the DVD-ROM content, but it does include the first issue of the "Alien vs. Predator" comic book!

 

[PerryD]

I watched the original cut recently on HBO and actually enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. But I did notice that the violence and language appeared to be hastily edited out, choppy editting around violence scenes, off screen kill shots, one f-bomb was dubbed out. I was hoping that these scenes would be editted as originally intended. If the unrated version is just as bloodless and choppy, I don't see the point at all.

 

[Vader]

OK, just watched the unrated cut...

I still really enjoyed it, more than the theatrical version. While most will agree it does not do the franchises from which it spawned justice, to anyone who has played the PC video games "Aliens vs Predator I & II" (notice that 'Aliens' is plural... slight gaffe on Anderson's part), it is consistant with those. The added scenes, while a masterpiece does not make, does serve to round out the characters a bit, and the editing does not seem so choppy....

....now a bit of confusion... the end credits rolled at 96 minutes, and yet the runnuning time is 108 minutes...?!? Even if the end credits are part of that (I didn't watch them all the way through), are there 12 minutes worth of end credits (maybe the names of all the AvP Fan Club members )?

 

[Harrison Shinn]

Anyone else experiencing any glitches with this title? While watching the Unrated Version the picture began to pixelate and the sound drops out at around minute 58 all through the first Alien Vs. Predator battle. The sound dropouts are on both the DTS and DD tracks. I thought this may be attributed to the seamless branching but it happens during the theatrical version as well (though on that version it happens at around 53 minutes). I thought it was my player (Technics DVD-A10) but after trying it on my other players, the glitches were still there.

A bad copy maybe? Anyone else care to chime in about this issue?

Cheers!
Harry

 

[Antony James]

I watched it last night. I'm quite happy with the extra scenes...there's slightly more build-up to the action than before, which the film sorely needs.

HOWEVER! Earlier in this thread, Ed Speir IV mentioned the crummy CG blood added to the film...and yet I was not prepared for just how badly done it is.

With the exception of a few shots, the CG blood not only looks added, but it often does not 'stick' to the object or person that it is on.

A pathetic attempt to make a PG-13 film (and it's clear it was always intended to be, no matter what Anderson claims) a little more 'naughty' after the fact.

I would have been more happy with an extended cut without all the tinkering. :frowning:

 

[GuruAskew]

I just watched/suffered through the theatrical cut (for the first time since I saw it theatrically) and the end credits sequence IS 12 minutes long. It's really amazing that such a massive amount of people worked on something so completely awful.

 

[Tino]

Bill

You have made it clear countless times how much you despise this film, it's director and everyone associated with it.

Why on earth would you watch it again???

 

[Frank@N]

I don't have your player or this particular disc, but my current player has alot of trouble with newer branching discs (Identity, Kate & Leopold).

My playback is sprinkled with audio dropouts, even though the discs are mint and play fine elsewhere.

 

[GuruAskew]

I got it as a gift, and I'm actually going to watch both cuts of the movie and all the extras (though I've only watched the theatrical cut so far) so that definitely means I have something to contribute to this thread. Someone asked if the end credits sequence was really 12 minutes long and I confirmed that yes, it is.

 

[Tino]

Yeah....but if you HATE it so much, WHY watch it again??

I'm just curious since you trash this film so much around here as to why you would waste your time...unless you actually secretly love it.

 

[GuruAskew]

Well, it holds some perverse interest to me since I'm a fan of all of it's predecessors in one way or another. That's why I kept it, I don't mind owning a horrible sequel if it's free or cheap (this is why I own the "Batman Anthology" even though I only like the first two films). Had the theatrical version come along a week ago, I would have skipped straight to the "unrated" cut but I hadn't seen it in over 14 months so I decided to watch it first to better understand the changes made to the new cut. I did watch the new cut today and I agree with the common consensus, it's worthless overall and I take HUGE objection to the cheap CGI blood that was horribly slapped upon the existing scenes. Watch the chestburster scene with "Sassy French Woman" and you'll see just how awful the added gore is. The blob of blood literally MOVES AROUND on her chest, as if little effort was made to match the movements of the bloodstain to her movement. All the other added CGI blood is equally cheap-looking. I've barely dug into the extras yet (though I definitely plan on watching them all soon) but I can say that the disrespectful presentation of the film itself is a worthy representation of how insulting the movie itself was upon it's release. At this point, there is absolutely no denying that the film was always intended to be PG-13, but if the producers were smart they would have aimed for "R" or higher with the intention of cutting it down to PG-13 for theatrical release. I think Paul WS Anderson personifies mediocrety and it's my belief that he gets steady work because producers can hire him and he'll follow his orders without question. I don't think it was his decision to go for PG-13, but I don't think he objected, either. Look at "Land of the Dead", we had the compromised R-rated version and then four months later we had the uncut version as GAR intended it. With "AvP" we had to wait 14 months for some truly awful CGI that looks as if it was done in a matter of minutes as an afterthought. My guilty admission is that I feel a small level of satisfaction in owning "AvP" only because it completes my "Alien" and "Predator" DVD collections, but I feel that this movie was a big slap in the face to fans from the moment that Paul WS Anderson was hired up until the moment that this pathetic excuse for an extended cut was thrown together and crapped out. It may seem like I'm thread-crapping but I believe the points I made are pretty obvious, and I make these points because I love these two franchises and I even love the concept of the crossover but seeing this movie was just heartbreaking. You won't see me bitching about Paul WS Anderson in the "Event Horizon" thread but his movie (and it is listed in the credits as "A Paul WS Anderson Film") single-handedly killed two classic franchises. The optimistic "AvP" fans were hoping that this new cut would be the revelation that made one of the biggest cinematic disappointments of all time watchable, at least, but this new cut is just thoroughly underwhelming. Here's my contribution to this thread: if you were underwhelmed by this movie like most fans, there's nothing in this release that I've seen that would change your opinion.

 

[Kain_C]

Seeing it and hating it one time is enough for me. It could have been a new franchise by itself!

Hopefully Fox will come to it's senses in a few years and put a legitimate effort into making a real versus film. I want to see a few hundred Predators going up against a few hundred THOUSAND Aliens, 300 Spartans style. Hell, call it 300 Predators!

 

[Tino]

You're making a lot of assumptions there. Speak for yourself Bill, and by all means continue trashing the film if you like, but don't assume all said "fans" share your assessment of this film.

I enjoyed it tremendously as did many others, fans and non fans alike.

 

[Kain_C]

With a 22% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.4 rating on IMDb, I'd say 'many' is somewhat inaccurate.

 

[Tino]

I didn't say critics.

Courtesy www.boxofficemojo.com

Alien vs. Predator
TOTAL LIFETIME GROSSES
Domestic: $80,282,231 46.9%
+ Overseas: $90,901,632 53.1%

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

= Worldwide: $171,183,863

So I would say many did enjoy this film.

 

[Kain_C]

Everyone knows that you do not equate box office performance (as mediocre as AVP's was) with quality. You cannot possibly extrapolate audience enjoyment out of financial info.

And IMDb ratings are from actual viewers, not critics.

On a personal level, I do not know a single acquaintance that enjoyed this film at all. In fact, a friend who has a tendency to like just about everything hated this film. I myself saw it for free (w/ free ticket from Predator SE) and still felt ripped off.

 

[Tino]

Who cares what they say on IMDB. I personally think that site is pretty useless with all their inaccuracies. Does anyone here really care what is reported on that site? I certainly don't. It's always amusing to me when someone quotes IMDB as if their ratings actually mean anything.

 

[Harrison Shinn]

Well...

I returned my discs and got a new copy. Same problem though. I guess it's my player cause I tried it in my sister's Sony and it worked fine.

Oh well.

Cheers!
Harry