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

[Tino]

*sigh*

 

[AlexCremers]

Let's face it, in the grand scheme of things, the only movie discussed here which is of any cinematic value is Ridley Scott's 'Alien'. It's the only film that successfully combines art with commercialism (big Hollywood movie for the masses). Quite an achievement, isn't it? No wonder it's accepted into Library of Congress for Film Preservation.



Alex

 

[Frank@N]

I place P2 below AVP because the P2 film makers concealed the Predator for most of the movie (see previous comments regarding the slaughter house). Most of the movie is a big tease, which can be annoying for fans of the series.

AVP actually got slagged for playing 'hide and seek' with the creatures early in the movie, but P2 is far more guilty in this case (I believe). The initially P2 DVD was also extremely dark, but this may be corrected on the 2-disc.

As it is, I'm keeping the 1-disc versions of P2 and AVP because I don't think either demands a DD. But I'd much rather watch AVP if given a choice.

 

[Elijah Sullivan]

Dunno if I agree with you there, Frank. Remember Alien? No monster for the first hour? Remember Aliens? No monster for the first hour? Remember Predator? No monster for the first... well, twenty minutes?

Predator 2 gets ranked last for me because it's a bad film, not for lack of monster action. AvP felt pretty rushed compared to the earliest of the films in question - Alien. That one's the champ, for me, but not because of simple patience: it's a better movie.

I was willing to give AvP a second chance if this were a true director's cut. Sounds like the answer is a no, so this a no-sale for me. Weird that you would put out two cuts of a film and have neither of them a director's cut... surely there were more people who complained the film was stupid than there were people who complained it wasn't violent enough!

 

[Damin J Toell]

So did we ever come to a conclusion: with the evidence we get on the new disc, was P.W.S. Anderson telling the truth in his pre-theatrical-release hype about cuts made to the film?

DJ

 

[GuruAskew]

Well, there's some debate that the rumor of the movie being cut down to a PG-13 against PWSA's wishes was a complete fabrication made up by "AvP" fans in denial, I've also read claims that he considers the theatrical cut his director's cut. In any event, it's painfully obvious when watching this "unrated" cut that the majority of the changes were all made digitally, after-the-fact.

 

[Frank@N]

I guess what I'm saying is that you can only get away with that once (as in Alien and P1).

P2 was tedious because the audience already knew what Danny Glover took an hour to figure out, it's a Predator!

AVP got 'down to it' faster and was a more rewarding flick (for me) as a result.

Aliens is a bit of a special case because we (the audience) had become attached to Ripley and the beginning of the movie was about her situation.