Alien vs. Predator [Blu-ray]

There are some movies these days that just don't stand a chance when people notice something or someone about them that they don't like. Given today's angst-filled audience's hypercritical viewpoints on EVERYTHING, there are shows that could literally shine as works of Hollywood art, yet will probably be villified into obscurity. AVP (Aliens versus Predator) may just be one such movie.STORY-5 StarsFor any of you who are reading this review and haven't yet seen AVP, I give you fair warning that the next few paragraphs give away several spoilers and might hamper your enjoyment, so you might consider skipping over it to the next section.The year is 2004. Low Earth Orbit. There's an object nearby, silhouetted in sunlight and coming closer. Memories of another story come floating to the fore. That shape... so familiar... is it... a queen? It passes under your field of view and you discover that, no, it's actually a satellite and the logo on the side identifies it as belonging to the Weyland corporation. Floating high above the Antarctic, it notices something and decides to relay that information to the satellite tracking station. The attendants check the data and find a heat bloom approximately 2000 feet underneath the ice. Nothing at all should be there. Curious...Over the course of the next few days, a team is assembled from all over the world, including a guide, a drilling team, security and archeologists, to begin an expedition, led by CEO Weyland himself (played by Lance Henriksen), whose company is a pioneer in the field of robotics, to discover what exactly this potential prize is. The only thing known about it is that it's a pyramid of gigantic size and the markings on it suggest it may have been constructed by the world's first civilized culture. The job is rushed, against the advice of the guide, on the assumption that other companies are on their way as well, in an effort to be the first to stake a claim.When they get there, they discover a path already made to the site that wasn't there the day before, set at a perfect 30 degree angle. No one on the team understands how this can be, because there is no technology found on Earth that could possibly have dug to such a depth in that short a time. The mystery deepens.On site, they enter the pyramid and discover a sacrificial chamber, which heightens the brooding sense of uneasiness among the crew. Something dark happened here in the past. Further in, they uncover a sarcophagus bearing a lock based on the Long Count, the ancient Aztec calendar. Inside, there are three objects that nobody can identify. They look completely out of place, in that they appear much more advanced technologically than the surrounding architecture indicates they should be. Removal of these objects initiates a periodic shifting of the pyramid's interior, cutting off the team members from each other, turning the search into a hunt for a way out to safety. In addition, the team finds that they are now being hunted by two other species of creatures, neither of which are from this world. And both of them are definitely hostile.Over the course of the movie, it's discovered that the first species of extra-terrestrial, colloquially known as Predators, found Earth many thousands of years ago and taught humanity the rudiments of civilization. In return, they demanded subjects to submit themselves to become hosts for the second species of creature. These creatures were used as quarry for a hunt, which purpose was to usher in the Predator adolescents to adulthood; a rite of passage in order to be accepted as full members of their specific clan. This pyramid was their ritual training ground, used for just that purpose. In the event that the Aliens got out of control (a likely scenario given their instinctive aggressiveness; indeed sometimes it was hard to tell who was hunting who), the entire site was obliterated.The Aliens end up getting out of control.The guide (the last surviving human) ends up teaming up with the last surviving Predator and narrowly escape the destruction of the site just ahead of the blast wave. Once outside, the human is marked with the symbol of the Predator's clan, thereby being accepted into it, and they cooperate to bring down the Queen Alien. During the battle, the Predator is killed. His corpse is brought onboard his clan's ship for his return to the homeworld and the human ends up going her own way, now ready for whatever the future will bring.The last scene aboard the Predator's starship is that of the dead adolescent, lying on a slab next to a porthole looking out over the Earth.He's at peace......and then his chest suddenly ruptures outward, exposing the head of a newborn Alien. Segway into 'AVP: Requiem'.End of SpoilerThis movie and its sequel came about because of a short scene in Predator 2, where Danny Glover's character, Los Angeles police detective Lt. Hardiman, entered a hidden Predator clan ship in search of a member of the clan which had butchered his entire squad. On one wall, there hung several skulls; trophies of kills that clan had made. One of the skulls was that of a warrior Alien.I remember all of the hushed whispering that erupted when that scene showed in the theater and myself thinking "Oh yeah!". Soon after, Dark Horse Comics starting running a series involving confrontations between the Predators and Aliens set in the future, when humanity had branched out to the local stars. I knew then that something was going to come of that and wasn't at all surprised when AVP trailers started broadcasting during prime time tv.And yes, when I saw this movie in theaters, I enjoyed it immensely. Now that the extended cut has come out on DVD, I enjoy it even more.This movie got a bad rap because 1.)Paul Anderson directed it and 2.) there weren't a lot of big-name actors starring in it.I remind everyone that none of either the Alien or Predator movies starred first-tier actors when they originally aired (except for the very first Predator, and that one was touted as being a 'Schwarzenegger movie' typical of the style of 1980s shoot 'em up action films), yet all of those actors did first-rate jobs with the tasks they were given. 'Alien' was Ridley Scott's second directorial effort and 'Aliens' was also Jim Cameron's second time as a first-unit director. 'Alien 3' was David Fincher's first feature film after a bout of directing music videos. The purpose for this was so that viewers would focus on the stories rather than who was in it. They succeeded. Despite the various negative reviews, each of the movies (depending on which one it was) has collected a cult following that's stood the test of time for the past thirty years. This movie and its sequel allow both franchises to survive on their own, without having the fame factor of either Sigourney Weaver or Arnold Schwarzenegger propping them up, because the story behind each is bigger than either of the characters those two actors portray.VISUALS-5 StarsThere may be some scenes in this movie that seem somewhat cliched, but these scenes are in there to remind folks exactly which background universe the story takes place in. AVP also took the characters in the show and made them more than just faceless, nameless victims of the slaughter and I applaud the director for doing so. Some people also decry the use of CGI in today's movies. I hate to say it (well... no, not really), but CGI is here to stay. Might as well get used to it. I personally have no problems with it. I remember the old way they used to do special effects, and the photorealistic CGI visuals look a LOT more natural in the scene. The ones in this movie look awesome. Ian Whyte, the actor portaying the main Predator, has gotten the movements of the creature down exactly. I watch this and it reminds me of Kevin Peter Hall's movements in the original 1987 show starring Arnold.SOUND-5 StarsSound in movies these days has only gotten better with digital clarity and the score and ambient effects in this show fit both franchises to the letter.SPECIAL FEATURES-5 StarsThis DVD includes both the theatrical version and the unrated extended cut on disc 1. The special features included on disc 2 are pretty meaty and detail the production of this movie from start to finish. It also shows the comic series AVP is based on from Dark Horse, the 'Monsters in Miniature by Todd McFarlane' featurette and the AVP HBO special.OVERALL-5 StarsDespite what many might say, I feel that this IS a worthy addition to both the Alien and the Predator backdrops. It shows us that we may not actually be alone in this universe and what we come across out there might not be that friendly. Prepare yourselves for what you may find.Two Thumbs Up.

Good movie

Now, really, you people have got to lighten up. One thing I do have to thank you for: My expectations for this film were so low that I was pleasantly surprised. I thought I'd have trouble sitting through it, instead ended up watching it as a rental three times in a row, and then ordering my own copy. So, herewith allow me to try to counter the many negative reviews you're going to find, on Amazon and elsewhere.First, I've never read an Alien vs Predator comic book, and didn't much care for any of the movies except Alien 1 and 2. To me, Alien 3 and 4 were pretentious and hugely disappointing, and I thought the Predator films, while fun, were standard monster/action fare. And I recognize some of AVP's shortcomings: Dark sets that make some of the action hard to follow, and characters that are perhaps a little comic-booky and two-dimensional. However....To really grasp what's good about AVP (and understand some of the action), you need to watch the bonus materials, plus the two audio commentaries -- the first with the director and the two main stars, Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen; the second, with three of the people responsible for the special effects, including Tom Woodruff, who was inside an Alien suit much of the time.At any rate, here's my inventory of what's great about this film:* First and foremost, excellent, excellent, excellent special effects, due to the willingness to blend older and newer technology as appropriate: from props, to puppets, marionettes, actors in monster suits, to amazing full-size sets, elaborate miniatures, green-screen overlays, to animatronics, all the way to CGI, with a heavy emphasis on "practical" shots wherever possible, as opposed to computer graphics. The look and feel of the film are wonderful. I was surprised to hear that this was a relatively low-budget project (shot in Prague to save money); I'd never have guessed funds were tight. A film like this makes more modernistic, CGI-dominated fare such as "I, Robot" look cartoonish.* It's a creature feature! If the earlier efforts left you drooling (pun intended) for more Alien or Predator footage, this is for you. There's some of the less-is-more, jaws-type suspense buildup, especially at first, but unlike its predecessors where you hardly ever get to see the monsters, this movie has got 'em. This is one you can really sink your teeth into, so to speak.* A very good cast. Not quite at the level of Alien 1 (how many films are?), but competent and effective. Seeing Lance Henriksen, of course, is like a reunion with an old friend. Sanaa Lathan is not Sigourney Weaver, doesn't capture the same feeling of horror and desperation Weaver added to Alien 1 and 2, but she isn't meant to. Instead, she does a good job as a brave, indomitable comic-book heroine stereotype, ultimately winning the mark of a warrior from the Predator she's forced to ally with. ("The enemy of my enemy is my friend.")* A story line that holds together very well, and makes this about as perfect a prequel as you could hope for. Some of the other reviews complained about illogical, hard-to-swallow plot points. Maybe I'm just dense, but it seemed very well thought out to me. I thought the references to Chariots of the Gods fit in perfectly. On the whole, in a genre that tends to take a lot of liberties with scientific accuracy and common sense, there's not much to complain about with this one. (Sure, having a bottomless undersea trench a few yards away from a pyramid buried 2 kilometers underground is a bit of a goof, but how else are you going to watch the Alien queen disappear into a seemingly limitless void at the end? Were you planning to put an airlock on the coast of Antarctica? Think before you make these suggestions.)* Clever tributes, tie-ins and references to the earlier films. Example: Henriksen, the aging billionaire CEO, sitting at his desk, pensively tapping a pencil between his outstretched fingers, recalling the finger-fillet scene in Aliens.* This film is not afraid to have a little fun, though it does it in a very relaxed and unforced way, with some respect for the viewer's intelligence, not hamming it up. For example, in the first commentary you find out they cut the line, "You mean they're just teenagers?!?" because Anderson felt it would detract from the intensity of the scene. Personally, had I been directing, I wouldn't have been that strong.If you're wavering on this one, I hope my comments have been some help. If you have any affection at all for aliens and/or predators, I encourage you to at least rent it. As for me, I'm hoping for a sequel to the prequel.

Alien as hunted by Predator as superior with humans merely caught in between. Beneath the Antarctic ice is a fortress that needs to be explored. Unfortunately Predators are preparing to renew and hunt Aliens. As this all comes to fruition the fortress comes alive as a maze that begins to shift constantly thwarting Predator and Alien and the unlucky humans caught between.A compelling and exciting film. Absolutely riveting. Unexpected alliances are formed. This film constantly surprises in the best way possible.

Bought for dad and was happy with it.

Der Film ist der beste aus der Reihe. Den Rest muss man nicht unbedingt haben. Die ersten 3 original Teile vom Predator sind immer noch die besten. Gleiches gilt für die Alien Reihe. Das Steelbook ist nicht der Gipfel der Kreativität. Ist aber ok.

Content de l'avoir en blu ray grande version belle image son très bien je le conseil

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