On January 25th, the second installment in the Predator franchise
will be released as a 2-disc Special Edition DVD. Originally released in 1990,
Predator 2 was set seven years ahead in a future Los Angeles,
some 10 years after the first Predator visited Central America. While it’s
not as smart or scary as the first one, there are some fun moments that help
the overall Predator storyline develop and contribute to fans’ admiration
of this alien monster.
As a preface/side note: watching the movie 15 years after it’s initial
release and 8 years after it supposedly took place, is kind of funny. The predicted
L.A. was nothing like the actual L.A. of 1997. That’s just comical to
me… much like watching 2001: A Space Oddity, Escape
from N.Y. or Escape From L.A. today, and what it will
be like to watch Back To The Future II in 10 years.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the plot of Predator 2,
here’s the summary: Danny Glover stars as Lt. Harrigan in a 1997 Los Angeles,
which by that time is in the midst of a heat-wave and a raging drug war between
the Colombians and the Jamaicans, with the police trying to intervene. Another
Predator visits Earth, lands straight in the middle of the gun fighting, and
proceeds to hunt and destroy anyone wielding a weapon. After a string of unusual
and brutal killings, Glover soon realizes that he is up against something different
and not of this world. All the while, Federal Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey)
and his team are tracking the Predator and are on a mission to catch it. The
movie eventually comes down to a predictable mano a mano between Glover and
Predator.
When compared to the original Predator, the second one falls
short. While the creature and special effects are as good as the first and the
story is okay, the overall feeling of suspense and horror is lost in the city
setting – being stranded in a jungle is far more terrifying. Also, the
second movie has many more cheesy one-liners, character development is inferior
to that of the first one, and most of the acting reeks of late 80’s cinema
– just plain bad. One plus I can give is the glimpse into the interior
of the Predator ship, and the first hint at an Alien Vs. Predator
story. In short, Predator 2 suffers from ‘not-as-good-as-the-first’
sequel syndrome.
The movie itself is presented in its original Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
format, and comes complete with English Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 sound
tracks. Spanish and French Dolby 2.0 Surround are also available, as well as
English and Spanish subtitles for the hearing impaired. As far as packaging
goes, it’s a standard DVD jewel case that contains 2 discs and is protected
by a slipcase. The first disc contains the feature and commentaries; the second
is a full-on bonus disc. Overall, the movie isn’t that great, but it’s
still fun to watch now and then if you are into the series or genre. Standard
packaging doesn’t boost the grade that much; I give it a C+.
The bonus features in the Predator 2 Special Edition are worthy
of some praise. I had the pleasure of reviewing the first Predator Collector’s
Edition set that came out last fall, and I was a bit disappointed in
the extra features. This batch of bonus bits is better than the predecessor
and deserves a B+. Here is a breakdown of what is included:
• Audio Commentaries – There are two full-length audio commentaries
to accompany the film. Director Stephen Hopkins does the first one and writers
– and brothers – Jim and John Thomas perform the second commentary.
Both tracks deliver interesting tidbits and are as informative as commentaries
go; if you can sit through the movie a couple of extra times, they are worth
listening to.
• The Hunters And The Hunted – This is a nicely done ‘making
of’ that combines vintage interview clips and behind the scenes footage,
with a newly shot interview with director Stephen Hopkins. It runs 35 minutes
and covers all basic aspects of the creation of the movie, including story,
effects and characters. Good for all to view.
• Evolutions – This is a look at the special effects process for
four sequences in the film. As an added bonus, they are accompanied by an audio
commentary by visual effects supervisor Joel Hynek.
• Weapons Of Choice – Complete with intro, this 8-minute featurette
takes a look at six of the Predator’s deadly weapons.
• Promotional Gallery – This section has a slew of extra features
in it, including: three theatrical trailers (averaging 1 minute each), five
TV spots (averaging 30 seconds each), and three promotional featurettes shot
in 1990 (averaging 3 to 6 minutes each). All are pretty cool to watch once,
and it’s good to see they put all of these bits in the collection.
• Hard Core – During the movie, the mock-television show “Hard
Core” runs special reports concerning the carnage in Los Angeles, staring
Morton Downey Jr. as reporter Tony Pope. Presented in their entirety, are two
reports. What’s great about these is that not only are they fun to watch
and pretty vintage, but they act as an alternate view or a behind the scenes
capture of the stuff that was in the movie. A definite bonus.
• Still Gallery – This auto-play feature runs just under 5 minutes
and brings you through 57 promotional and behind the scenes shots with film
score accompaniment.
While Predator 2 falls short of the excellence of the first
movie, this Special Edition DVD will make fans quite happy. I can’t recommend
buying the DVD if you’re not a fan of the franchise, but if you are, it
could be considered a worthy purchase.
DVD Film/Edition Presentation Score: C+
DVD Special Features Score: B+
DVD Overall Score: B-
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