Customer Reviews

Predator (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(328)
4 star:		(103)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

WOW what a bad looking print. Who the heck was in charge of this Blu-Ray transfer??? Does the 'Ray' stand for Ray Charles? because it looks as if a blind man choose to use this print! All the fuzzies, dots, lines, and blemishes on this print look ever better in hi-def! Why on earth can't the original negative be used? If I'm gonna pay a higher price, then I should get a much better picture. Shame, shame, shame, on them.

My 1-star review is not for the movie, Predator, which I love. I bought it twice on DVD: the first single-disc release with no extras, and then the excellent 2-disc special edition. I am not going to be buying on Blu-Ray, however, until the chowder-heads over at Fox start including all of the ALREADY PRODUCED extras on their Blu-Ray discs. Case in point: Predator.

Predator on Blu-Ray features a higher definition transfer (though on a single layer disc), but carries over none of the special features from the 2-disc DVD. How hard would this have been? Make it a dual layer Blu-Ray, and just throw them all on there in standard definition. That would have guaranteed and instant buy for me. But this habit of dumping the film bare-bones onto Blu-Ray is reminiscent of the early days of DVD, and I thought we were past that. Other studios are doing a fine job of including all the special features, so why is Fox being dumb? And why are they slapping a $40 MSRP on a bare-bones release?

You would have had me with a good release, Fox. I would gladly plonk down the cash for a true upgrade from my DVD version. But you blew it, and you're not getting my money.

This is the worst quality Blu-Ray I have come across so far. $26.95 is outrageous for a DVD to Blu-Ray dub. Your probably better off getting the widescreen DVD than the Blu-Ray and playing the movie on upscaling DVD player, you will get the same quality. The movie is classic, just don't buy the Blu-Ray version unless you find it in a bargin bin somewhere.

I thought that this was a great movie. I recomend anybody that is a arnold fan or a action fan see this movie. I am gonna talk about the stuf about the new collectors dvd.

IMAGE :
This collector's edition has been issued in a rather dissapointing 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen tansfer, one that dosent sppear that all different (if at all) from the previous Predator dvd release, which means its fair to middlin at best. The quality of the print varies dramatically during its run, moving from jarringly awful and grainy Fox searchlight logo opening to edge halos to fequen bouts of specking and other minor detritus. When the transfer is on its game, it looks fairly good, with its solidly reproduced fleshtones offset by often soft background coloring. Its a tolerable tranfer, but this title deserves better treatment, image-wise.

SOUND:
The paring of Dolby Digital and DTS tracks is a nice touch, but it was already done on an earlier release, so we're not getting anything new here. The good news is that the're both pretty active mixes, and though you can dicker and bicker about the subtle differences. you will rumble quotient. The minimal dialogue is presentable, and the rear channels are aggressively mixed, so when the big fight sequences take place the mood is appropriatly frenetic. The real winner, however, is the depth and fullness of the macho posturing of the Alan Silvestri score. A french 2.0 surround and a mono Spanish track are also included.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Full motion menu with music
Scene Acess with 25 cues and remote acess
Subtitles/Captions in English,Spanish with remote acess
2 Trailers featuring Alien vs. Predator, Alien Quadrilogy
1 deleted scenes
1 documentary
12 featurettes
1 feature/Episode commentary by John Mctiernan
Packaging Tri-fold Amaray with slipcase
Picture Disc
2 discs
Layers: Dual

The first disc has a audio commentary and it is pretty interesting

Disc TWO:

If it Bleeds we can kill it" The making of Predator

Classified Action

The Unseen Arnold

Old Painless

The Life Inside : A tribute to Kevin Peter Hall

Camouflage

Welcome to the Jungle

Character Design

Predator Special Fx: This section offers a series of short pre-effects sequences

Predator Red looking down

Predator Red in Jungle

Predator Red Main Walking Layer

Camouglage Moth Test

Camouflage Effect Layers

Fleeing the Predator(This is the only deleted scene)

These are just three scenes that are considered outtakes(dont know why)

Chameleon

Building A Trap

Sliding downhill

This disc also includes a Predator Profile made up of nine screens of text and artwork explaining the dreadlocked alien's specialized weaponry.

Then there is also a Photo Gallery

AND LAST is a trailer of Alien Quadrilogy

THAT IS ALL THAT IS IN THIS DVD!
THANKS FOR READING MY REVIEW!
HOPE YOU ENJOY THE DVD !

There is NO WAY, that this film gets a cumulative 4/5. The ratings have been pulled over from the SD. Amazon, please consider adding a separate database field for PQ and AQ for the hi-def products.

This movie itself for me is a 5. I love it! The transfer- a nightmare. Tons of noise, color flutuation and light changes/artifacting. The picture is soft, too.

Fox/MGM were just (10/2008) given some of the worst ratings, for their Blu-Ray releases and I understand why. I am a huge fan of this franchise, and was incredibly excited to see this in hi-def. If 0 stars was an option, I'd give it a 0. This Blu-Ray transfer is among some of the worst that I have seen.

For the premium price paid for Blu-Ray I expect a pristine picture and sound. Fox/MGM I hope you're listening. This truly is shameful!

I am thoroughly disappointed and all of the future MGM/Fox titles will be considered "rentals" until I see an review.

I am quite disappointed in Fox's decision to DNR the crap out of Predator. I know a lot of you probably don't care, but Predator was never supposed to look as crystal clear as Avatar or a Pixar film. The problem with using DNR like this is that all of the fine detail of film is scrubbed away along with the film grain, which is why the actors and sets look like they are made of wax. One of the greatest aspects of the Blu-Ray format is it allows you to view films for the first time as they were intended to look: like films! What this release does is attempt to make Predator look as if it was shot on digital video yesterday, but of course a modern digital film wouldn't have the detail of the picture removed like Predator has.
Now, the original Blu-Ray wasn't great either, as it was an early effort from Fox that was delayed from release a long time, which is why it was poorly compressed on a single-layer disc with MPEG 2. However, I would still recommend that disc over this new one. What Fox should have done is create a new master going back to the original negatives, and perhaps SPARINGLY applied some DNR by people who knew what they were doing to sort out the inconsistencies of the grain in the first release.
The bottom line is I don't support releases like this and I hope FOX or any other studio doesn't continue to alter older films like this. I give this disc 2 stars instead of 1 because they included all the extras that should have been on the original disc, but for anyone that cares about film and the artistic intent of the filmmakers, stay away from this one!

Do not under any circumstances purchase this blu-ray DVD. Decorum prevents me from using certain unsavory verbage to accurately describe this item but I will try all the same. Let me put it this way: If you accidentally dropped this DVD on your lawn, flowers would grow there because this DVD is crap.

Let's just put aside the fact that Fox opted not to include any of the extras from the regular DVD release from a few years ago. Knowing this going in, I bought it anyway thinking that the superior video and audio quality alone would justify the purchase. Nope. The picture is appalingly bad. Fox didn't even bother to clean the print up for the transfer, so all the dust particles and artifacts from the print can now be seen in High Def. Bravo, Fox.

What's more, Fox is commanding top dollar for this P.O.S. Suggested retail price is $29.95, a price range reserved for the higher end blu-ray DVD's with superior quality and gobs of extras. It's barely worth $9.99 and that's being generous.

Avoid this one like the plague. If someone gives you this DVD, use it as a coaster because it isn't good for much else. Maybe target practice. Don't buy COMMANDO either, that one sucks too.

If Fox messes up FIGHT CLUB this badly, I will be royally pissed. Right now I'm just annoyed. You are on probabtion, Fox. Get on the ball or get out of the game.

Predator is about as testosterone supercharged as you could possibly get in a movie. Every actor is pumped up. It has tough dialogue, big guns, and lots of macho action. Throw in a cool alien with amazing special effects and you have pure guy movie nirvana. It doesn't hurt matters that it was the film that John McTiernan directed right before making Die Hard. It established that he could really handle action.

The cast of this film was perfect. It was a real ensemble piece with Schwarzenegger in the lead. In fact, I think Arnold was helped tremendously by the additional cast. He didn't have to carry the whole movie on his shoulders and they helped elevate the level of acting and characterization. You had Carl Weathers as the CIA agent. He seems more than a physical match for Schwarzenegger and he definitely acts better. You also had Bill Duke as Sgt. 'Mac' Eliot. His quiet, intense gaze said more than anything else he did. You had Jesse Ventura playing the tough, tobacco chewing, gun toting guy who ain't got time to bleed". (Did Ventura inspire Arnold to be a governor, too?) You had American Indian Sonny Landham as Billy, the guy with the haunting laugh. Then there was Richard Chaves as Poncho Ramirez who was also a favorite of mine.

The effects of Predator were also remarkable. Not only was the camouflage effect unique but the alien makeup itself was stunning. The alien was definitely a guy in a rubber mask, but the helmet, dreadlocks, and mandibles made him one of the more amazing looking aliens in movie history. Everything about the Predator was just cool. The character was a real high point in Stan Winston's career.

The music by Alan Silvestri was also unique and a perfect blend of military march and horror suspense to give the movie the right feel.

This is one of those rare movies where everything came together just right to make a fun film. The actors, director, effects, music, and everything fit together just right to make one of the best popcorn flicks ever made.
the extras
The Extras:
This is about the third or fourth edition of the Predator DVD. I don't have the others, so I can't compare this edition to them. However, it is a big treat for any Predator fan. It's on par with the Alien collector editions that recently came out. There are a ton of extras and bonus features that I had never seen before. Here are the highlights:

Commentary by John McTiernan - This commentary by the director is admittedly a bit dry. McTiernan comes across as a little flaky, but he does have all sorts of interesting trivia about the film. However, I don't think I learned much from the commentary that I didn't get from the other featurettes on the DVD.

Text commentary - If you turn on this option, subtitles appear on the screen. They are apparently transcribed commentary from the sound effects guys, some actors, editors, and other crew members. It's interesting, but it's a little distracting to have their conversations appearing as text on the bottom of the screen. I think I would have preferred an audio commentary. However, it is full of all sorts of Predator trivia that's quite interesting. Predator fans might find one or two new things here they haven't heard before.

Deleted scene: Arnold Schwarzenegger Fleeing Predator - In this deleted scene, Arnie hides under a log from the Predator and is covered in ants. He then runs and dodges explosions in the jungle as he runs from the Predator. The scene ultimately isn't that great and is not missed from the film.

"If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It" documentary - This is an extended documentary on the making of the film. It's about 30 minutes long. It shows interviews with the cast and crew from the 80's and more recently. You learn the origins of the script, what it was like filming in the jungle, and more. It's an excellent documentary.

Inside the Predator: seven featurettes - These are a series of 3 to 10 minute short features on various subjects. They include the special weapons from the film, the casting, the camouflage makeup, the Predator suit, Kevin Peter Hall, shooting in the jungle, and more. I was really surprised to see that the Predator in the film wasn't the original one they had in mind. It was originally more bug-like and it looked quite stupid on film. It was good to see they went with the design they did. You also learn that the film was originally called "Hunter" rather than "Predator". Again, there are all sorts of cool stuff for Predator fans here.

Three outtakes - One "outtake" shows Anna picking up a chameleon in the forest. Another shows Dutch preparing for battle with the Predator. I don't even recall the third one if that tells you anything. They are all better left on the cutting room floor.

Three Predator "red suit" special effects - In order to make the camouflage effect in the film, they had the alien actor in a big red suit that was optically removed later. These show the original shots of the suit. Even the cheesy original alien is shown here.

Two Predator camouflage tests - This shows the various camouflage effects they tried before settling on the one seen in the film. These tests happen to use the footage of the original sucky alien.

Alien vs. Predator and I, Robot sneak peeks - These are quick sneak peeks of AVP and I, Robot. The AVP one is only around 2 minutes long, but you get to see the mechanical alien, the making of the Predator helmets, and more. It's fun stuff.

The items on this special edition were released in foreign markets TWO YEARS AGO. That would not be bad except the transfer is also the same and not a very good one at that. Grainy is the order of the day. In high density color scenes shot from the Predator's point of view, it's really tough to discern shapes. The base transfer Fox has used for this release (same as the previous DVD) is just middling. It's not awful. But if you are buying this in hopes of a restored cleaned-up version of your favorite action film, minus all the dirt and grain, you're going to have to wait. This seems to be how Fox double-dips their customers, as with the non-anomorphic transfers on the "Planet of the Apes" set.

Predator, directed by Die Hard's John McTiernan, is a masterpiece of the action-horror, sci-fi genre and arguably Arnold Schwarzenegger's best film, the film that showcase's Arnold's action skills and Mr. Oylmpia physique. As the leader of a squad of elite commandoes, sent into the deep jungles of Mexico to carry out an unclear mission(We know eventually of course it is the discovery of the predator not mercenaries that is the real secret) and they are an efficient, colorful bunch. They all compliment Arnold's Dutch and they soon realize that, not only do they have to operate in an almost impossibly oppressive jungle but they start getting picked off one by one gruesomely by an unknown force. Most of the squad see the predator too late or give up at its almost immortal fighting power.The cinematography is superb. I've never seen the jungle photographed in any movie better than Predator and the way the director uses it for the dense hunting ground for this malevolent creature. And what a creature! Stan Winston, the creature's designer,has outdone himself and created one of the most awesome aliens in sci-fi history. The action is fast, furious and bloody. There seems no escaping this predator unless, like Dutch, you become as savage as he is, and even then, only by luck survive to be saved by a chopper.The special effects are astounding and with all the computer enhanced effects today, predator walks away with some of the most orginal special effects is history, appropriate to the story, the jungle, and the action, with ultraviolet filters and the predator recording all the human dialogue and then echoed at another point in the movie. A classic, that any action lover should own and re-watch for years. I think it was under rated at the time and after seeing it again for at least the tenth time, I'm sure it will last and is a classic and Arnold will never do anything better. Highly recommended but not for the very young; it might be a little too vilolent for the very young and a little too intense. For Predator, intensity is its middle name and John McTiernan continues his run of first class action flims.