This is topic AVP : Alien Vs. Predator in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 08-13-2004, 03:12 AM:
 
This was better than I was expecting, as long as you do not take it seriously.

I am not a scientist but I dont think that you can just go outside in the middle of the night in Antarctica and not freeze to death without special gear. These guys are just wearing regular coats. If anyone has been to Antarctica please correct me if I am wrong.

Also, when she shot up that tunnel really fast she would have died shortly after from decompression sickness. Many people died building the Brooklynn bridge because they came up to the surface too fast.

Last, the ending feels just like FvJ
 

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Posted by Greg Routenburg (Member # 1742) on 08-13-2004, 03:46 AM:
 
I must say, I was pleasently surprised. I'm not a huge fan of either the Alien or Predator franchises but I think they pulled this one off. The effects were nicely done and they stayed true to the nature of both species, at least as best I can remember them. If you're in Ontario or any part of Canada that uses Ontario ratings as a guide, don't let the PG rating turn you away, frankly I'm surprised that it came in less then 18A. For more information on Ontario's rating system visit www.ofrb.gov.on.ca
 

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Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 08-13-2004, 07:40 PM:
 
It wasn't a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but in all honestly I think that they did the best possible job that they could considering the source materal and budget. It was one of those movies that I had low expectations for but was able to enjoy it for what it was.
 

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Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 08-14-2004, 01:25 AM:
 
It opened very well here. We took in the screening & my kids thought it was pretty good.

However, David Germain's review on the NBC web site rips it a new one.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5698394/

I think he's bummed because he didn't get to see it early enough
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 08-14-2004, 04:39 PM:
 
This is from this guys so called review...

quote:

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“Alien vs. Predator” is set in Antarctica, where scientists are scoping out an ancient pyramid discovered below the ice. The gang stumbles onto two extraterrestrial races duking it out under the tundra (why they couldn’t have chosen a more hospitable climate, like the French Riviera, is never explained).

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This guy never saw the movie! Everything in his review he could easily have gotten it from fansites. The truth is that it IS EXPLAINED why they duke it out in the frozen tundra of antartica instead of someplace warmer. If he had watched the movie he would have known that.

I think too he was just pissed that he didn't get to screen the movie in advance. But it was not for the reason that he put in his review, that it was a sure fire stinker, but rather that editing was bieng done up until the final minute to get the best possible product. It wasn't that the screenings were never scheduled, they were. The screenings were cancelled when they realized that they were not going to meet the deadline necessary to make those screenings. This happened more often than not, as movie release dates are often now scheduled up to two years in advance, regardless if they are done or not.

On to my review, I actually was also very pleasantly surprised. I give it 3 out of four stars. No it wasn't overly gory, thank god, I really get sick of the same old crap, but it was actually more violent and bloody than any PG13 film I had ever seen.

By EVERY GREAT STRECH OF THE IMAGINATION it was a very good film. Well done, crafted, plotted, executed. I am sure there are those that hated it going into it. Those will say that anyone who sees it is getting robbed of thier hard earned money or that they are just too stupid to have any great deal of imagination. I prefer to say that if you don't like a movie, cool for you.

This reviewer liked it quite a bit, may even go see it again. Of course I went in seeking guilty pleasure, that critic there wrote a revenge article and I guarantee you he never saw it. WHat a looooser!

Ciao

Dave
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-14-2004, 10:35 PM:
 
Today, Regal Cinema World 8 in Eugene. About 30 people in a 480-seat house. Looked pretty crappy on the screen a lot of the time (grainy, both black and white flecks, etc.) but not the theater's fault. Excellent sound. I didn't notice any CrAP code -- maybe Fox decided this piece of garbage wasn't worth the extra expense.

Disclaimer: I went in wanting to like it, but I walked out after about an hour. Right in the middle of one of the action sequences actually.

This would barely qualify for straight-to-video. An insult to good moviemaking and to the respectable franchises that spawned it -- an abortion. Incomprehensibly, insanely bad. And I mean it's just plain bad, not bad/good in the campy sense. Just bad.


 

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Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 08-14-2004, 11:53 PM:
 
We got one of those grainy, fleck-y reels at our indoor. Replacement came overnight, no questions. All OK there now. Our prints look as good as anything else we get.

No problems with the drive-in print.

It was on my 3rd time through the print that I started seeing the cap codes. It looks like they actually made an attempt not to stick it in your face this time.
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 08-15-2004, 05:48 AM:
 

quote: Michael Gonzalez

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but in all honestly I think that they did the best possible job that they could considering the source materal and budget.

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This was predictably not a movie worthy of such a great concept.
However, on the bright side, it is not as bad as many of us feared and this was certainly better than Alien 4.
As far as the comment that this movie was good given the budget, I doubt this was a low budget movie. Money was sunk into this movie. Also the source material is not something to laugh at. We are talking about two beloved franchises. Predator didn't get overexposed. Alien and Aliens are still classics.

I did like it better than I expected as I went in with zero expectations. The cast was a bit too bland for my tastes but one warms up to a couple of characters towards the middle.

THe PG-13 rating does hurt the movie. Just think of the Anakin revenge scene in Attack of the CLones where Lucas just shows him getting mad and cuts away after one swoosh. THe entire movie A vs P is like that scene. A lot of teasing, but no real displays. Even the famous ugly mother****** word is self censored. And the facehuggers in a matrix type effect? lame.
I also wish the Predators didnt have that really clean shiny look. They looked as well scrubbed as a ninja turtle. I liked the Predator design in Part 2 where the guy doesnt look so shiny.

I didn't buy the history lesson of Predators and how things came to be the way they were. Still, it is a pretty watchable movie with a few decent alien - predator confrontations. I dont know why they didnt get this reviewed. That led to my zero expectations. Much worse movies have been prescreened for critics including catwoman.
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 08-16-2004, 04:41 PM:
 
As to why this movie didn't get reviewed, refer to my previous post for the answer. Last minute editing was bieng done. As I now understand it did in fact receive an R rating originally, and they were given a PG-13 on the basis that certain edits were done before the release. That apparently was what happened to the critics screening. The edits were made much more tighter in order to garner a larger viewing audience, and they came at last minute notice. The critics however also know this but instead use it as thier basis for calling it a stinker.

Too bad though anyone who had high expectations and hated it. Probably the problem, this film had high expectations to meet, and thats how many people are going to look at it, instead of just taking it on its own accord, they are comparing it to the franchises. Kind of like when you find a great theater as part of a crappy chain, and never go in because you know the chain is crappy, or vise versa, you find a crappy theater in a great chain... etc and so on.

I Robot had the same expectation problems. People automatically compared it to the source material instead of just going in and having a good time. It is hard to paint a masterpiece of your own design when people are expecting an exact reproduction of the mona lisa.

Not the peoples fault however. Just a victim of circumstance. Imagine that this AVP film was a one of a kind, no predecessors, not part of a franchise, what would people say about it if there was nothing to compare it too? That is how I like to look at movies, but alas I too fall victim to the comparing bug.

Still, I did really like this movie. It is sad that it didn't have much more solid actors and a much more solid director. That way it would have a better shot in the comparison game.

Ciao

Dave
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-16-2004, 07:31 PM:
 
I went in with very low expectations, and I wanted to like it on its own terms. I like a well-executed B-movie (which is basically what the original Predator is). Unfortunately this wasn't one. Much of the visuals were a grainy, muddy mess (and this was in an EXCELLENT theater). Some of the action was staged and filmed very awkwardly, with quick cutting and poor continuity. The characters were laughable cardboard cutouts. A few of the teenagers in the audience of 30 or so (total) were laughing at the dialog. At about the halfway point I didn't give a rats ass what might happen and in fact the sloppiness of the filmmakers was making me angry. So I got up and left.

The only thing Fox did right with this movie was to not screen it for critics (whatever the reason).

A few people I work with who've seen it liked it too. Maybe it's just me. I also hated and walked out on Sweet Home Alabama. I have no patience for movies that waste my time.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-16-2004, 08:52 PM:
 
After "Alien" and "Aliens" I just pretend the other movies don't exist.
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 08-17-2004, 07:25 AM:
 
I will agree with you on sweet home alabama. Now if they could have gotten weese witherspoon in AVP to get killed, I am sure you could have found a way to love it.

Ciao

Dave
 

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Posted by Ron Yost (Member # 1850) on 08-17-2004, 11:00 AM:
 
Removed .. by me.

Ron Yost

[ 08-17-2004, 12:54 PM: Message edited by: Ron Yost ]
 

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Posted by Rich Granata (Member # 2285) on 08-17-2004, 11:44 AM:
 
They should have integrated E.T. into the plot

E.T. vs. Predator.....

It wasn't so bad...sucky actors and directing...but monsters beating on eachother is so badass. Same here. Low expectations, mildy pleased.
 

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Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 08-17-2004, 12:14 PM:
 
Yeah, E.T. saying, "Owwwwwwwwwwwch" to the Predator when he takes off his mask would be priceless. Overall, I enjoyed the film. It was silly, stupid, but fun as hell at the same time. Considering the material they had to work with and the ways they could go with it, they took a good path.

AJG
 

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Posted by Nicole Halper (Member # 2299) on 08-17-2004, 08:59 PM:
 
Ok --**SPOILER**
Now I only saw some of this movie, but if I'm not mistaken...Predator makes peace with the human that is still alive, and protects her from Alien....hmmmm...can we say cheesy?
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 08-19-2004, 07:53 AM:
 
Nicole, this is a moment where you need to see the whole film to truly understand the moment.

I never do this.. but...

*******SPOILERS***********

The predators are hunters, and everyone is prey. In a pivotal scene the remaining two humans decide to give the big guns to the predators so that they can kill the aliens, to stop them from escaping and destroying the planet. They knew that they themselves would be killed anyway, so best to get the guns to the guys who would best suit humanity, regardless of thier own safety.

On the way one of the humans fall victim to an Alien, and then the remaining human comes across the remaining predator, gives him the gun, and if you recall from predator history, an unarmed woman is not prey, so she is not killed. However, as the predator is killing the aliens, he is nearly bested by one last alien, however the human picks up a predator weapon and kills the alien, to prevent the predator from getting killed, as he is the only hope to stop the alien threat.

The predator sees that she has joined the hunt, and shows her how to mark herself with the blood of her kill, and how to arm herself using the skull of the alien and the predator stabbing weapon. He takes her on the hunt because she has proven herself to be a formidable alien killer, therefore no need to kill her at all now, and he could use the help. Yes he is going to protect her as she has joined the hunt. The predators at the end even gave her his stabbing weapon as a trophy of the hunt, and left her.

Less cheesy when you take into account predator history, actual history of hunting cultures, and the entire movie itself. Yeah the whole thing is a large cheeseball, but it is a guily fun cheeseball.

Ciao

Dave
 

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Posted by Nicole Halper (Member # 2299) on 08-19-2004, 06:51 PM:
 
OK--- so that's a little better~ haha- but thanks! (Though I'd stick to the original Alien movies any day than a bond between Predator and Humans- but it's a Movie after all)
 

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Posted by Jason M Miller (Member # 2597) on 08-22-2004, 12:22 AM:
 
A couple of things, if you have ever seen Preditor 2 you will see that this is not the first time the Preditor ever gave a human a trophey, so this is not a new concept.

Next

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Also, when she shot up that tunnel really fast she would have died shortly after from decompression sickness. Many people died building the Brooklynn bridge because they came up to the surface too fast. --Chris Hipp

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