AVP: Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem (Blu-ray)

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Video:

"Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" comes to Blu-ray with a striking 2.40:1 widescreen transfer that is mastered at 1080p with the AVC MPEG-4 codec at 29 MBPS. The two films are presented using seamless branching, but I was unable to get the disc to properly play in my Samsung BD-P1400 player. Thankfully, my Playstation 3 was more than eager to help me out. Of course, I would have needed to use the PS3 to test out the Profile 1.1 features contained on the disc. I´m not sure if this is going to be a problem with all BD-P1400 players or if this is isolated to my unit or discs. Regardless, "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" looked very good through the Playstation 3.

The film is quite detailed and showcases a solid looking palette that ranges from being warm and welcoming in the early going to becoming foreboding, cold and dark in the final two acts. My only complaint with the transfer is that the film is quite dark and detail is lost during some of the darker moments. This tended to keep the Aliens out of sight and while it provided a little more fear-factor to the titular movie monsters; I wanted to see them in high definition. The new Predator camouflage effect was very nicely handled by the transfer. When the darkness was not hindering detail, "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" look spectacular and could rival the bets releases in detail and coloring. Source materials are clean and the film is clear of any digital flaws from the mastering process. This isn´t a perfect transfer, but it looks quite good.

Audio:

Fox provides "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" with a potent sounding DTS HD 5.1 Lossless Master Audio Surround mix. Spanish and French languages are supported with workhorse Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mixes. Subtitles are provided in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean. This is an aggressive sounding film and I was very pleased with what sound was delivered to my six speakers. The moment when the Predator ship comes crashing down to Earth is a prime example of the potency of this mix as the .1 LFE channel thumps heavily and all channels erupt with sound. The firefight with the National Guard and the Aliens is another strong point in the film. The big fight at the hospital sounds superb and is among the better sounding Blu-ray titles I have experienced. Brian Tyler´s theatrical score is handled nicely and is both loud and warm sounding. Dialogue is good and clear. The DTS HD mix certainly made the film all the more enjoyable.

Extras:

"Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" is billed on Blu-ray as both the "Digital Copy Special Edition" and the "Extreme Unrated Set." Essentially, this 2-disc set comes packed with a feature-laden first disc that contains both the films theatrical and unrated versions and a plethora of special features. Had the film been packed with only the primary disc and its numerous bits of value added content, it would have been a very nice special edition. However, the bar is raised a notch with the second platter of the set. This contains a complete Digital Copy of AVP-R for Portable Media Players. The second disc is a DVD-Video disc that has various installations for the film that can be transferred to various units such as the Playstation Portable or the Microsoft Zune. I toyed around with this digital copy for a short while and found it a nice addition to the higher-priced Blu-ray release.

Moving back to the first disc; "AVP-R" contains some nice supplements. Upon boot, the user selects the desired version of the film. Two commentaries are available via the discs menus. The Commentary by Directors Colin and Greg Strause and Producer John Davis is the all-too-familiar back-patting commentary that is an easy listen, but doesn´t dig too deep into anything more than the usual banter. The trio was affable and very positive towards their creation. The second Commentary by Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis is a little more in-depth and technical as the film´s visual effects supervisors discuss with the viewer how they created the fine looking effects. There is a solid amount of information, but the track lags when it becomes overly dry or introduces too much dead space.

A number of supplements are included beyond the two commentary tracks. The Unrated version of the film provides an Added Footage Marker that places an on-screen icon to indicate when additional footage is provided. The extra five minutes of footage is typically bonus gore, but it was nice to have the new stuff pointed out for me. The Weyland-Yutani Archives is a Profile 1.1 based supplement that tosses digital overlays onto the screen to allow access to text that describes in detail much of the background information of the "Aliens" and "Predator" franchises. This nice little feature includes film footage from previous pictures to help delve into the ´Archives.´ All-in-all, I found this to be the nicest Profile 1.1 feature yet and found it to be on par with some of the nicer Universal U-Control features from back in the HD-DVD days.

The five Featurettes are worth checking out for fans of the film. AVP-R: Preparing for War: Development and Production (15:42) finds the Strause brothers talking about the story and how this film relates to the first film and the digs briefly into the making of the film. John Ortiz and others that starred in the film or helped bring it to the big screen share their time. AVP-R: Fight to the Finish: Post-Production (12:13) looks at the special effects showcased in the film and the process of editing. This was a short, but solid look at what goes on after principal photography is finished. AVP-R: Crossbreed: Creating the Predalian (8:21) looks at the hybrid Predalian. AVP-R: Building the Predator Homeworld (6:37) spends about as much time as the film does in the Predator´s home world. The last featurette, AVP-R: The Nightmare Returns: Creating the Aliens (7:34) looks at the filmmakers work in bringing the iconic H.R. Geiger Aliens back to the screen for another romp. These are shown in 480p widescreen and generally provides a solid look at the making of the film.

The supplements end with a few smaller offerings. A number of Still Galleries are contained on the disc. Designing the Predator, Designing the Alien, Designing the Predalien, On Set: The Rooftop, On Set: The Sewer, On Set: The Hive and On Set: Cast and Crew provide a high definition look at the film´s production and designs. This interactive series of galleries is quite nice. The Theatrical Trailer and previews for Fox on Blu-ray complete the offerings contained on this dual-billed special edition release of "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem."

Closing Comments:

"Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" is a far better film than the first entry in the combination of the storied "Alien" and "Predator" franchises. However, it is still a flawed film that lacks any likable human characters and does not utilize the fabulous movie monsters to their fullest extent. There is still so much potential with these creations, but it feels as if the AVP franchise is nothing more than a cash cow and the screenplay and actors are of second concern to the effects and cost of the film. With such a low-value cast and my dislike of the new "Predalien" hybrid, I found "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" to be passable, but disappointing in entertainment value. Thankfully, the Blu-ray release features very strong sound and video and a solid array of bonus materials that finally shows what Profile 1.1 is capable of. This isn´t the best film, but it does make for a very nice Blu-ray title.

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