...bullets fly, sharp pointy objects are hurled, body parts sail in all directions, and Glover blunders from one ridiculous situation to another.
Meanwhile, bullets fly, sharp pointy objects are hurled, body parts sail in all directions, and Glover blunders from one ridiculous situation to another. For what it's worth, the movie actually picks up a little steam in the last half hour or so, but it's a long haul getting there; and once the climax finally does come, it's so contrived it spoils everything that went before it. This poor film can't get anything right.
Video:
The original "Predator" movie had the lush greens and golds of a tropical rain forest going for it. "Predator 2" has the concrete, steel, and glass of a big city. This special edition doesn't do much to improve the situation. Still and all, the video is reproduced via what appears to be a slightly higher bit rate than before (I can't be sure) and looks good, given that it doesn't have much of anything beautiful to reproduce. The screen size measures an ordinary anamorphic widescreen ratio, approximately 1.74:1 across my standard-screen Sony HD television. The picture is somewhat on the dark side, owing to the nature of the subject matter, and it's a bit grainy, but to its credit it displays few or no shimmering lines. Shadows don't reveal much inner detail, with colors slightly muted. Deep blacks don't so much heighten dimensionality as obscure particulars, yet the overall definition and delineation remain fairly clear and sharp.
Audio:
The sound, available via Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1, is very dynamic in DD 5.1, very loud, very clear, very sharp, and a little bright. This is fine for clarifying dialogue but doesn't do a lot to make the blaring, blasting, largely annoying music that plays intermittently any better. While there is some surround information fed to the rear speakers, voices echoing, bullets ricocheting, that sort of thing, it is not too directional. Bass is not all that deep, either, or too prominent for an action thriller. The audio comes into its own best in the scene in the meatpacking plant, where the surrounds help to fill in the whole environment.
Extras:
The first edition of "Predator 2" provided only a few bonus items, none of them worth much of a person's time. Now, a whole second disc is fitted out with bonuses, including a couple of holdovers from the original release. I'm not saying that any amount of extras can make a bad movie better, but it can take your mind off it for a moment or two.
Disc one contains the widescreen presentation of the feature film, with Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. The two major extras found here are a pair of audio commentaries, the first with director Stephen Hopkins and the second with writers Jim and John Thomas. Of the two, I found the writers' commentary the most interesting, the give and take of the two men presenting a fascinating glimpse into the creative process. The director's commentary is more straightforward, informational but somewhat prosaic. The first disc concludes with thirty-two scene selections; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; and English and Spanish subtitles.
Disc two contains the main supplementary extras, divided into five major parts. First up, there's a documentary titled "The Hunters and the Hunted: The Making of Predator 2." It's thirty-five minutes long and includes interviews with the director, producer, actors, screenwriters, and many of the filmmaking crew. It's newly made, as the keep case proclaims, but probably ninety percent of the footage and interviews come from 1990, so it's a little misleading. The second part is called "Evolutions," a series of four segments on the making of certain optical effects, each lasting about one to three minutes. Your choices are "Main Title," "Enemy in the Alley," "Something on the Roof," and "Subway Showdown." The third part is called "Weapons of Choice." It includes six brief bits on the various weapons used by the Predator--gauntlet knives, plasma cannon, etc., plus an introduction by John Rosengrant of Stan Winston Studios. I suggest hitting the "Play All" button because the segments are only about a minute apiece.
The fourth part of the bonus materials is a promotional gallery that includes a number of separate items. Here you'll find three widescreen theatrical trailers; five TV spots; and three promos, "The Predator Goes to Town," "International Featurette," and "Creating the Ultimate Hunter," each about three-to-five minutes. The fifth and most entertaining part of the extras consists of a pair of episodes of "Hard Core," mock news reports made for the movie but never shown in their entirety. Hosted by Morton Downey, Jr., they were for me more fun than the feature film. Lastly, there's a still gallery of fifty-seven photos that moves along at its own pace. Once it's started, there is no pausing, fast forwarding, or going back.
The two-disc, slim-line keep case comes housed in a rather plain-looking slip cover, and there was no chapter insert in the package I reviewed.
Parting Shots:
As far as sequels go, this is another one that proves the case for quitting while you're ahead. "Predator 2" tries to capitalize on a good-looking creature design but can't make up its mind what to do with it. The plot is shopworn, the ending is muddled, almost sentimentalized, the actors are wasted, and the only serious action comes much too late for anyone to care. About the best that can be said for the film is that it now comes decked out with a whole lot more extras. Well, at least it's preferable to something like "Python 2," which is obviously damning with faint praise. Violence, gore, sex, nudity, and profanity provide "Predator 2" with its deserved R rating
Video:
The original "Predator" movie had the lush greens and golds of a tropical rain forest going for it. "Predator 2" has the concrete, steel, and glass of a big city. This special edition doesn't do much to improve the situation. Still and all, the video is reproduced via what appears to be a slightly higher bit rate than before (I can't be sure) and looks good, given that it doesn't have much of anything beautiful to reproduce. The screen size measures an ordinary anamorphic widescreen ratio, approximately 1.74:1 across my standard-screen Sony HD television. The picture is somewhat on the dark side, owing to the nature of the subject matter, and it's a bit grainy, but to its credit it displays few or no shimmering lines. Shadows don't reveal much inner detail, with colors slightly muted. Deep blacks don't so much heighten dimensionality as obscure particulars, yet the overall definition and delineation remain fairly clear and sharp.
Audio:
The sound, available via Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1, is very dynamic in DD 5.1, very loud, very clear, very sharp, and a little bright. This is fine for clarifying dialogue but doesn't do a lot to make the blaring, blasting, largely annoying music that plays intermittently any better. While there is some surround information fed to the rear speakers, voices echoing, bullets ricocheting, that sort of thing, it is not too directional. Bass is not all that deep, either, or too prominent for an action thriller. The audio comes into its own best in the scene in the meatpacking plant, where the surrounds help to fill in the whole environment.
Extras:
The first edition of "Predator 2" provided only a few bonus items, none of them worth much of a person's time. Now, a whole second disc is fitted out with bonuses, including a couple of holdovers from the original release. I'm not saying that any amount of extras can make a bad movie better, but it can take your mind off it for a moment or two.
Disc one contains the widescreen presentation of the feature film, with Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks. The two major extras found here are a pair of audio commentaries, the first with director Stephen Hopkins and the second with writers Jim and John Thomas. Of the two, I found the writers' commentary the most interesting, the give and take of the two men presenting a fascinating glimpse into the creative process. The director's commentary is more straightforward, informational but somewhat prosaic. The first disc concludes with thirty-two scene selections; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; and English and Spanish subtitles.
Disc two contains the main supplementary extras, divided into five major parts. First up, there's a documentary titled "The Hunters and the Hunted: The Making of Predator 2." It's thirty-five minutes long and includes interviews with the director, producer, actors, screenwriters, and many of the filmmaking crew. It's newly made, as the keep case proclaims, but probably ninety percent of the footage and interviews come from 1990, so it's a little misleading. The second part is called "Evolutions," a series of four segments on the making of certain optical effects, each lasting about one to three minutes. Your choices are "Main Title," "Enemy in the Alley," "Something on the Roof," and "Subway Showdown." The third part is called "Weapons of Choice." It includes six brief bits on the various weapons used by the Predator--gauntlet knives, plasma cannon, etc., plus an introduction by John Rosengrant of Stan Winston Studios. I suggest hitting the "Play All" button because the segments are only about a minute apiece.
The fourth part of the bonus materials is a promotional gallery that includes a number of separate items. Here you'll find three widescreen theatrical trailers; five TV spots; and three promos, "The Predator Goes to Town," "International Featurette," and "Creating the Ultimate Hunter," each about three-to-five minutes. The fifth and most entertaining part of the extras consists of a pair of episodes of "Hard Core," mock news reports made for the movie but never shown in their entirety. Hosted by Morton Downey, Jr., they were for me more fun than the feature film. Lastly, there's a still gallery of fifty-seven photos that moves along at its own pace. Once it's started, there is no pausing, fast forwarding, or going back.
The two-disc, slim-line keep case comes housed in a rather plain-looking slip cover, and there was no chapter insert in the package I reviewed.
Parting Shots:
As far as sequels go, this is another one that proves the case for quitting while you're ahead. "Predator 2" tries to capitalize on a good-looking creature design but can't make up its mind what to do with it. The plot is shopworn, the ending is muddled, almost sentimentalized, the actors are wasted, and the only serious action comes much too late for anyone to care. About the best that can be said for the film is that it now comes decked out with a whole lot more extras. Well, at least it's preferable to something like "Python 2," which is obviously damning with faint praise. Violence, gore, sex, nudity, and profanity provide "Predator 2" with its deserved R rating
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]13651[/release]