AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)

During an archaeological expedition on Bouvetøya Island in Antarctica, a team of archaeologists and other scientists find themselves caught up in a battle between the two legends. Soon, the team realize that only one species can win.

Director:

Paul W.S. Anderson

Writers:

Dan O'Bannon ("Alien" characters), Ronald Shusett ("Alien" characters),

Stars:

Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sanaa Lathan	...	Alexa Woods
Raoul Bova	...	Sebastian de Rosa
Lance Henriksen	...	Charles Bishop Weyland
Ewen Bremner	...	Graeme Miller
Colin Salmon	...	Maxwell Stafford
Tommy Flanagan	...	Mark Verheiden
Joseph Rye	...	Joe Connors
Agathe de La Boulaye	...	Adele Rousseau
Carsten Norgaard	...	Rusten Quinn
Sam Troughton	...	Thomas Parks
Petr Jákl	...	Stone
Pavel Bezdek	...	Bass
Kieran Bew	...	Klaus
Carsten Voigt	...	Mikkel
Jan Pavel Filipensky	...	Boris (as Jan Filipensky)

Storyline

When a private satellite encounters an unidentified source of heat in Antarctica and it is found to be a pyramid buried deep underground , a search team comprising of top-of-the-line archaeologists and engineers is sent to Antarctica to find out more . Once there , the team comes across signs which indicate that the place is inhabited by an unknown alien species . It is not long before the aliens begin to hunt the team members . At the same time , a trio of coming-of-age Predators have arrived to collect the skulls of the aliens as trophies , and the humans are caught between a deadly battle between the two warring species .

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Plot Keywords:

alien | predator | pyramid | satellite | antarctica | 

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Taglines:

"The enemy of my enemy....is my friend."

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, language, horror images, slime and gore

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [fr] Twentieth Century Fox

Country:

USA UK Czech Republic Canada Germany

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

13 August 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

AVP

Filming Locations:

Courmayeur, Aosta, Valle d'Aosta, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$813,102 (Japan) (17 December 2004)

Gross:

$4,775,890 (Japan) (21 January 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Davis Entertainment, Brandywine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 104 min (extended) 108 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Peter Briggs wrote his original spec script for "Alien vs Predator" in 1991. The script sold overnight and made him the subject of numerous magazine and book "success story" articles. His version went adrift following studio politics in the wake of executive Joe Roth's departure from 20th Century Fox.

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Goofs

Icebreakers have round prows, not angled ones.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Technician: Hey. Hey, hey, come here, take a look at this.

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Crazy Credits

The opening titles and closing cast/crew credits first appear in the Predators' red digital alphabet (as seen on their self-destruct devices) before being translated into English.

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Connections

Referenced in The Nostalgia Critic: Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows (2011)

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Soundtracks

"La Bamba"
Traditional
Courtesy of Extreme Production Music USA

User Reviews

Could've been better, but overall not bad

The idea of crossing over two popular stories really can work if in the right hands. It's been done before, like in some of Universal's monster movies, which were successful. Other cases like 'King King vs. Godzilla' and 'Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys' didn't fare nearly as well. This is a difficult task because you're trying please fans of both series and characters. One of the most talked about of these is 'Alien vs. Predator,' which started as a successful comic book series that lead to a series of video games that also have done well. Naturally talks of a feature film based on this idea were happening and rightfully so. Both 'Alien' and 'Predator' franchises achieved great success, which also helped in getting the project off the ground. And who'd they hired to do the job? 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Resident Evil' director Paul Anderson, someone a lot of fans didn't want to see do it. However, Anderson did show a lot of enthusiasm and both the pictures and previews for the film looked promising. This was a dynamite idea that needed the right people involved, and was that what happened?

Pros: Visually stunning. Cinematography is crisp and pleasing to the eyes. Fantastic production design. Great special effects. A decent score. Performances are solid. Moves at a good pace, especially after the first half hour. Amazing direction by Anderson, but maybe he should have let someone else write this. Plenty of action-packed sequences.

Cons: A lot of disposable characters we could care less about. It's not so much that the script is badly written, it's just not a very good one. Not too much will stay with you when this over, so the film is ultimately forgettable. Lacks the smarts and suspense of the 'Alien' series. The action scenes come and go too quickly.

Final thoughts: This was one of the most anticipated movies of the last couple decades and though it made a nice chunk of money a lot of people were letdown. It's certainly not up to the standards to either of the franchises it's spinning off from, but overall it's pretty good for what it is. So was Anderson the wrong person for this? In terms of directing I'd say he does a fine job there, but again he really should have let someone else tackle the script. Maybe then we would have gotten the AVP film we've been waiting for. Oh well, it could have been much worse.

My rating: 3.5/5