Amidst a territorial gang war in 1997, a sophisticated alien hunter stalks the citizens of Los Angeles and the only man between him and his prey is veteran L.A.P.D. officer, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan.
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.
After her last encounter, Ellen Ripley crash-lands on Fiorina 161, a maximum security prison. When a series of strange and deadly events occur shortly after her arrival, Ripley realizes that she brought along an unwelcome visitor.
Director:
David Fincher
Stars:
Sigourney Weaver,
Charles S. Dutton,
Charles Dance
200 years after her death, Ellen Ripley is revived as a powerful human/alien hybrid clone who must continue her battle against the aliens. Along with a crew of space pirates, Ripley must also prevent the deadly aliens from reaching Earth.
When a man goes for virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or does he?
Director:
Paul Verhoeven
Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Sharon Stone,
Michael Ironside
A cybernetic warrior from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a 25-year old drifter and his future wife from a most advanced robotic assassin and to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.
Director:
Jonathan Mostow
Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Nick Stahl,
Kristanna Loken
Ellen Ripley is rescued by a deep salvage team after being in hypersleep for 57 years. The moon that the Nostromo visited has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, colonial marines have impressive firepower, but will that be enough?
Director:
James Cameron
Stars:
Sigourney Weaver,
Michael Biehn,
Carrie Henn
LAPD lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) and his cocky detective partner Jerry Lambert (Bill Paxton) soon realize that what seemed a bloody feud between voodoo high priest King Willie's (Calvin Lockhart) Jamaican gangs and Ramon Vega's (Corey Rand) Colombian drug gang is actually the work of a scary third party. Peter Keyes's (Gary Busey) federal team shields the crime scene even for the LAPD, but after forensics proves it must be an alien, who keeps making victims, the chase brings them all together.Written by
KGF Vissers
Keyes notably shares his middle initial with another antagonistic government/corporate agent Carter J. Burke from Aliens (1986). See more »
Goofs
The human body needs to constantly radiate a certain amount of heat or it will overheat and the person would eventually die. Therefore, there is no such thing as an "infrared insulating suit", as it would be necessary to transmit this excess heat to the outside of the suit. This makes it impossible for humans to be invisible to the Predator's infrared vision. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Reporter:
As drought-ridden Los Angeles swelters in agonizing heat, drug lords wage bloody warfare in the streets. Yet another open conflict... Oh, fuck this, get me out of here!
See more »
Crazy Credits
When the Elder Predator throws Harrigan the flintlock pistol he says "Take it". Harrigan reads the inscription "1715" ... the subtitles on the DVD regard the Predator as 'mumbles incoherently' but the Predator, being from a society based on trophies and the hunt, just witnessed Harrigan make a kill and not take a trophy. He is calling Harrigan a "heathen" See more »
HYPOCRITES (DEM HAFFI LEAVE)
Written by Papa Dee and The Falcon
Produced by Christian "The Falcon" Falk
Co-Produced by Papa Dee and Bankrash
Performed by Papa Dee
Courtesy of Telegram Records AB & BMG Music International See more »
Now here is a textbook case of doing everything wrong in a sequel. 1990's Predator 2 refuses or fails to preserve what made the first Predator any good, makes some terrible creative decisions, and falls into a toxic vat of clichés. It has story problems, casting problems, and originality problems. The novelty of the Predator has worn out in this film, and the whole thing was a bore from start to finish. It's no wonder that this movie isn't brought up much when discussing the Predator franchise; it's overwhelmingly forgettable.
So this time around, the locale has changed from a dense Mexican jungle to the city of Los Angeles. While this film could be admired for risking such a style change, the effect is unoriginal and very out-of- place. It takes away from the Predator's primal mystique. Also, for whatever reason, the script introduces an entirely new cast of characters, without a single returning actor and scarcely a mention of Arnold's original team. Again, this is not a bad change in and of itself, but here it only leads to a rehash of familiar plot devices. The audience already knows that the mystery killer is an alien hunter, but they still have to spend over an hour watching the main characters figure it out. Where's the fun, or the suspense, in that?
The same can be asked of the Predator itself. At this point we've seen what the Predator can do, and this movie doesn't offer any new tricks. It looks the same, acts the same, and shamelessly rips itself off by copying the heat-vision POV (which is utilized randomly and pointlessly here), as well as the mask removal scene. They even reuse the 'ugly motherf@#$er' line. The movie would have been better served if the antagonist was a new variant of the Predator with some new tricks up its sleeve, à la the 2010 sequel Predators.
Like the first film, Predator 2 has some character issues. Replacing the always enjoyable Arnold Schwarzenegger is Danny Glover, who makes a horrendous protagonist. He is constantly angry, overly violent, and completely unlikeable, and is just not believable as an action hero. The rest of the underdeveloped cast is just as bad, relying either on forced exposition to describe characters or painfully obvious archetype clichés to develop them. We hear about how much of a hero Glover's character is even though this is never demonstrated, and about his longtime friendship with his police partner, though this is never proved in their interactions. At one point, a female cop grabs a flirting Bill Paxton by the family jewels and threatens him to leave her alone. Okay, we get it; she's a strong and independent woman who doesn't take crap from anyone. There were many better ways to show it. Ultimately, you won't remember any of these characters ten minutes after you finish the movie.
Put all these factors together and you get a severe lack of entertainment. While the first film was riveting and intense, this one is just an unremarkable bore. The story was lame and unwanted, the Predator itself is now derivative, and the characters are pathetic. The best thing about it was the musical score, and of course it was ripped straight from the original. The most interesting thing this movie had to offer was the possibility of a crossover with another classic sci-fi monster (and we all know how that eventually turned out). Don't waste your time with the lackluster Predator 2. I give it 2 out of 10 stars.
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Now here is a textbook case of doing everything wrong in a sequel. 1990's Predator 2 refuses or fails to preserve what made the first Predator any good, makes some terrible creative decisions, and falls into a toxic vat of clichés. It has story problems, casting problems, and originality problems. The novelty of the Predator has worn out in this film, and the whole thing was a bore from start to finish. It's no wonder that this movie isn't brought up much when discussing the Predator franchise; it's overwhelmingly forgettable.
So this time around, the locale has changed from a dense Mexican jungle to the city of Los Angeles. While this film could be admired for risking such a style change, the effect is unoriginal and very out-of- place. It takes away from the Predator's primal mystique. Also, for whatever reason, the script introduces an entirely new cast of characters, without a single returning actor and scarcely a mention of Arnold's original team. Again, this is not a bad change in and of itself, but here it only leads to a rehash of familiar plot devices. The audience already knows that the mystery killer is an alien hunter, but they still have to spend over an hour watching the main characters figure it out. Where's the fun, or the suspense, in that?
The same can be asked of the Predator itself. At this point we've seen what the Predator can do, and this movie doesn't offer any new tricks. It looks the same, acts the same, and shamelessly rips itself off by copying the heat-vision POV (which is utilized randomly and pointlessly here), as well as the mask removal scene. They even reuse the 'ugly motherf@#$er' line. The movie would have been better served if the antagonist was a new variant of the Predator with some new tricks up its sleeve, à la the 2010 sequel Predators.
Like the first film, Predator 2 has some character issues. Replacing the always enjoyable Arnold Schwarzenegger is Danny Glover, who makes a horrendous protagonist. He is constantly angry, overly violent, and completely unlikeable, and is just not believable as an action hero. The rest of the underdeveloped cast is just as bad, relying either on forced exposition to describe characters or painfully obvious archetype clichés to develop them. We hear about how much of a hero Glover's character is even though this is never demonstrated, and about his longtime friendship with his police partner, though this is never proved in their interactions. At one point, a female cop grabs a flirting Bill Paxton by the family jewels and threatens him to leave her alone. Okay, we get it; she's a strong and independent woman who doesn't take crap from anyone. There were many better ways to show it. Ultimately, you won't remember any of these characters ten minutes after you finish the movie.
Put all these factors together and you get a severe lack of entertainment. While the first film was riveting and intense, this one is just an unremarkable bore. The story was lame and unwanted, the Predator itself is now derivative, and the characters are pathetic. The best thing about it was the musical score, and of course it was ripped straight from the original. The most interesting thing this movie had to offer was the possibility of a crossover with another classic sci-fi monster (and we all know how that eventually turned out). Don't waste your time with the lackluster Predator 2. I give it 2 out of 10 stars.