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.
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.
200 years after her death, Ellen Ripley is revived as a powerful human/alien hybrid clone. Along with a crew of space pirates, she must again battle the deadly aliens and stop them from reaching Earth.
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 has brought along an unwelcome visitor.
Director:
David Fincher
Stars:
Sigourney Weaver,
Charles S. Dutton,
Charles Dance
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
The crew of a colony ship, bound for a remote planet, discover an uncharted paradise with a threat beyond their imagination, and must attempt a harrowing escape.
Director:
Ridley Scott
Stars:
Michael Fassbender,
Katherine Waterston,
Billy Crudup
After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as a distress call, its landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious lifeform, and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.
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
In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine, comes to John Connor on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted?
Director:
McG
Stars:
Christian Bale,
Sam Worthington,
Anton Yelchin
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 .Written by
Soumitra
A modification named "Hunter's Moon" for Aliens versus Predator 2 allows players to play in the sacrificial chamber from the film, as well as the rest of the pyramid and Razorback Point on the surface above. See more »
Goofs
(at around 12 mins) During the space-shot of the predator ship shooting a beam to "drill" a hole to the pyramid, we see a beautiful shot of the Earth from space. However, we can clearly see both the day-lit side and the night-side. In reality, if we were looking at the Earth from space, we would only see the lit side while the night side would be completely dark (for example, look at any picture of the Earth as seen from the moon). See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Technician:
Hey. Hey, hey, come here, take a look at this.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Since the film has no opening credits, the end credits begin with an extended primary credits sequence. This sequence is shown over close-ups of various aspects of the Predator pyramid interior. See more »
Alternate Versions
In November 2005 Fox released an 'Unrated Edition' which runs nearly 8 minutes longer than the theatrical version. It features deleted plot and character scenes. It also has some alternative footage and added CGI blood effects. The story is better told. The violence and gore are stronger than in the PG-13 theatrical version. See more »
Twentieth Century Fox has taken two of its most popular sci-fi franchises and paired them in a Super Bowl of monsters in Alien vs. Predator. The result is OK entertaining but ultimately a pale version of the original classics, Alien and Predator. It helps to get some useful perspective.
The concept, while intriguing, is not entirely new. Quite recently, Jason (Friday the 13th series) and Freddy (the Nightmare on Elm Street) did battle as studios attempted to milk every last drop of revenue from waning sequels. Three-quarters of a century ago, Universal pictures became what would be the greatest horror film studio with Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, The Mummy, and Creature from the Black Lagoon among others. When it became apparent that each franchise was running its course, the natural thought was to pair their monsters in a showdown. Most prominent was Frankenstein Meets Wolfman. So it is no wonder that a clip from that very film shows up at the beginning of Alien vs. Predator.
Set on present day earth, a satellite detects a thermal event in Antarctica which triggers a hastily assembled scientific expedition financed by the Weyland Corporation. Its enigmatic head is Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) who wants to leave a legacy as his health begins to fail. Sanaa Lathan is the mountain climber/guide who leads the group to the thermal anomaly and discovers an ancient pyramid beneath the deep ice. Unfortunately, the explorers trigger a sequence of events including the birth of new Aliens via the dreaded facehuggers and the arrival of a group of Predator warriors ready for a new hunt. As the body count rises, the Aliens multiply in number and thus a battle royal is ready to commence. Will there be any humans left? How come nobody told the Nostromo crew in the first Alien movie about these critters? And what happened to the Henriksen character's namesake who reappears in the guise of Bishops 1 and 2 in later films? So many questions are left unanswered.
The plot does have plenty of holes and glosses quickly, almost too quickly through the story as characters we barely get to know or want to care about quickly perish. Fans of both film series will appreciate the multitude of references to the Alien life cycle and Predator code. There are a couple of inconsistencies which may nag the purists such as the rapid maturation of the Aliens from egg to adult in record time, and the ease with which the dwindling humans understand the whole scenario. In fact, not only do the humans quickly realize who the Aliens are, namely the ultimate quarry for the Predator hunter warriors, but that human beings have been used like cattle to perpetuate the Aliens every 100 years as game for the returning Predator race. Note that the film Predator 2 hinted at this very concept with a brief glimpse of an Alien skull inside a Predator spaceship. Alien vs. Predator also serves as a kind of prequel to the Alien films and a kind of sequel to the Predator films in its timeline.
Sanaa Lathan is actually good in the role of the guide and it is possible a better script and strong direction would have brought echoes of Ripley from the Alien films of old. The set design of the pyramid is fascinating though confusing with all of its ever changing mazes. The creature effects are not bad though reserved for the latter half of the movie. Director Paul W.S. Anderson (Event Horizon) does a serviceable job here and the PG 13 rating is designed for all those fans of the video games and comics featuring the Alien and Predator battles. Business should be brisk though limited to those loyalists who will find this installment diverting and certainly not the disappointment of Alien 3, or is it we've just lowered the bar a bit more?
69 of 130 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Twentieth Century Fox has taken two of its most popular sci-fi franchises and paired them in a Super Bowl of monsters in Alien vs. Predator. The result is OK entertaining but ultimately a pale version of the original classics, Alien and Predator. It helps to get some useful perspective.
The concept, while intriguing, is not entirely new. Quite recently, Jason (Friday the 13th series) and Freddy (the Nightmare on Elm Street) did battle as studios attempted to milk every last drop of revenue from waning sequels. Three-quarters of a century ago, Universal pictures became what would be the greatest horror film studio with Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, The Mummy, and Creature from the Black Lagoon among others. When it became apparent that each franchise was running its course, the natural thought was to pair their monsters in a showdown. Most prominent was Frankenstein Meets Wolfman. So it is no wonder that a clip from that very film shows up at the beginning of Alien vs. Predator.
Set on present day earth, a satellite detects a thermal event in Antarctica which triggers a hastily assembled scientific expedition financed by the Weyland Corporation. Its enigmatic head is Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) who wants to leave a legacy as his health begins to fail. Sanaa Lathan is the mountain climber/guide who leads the group to the thermal anomaly and discovers an ancient pyramid beneath the deep ice. Unfortunately, the explorers trigger a sequence of events including the birth of new Aliens via the dreaded facehuggers and the arrival of a group of Predator warriors ready for a new hunt. As the body count rises, the Aliens multiply in number and thus a battle royal is ready to commence. Will there be any humans left? How come nobody told the Nostromo crew in the first Alien movie about these critters? And what happened to the Henriksen character's namesake who reappears in the guise of Bishops 1 and 2 in later films? So many questions are left unanswered.
The plot does have plenty of holes and glosses quickly, almost too quickly through the story as characters we barely get to know or want to care about quickly perish. Fans of both film series will appreciate the multitude of references to the Alien life cycle and Predator code. There are a couple of inconsistencies which may nag the purists such as the rapid maturation of the Aliens from egg to adult in record time, and the ease with which the dwindling humans understand the whole scenario. In fact, not only do the humans quickly realize who the Aliens are, namely the ultimate quarry for the Predator hunter warriors, but that human beings have been used like cattle to perpetuate the Aliens every 100 years as game for the returning Predator race. Note that the film Predator 2 hinted at this very concept with a brief glimpse of an Alien skull inside a Predator spaceship. Alien vs. Predator also serves as a kind of prequel to the Alien films and a kind of sequel to the Predator films in its timeline.
Sanaa Lathan is actually good in the role of the guide and it is possible a better script and strong direction would have brought echoes of Ripley from the Alien films of old. The set design of the pyramid is fascinating though confusing with all of its ever changing mazes. The creature effects are not bad though reserved for the latter half of the movie. Director Paul W.S. Anderson (Event Horizon) does a serviceable job here and the PG 13 rating is designed for all those fans of the video games and comics featuring the Alien and Predator battles. Business should be brisk though limited to those loyalists who will find this installment diverting and certainly not the disappointment of Alien 3, or is it we've just lowered the bar a bit more?