PREDATOR 2 (The film, not the DVD release)

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MikeSkerritt

PREDATOR 2 (The film, not the DVD release)

#1 Post by MikeSkerritt »

Reading Andy's latest column, I couldn't help but notice how he (like many critics) referred to P2 is "disappointing" - actually, most critics weren't even that gracious.

I have to say, I don't agree at all.

Granted, it's not the first film. I honestly think the original PREDATOR is one of the great action films of the last 25 years: fantastic on-location photography, lean, no-frills performances throughout, palpable tension (I wish John McTiernan still made movies like this) and a kick-ass monster courtesy of Stan Winston.

Okay, so P2 is not P1. But having said that, I really think P2 is a rock solid B-movie, never less than entertaining, and containing a few genuinely effective action/suspense set pieces (the opening gangland shootout, the subway car chase, the meat locker hunt sequence).

Essentially it's a remake of the first film of course, but it knows its roots, and is skillfully made by Stephen Hopkins and crew. (Speaking of which, JUDGMENT NIGHT is another underrated B-movie.) It has also has a nice performance by Danny Glover in full-on action mode at its core. Maybe Glover himself is the reason fans of the first film responded so indifferently. Certainly he's no Schwarzenegger, but he's always had simmering intensity, and it more than makes up for any lack of physical presence.

Add all this together with some intriguing "historical" nods during the finale, and you've got yourself a guilt-free Sunday afternoon with the movies.

So, how about it, am I in the minority here?

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AndyDursin
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#2 Post by AndyDursin »

I can say that I did enjoy JUDGMENT NIGHT and thought GHOST AND THE DARKNESS was really underrated (though I hated -- HATED!! -- Hopkins' LOST IN SPACE movie).

romanD
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#3 Post by romanD »

haven't seen it in a long time, but remember liking it a lot and ordered the DVD now with its supplements.
I really like Stephen Hopkins, I got all his movies on DVD. I hope he returns to the big screen with an actioner soon.
I think he is really underrated. I like his visual style, which isn't as in your face as Bay's. Especially in G & D there are great and nightmarish shots of the Lions... still, I think that movie had a very weak script (and aged) and the score doesn't really improve the tension. Should have stayed with James Newton Howard, who was planned for it, but had a scheduling conflict.
Judgment Night is a simple plot, but done very effectively and again great visuals. Too bad I picked up the old DVD release in wrong format. Argh.

MikeSkerritt

#4 Post by MikeSkerritt »

I'm also quite partial to BLOWN AWAY. The performances are a little uneven (except for Lloyd Bridges and Forest Whitaker, both of whom nearly steal the show), but Hopkins keeps things moving, with a nice Silvestri score to boot!

romanD
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#5 Post by romanD »

yeah, that's a good one, too. The close up effects are amazing, as is the sound design. Too bad the score never got a release! It is really good!
wonder why Hopkins hasn't worked with Silvestri after it anymore...?

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AndyDursin
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#6 Post by AndyDursin »

Have to disagree with you on GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, Roman. The script may be "aged" but to me that's part of its charm -- it's very old fashioned, like it could have been made the same way decades before. Very entertaining, and I also liked Goldsmith's score just fine. The way the score opens up at the end was gorgeous, and while I know some fans don't care for it, for me it's easily one of Goldsmith's best later works. The main theme is also nice.

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#7 Post by Neo Rasa »

Predator 2 is so much fun! There were a lot of bad, bad, BAD action movies in the early nineties in this vague near future setting with varying degrees of science fiction elements thrown in. It's not La Dolce Vita but I would say Predator 2 is pretty much the silver-backed alpha male of this group and the one that comes closest to being a "real" movie. I mean there's ridiculous stuff like when Danny Glover and the Predator are struggling on the side of the building and eventually the Predator loses its arm but Murtaugh is fine, but I love the movie just as much as I love Commando. Definitely one of the ultimate guilty pleasures. It's visually and aurally much more pleasing than most other made for tv and feature things that sprung from the trend like Tek War as well.

romanD the score did get released in the US in the early nineties, definitely worth looking into.
http://www.moviemusic.com/CD/predator2.html

I don't know how reliable this particular site is but just do a search on Amazon or Google and you should be able to find it at a more reputable place. I'll even see one floating around in general music stores around here now and then.

Edit: I just realize now you were probably talking about Blown Away and not Predator 2, sorry, but a soundtrack was released for Blown Away as well. :D

http://www.moviemusic.com/CD/blownaway.html

I really, really like Ghost and the Darkness. I think we're in a huge minority overall though. The movie is hamstrung by stupidity at points (the train car shootout?) but I think most of the movie is really well done.

romanD
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#8 Post by romanD »

that blown away was only song album (though a pretty good one) and then there was a bootleg with silvestris score, but only medicore sound... :-(((

Eric W.
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#9 Post by Eric W. »

Blown Away needs to see a legit score release of some sort ASAP. That's a damned good movie as well. There was never a score release for it that I know of for Blown Away, and that's a pity.

Neo Rasa
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#10 Post by Neo Rasa »

Okay, on the Predator 2 special edition there's a making of thing on the second disk. The two DVD set can be had for $15.

It's worth buying JUST for the insanity that is Gary Busey talking.

I thought Gary and Me or whatever that reality show was was just an act, but it's not, this guy really is completely insane.
Gary Busey wrote:I bet you're wondering what we're doing here in these barbecue outfits. Well it's easy, we're going in after an etherworld life force from another galaxy that has a self-defense mechanism that we don't understand it's intangible to this time and space it's actually from the theory of relativity and the theory of quantam mechanics take those properties and equalize them and you have the quantam theory of gravity which is a discussion of how this universe started and how it will end.

The Predator KNOWS that information already. It is our job and our objective to capture him, sit him down, have a talk with him, find out why he does what he does, how he does what he does, and where he gets the weaponry and the defense mechanisms he uses IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE HIS GOAL AND THAT IS OUR GOAL. IF WE DO NOT ACHIEVE THAT GOAL WE WILL BE TURNED INTO VAPOR CLOUDS MADE OF SMALL PINK PARTICLES KNOWN ON EARTH AS BLOOD.

romanD
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#11 Post by romanD »

a Special Edition of GHOST AND THE DARKNESS would be nice... with the original poster artwork! I was lucky to get a poster with the original artwork and still after so many years, that one is hanging inmy living room and everybody is really imrpessed by that picture. It's basically just a closeup of a lion's eye in which you can see Kilmer and Douglas. It's just done in a way that you have to look at it some time to figure out that it is a lion's eye. Really cool...

With aged script I meant those things like all the black people are treated in a way, which is not "political correct" anymore.. I don't know, it reminded me of the old Tarzan movies, where the black fellows always get eaten or fall down the mountains... that was maybe intended, but it could have been used to a lot more interesting things... I read the autobiography of Col. Patterson about this incident and besides being really scary it also showed how the white man at those times thought he is a much better being than the black man. Of course, the movie just wanted to be an adventure movie, but still, with a writer of Goldman's caliber I thought there was the chance of something thought-provoking also or at least something in that for Kilmer's character.

As far as I remember the book the train incident happened the way it was in the movie... it seems unlikely, but I thought the sound (well deserved oscar) sold that they were too scared to shoot properly.

The book is highly recommended, it really gave me goosebumps! There are some pictures of the lions in it, which don't look scary at all! :lol:

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