Comments on: FRANCHISE ME: Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

By: critterbuster

critterbuster — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 10:51:01 +0000

Hey Josh quick question about your franchise me column. once you finish a franchise and they make a new film are you going to watch it and add it to you franchise me column? example, you did all 4 Home Alone films and now Home Alone 5 is coming out, are you going to review it and add it to the Home Alone Frnachise me column?

By: TheMince

TheMince — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 01:59:01 +0000

Pretty much shows the level of dedication we’re dealing with here. The directors knew the colour correction was botched and wanted to give it another pass for home video but Fox wouldn’t stump the cash. Instead they’ve released it as is across all formats.

To be honest, even if they made the film viewable it would still remain a far cry from watchable.

By: ElGanso

ElGanso — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 02:11:46 +0000

Alien, Predator, BTTF and Die Hard. You spoil us.

By: Rene F. Rangel

Rene F. Rangel — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 02:10:37 +0000

I liked this film quite a bit when I saw it in the theater, and I still do. Proudly own the Blu-ray. I've always seen it as an exploitation film take on the Predator films. With plenty of shock value in it. Plus I'm pretty sure that whip is an Alien's tail, and that's all kinds of awesome.

By: niceguy69

niceguy69 — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:07:59 +0000

I tried Watching this in 3 different formats and all were too dark for me to see anything so i gave up each time and never saw the film-

By: darkraven28

darkraven28 — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 06:07:15 +0000

Damn it! You made me want to re-watch this one. You hit the nail right on the head. There are some interesting things going on in this one but it’s just not quite a good movie. I always thought the cast seemed like they came right out of a Final Destination movie. And I think even one of them DID come from a Final Destination movie. But frankly, you surprised me by giving roughly two sentences to the film’s primary problem: the damn darkness. To me, the biggest flaw of the whole thing is how completely dark it is. Which is a shame, because I feel the most simple expectation one can have of an AVP film is that of action, death, and gore. Hell, even Sigourney Weaver and James Cameron said by joining the two that you dumb down both franchises. With them having said that it seems to me the suits would want the simplest things for this film, and thus shouldn’t have allowed something so impenetrably dark to be released, or rushed to be released. I honestly hadn’t read about a rushed or bad color correction, but it is the film’s greatest failing. And I had thought it was an actual decision to do it that way, as if to attempt to hide the creatures again even though everyone on Earth knows what they look like. Anyone know if this has made it to blu ray yet, and if maybe they’ll fix that huge issue?

By: MaouriCeltic

MaouriCeltic — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 04:48:59 +0000

Highlander wshuld be fun…that is a continuity mess…

By: BermudaMan

BermudaMan — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 04:05:11 +0000

I think there comes a point when some franchises simply become a series of disconnected endurance tests, such as SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT, or THE HOWLING, or THE CURSE. I already feel guilty enough for asking about HIGHLANDER; I don’t want Josh to take any more bullets for us than he has to.

By: MaouriCeltic

MaouriCeltic — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 03:33:03 +0000

Josh, when are you gonna do another B-franchise…like Silent, Night Deadly Night…your Leprechauen and Critter Rundowns where great and gave an intellectual analysis to series that lacked them…just asking

By: Joshua Miller

Joshua Miller — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:43:57 +0000

Yup. It'll happen. I've acquired most of the films. Possibly in between DIE HARD and SUPERMAN, but no promises just yet.

By: Serial Stupidit

Serial Stupidit — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:43:31 +0000

And hell, now that I think about it, this could used as a better set up for Predators where the Cleaner and the surviving human have been banished to the game preserve planet. He is there as punishment for failing to accomplish the job properly (he left the human alive with knowledge of the existence of BOTH the xenomorphs and the Predators), and now she has to survive the onslaught of the Cleaner’s clan as they hunt them in order to shed the shame the Cleaner’s actions have brought upon them (the Cleaner CLAN-MARKED her as the sign of respect for another warrior, which is a HUGE disgrace in Predator culture).

By: Serial Stupidit

Serial Stupidit — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 01:31:30 +0000

I agree. It’s a shame that the pair of Alien Vs. Predator movies weren’t one movie. You could use the set up of AVP with the human research team discovering the Predator temple in Antarctica, having been abandoned long before it was buried by the ice due to continental drift, and they head down to explore the ruins ‘cuz – wow – ancient ruins at the South Pole – cool! The only difference is that it’s set in the Alien future instead of the current day setting. Of course, this sets off an alarm to the Predator home world, and after a meeting of Predator elders (here you could have the subtitled scene of the Predators that Joshua mentioned), it is decided that the humans should not be learning anything on their own about the Predator culture without having earned it (i.e. what happens at the end of Predator 2) nor are they ready to know anything about the existence of the xenomorphs (this would be pre-Alien), who the Predator are at war with and were using the temple on Earth as a training facility before they left it behind to rot. A Cleaner Predator is selected and dispatched to take care of shit ‘cuz them stupid humans are getting involved with things they don’t need to know about. Temple gets over run by xenomorphs, the Cleaner finds himself overmatched and has to team up with the last surviving human from the expedition team to finish the job, and – Bam! – instantly more entertaining premise. Ah, well…

By: BermudaMan

BermudaMan — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:06:53 +0000

Josh, is there a remote chance of you tackling HIGHLANDER sometime in the future? Seriously, if you thought the Predator franchise sabotaged itself with the first sequel…

By: McGreedy Rises

McGreedy Rises — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 23:44:27 +0000

The Predator worked so well in the original film because what was interesting about that film was a platoon of ultimate badasses slowly unravelling and losing their shit. The monster was really the bogeyman. It didn’t need much explanation, all we needed to know was it was picking off the badasses one by one in gruesome ways. What all the sequels failed to realize is that keeping the Predator an enigma is vital. Now that the creature has been de-mystified, there’s no going back. The franchise has had its skull and spinal cord ripped out. GAME OVER

By: Paddytom

Paddytom — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 23:28:59 +0000

I always thought the best premise for a 3rd Predator movie would be something along the lines such as this (excuse the brevity but I’m drunk)
Starts with action sequence on Earth in some HOT location such as a favela in Brazil or some African country. Basically anywhere where some warlord/drug kingpin can maintain an army untouched.
Cut to tv report reports reporting on the “most dangerous man on Earth” and the signal bouncing through space to reach the Predators home planet who translate and send 3 hardasses down in a competition to see who retrieves the skull first.
Long story short we get to see Predators battle mercs/soldiers etc but most excitingly each other in a epic throw down. I’d love to see a Pred busting his way through shanty town in Brazil with tons of women and children around that he would have to avoid killing to keep to his code however I’d also love to see a film set in Africa where they eventually bust into a games preserve and see a Pred fend off a pride of lion/hyena/jackal etc unarmed. Just take it easy on the CGI. This shit just writes itself.

The key points to making a good Predator film I believe are:

1. Not having Predators team up with ANYBODY including each other
2. Keep the location exotic and HOT (they love that shit)
3. Make any Predators death hard earned. The biggest fault with AVP was that the first couple of Preds died so easily I felt I could have tied them up in a bag and thrown them over a bridge and into a river.

That’s my 2 cents anyway. I’ve never commented before on this website and for some reason I can see I’m logged in as Felix (no idea where that came from but I can work with that) but most importantly when your travelling around Chile try the wine, it’s delicious.

ps. these ideas were far better than my original one where a Predator comes to town and rapes his conquests instead of killing them. That movie was going to be called Sexual Predators

By: MaouriCeltic

MaouriCeltic — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 23:03:50 +0000

I have always thought that the Predator worked as a concept and character design more then a actual pathos. So when making a sequel, all that was needed was that and you could go anywhere. The problem with Predators was that it was cheap and did not show the designs properly. The problem with the AVP series is that it never allowed for the films conceit: having humans stumble on the war between the two. That would have worked brilliantly.

By: TheMince

TheMince — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 22:39:11 +0000

You found a hell of a lot more to like about this film than I thought possible.

Nonetheless, I remember reading that the film is so damn dark due to a rushed and ultimately botched colour correction. Early trailers show the cinematography was fine and shots that appear incomprehensible in the final film were actually well lit.

By: Joshua Miller

Joshua Miller — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 22:37:38 +0000

I'm ranking them from best to worst for the franchise. Though, that said, I slightly disagree. I think PREDATORS is competently made uninteresting movie. And AVPR is a incompetently made interesting movie. I would rather watch the latter.

By: Sebastian OB

Sebastian OB — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 22:25:12 +0000

You're ranking AVPR above Predators?? Predators is guilty of being competent but uninteresting, where as AVPR is both incompetent AND uninteresting. It's not even lit properly!