Buy This DVD By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Predator 2

Title: Predator 2

Region: One

Genre: Science Fiction Action Thriller

Stars: Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, Bill Paxton, Morton Downey, Jr., Robert Davi, Adam Baldwin, and Kent McCord

Writers: Jim Thomas and John Thomas

Director: Stephen Hopkins

Extras: Featurettes and the Theatrical Trailer

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French Dolby Surround Sound, and Spanish Stereo Sound

Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 28

Year of Theatrical Release: 1990/DVD Release: 2003

Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox

Home Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Running Time: 108 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

The “Predator” franchise is something Fox has never truly taken full advantage of. Despite the popularity of the character and the subtle connection through Dark Horse comics’ “Aliens Vs. Predator” series, which the film does give a slight nod to in a scene where Danny Glover’s character is inside the Predator’s spaceship and sees the trophy case, which contains a number of strange skulls and spines, including a few human ones and the skull of an “Alien.” The first film was a surprise hit and has been released overseas as a two-disc “Special Edition” DVD set as well as a movie and trailer only Region 1 release that featured an anamorphic widescreen transfer and a DTS soundtrack option, which the Region 2 “Special Edition” has as well so the way I see it is that if the studio is willing to go through the effort of releasing multiple DVD versions of the first film and finally release a quality budget DVD release of “Predator 2” in the States, then they must know that there is a fan base and interest in the series. While “Aliens Vs. Predator” has been in development hell for years, I still think there are plenty of exciting opportunities to explore the “Predator” and even have my own dream idea of what I would like to see in a third “Predator” film, but we are probably more likely to see a fifth “Alien” movie before a third “Predator” big screen adventure. The look of the “Predator” alien has been copied by more than a few popular sci-fi franchises, which to me also shows at least a sign of inspiration that occurred from interest in the series so come on Fox, give us a “Predator 3!”

The film takes place ten years after the original in 1997. The film was released theatrically in the United States in 1990 so 1997 was the near future when the film premiered. Originally the production was supposed to be in New York City, but the location proved to be too expensive and so a future LA, which doesn't look very much different from modern LA, was chosen as the setting. The LA subway is nothing like the one portrayed in the film, which is just a trade over from the New York subway scene that was probably in an earlier draft of the screenplay. A task force tracking the behavior patterns of the “Predator” over the years between the events of the first film have arrived in Los Angeles where a Predator has gone on safari, targeting rival drug cartels and LAPD, with Danny Glover as the prize of the space hunter’s eye this time.

The film was directed by Stephen Hopkins (Lost In Space), and was written by Jim and John Thomas, who penned the first film. In addition to “Lethal Weapon” alumni Danny Glover, Gary Busey is also featured in the film along with Maria Conchita Alonso (The Running Man), Bill Paxton (Aliens), Adam Baldwin (Independence Day), and Kent McCord (Farscape). Alan Silvestri returned and composed the music for this sequel. Stan Winston (The Terminator Trilogy) returned and designed the various Predators seen in the film as well.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is releasing “Predator 2” at a low suggested retail price of less than $20 dollars and I have seen preorder prices at online retailers for less than ten dollars so this is a good bargain when you consider you get the film presented in a very good anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio with no compression visible anomalies and a very full sounding and well mixed English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack. A French Language Dolby Surround Soundtrack as well as a Spanish Language Stereo Soundtrack along with English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and Spanish Language Subtitles are also encoded onto the dual layered DVD as options.

Two full screen featurettes from 1990 covering the creation of the effects and makeup (3:41) that includes some early film to computer and back to film enhancement for the Predator vision as well as some brief videotaped interview clips with Stan Winston. The other featurette (5:42) is more of a promotional preview with behind-the-scenes videotaped footage and interview clips from the production. The theatrical trailer (1:00) is presented in a widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio with Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound. The menus are standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. Fox seems to have adopted the same kind of table chart used by Universal and DreamWorks on the back of their DVD releases to detail clearly exactly what the technical specifications of the DVD are. I hope this continues to catch on in the industry with all distributors.

A solid standard DVD release at an affordable price makes this DVD more than easy to recommend when “Predator 2” makes its Region 1 DVD debut on Tuesday, February 4, 2003 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Return To The Previous Page