Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Predators 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 8, 2018

Some may wonder if Fox is trying to atone for past Blu-ray sins with the new 4K UHD releases of Predator 4K, Predator 2 4K and Predators 4K . And while there may indeed be at least a bit of salvation with regard to the first Predator film’s 4K release (in terms of previous perceived botched outings), the cold, hard fact is that Fox is probably just understandably cross promoting its new kinda sorta reboot of the franchise, The Predator, due in just a little over a month as this review is being published. Predator appeared (well, the film, anyway) in 1987 and quickly entered the annals of audience favorites, even if those curmudgeonly critics found the typical bugaboos like plot and character development questionable at times. What is kind of interesting in terms of this particular supervillain is what Alfred Hitchcock once described as the difference between surprise and suspense. He used the well remembered example of two people talking with a bomb suddenly going off, which he likened to a surprise. But Hitchcock then asked folks to wonder how they’d react if they already knew a bomb was placed in the vicinity before the people arrived to begin their chat. That’s suspense, and in a way, there’s a visual analog of sorts in that Predator relies on the conceit of a (largely) invisible monster that the viewer nonetheless knows is there, but which can’t be localized. Ironically, when the Predator does “show up” (as far as that goes), that leads to some definite surprises. Perhaps predictably, the nascent Predator franchise suffered a pretty significant “sophomore slump” with Predator 2, and not necessarily just because Ah-nold wasn’t involved and the location had been changed from an almost inherently spooky jungle. That failure probably accounts for the fact that it took decades for the “next” Predator film to appear, 2010’s Predators, an outing which some fans may have felt seemed deliberately designed to evoke another iconic science fiction franchise, Alien: 6 Film Collection.

My colleague Casey Broadwater provided an entertaining plot summary in his Predators Blu-ray review of the original Blu-ray release, and for those wanting to catch up on the story as well as read Casey's thoughts on the appearance and sound of the original Blu-ray version, I refer you to his comments.

Predators 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced off of the 1080p Blu-ray.

Predators is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with a 2160p transfer in 2.35:1. This is the sole entry in the Predator: 3-Movie Collection 4K that was not shot on film, instead being digitally captured and finished at a 2K DI. Even "4K purists" (in terms of source resolution) may be as pleasantly surprised as I was by the look of this transfer, to my eyes one of the more convincing and continually impressive 2K to 4K upgrades that I've personally experienced recently. While there's a somewhat muted palette on display throughout the film (with the exception of a couple of spectacular "reveals"), HDR has added some really interesting and quite easily noticeable highlights to the palette. Some of the blue graded material has a slightly more aquamarine tint now, adding perhaps even more of a steely "Alien"-esque look to the proceedings. Some of the long yellowish sequences (like those starting around an hour into the film) have a really interesting new orange undertone to them now, something that perhaps unexpectedly doesn't detract much if at all from fine detail levels. In fact, despite the intentionally dowdy look to a lot of the jungle (and/or forest) sequence, the intensity and nuance of the colors really continually impressed me. Detail levels are also at least marginally improved in this 4K version, with "little" elements like the crags and crevasses on Danny Trejo's face virtually palpable in close-ups. Once again as with the first two films, there are some longish dark sequences where shadow detail is a little lacking (pay attention at circa 1:20:00 for one such sequence). That said, the prevalence of dimly lit and/or outright nighttime material in this film might have been a murky mess under less capable encoding hands, and the levels of detail seen in some of these darker moments is largely very commendable.

Predators 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While this release follows that of the first two films by not including a new, upgraded sound mix, perhaps because of the relatively recent release date, this film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is arguably more "state of the art" sounding than the similarly delivered tracks on the first two films. Casey's Predators Blu-ray review offers a full description of the effective surround track included on this 4K UHD disc.

Predators 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All three of the films included in the Predator: 3-Movie Collection 4K have ported over only the commentary track(s) to the 4K UHD discs included in the set. For this particular film, that includes:

• Commentary by Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod Antal

Predators 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've long been on record as stating I'm an unabashed member of the "shiny object society", i.e., I tend to go for films that have undeniable deficits in any number of areas if they're fun to just watch (and listen to). There are probably very few if any people who feel Predators comes close to matching the visceral excitement of the first film in the franchise, and the fact that it quite easily tops the second film in the franchise should similarly not come as any great surprise, given the lackluster response that sophomore effort generally engendered. But Predators delivers a lot of pretty awesome visual content, along with an intricately designed sound mix, both of which have made it to 4K looking and sounding largely spectacular. Committed performances help some of the more turgid moments of this film, but it's probably the technical presentation here that will garner the most praise. Fox has once again provided a 4K UHD release with solid technical merits (even if some curmudgeons will bemoan the lack of new, upgraded audio), and Predators comes Recommended.