5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home. The universe's most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.
Starring: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia MunnAction | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 79% |
Horror | 58% |
Adventure | 46% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
D-Box
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The current season finale of television’s long running Survivor is about to air as this review is being written, and in at least a couple of ways, The Predator might be thought of as an analog to the show. After all, many of the characters in the film find themselves in an isolated jungle, and, as with the television show, one by one they get picked off, albeit by an intermittently invisible alien rather than one (or more) of their teammates. But one of the funniest analogs comes at the end of this occasionally exciting but awfully rote enterprise, after a bunch of characters have met their demise and the, well, survivors pay homage to them all, including by collecting little trinkets that belonged to them. It patently reminded me of a silly vignette that used to be part and parcel of Survivor, but which has thankfully (in my considered opinion) been dropped, where the last few survivors walk through a field littered with little altars honoring their “fallen” comrades, often with, yep, little trinkets associated with those folks part of the structure.
The Predator is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists some ever popular Arri Alexa models as having digitally captured the imagery, which was then finished at a 2K DI. While there's some rather curiously soft looking CGI scattered throughout this presentation (even softer than CGI can typically look), practical items like actual human faces, costume fabrics and props actually deliver consistently high detail levels, even in the face of lots of dark sequences and the seemingly unavoidable grading tendencies that accompany so many sci-fi spectaculars. The cool tones that inform a lot of the film never seriously mask or deplete fine detail levels, though some of the darker sequences have minor deficits in shadow detail and an understandable downturn in detail. The "rubber suit" aspects of the various Predators actually look relatively believable for the most part, but some of the CGI compositing looked a little shoddy to my eyes, especially in the big climax that sees several of our good guy renegades "riding" an alien spacecraft.
I'm frankly cheating just a little bit with my 4.5 score for The Predator's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix, since I'm getting ready to write up The Predator 4K's Dolby Atmos mix and am giving myself a little "wiggle room" to indicate that the Atmos rendering definitely ups (literally in some cases) the ante. That said, this 7.1 mix is boisterous and full of excellent immersion, along with several rather potent bursts of LFE. Everything from the first sounds of the spaceship losing control and crashing to later sequences in the lab where the Predator is initially kept to some of the climactic showdowns between humans and aliens feature nicely placed discrete effects and at times a whirlwind of surround activity. Dialogue is routinely rendered cleanly and clearly, and is typically prioritized very well, even in some of the noisiest action scenes. Henry Jackman's score fills the side and rear channels and is similarly clear and problem free.
There's probably too much going on in this latest Predator "reboot", something that tends to fray focus and make the story more vignette driven than it arguably needs to be. The tone here is what may set many Predator fans' teeth on edge, though, for Black obviously wanted to go for a little more comedic gusto this time around. There are some good performances here, but the entire enterprise feels a little rote. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.
2018
36 page "The Art of the Hunt" Gallery Book
2018
2018
36 page "The Art of the Hunt" Gallery Book
2018
36 Page Book + Funko POP!
2018
36 page "The Art of the Hunt" Gallery Book + Funko POP!
2018
2018
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2012
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