Predators

Plot synopsis:
Royce awakens to find himself parachuting into an unfamiliar jungle. He meets several others who arrived in the same manner: Mexican drug cartel enforcer Cuchillo, Spetsnaz soldier Nikolai, Israel Defense Forces sniper Isabelle, Revolutionary United Front officer Mombasa, San Quentin death row inmate Stans, Yakuza enforcer Hanzo and general practice doctor Edwin.
Upon landing, they discover that all are armed and lethal killers, with the apparent exception of Edwin, though none know where they are or how they got there. The group follows Royce, who Isabelle suspects is a former black operations soldier turned mercenary. In the jungle they find empty cages, plants with a neurotoxic poison that Edwin collects on a scalpel, and a deceased US Special Forces soldier. Arriving at higher ground, they find themselves staring at an alien sky and realize that they are not on Earth.
The party is attacked by a pack of quadruped alien beasts. Cuchillo is killed, and his body is then used as bait to lure the survivors into a trap, but they avoid it. Royce deduces they are on a planet used as a game preserve, where humans are hunted as game. The group follows the quadrupeds' tracks to a camp and finds a captive Predator. The "hunters", three larger Predators known as the Tracker, Berserker and Falconer, attack the group. Mombasa is killed and the rest of the group escapes. Royce confronts Isabelle, believing she knows something about the creatures based on her shock of recognition when they encountered the alien. She reveals that she has heard of the Predators before, from a report by the only survivor (Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer) of a Special Forces team who encountered one twenty three years earlier in Guatemala.
The group next meets Noland, a lone soldier who has survived on the planet for "ten seasons" by hiding and scavenging from the Predators and their victims. At his hideout, he explains that the Predators hunt in threes and sharpen their killing skills by abducting warriors and dangerous beasts from other worlds and bringing them to the planet to hunt. Noland also reveals that there is a blood feud between the larger Predators and the smaller ones. Royce hopes that if the group can free the smaller Predator being held prisoner in the encampment, it may take them home using the other Predators' spaceship.
When the group fall asleep, Noland traps them in a room and attempts to use smoke to suffocate them. Having gone mad, he plans to kill them for their equipment and supplies. Royce uses an explosive to break out of the room, attracting the Predators to the hideout. Noland tries to escape and is killed by a Predator. In the ensuing chase, Nikolai uses two claymores to kill The Tracker Predator, sacrificing himself. Stans savagely attacks leader known as the Berserker with his shiv, buying time for the others to escape, and is killed when the Predator rips out his skull and spine. Hanzo duels The Falconer Predator with a katana, killing it before falling down from his wounds.
Hoping they can commandeer a spacecraft to return them to Earth, Royce, Isabelle and Edwin head for the Predators' camp until Edwin is injured by a trap. When Isabelle refuses to abandon him, Royce leaves them both behind and they are caught by the Berserker. Royce frees the smaller Predator in exchange for control of its ship and leaves as the two Predators confront each other. The Berserker kills the smaller one and destroys the ship as it takes off. Meanwhile, Edwin paralyzes Isabelle with the neurotoxic poison on his scalpel and reveals that on Earth he was a murderer, and feels that he fits in on this planet among the monsters. Royce appears, never having boarded the ship, and stabs Edwin with his own scalpel, paralyzing him.
Royce booby-traps Edwin with grenades, using him as bait to injure the remaining Predator. While Isabelle covers him with her sniper rifle, he proceeds to fight the Berserker with an axe and eventually decapitates it. As Royce and Isabelle rest, they observe parachutes opening in the distant sky. Royce, surmising that more Predators will soon arrive to hunt the new prey, tells Isabelle they must find another way to get off the planet, and they make their way back towards the jungle.

Tags: insanity, revenge, action, murder, violence

Review:
It's clear they had a real long look at the original film and decided to keep the best pieces (the tension, the focus on group interaction, the music) but also try new things with it to attain the same feel of mystery the original was so good at.The visuals are gorgeous, the acting solid, the writing exciting.
I'm surprised at the polarized opinions of Predators here on IMDb. From fans of the original movie (like me), I would have expected a degree of respect for this latest iteration; it seems to honor its predecessors while still offering new twists and depth.
It's shot on location in the Hawaiian jungle with Gyula Pados on cinematography, while John Debney reworks Alan Silvestri's score from the 1987 film Predator.The plot sees eight former members of Earth - mercenaries, soldiers, criminals and a doctor, who are literally dropped into a jungle on an alien planet.
However, it didn't happen and it's only now, with the franchise at rock bottom, that his script has been reworked and funded to give us Predators, the sequel to McTiernan's 87 ball buster.The set up is a little different but in truth the formula is exactly the same as the original movie.
And in "Predators", he infuses it with not just a showcase of tried and tested sci-fi ideals but also a discernible impression of a robust horror film.Antal keeps things moving along at an exhilarating pace by introducing a rag-tag team of mercenaries and criminals getting air-dropped into a highly tropical and vegetative alien planet tailored by the ruthless and single-minded Predator race as a game reserve for the insufficiently armed humans and other prey.
Kept alive by de facto leader, the preternaturally perspicacious Royce (Adrien Brody), the band of humans begin to formulate their plan of survival against the truly fearsome Predators and their formidable weaponry.Brody's presence seems almost folly at first – a gruff vocal inflection worthy of Christian Bale's in "The Dark Knight" underscores a predictably rote tough guy but to his credit, a good actor always manages to sell his act despite himself.
They make the sequel its own; the film takes place on the predator's planet, the lead actor is not the macho hero of the 80s but instead rather reluctant and they create interesting characters.
I won't get into too much of detail but I will say that any predator fan or even someone who likes a good action/thriller should watch this movie.
Although technically more of a sequel to Predator 2 than the first movie, Predators keeps everything that is good about the original and just sort of shakes them all around a bit.Predators gives us another jungle, albeit on an alien planet instead of South America, a bunch of hunted humans, this time all sorts of mercenaries instead of one platoon of Americans and three hunting aliens instead of just the loner.If you can get over having (the only slightly skinnier) Adrian Brody in place of Conan the Terminator and were a fan of the original, you'll probably like this.
They are Royce (Adrien Brody , Nimród Antal specifically chose him for the main protagonist); the Israeli soldier Isabelle (Alice Braga , she is the third brunette actress who appears in the "Predator" series, following Elpidia Carrillo and Maria Conchita Alonso) ; the Chechenian soldier Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov , who hit his face on a Steadicam camera and started bleeding , he insisted that filming continued to add effect to the scene); the San Quentin criminal Stans (Walton Goggins who along with other actors did their own stunts in the cliff fall scene); the Serra Leoa militia Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali); the drug lord Cuchillo (Danny Trejo , Robert Rodriguez's usual); the Yakuza Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien); and the Doctor Edwin (Topher Grace) awake and they encounter an alien force that begin to attack one by one .
In the end, Nimród Antal was hired because Robert Rodriguez enjoyed Antal's earlier films ¨Kontroll¨ and ¨Vacancy¨ .Other film about Predator series are the following : The original and the best ¨Predator¨ (1987) in which Arnold leads a team of CIA-hired mercenaries into the Central American jungles , being filmed by John McTiernan with Arnold Schwarzanegger , Jesse Ventura , Bill Duke , R.G. Armstrong , Carl Weathers ; ¨Predator 2¨(1990) in which the alien has inexplicably returned to L.A , being directed by Stephen Hopkins with Danny Glover , Bill Paxton , Ruben Blades , Maria Conchita Alonso and Gary Busey .
After having seen this film and Splice I cant wait to see what he does next, I like seeing the added range of an already proved actor.Now having said all this, the film isn't without its disappointments, I feel the film needed to spend a little time explaining how our characters got to this reserve planet.
And with a fellow like Robert Rodriguez comes a reputation, a reputation to recruit the likes of Adrien Brody, Lawrence Fishburne, Alice Braga and Danny Trejo.As far as the story goes, it follows in the line of traditional survival horror tactics of having a large number of expendable characters and the big bad monster (monsters in this case).
Lets be Honest, what did we all expect???There was never going to be the same suspense as the first film.If you go into this film with an open opinion and don't read most of whats on here then your bound to enjoy this movie.Brody I thought was excellent in his role, to many people are quick to shoot him down after seeing him in previous roles however he really was good as the main bad ass.Fishburn appears as a good cameo however nothing that would drag me to say that he makes a massive impact on the movie.Good film and great entertainment, pays homage to the first movie without stealing its identity.
The action sequences are good teamed up with the stunning new score (Old one is one of my most favored scored of all time).I think almost all the early predator fans will like this movie.
When a mercenary (Adrien Brody) wakes up in an unfamiliar jungle amid others of his ilk, including a dubious doctor (Topher Grace), he is apprehensive.His uneasiness is later justified when it becomes apparent he and the others are being stalked by an alien race of trophy hunters.The second sequel to the 1987 original, Predators revisits its roots: tropical terrain and a smorgasbord of bullets.
But what Brody lacks in statue, he makes up for in pure acting talent, and brings a well needed central performance, to a film that ultimately lacks in dialogue.The supporting cast unlike other movies of this genre, don't just play the part of a large body count, but have a likable mentality (well some do) similar to James Cameron's Aliens – but don't get me wrong, none of them are by any means Bill Paxton's Hudson.
going into this movie i had a lot of hope knowing that Robert Rodriguez was producing Predators because he is the man behind wonderful movies like (Sin city,planet terror,the Mexican trilogy,and from dusk to dawn,) i was a little disappointed he wasn't directing this but Nimrod Antal is a OK choice i enjoyed vacancy and Armored but neither of those are sci-fi, Vacancy is a suspense thriller and Armored is a action thriller so i was curious of the direction he was going to take, sense i seen the movie yesterday my expectations going into the movie was exceeded in every way except one, no Arnold Schwarzenegger besides that it was amazing the horror and gore is finally back to the predator franchise.
Predators made avp and avpr look like a bad Nintendo 64 video game, don't get me wrong avp and avpr are OK movies if you are a teen or have never seen the first two predator or alien movies but if you are a fan of the original predator movie or alien movie your mind can't imagine a pg-13 predator movie or alien movie, Predators didn't tailor or edit the movie for a teenager crowed or church group like avp did, Robert Rodriguez and Nimrod Antal took the concept of the original 2 movies and made predators similar to John Mctiernan's predator movie but its not remake or a copy its not even a sequel its more of a refresh to the franchise and to show new environments and situations for the audience to experience.
When I first was looking into the movie 2 weeks before it came out I had my doubts about Adrien Brody as the lead, I've never really viewed him as a tough military kind of actor but he did great as the lead role Royce the only better choice would have been Arnold himself, I also thought Topher Grace did great he was the perfect comic relief.
Honestly, this review is very special for me, because, when i think about it, i can't recall another occasion, when i wrote a review, without seeing the rate of the movie.So as my first time, i have to say, that i don't need a side opinion, because this movie was the best sequel to an Alien or a Predator movie, maybe, reaching the heights of James Cameron's Aliens.Robert Rodriguez sure raised the bar with this third installment, although, a lot of time was needed to do so.Adrien Brody does a good Arnie role, adding a little more darkness to the character.And he worked out a lot, it's obvious.And in one thing, Predators is stronger even than the Arnie-driven original.And that's the development.And for such a movie-a hunting movie, that's very hard.Gamer is a good example of movie, where you just don't give a ...
about the characters.And honestly, Predator had an issue of itself, as well.And that i find very good for the installment.I liked the intensity of the situation as well.I don't know, if it is because i saw the original on tape, but i just was'n feeling it.But this one-i saw it at a small pre-premiere theatre, where one is able to hear even the crew shooting the movie :) And when you hear each and every single footstep, more or less, you stand on the edge of your seat, waiting something to happen.That's why i found it so intense.Another thing i liked was the Laurence Fishbourne cameo, eclipsed only by the Bill Murray cameo in Zombieland, in recent memory.It was cool, claustrophobic and a little bit crazy, but a needed step into making the movie fresh enough and breaking the atmosphere.The other were fun to watch as well-Rodriguez's favourite, Danny Trejo, was interesting as ever, although, the little on-screen time for him.The others did a fine job as well, especially Alice Braga and the "unsure" Topher Grace.Another visually good thing were the flora and fauna at the planet.The special effects were OK, and the predators looked very convincing, and most important, faster than before, although their on-screen time is measurable to Danny Trejo's.The hounds were something cool and new, seeing the movie needed something like this, to pull itself out from the original.All in all, Robert Rodriguez made an incredibly refreshing movie, memorable and Nimrod Antal shoot it perfectly.Seeing Predator 2 very recently, i think this movie is way better than it's predecessor.I'm giving it the full note, and i'll see it again with some friends very soon!
Oleg Taktarov and Danny Trejo where also cool characters and Fishbourned cameo was fun, although you can tell his role was meant to be a cameo for Arnold.The creatures worked when I was worried they would have been a bit cheesy, but the hunter aspect came into play.I think a lot of the scenes were good just because they reminded you of the original (Which I'm not sure is that good a reason.) There are a few nods for die hard fans, especially a creature that was the original Predator design.I can't decide whether or not I like this more than Predator 2, it doesn't surpass the original but it's head and shoulders above the two horrible AvP films (that's not hard).
The characters lead by Adrien Brody as Royce, Alice Braga as Isabelle, Topher Grace as Edwin and Oleg Taktarov as Nikolai were given little screen time to development, and along with the weak dialog provided it at times felt like a cheaply executed B-Movie; which was the tag line they were desperately trying to avoid after 2007's AVP.R. The story moves along at a relatively fast rate as the group of elite hunter find out that there located on a gaming preserve planet, where the Predators hunt them down as sport for trophy's and ranking points.
While Predators is not as good as the first two Predator films Predators is a fantastic entry in the Predator series.Predators tells the story of a group of soldiers,cops,criminals and one doctor who are led by a Mercenary named Royce(Adrien Brody)who have been brought from planet Earth and put on another planet and are being hunted and stalked by vicious Alien Predators.
It sure didn't go towards the making of this movie As much as people like to bash the Alien vs Predator installments, they were at least entertaining, faster paced and filled with action.
It' would have been a good idea if the studio in question had just dumped the PREDATOR tag and thought up a new alien monster but the thinking is that there might be a ready made market of people who enjoyed one of the previous movies .
The movie in whole a lot is amazing with keeping in mind the old predator the fights and intense sequences are good enough to keep you awake Adrien Brody showed that he isn't just a drama person he can do action too.Nimrod Anatol does a great job The Movie Takes its time but delivers it with precision enough.
It is impossible to deny the influence the film Predator had on the action cinema from the last two decades.Its perfect combination of violence, machismo and a brilliantly designed monster made it memorable.And even though I enjoyed its sequel, Predator 2, I think the hybrids Alien Vs. Predator and Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem failed pretty much due to their poor screenplays and pathetic performances.Now, with Predators, co-screenwriters Alex Litvak and Michael Finch and director Nimród Antal tried to make another formal sequel, returning to the jungle setting from the first movie in order to capture a similar narrative and aesthetic style, adding a bit of mystery and increasing the level of violence.The result is moderately entertaining, but nevertheless mediocre.Antal's Hungarian movie Kontroll impressed many people (including me), and it was enough for Hollywood to call him to work there.Unfortunately, his North American filmography has gone from the mediocre (Vacancy) to the horrible (Armored); but I had the hope that, with Predators, producer Robert Rodriguez had found a project which could exploit Antal's talent.On some way, it was like that, but the result disappointed me for being so generic on its concept and its execution.In other words, Predators would have been an acceptable action movie if the legendary main monster had been replaced by any other antagonist.But as a heiress of the legacy from the original Predator, I found this sequel to be painfully "safe" and predictable.As for the actors, none of them show conviction or enthusiasm for their characters; on the contrary, they all appear apathetic and listless.But the biggest fail from Predators is that its screenplay is too simple, and it does not add anything new to the Predator mythology.And the action scenes are not very exciting; I have always said that the visual spectacle does not compensate the fails from a screenplay, but with better planned action scenes, Predators would have earned a little bit of life, in order not to give us the impression that it only copies important moments from the original film and it gives them a slightly different treatment.And what they changed was what they did not have to change: setting the story in a different planet seems a good trick to show a different and threatening environment; however, they did not spend any money in designing an alien jungle, so we only see the actors walking through the Hawaii jungle, where one of them can identify terrestrial plants!
However, not everything is bad on this movie: it has some good moments of tension, competent special effects and, as I said on the beginning of the commentary, it kept me moderately entertained.So, I think it deserves a slight recommendation because of all that.However, this film is not very satisfactory, and although it is better than the Alien Vs. Predator movies, it pales in comparison to Predator and its first sequel..
We initiate knowing only what the characters know:A group of cold hearted murderers with the awkward exception of a nerdy physician, mysteriously land into an unknown planet only to become the prey of the evolved new breed of alien Predators.Adrien Brody inhabits the role of the loner mercenary with the typical "I don't give a damn" attitude, strangely the dialogs felt of those of a traditional macho blonde American soldier though Brody makes everything work out just fine.Now the other characters were just as typical or even more overrating exaggerated that have no grand impact on the plot what so ever, in fact one character has max 3 lines in the entire film.While the characters might not have had enough time to grow on you, they were killed off one by one in what I thought was a social accepted order.
It was a genuinely creepy scene and I felt it stood out more than any other death in the film.And it had Laurence Fishburne in it but his character is pretty much wasted.All and all, though Predators wasn't the worst movie I've seen, but I definitely rate it as the worse I've seen this summer.
It's a sequel to the first film ("Predator"), it emphasizes action like the original, and it mixes in a few interesting ideas in its own thought experiment.