The Movie
You ever sit through a sequel, only to ask yourself at the end, "What was the point of that?" Predator 2 qualifies for such a shrug, a thrown-together rehash of the excessive violence which formed the backbone of the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring original three years earlier. But Predator gave us a tauter tale of an elite military squad comprised of a Dirty half-Dozen-odd quirky soldiers, fighting for their lives on the return from a top secret mission in the lush Central American jungle, against a super-equipped hunter from outer space. A new huntsman arrives for Predator 2, only this time in the far-flung future of... 1997... in the exotic locale of... downtown Los Angeles, essentially the backyard of the movie studios, and he runs afoul of... y'know, some cops.
Not helping the movie's relevance 19 years later is the inescapable sense that it is all outdated, from the tacky costumes to the presence of the late Morton Downey Jr. as a loudmouthed TV newsman. The predator himself; his light-bending camouflage, his ruthless pursuit; had run his course in the first film, so the filmmakers tried to wow us with some new weapons and glimpses of the big guy's hunting buddies and mode of transport. That's just not enough to sustain a feature film, especially with the switch from Arnold to Danny Glover as the star.
The Picture
Noise can taint a great many scenes in this 1.85:1 film, in the backgrounds and elsewhere. Smoke is mildly problematic but the probing beams of law enforcement's flashlights/searchlights are clean and ring-free (that is, until the very last shot).The dark, deliberately dusty and later rainy slaughterhouse battle in Act III is not nearly as issue-plagued as I expected (shadows and fine spots across the image can be troublesome), and to be fair he movie can look quite good when it is well-lit and focused. So this is a somewhat uneven master.
The Sound
There is a lot of shooting going on in this movie, so much so that there is even a joke about every commuter on the L.A. subway packing heat. All of that hot lead brings plenty of hits, ricochets and shattered glass for a busy, if redundant DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundfield. The weird distortions of what the Predator's ears hear is intriguing, while I also noted some pleasantly subtle surround use for indistinct voices, birds and other minor touches. The final close-quarters firefight is wonderfully active, with sprinklers spraying all around just to make sure all our speakers earn their keep. Alan Silvestri's score has been mixed very aggressively into this bold track.
The Extras
All of the bonus materials here are ported from the 2005 special edition DVD, in standard definition. Two separate audio commentaries are provided, by director Stephen Hopkins and by the writers Jim Thomas and John Thomas. "The Hunters and the Hunted" is a 35-minute "making of" comprised of new and old creator interviews. In "Evolutions," the visual effects supervisor talks us through the options explored for the main titles, the Predator's early rooftop appearance and later in a dark alley, plus the subway showdown, eight minutes total. "Weapons of Choice" (seven minutes) gives us a safe look at the Predator's gauntlet knives, self-destruct, plasma cannon, net launcher, smart weapon and telescoping spear. "Hard Core Segments" (also seven minutes total) presents two full faux news segments, anchored by Mort.
Mixed in with the expected trailers and TV commercials are three brief promotional featurettes from 1990, totaling about 12 minutes: "The Predator Goes to Town," "International 'Making of'" and "Creating the Ultimate Hunter."
Final Thoughts
I'm not saying that the Predator should have quit while he was ahead, just give him Aliens to fight instead of a big-city cop-on-the-edge. If you're a fan of this dreadlocked co-star of four feature films, clearly no Blu-ray collection is complete without Predator 2.
Product Details
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