DVDs and Films You Have Watched Recently 3 - The Final Insult

[Hannibal Scorch]

11 minutes ago, Scott Malbranque said:

The Predator - If you're a Shane Black fan, you'll love it. If you're a militant Predator fan, you'll want the chaps head on a stick. I'm in the camp of the former and I'll watch it again. He's pretty much done an Iron Man 3 on it. I'm delighted.

does this mean

Arnie is using The Predator as a costume to kill people in disguise?

Off to see see it tonight, and cannot wait

Edited September 12, 2018 by Hannibal Scorch

[Scott Malbranque]

No Arnie unfortunately, but Lochlyn Munro is the flick and after Dead Man on Campus, whenever he pops up on my screen, I just smile.

 

[Hannibal Scorch]

The Predator. Thought it was a bit of a mess. It had some funny bits and good action sequences. But at times it felt all over the place and you can tell it was plagued by reshoots. Thought the lead actor was bland. Supporting cast made up for it but feel it was a missed opportunity. Terrible 3D conversation, due to reshoots I’d imagine. Some of the 3D worked well, other times piss poor. All in all it was good, but not up to Shane Blacks usual standard

[chokeout]

The Predator. Some good bits but it felt like it had been chopped and changed and some of it was quite jarring

 The team suddenly having access to an RV with science equipment with zero explanation, then jumping to them all having their own vehicles

. To the surprise of no one  Shane Black writes some great dialogue for the team but it all seems to fall by the wayside about halfway in.   The only screening they had was in 3D and it's waaaay too dark, way worse than Solo. 

Oh and the ending

you don't use the phrase 'cybernetics' in a film that's a love letter to 80s action and not expect people to think Terminator. Then all my mind could think was it's not gonna be that but it is gonna be Arnie... in a box...... no wait! It's gonna be a xenomorph. Oh it's just a Predator suit

 

[Hannibal Scorch]

3 hours ago, chokeout said:

The Predator. Some good bits but it felt like it had been chopped and changed and some of it was quite jarring

  Hide contents

    The only screening they had was in 3D and it's waaaay too dark, way worse than Solo. 

 

They didn't finish reshoots until July! As a 3D lover I can wholeheartedly agree. Awful rushed conversion. I am not sure it is even getting a 3D release in America as they pulled the Ads. I have seen plenty of dark 3D films, the problem is normally they do not collaborate the systems. watching 3D at home is a much better experience as I have adjusted the settings and colors to work.Laser 3D from IMAX is able to show 3D and still keep the film bright. But to be honest, I think even if it does get an unlikely 3D home release I would skip it.

[Scott Malbranque]

@johnnyboy

[Scott Malbranque]

I can't post anything before or past @johnnyboy on the other post! 

I think a lot of Predator fans are angry because the first half is pretty much a Shane Black movie and it has a few genuine laughs, whereas they wanted it taken a bit more seriously than it was. Because that worked really well with Predators.

My mate was disgusted with the movie as he was expecting the first Predator reborn, whereas I knew Shane Black would throw a few zingers all over the place. 

I loved it. Really did. Am looking forward to seeing it again.

[Scott Malbranque]

This is quite interesting. Apparently the studio stuck their oars in and ran amok.

Lifted verbatim from the AVP Forums:

• The Fugitive was never The Fugitive untill the first and third act revisions.

• The suit of armor was never ment for humanity, nor was it present in the "original" third act.

EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION :
The suit was SHOWN in the "workprint" version but not how it works or what it's for.
The suit of armor is a weapon used by the Predators. Against humanity.
My source indicates that the suit of armor was a weapon ment against humanity because two of their Champions got bested.
This would've worked a shit ton better too

The Assassin was never an Assassin or called that way. He was on the ship that crashed and escaped. Earth just happened to be the "safest" place to crash I suppose. The two friendly Predators we're supposed to be onboard the ship carrying "Fugitve" and "Assassin" and we're supposed to have a larger role. The Fugitive still has a ship on Earth he tries to recover in order to go home. Assassin apparently realizes this and tries to extract the information from The Fugitive. Thus setting up the HUNT. Yes, we we're supposed to get a Predator vs Predator movie with us humans caught in the fray.

The Assassin was a Predator, designed for killing. No honor, no loyalty, nothing. A Predator Clan Elder (?) apparently decided it was best for him to become an outcast. He tasked three of his members to take him as far away as possible. This Clan Elder apparently carries one "tusk" from the Assassin as a token/trophy (remember, Assassin is missing one). These scenes we're never filmed but got storyboarded. Trying to get a picture of this... 
 

• The first ending showed the Assassin being killed. After some chit-chat, they look up into the sky and the movie ends
• The second ending is the one we all known by now. Humanity gets an Anti Predator weapon
• The third ending had an Elder on a distant planet receiving word of what took place. He grabbed his trophy which was a tusk of the Assassin (he misses one, remember?). Elder stood up, screen went black. Yes, this was also storyboarded

Shane Black had a VERY different version of the movie in mind. However, due to "poor test screenings" (which isn't the case, at all) FOX decided to rewrite/reshoot parts of the first and second act. Shane is happy the shoot is over and won't touch the Predator franchise again. Remember, this isn't the first time FOX interviened with the shooting of a movie ... You can find multiple examples of the studio vs The Director.

 

[Devon Malcolm]

I liked it too. I can't deny that I'm disappointed because I expected a lot more - the first and third acts are really rushed. But that middle third is up there with being almost as good as anything Black has ever done. It left me wishing it was all done as comedically as that. Easily the best performance I've seen from Olivia Munn as well.

[ColinBollocks]

It's decent. It's definitely the best Predator film since the 2nd, but the worst Shane Black film.

Some jokes land big, some jokes die on their arse. The comic relief characters are mostly doing "wacka wacka wacka" after a turd of a joke, which is proper disappointing for someone like Shane Black.

The ending is shite. Very much felt rushed, but all that for something that went on for a scene too long and died on it's arse the scene before.

[Merzbow]

Mandy.. don't read up on it, you'll spoil it for yourself. I'll just say it's amazing, one of the best films I've seen Cage in and probably second only to Wild At Heart.

[Loki]

I have just finished watching America 3000 on Netflix.  I don't want to spoil the fun for you, but let's just say it's classic Cannon Films and makes Cyborg look like Battleship Potemkin.  You won't regret checking this out.

[Devon Malcolm]

I just watched Mandy and I don't think I have ever been this bored in my entire life, and I'm a Manchester United fan.

[wordsfromlee]

Had the night to myself last night so tried to catch up on some Blu-Rays that I've bought but aren't the missus' cup of tea.

Watched Videodrome. I had no idea what was going on for most of it but it looked cool and featured prime Debbie Harry. 

[Mr_Danger]

12 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

I just watched Mandy and I don't think I have ever been this bored in my entire life, and I'm a Manchester United fan.

As good as the trailer sold itself to me I have the distinct fear that it's going be a bit Winding Refn for me.