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From Amazon.co.uk
Rambo meets Alien in this terrific science-fiction thriller from 1987, directed by John McTiernan just a year before Die Hard made him Hollywood's most sought-after director of action-packed blockbusters. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite squad of US Army commandos to a remote region of the South American jungle, where they've been assigned to search for South American officials who've been kidnapped by terrorists. Instead they find a bunch of skinned corpses hanging from the trees and realise that they're now facing a mysterious and much deadlier threat. As the squad is picked off one by one, Arnold finds himself pitted against a hideous alien creature that's heavily armed and wearing a spacesuit enabling the creature to render itself invisible. The title says it all in describing the relentless, escalating action that follows, maintained by McTiernan with an abundance of visual flair. The film's special effects are still impressive, and stunning locations in the Mexican jungles create a combined atmosphere of verdant beauty and imminent danger. The plot doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, but the movie's so exciting and tightly paced that its weaknesses seem irrelevant. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
By Mrs. H. L. Little
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Blu-ray
Ok, first up I love the film. It's one of my all time faves. It travels along nicely with classic "end of chapter" cliffhanger lines such as "If it bleeds we can kill it" and "something's out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man". The action and the pacing of the film are excellent, and despite what the plot is, it's done so well that it's almost believable.
The reason I'm only giving it four stars is because the blu-ray transfer isn't really all that great. It is slightly better than the DVD, but as stated by another reviewer the source material was already a little grainy and the High Def transfer seems only to highlight this further. There are also no extras unlike the DVD, so you really aren't getting value for money. As Blu-Ray's go, it's not one of the better ones, but I love the film so much I can just about forgive it for that.
In short, if you've already got the DVD (probably available for about £3) then you're not likely to feel that you're getting your money's worth here.
The reason I'm only giving it four stars is because the blu-ray transfer isn't really all that great. It is slightly better than the DVD, but as stated by another reviewer the source material was already a little grainy and the High Def transfer seems only to highlight this further. There are also no extras unlike the DVD, so you really aren't getting value for money. As Blu-Ray's go, it's not one of the better ones, but I love the film so much I can just about forgive it for that.
In short, if you've already got the DVD (probably available for about £3) then you're not likely to feel that you're getting your money's worth here.
47 of 50 people found the following review helpful
By C. Williams
Format:Blu-ray
I'm both amazed and appalled at what 20th Century Fox has done with this blu ray, providing one of the most schizophrenic video transfers I've ever seen, which despite its faults still impresses me.
Because eighty percent of the time, it's beautiful.
They must have used a different source print than they had previously. Many scenes that were dull and dark before now show wonderfully vivid colours and much greater contrast. Also, it seems Fox has done a heavy amount of grain reduction, which I know will be an instant deal breaker for some cinephiles, but I do think that Predator benefitted from the treatment. I was astounded at the clarity some scenes have, every piece of foliage is razor sharp, and the Predator himself is so detailed in closeup it's scary. And it doesn't stop there.. From being able to see each bead of sweat on Carl Weathers' face, to the intricate patterns of the lightning effects as Predator decloaks, the new video transfer often presents scenes that look light years ahead of older versions of the film.
But then there's the other twenty percent...
The infamous scene at the start, when Dillon and Dutch lock arms, is one of the most egregious examples of video tampering. Carl Weathers' moustache looks like it's a blurry smudge on his face in this scene, whilst R.G. Armstrong now appears to be made of rubber. Arnold's closeups here are just plain ugly. Certainly not a great start to the movie, and it sets a trend of blurred shots and smudged faces that continues off and on through the film. A scene will be playing out, looking detailed and film-like, then suddenly it cuts to a closeup and we're examining a wax figure from Madame Tussauds acting in a Predator movie. Luckily this doesn't happen too often.... Read more ›
Because eighty percent of the time, it's beautiful.
They must have used a different source print than they had previously. Many scenes that were dull and dark before now show wonderfully vivid colours and much greater contrast. Also, it seems Fox has done a heavy amount of grain reduction, which I know will be an instant deal breaker for some cinephiles, but I do think that Predator benefitted from the treatment. I was astounded at the clarity some scenes have, every piece of foliage is razor sharp, and the Predator himself is so detailed in closeup it's scary. And it doesn't stop there.. From being able to see each bead of sweat on Carl Weathers' face, to the intricate patterns of the lightning effects as Predator decloaks, the new video transfer often presents scenes that look light years ahead of older versions of the film.
But then there's the other twenty percent...
The infamous scene at the start, when Dillon and Dutch lock arms, is one of the most egregious examples of video tampering. Carl Weathers' moustache looks like it's a blurry smudge on his face in this scene, whilst R.G. Armstrong now appears to be made of rubber. Arnold's closeups here are just plain ugly. Certainly not a great start to the movie, and it sets a trend of blurred shots and smudged faces that continues off and on through the film. A scene will be playing out, looking detailed and film-like, then suddenly it cuts to a closeup and we're examining a wax figure from Madame Tussauds acting in a Predator movie. Luckily this doesn't happen too often.... Read more ›
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By Neal Vincent
VINE™ VOICE
Just a quick note to warn purchasers of this new 2-disc set that due to a foul-up by Fox it seems that many copies contain the wrong Disc One. I don't know how widespread this problem is, but in my local shop every single copy was incorrect - and, yeah, I made 'em check! :)
Due to a pressing or packaging error Disc One was the old single-disc edition of Predator - i.e. no DTS, no audio commentary, and a heavily-censored version of the film! Disc Two was correct.
Due to a pressing or packaging error Disc One was the old single-disc edition of Predator - i.e. no DTS, no audio commentary, and a heavily-censored version of the film! Disc Two was correct.
Disc One SHOULD have a large picture of Arnie's face and say "Disc One" on it - the incorrect disc has a fuzzy picture of Arnie with a gun and DOES NOT say Disc One.
Seeing as the previous UK DVD release of Predator was a foul-up on Fox's part in the first place - apparently they mistakenly used a heavily-censored master intended for the German market - you would have thought they'd have taken a little more care this time around...
It's a good film, as I'm sure you already know, and it's good to see that it's finally been given a decent release in the UK - providing you've got the right disc in the pack!
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By Deckard
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
So yet another original bare bones blu ray release finally gets the decent treatment it so rightly deserves.
When Predator debuted on Blu-ray a couple of years back there were some mixed reviews. I actually rated it quite highly, although it could obviously have been better, (featuring a relatively low bit-rate MPEG-2 transfer), that it was certainly a marked improvement over the really shoddy looking DVD with it's noise and grain. The other gripe about the original release was of course, the fact that it completely lacked any extras. So now, Fox have recitifed the situation (or if you're feeling more cynical - decided to nick some more cash out the fans back pockets) by releasing an inevitabvle remastered special edition to blu ray.
And here it is, newly encoded, dual layer 50GB disc crammed with all the extras from the DVD including McTiernan's commentary and the 'If it bleeds we can kill it' making of documentary.
So how does it fare? Well, in fairness I think the remastered picture in this edition could well incite the same amount of criticism as the old one, but for the opposite reason. Personally I think it's great, bright, clear, immensely vived and colourful and whereas the previous edition only really looked "Hi-Def" in a number of places, this looks pretty immaculate throughout. Black levels are also greatly improved. However, all of this comes at a price, which some fans may not like, because seemingly to combat the gripes about grain and noise this remaster is pretty heavy on the digital noise reduction. So if you liked the rougher, grittier texture of the original print, you're probably going to be disappointed. Faces look particularly "smoothed over" and a little waxy in certain shots, but I should add that this is NOT the case all the time.... Read more ›
When Predator debuted on Blu-ray a couple of years back there were some mixed reviews. I actually rated it quite highly, although it could obviously have been better, (featuring a relatively low bit-rate MPEG-2 transfer), that it was certainly a marked improvement over the really shoddy looking DVD with it's noise and grain. The other gripe about the original release was of course, the fact that it completely lacked any extras. So now, Fox have recitifed the situation (or if you're feeling more cynical - decided to nick some more cash out the fans back pockets) by releasing an inevitabvle remastered special edition to blu ray.
And here it is, newly encoded, dual layer 50GB disc crammed with all the extras from the DVD including McTiernan's commentary and the 'If it bleeds we can kill it' making of documentary.
So how does it fare? Well, in fairness I think the remastered picture in this edition could well incite the same amount of criticism as the old one, but for the opposite reason. Personally I think it's great, bright, clear, immensely vived and colourful and whereas the previous edition only really looked "Hi-Def" in a number of places, this looks pretty immaculate throughout. Black levels are also greatly improved. However, all of this comes at a price, which some fans may not like, because seemingly to combat the gripes about grain and noise this remaster is pretty heavy on the digital noise reduction. So if you liked the rougher, grittier texture of the original print, you're probably going to be disappointed. Faces look particularly "smoothed over" and a little waxy in certain shots, but I should add that this is NOT the case all the time.... Read more ›
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant
i'd forgotten how good this film was, it arrived in perfect condition and on time, the effects are great to say it was made in '87
Published 19 days ago by Mrs Patricia Hutchinson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Predator
My boyfriend loves this film so I bought it for him as a Christmas present. Arnie is good in it.
Published 1 month ago by saxon
5.0 out of 5 stars
an amazing arnie classic
This film has it all action and suspence
I love this film and I must have watched it as many times as Terminator and T2. Read more
I love this film and I must have watched it as many times as Terminator and T2. Read more
Published 1 month ago by gary john king
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stick Around For Some Classic Schwarzenegger
If you're a fan of Arnie's, or just of action movies in general then this is one you can't afford to miss. Read more
Published 2 months ago by P. A. Boyce
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still Looks brilliant today
For a 26 year old film this looks great on Blu Ray and as it is not laden with CGI has not dated very much at all. Had much enjoyment watching this classic again.
Published 2 months ago by MarkJBL
5.0 out of 5 stars
PREDATOR ( ULTIMATE EDITION )
what is it with these people saying there is no GRAIN in numerous reviews of different films they do not look life like because there is no grain etc so they like to look at films... Read more
Published 2 months ago by margaret
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant!!!
Excellent service, items received quickly. Would defo recommend the service to anyone wanting to buy DVD's and add them to their collection.
Published 2 months ago by Elliott
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gonna have me some fun!
The picture/sound quality is amazing with the surround sound. One of my fav Arnie films and the cast is excellent. Full of classic one liners and action packed. A must see!!.
Published 3 months ago by kev
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not an action film but an scifi men vs alien only good for thriller...
Predator was relesed in 1987 with arnold an an essmble cast , but it is not the usual action film it is an thriller with an alien creature to kill them , you get cheesy one liners... Read more
Published 3 months ago by juliedilworth
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 Star Movie
In my top 10 movies of all time alongside Aliens. The fact that the recently released "Predators" with all the advances in film making could not even come close to how good this... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Active Yaw
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