Predator

I don't know what the fuss is about the quality of this Blu-Ray is about I think certain reviewers aren't fully aware of the remastering process involved in taking a movie this old recorded on analog film and mastering it into Blu-Ray format I'll explain that a bit throughout this review. I've been watching this movie since I was a kid on VHS and I've been looking at the same DVD copy of it for a long time. I bought this movie on Blu-Ray simply because it seemed pertinent to get one of my all time favorite movies in the highest possible quality and plus I needed to add something to my purchase to get free super saver shipping, ha. But anyways, this is an old movie and inherent in the type of film stock the film was made with is a bit of grain. The idea that Blu-Ray imparts digital remastering on films making them "perfect" looking images is a false one to say the least. Blu-Ray does bring out the colors allowing for a more clear and defined picture but along with that it will also cause grain to become more prevalent which is something people should be mindful of when purchasing a film this old in this particular format. Think of it this way, basically Blu-Ray raises the scale of the video your watching and with the bigger scale the the grain also gets bigger. Now there is a process to remove this grain from films such as this the grain/noise removal process is basically a filter that blurs the image slightly to make the grain go away, which is nice although heavily grained films such as this one it makes the image very, very blurry and causes a "soft focus" effect which can cause you to to miss out on more subtle things in the frame. Look to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn on Blu-Ray to see just how terrible a price you pay for a grain free picture. Personally I much prefer being to see subtle movements on actors faces over there being a bit of grain on the screen. It bugs me that people buy these things and then rail them for not being painstakingly restored frame by frame by whatever company decided to put it out. That's a very costly and time consuming process that is reserved much more popular films. I apologize for rambling I'll continue on to my review of the disc now. This is a great looking version of Predator the colors are as vibrant as they've ever been and I've owned this film in virtually every format since the late 80s. I'm guessing this disc was put out as part of promotion for the new "Predators" film because most of the special features originally on the two disc DVD collectors edition have been replaced by stuff featuring the the film makers from Predators but that's not such a big deal the two disc collectors edition DVD is still quite affordable and easy to find online and really it's kinda nice that they at least attempted to add something new instead of just rehashing the original release. The best bits of the original special features are included. The film it's self is 80's sci-fi at it's best it starts out with a space ship entering orbit and then turns into a pretty straight forward 80's military action film and towards the middle reverts back into a terrestrial sci-fi action and suvivalism film. It's really one of Schwarzenegger's best performances in that he actually appears to be threatened for once. The problem with his films is not that he's a bad actor, it's that he has this aura of invincibility due to his physique and generally cool demeanor but that all gets stripped away when he is confronted by an alien creature who is bigger, stronger and more equipped in literally every way. Arnold gets chased and beaten and brutalized by the Predator and never does the thought cross your mind, "awww Arnie could take that guy what a phony movie" for example the fight scene with Bennett in the film Commando. This film also features a great score, a wonderful premise, and an involving cast of supporting characters who all have great moments throughout the course of the film. I highly recommend this film to any one but the decision is up to as to your preferred format although I quite like the quality of this Blu-Ray.

Is it me, or has Arnold's acting skills gone down hill over the years? He did a fine acting job in predator, but his movies since then, you almost wonder if he ever had any experience acting at all. I know that we all say, hey it's arnold, he doesn't need to be an oscar winning actor to be popular and likeable. All his movies, and corny calling card lines like I'LL BE BACK, doesn't change the fact that his movies are mainly "action". Blowing things up, shooting bad guys, chopping arms off, and yes he has done some extremly odd movies, such as "junior" (Oh my i'm almost ashamed to mention that I've seen it. It was horrible.) He should have just stuck to what he is good at. And that is sci-fi/action-thrillers such as PREDATOR. You still can enjoy predator to this day. The most unforgettable scene is when the alien takes his mask off for arnold. The face looked so real. It was all like moist, and freckled, and his teeth were shiny and yellow, and his gums were pink with saliva and he had that disgusting triple opening type jaw. And teeth both inside and outside of his mouth. How did they pull off such genius make up effects, or even the face itself. That is one hell of an imagination. If you saw this film for the first time, without knowing the date of when it was made, you'd never believe the date was 1987. I don't even believe it. I also think that the action music added to the intensity. I miss these type of movies. How can anyone say the 80's sucked. Like 90 percent of all my favorite movies were made in the 80's, and they were so creative that writers copy the ideas to this day. Of course we can't forget the occasional corny 80's flicks, but you can't say no good movies were made in the 80's. This is by far the best alien movie ever. The writer obviously knew about predatorial behavior. IE. when the alien is eating his dinner, and he rips out the flesh of that guy, and screams into the darkness like a hungry wolf. The fact that his main advantage is he can camoflauge himself like many animals can do in the jungle (changing color when they feel thereatened to blend in with the jungle.) It's as if the alien was made for the jungle. Next, tracking the soldiers by their body heat. Like snakes do. Rapid movement and body heat. But then you know he is from outer space because of his heavily equipped body, weapons, aimers, controllers, lasers, knives. You almost stop believing that they can even kill it. And at the end when arnold discovers he too can be invisible with mudd, was GENIUS. Too bad he falls in the pond and it all washes off. The guy who played the alein was this big and tall black guy. I forget his name but he also had a small part in the movie i think, as himself. He must of been hella hot in that space outfit. This will always be one of my favorite movies. I saw it when i was a kid, and still love it. It's entertaining, funny, scary, intelligent, intense, and a classic. It is great.

Good sci-fi action movie, rating 4.9

Terrific item! Arrived in great shape!

You all know the film. It's brilliant. Thankfully the 4k edition is the best version I have seen. The last blu ray was terribly over-digitised and some skin (especially a particular scene with Carl Withers) looked almost plastic. The 4k transfer remians faithful to the original film (which was shot in 35mm). If I have a minor criticism it would be the colouring is a little lighter and maybe lacks a bit of depth but you could probably fix that with your tv settings. Remember, you're not getting a film shot in 4k so don't expect insanely high resolutions but it is faithful to the original with some impressive tweaks without being intrusive. For instance, you no longer see Carl Wither's real arm underneath the prosthetic stump which used to annoy me.

Loved this movie glad to have it

Great science fiction movie.

Super contente nickel

Vale muito a pena pegar essa edição importada do México. Um filme que envelheceu bem, não ficou datado, os efeitos especiais, os efeitos práticos, um talentosíssimo elenco, direção, fizeram deste filme o melhor da franquia Predador. Os bônus deste filme são um show á parte, com um vasto material áudio visual, que não é encontrado em outras edições deste filme. O BD entrega uma imagem excelente, de alta resolução e nitidez.