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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Aliens vs. Predator

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12:29 / 17.06.03

Wow, it finally got the go ahead.

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/424/424511p1.html

Aliens vs. Predator Gets the Green Light

I wonder if it'll be any good. I never really liked the comic, but seeing as all I want from the movie is some funky gnashy fight scenes and nothing more, they might deliver.

Though I think they'd be better off basing it on the computer game.

Or maybe on contemporary Earth. I kinda like the notion of Aliens running amok in some small Alaskan town.

12:51 / 17.06.03

Well, since the original AvP series was mostly drawn by Jim Cameron's storyboard artist I'd say the film company could do a lot worse than follow it shot for shot...

nah, will never happen. Nor should it necessaryly

12:58 / 17.06.03

True, but the plot was gak.

It's been on the shelves for years, but signing up a director would imply that it's moving toward pre-production at least.. you know, like Batman Vs Superman... doo-dee-doo...

13:05 / 17.06.03

Also, more info on the characters here

I hope the aliens bring some nice wooly jumpers - and the predators will have to trade in their fishnets for legwarmers. Brrrrrr!

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:17 / 17.06.03

Max Stafford. Leader of the expedition, English, and black. Dead. Dead, dead, dead. Unbelievably dead. Since learning that he was going to be going on a mission with a spunky American chick, Max has borrowed huge amounts of money and spent it all on sweeties.

Quality.

Foust is SO authentic

14:54 / 17.06.03

I don't like the setup. Like the IGN article asks... why would anybody pay that bunch of misfits to mix it up with both Aliens and predators?

The basic idea - using Alien eggs to bait predators - is fine, but it shouldn't happen on contemporary Earth. It should happen some time after Alien 3; use the Company from the first two alien movies. Picture them first illegally smuggling Alien eggs onto Earth; Predators attack, the installation goes to tell. Colonianl Marines attempt to quarantine the area. Big three way fight.

15:16 / 17.06.03

I know, poor old Max is really in for a rather unfortunate, but no doubht heroic, demise.

I don't think they know when it's set yet. IGN is guessing somewhere in the Alien timeline. I just thought having it set nowadays is something I would like to see. It's something I liked about the Predator films. I just have this image in my head of a quiet suburban street being overrun by Aliens loping on all fours over the tarmac.

But yeah, a big-ass battle with colonial marines would be kinda cool.

15:38 / 17.06.03

But it's being directed by the same muppet that did resident evil and event horizon. Not an auspicious sign.

15:45 / 17.06.03

I don't think that weren't too badly directed. It's just important that someone stands behind him with a rolled-up paper to batter him over the head and yell "No, bad muppet!" if he touches the script.

15:50 / 17.06.03

Double negative. Sorry, I think this heat is literally cooking my brain.

I don't think that were too badly directed.

15:52 / 17.06.03

Charles Weyland: In his early 40s, Weyland is a driven billionaire industrialist ... Weyland has no intention of dying without first leaving a legacy for humankind.

That'll be the founder of Weyland-Yutani then (Formerly known as The Goddamn Company and also has connections with Corporate Assholes PLC).

A neat touch which would also explain perhaps why Weyland-Yutani spend so much time trying to get samples of those pesky bugs in the future.

The resistable rise of Reidcourchie

19:06 / 17.06.03

No, no, no, no, no!

Okay normally I don't mind about crap sequels or shit adaptions, it's par for the course. Nor do I mind about continuity between films, I don't care about, attempted continuity in the Aliens films should have been scrapped years ago along with Ripleys character.

But really how difficult is this to get right? Those two have got to be the two easist franchises to serialise (not sequels, seperate stories, the aliens are the stars here!).

If aliens can tear apart seriously tooled up Colonial Marines and one Predator can tear apart a team of special forces I doubt a chemical engineer is going to bother them. Yes okay in the 2nd Predator film an overweight, middle aged guy defeated the Predator in hand to hand but I figure Predators are accountants and lawyers (or maybe red necks) on their home planet and hunting is their hobby, so some of them will be in better shape than others. But really that team? If the film is 5 minutes long and shows them being torn apart almost immediately I could see that.

19:46 / 17.06.03

Resident Evil not too badly directed? Did you see the bootleg from Bugtown that wasn't laughably horrible, or something?

Taking the IGN report at face value, this is project that fox is doing on the ultra-cheap. Prague for Antarctica? Huh? What a lame setting for the flick, anyway - it's going to end up being a lame remake of The Thing, I'll wager. And if RE2 does shoot in August, who's willing to believe that Anderson has the attention span to properly balance the logistics of pre-pro on AvP while that happens, then shooting AvP while the other flick is in post? Both are going to be the product of their producers and editors, then, and since the producer is John Davis, who produced the Predator flicks, who knows?

But if this is gonna be a lame remake, base it on Invasion of the Body Snatchers - inasmuch as the Alien films haven't already done so. Aliens run rampant on earth, the predators are already there fucking with people, whereupon they begin to manipulate the scenario for their own pleasure, before the aliens turn the tables and wipe everything out.

21:14 / 17.06.03

Nooo - continuity is everything because it shows attention to detail. Aliens was a great film, but James Cameron bothering to leave the harpoon gun in the Narcissus showed that he cared about what he was doing.

Otherwise you may as well be writing for 2000ad or Enterprise.

Also, bear in mind that the proposed film could be a much worse scenario - Dark Horse's AvP anyone?

21:36 / 17.06.03

Wasn't the point of the first 2 Predator films reliant on the extreme heat of both the city in a sweltering summer and the tropical climate of the jungle. What good is their infared sight in the testicle swallowing Arctic?

Christ.

And what was the plot of the video game? You're talking about the FPS, right waxy?

I personally didn't mind the ending of the Dark Horse treatment. With the human being invited to join the Predator world.

21:43 / 17.06.03

There really isn't a plot to the video game(s). You choose one race, and then kill the other two. It's a social parable, really.

23:10 / 17.06.03

I personally didn't mind the ending of the Dark Horse treatment. With the human being invited to join the Predator world.

Except it was as plausible as Nicola Horlick joining the SAS or Anita Roddick becoming a SEAL.

I think the Arctic presents an interesting setting. OK, comparisons with The Thing are going to be unavoidable but does that mean Jurassic Park is "just the same" as Predator because it's set in a jungle?

Also, remember that the aliens can create their own super-heated environment. Mmm - ice, snow and a super-heated environment - that's going to piss off the penguins big time.

07:36 / 18.06.03

Resident Evil was gak, it's true. I just thought it looked quite good. Needed better editing to make it feel less like a TV episode, and maybe a narrative of some sort. Nothing complex, just enough to make it less a series of set pieces and more a single thread.

Which is why, in regards AvP, I think anyone looking to this movie for a challenging plot is going to be very dissappointed. Personally if I get to see a predator going all samurai-warrior-god under a hail of advancing Aliens while the honourable human runs for cover, I'll be happy.

In that regard, I think the FPS game is the one to look at for inspiration (plot was maybe a bad word, more it's dealing with plot). It had a fantastic tone to it, capturing a distinctly different feeling for each of the three races. It also realised what it is: a creepy action game. Which is why I think this movie might be good. If it realises what it is, and doesn't try to go outside of that and fail.

Prague will probably work fine for Antartica, considering they'll more than likely be shooting interiors there. You know, on sets. The Czech republic is just very cheap to shoot in, it doesn't mean they're nessecarily going to shoot exteriors there. Unless it's based in an odd future where humans are so strapped for space that they've been gentrifying the Antartic. In which case Prague is perfect. It does get bollock-shatteringly cold there. And it looks all picturesque with fog and big icicles and the like.

12:07 / 25.06.03

More updates regarding the plot. Be warned - a few spoilers in there - and also possibly here so cue obligatory spoilerage gap....

The film definitely appears to be set in the present day. Thermal imaging reveals a huge pyramid structure beneath the Antartica ice cap. The mission that then follows appears to be in search of an ancient (and obviously advanced) civilization. Hence the inclusion of drillers and archaeologists on the team.

The team then find fossilized remains of humans - who were clearly chestburster victims - and facehuggers. They also find a batch of viable alien eggs.

No details on when the predators make an appearance at this stage though (they may be stuck in traffic).

The pyramid is an interesting choice. Anyone who's aware of the early drafts of Alien will recall that originally the Nostromo's crew discovered such a structure themselves when they landed on the planet and that this is where the alien eggs are discovered.

16:13 / 27.06.03

I AM QUOTEING THE PASSAGE ABOVE ME. IF YOU DID NOT READ THE BIT ABOVE ME BECAUSE IT SAID "SPOILER" THEN DO NOT READ THIS EITHER, YOU NAMBY LIBERAL BASTARD WHO SMELLS OF MILK.

How can people not like continuity?? Look! Look at the Alien franchise! It's trying to tell me the the entireity of human civilisation is somehow a result of a bunch of matriarchal symbols for penetration who bleed acid!

We like this. This is rock. This gives me wood.

Danzig: He Pitys the Fool!

18:35 / 27.06.03

Havent read any of the links, but one thing springs to mind. If it is Alien & Predator(as suggested in the title), can I assume there wont be much need for a script. Not the most talkative of creatures either of them. They could dub voices in. I Vote Vinny Jones for Alien, and Mike Reid for Predator.

The Return Of Rothkoid

21:27 / 27.06.03

Personally, I'd love for the Alien to have the voice of James Mason.

Jack The Bodiless

06:14 / 28.06.03

I'd go for the Predator having the same voice artist as the guy who does the Garfield cartoon.

Or, if we're going to stick with dead uber-camp people, Quentin Crisp.

02:24 / 05.02.04

Interview with Paul Anderson. Some good, some bad. The plot still sounds a little shit, but it certainly seems like Anderson is both a big fan and trying to make a really good Aliens and Predator sequel/prequel rather than hacking something out.

19:50 / 05.02.04

U ask me, from that interview he seems to have a good handle on what has made previous films work, as well as brought down others... so while I' haven't exactly been a fan of his up to this point, if for nothing else, I respect the fact that he seems to have a great deal of artistic integrity for this film/these creatures. Here's hoping that translates and we don't end up with Resident Evil... Ugh.

08:57 / 06.02.04

Can we just have the predators finaling wiping out both humanity and the one trick 6 foot ants please !

Foust is SO authentic

10:41 / 06.02.04

Huh. That interview is very, very promising. I've been expecting a total crapfest, but it might turn out to only be a 50% crapfest...

Foust is SO authentic

02:27 / 12.08.04

It's coming, this Friday... *fan boy giggle*

10:29 / 12.08.04

I think it'll be more of a "bachelor apartment sitcom" vibe, like the odd couple. Y'know, Alien keeps getting bio-mechanical resin slime on Predator's skull collection, Predator draws a big white line down the middle of everything in the house, Alien's Mum is coming to visit, special guest appearance by Chibi T-X...

10:51 / 12.08.04

quite the encouraging interview i thought. henriksen, gunnage, and explaining how/why they would have put ian holm on the ship in the first place. top.

10:57 / 12.08.04

The cuddlely alien and predator toys are still officially the best things ever...

11:05 / 12.08.04

and no over-reliance on cg that's good good good, taking time with the set-up. i hope the humes double-cross the predators and fuck them to pieces in the end though.

'they're kind of honourable,like samurai.' yes, but they're also like invisible dinosaurs with laserguns who kill, fillett and mount folk for display as a holiday activity. all exciting to me. it's out here in october or something no? they've the cardboards in the multiplex already...

15:18 / 12.08.04

I'm not looking forward to this at all. Thought that Resident Evil was edited by someone on a massive caffine buzz listening to jungalist massive choons. I worked with one of the actors from RE recently, and he was a little upset as he was sure that he was going to get onto this, but lost out to the Italian chap who can't act to save his life. Anyway, he had read the script, so I got a pretty good run down of what happens. Just not sure about it though. Yeah it explains away some of the questionable aspects (like why they are in the artic wastes when predators like the heat) but it just sounds bad.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

17:07 / 12.08.04

I've seen some previews and some shots of the predator suits. Why are the legs so damn short? Seriously, it's strange looking.

Personally if I get to see a predator going all samurai-warrior-god under a hail of advancing Aliens while the honourable human runs for cover, I'll be happy.

I think you'll be in luck. I've seen some previews that look as if they're leading up to a scene like the one you're describing.

You know what would make me happy? An Alien and a Predator coming at each other, all blades and claws, and the Alien points above the Predator's shoulder as if to say "Look! Behind you! What is that?" and when the Predator looks over his shoulder, the Alien kicks him in the nogs. Cue Benny Hill music and the Alien scampers off while the Predator pants for breath, leaning on the wall, one hand cradling his sore balls.

That would be awesome.

17:25 / 12.08.04

The legs are short because the predators are children, it's their initiation training ground or something.

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