With a new Alien film, Predator 4 and Prometheus 2 somewhere on the horizon, I took to wondering when we would see the next Alien vs. Predator film. And then I took to wondering how to make sure it was done right. I have just uploaded an article about what direction I want to see the next Alien vs. Predator take:
“As far as I’m concerned, the first big mistake Paul Anderson’s Alien vs. Predator made was setting the film on modern day Earth. Whilst I think he did a good job in taking the Aliens to one of the most remote and hostile places on the planet, it completely negates the point of the Alien films and Ripley’s constant sacrifices to ensure the Aliens never come to our homeworld. It was a desire on the part of producer John Davis to keep the film rooted in the Predator franchise that resulted in this.
However, since Aliens vs. Predator’s conception it was always rooted in the time and setting of the Alien films and this tradition carried across into the games. Look at the popular comics and games and you will find them set on far off colonies, with spaceships and Colonial Marines.”
Throughout the article I talk about the setting, time period, creature design and the over-use of recyled homages. We’d like to hear your thoughts on the matter as well. Did you agree or disagree with me on anything? Let us know down below.
I have this idea i've been extrapolating for a few weeks now, where an Elder Predator (ala Predator 2) basically decides he's getting up there in age and grabs an Alien egg. Basically going on his last hunt, and he's going off to this really hostile alien world in deep space.
The humans in the story are a group of mercenaries/bounty hunters, and they're going to set down on the same planet and do some kind of an exchange/deal outside of the watchful eye of Colonial/Planetary Authorities. When they show up and make the trek to the rendezvous they find their associates are all slaughtered or missing. They explore their ship, and discover signs of the hunt in progress.
The human characters are then stalked over the course of the day and night by the Predator and Alien. Who engage in several melees with each other.
At some point some of the survivors are chased back to their associates ship and take refuge within, as they are trying to hide and avoid the Predator/Alien they discover a nest in the bowels of the ship where some of that crew are egg morphed/morphing.
The final engagement would have the few human characters scuttling their associates ship, and trying to lure the alien and predator inside. Who will survive? Haven't decided yet.
Exactly, there's no reason why the films have to be limited to the same type of environments time and again. And introducing a new species could definitely work if done right. Alien: Isolation began the trend of bringing back a 70s aesthetic to the series, and Roger Dean, an artist who did album covers for a number of 70s prog bands, would be a great inspiration for planetary designs:
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Maybe establish a new species that the Predators hunt with their own unique and mental architecture or world and introduce the Aliens to that environment. Then go mental.
One predator, based on the original design.
Predator should have no projectile weapons, or at least have them disabled at the beginning of the film. Wrist blades, knives, and thrusting/dueling spears only.
Humans that are not heavily armed but are competent and memorable.
Gory but done in a manner that evokes horror and is not cheap like what we saw in Requiem.
No human-predator team-ups.
Horror feel of the first Alien film mixed with the filthy, animalistic feel of the first Predator. Maybe it could be set on some weird, Beksinski-esque lifeless world that oozes hopelessness:
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This film should just be called Alien/Predator, no 'vs.'
I don't know why you're arguing with me. That's exactly what I said.
You completely missed me point. I wasn't referring to the minutiae of the fight. It is the one and only time in the two movies where we see the Alien and Predator engage in a prolonged fight where both creatures utilise their various abilities.
It doesn't have to deep, philosophical, cerebral or whatever...but it should be intelligent and mature. That's not asking for a lot. There's nothing innately silly or childish about the AvP concept.
The "intelligence" and "maturity"of a movie depends a lot on the intelligence and maturity of the human characters and on how they handle a desperate situation. In that regard, yes...an AvP film doesn't have to be deep, but it sure would benefit from being smart and not silly and laughable
That was a terrible fight...and I'm not talking about the outcome. I'm talking about the wrestling and the posing and the swinging of Grid by its tail. AvP fights shouldn't resemble WWE wrestling matches
Funny but oh so true.
AvP isn't some deep thing. It's peanut butter meets chocolate. It's straight up the exploitation of a water cooler "what if" idea. Just saying following in the steps of FvsJ does not equal camp. It just means don't bullshit the audience with anything pretentious. We're here to see Predators and Aliens fight. Both AvsP films frankly failed to deliver on that point with the exception of Grid Vs Celtic. If anything when I say the franchise should follow this route i'm really thinking of SiL's take. It doesn't overly burden the story with characterisation. It keeps things simple and straight forward. It's about the Predators hunting aliens, and the humans being caught in the middle. No ancient pyramids, no overly long back story setups, no stupid teengers.
Please no...AvP could be so much more than that. AvP doesn't have to be silly, it doesn't have to be a B-movie. Of course you could make it really campy...but I believe a really decent film could be made with the right director, writer, and actors
Indeed. Again, Freddy Vs Jason really is the best template for how this sort of crossover should be done. Well executed, but doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. That was a key point of frustration for me with the first AvP. It starts off for a good hour trying to be some big adventure type of story, and then the moment the predators and aliens meet it becomes schlocky as Hell.
There is no need or room for originality, fresh ideas, strict continuity etc.
Jungle colony in space, gung ho colonial marines, praetorians and predaliens, cool guns, exo suits, demi-god Predators, Bishop android(s) and a big explosion in the end.
There's still quit a bit of flesh exposed.
Also, I think Broken Tusk avoids acid splash by using a glaive . It has pretty long reach. I'm also pretty sure acid splash isn't as great when you're stabbing and cutting aliens with a blade, as opposed to lighting them up with explosive bullets
Depends. I'm pretty sure the Predators all sport full body armor in the first AVP comic. I know Broken Tusk is covered completely on the chest (with a nice alien head/face right on the center to tell you how badass he is.)
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I think acid-proof is fine. As far as I know, the predators don't wear full body armour.
Predators aren't immune to alien acid. There's plenty of exposed flesh
Even if the predators do wear full body armour, the aliens inner jaws or tail should still be able to punch through it.
The logic in AvP is really. Only some items are vulnerable to acid. The spear, shuriken, and dagger seem to be completely acid-proof. Furthermore, all three youths are supposed to start out with shoulder cannons...which begs the question...were they really going to use wrist blades?
...and what's the point of armour if it's just going to melt or get pierced? Armour has to defend against at least one of those forms of damage.
Worked better when he didn't know what he was getting into.
I'd say acid resistant, rather than proof. You take away the danger of their acid blood and you take away one of their biggest advantages.
Wolf going in without acid-proof armour or ranged weapons would've ... okay, it wouldn't have been the dumbest thing in the movie, but it would've been top five, easily.
There should be no grappling with alien and predators, no swinging around. Should be, if an alien grabs a pred, the pred dies, or, the pred just pushes it away, the damn things have an exoskeleton after all.
I don't know, more creative than AVP:R.
2 hacks for directors. Anderson is a copycat, the brothers strauss bad copycats.
It could have been a special movie with a talented director.
Think about it. Let this thought marinate because no one here has said it. Predator 1 was made in late 80's right? I can remember almost every persons name in that film and it hurt when they died. WHY? because I liked them.
The audience identified with them. Same ish goes for Alien 1. The later films were great. I loved each and everyone for what it was. Even what the brothers did was cool with me minus having to turn up the brightness on my dvd
BUT who can tell me the pizza boys name? or that blonde girl on avp 1? They were all great but the whole thing was rushed/crammed together.
It can only be great suck or fall in the middle somewhere...have fun fox happy hunting.
Start the film with Predators hunting other species on a distant world and then leaving with trophies. Do this part well. Show the brute culture within the nomadic spacecraft. Spartan type battles to the death to secure a spot as a leader of some sort (like the comics/graphic novels).
Also feature our Colonial Marines, capturing another distant world which may have some indigenous threat (like giant humanoid sharks idk), so that scientist can study and survey the land/resources etc.
Xenos can either come about on hunter spaceships or the jockeys.
If we can use our heroes from past films it would be so far in the future that most would have to be cyborg of some sort (like avp arcade arnie).
yes definitely set in the future. If I see 1904 at the beginning of the film I will sober up instantly as a fan KNOWING avp universe is in the future with the USCM. In the comics it was, the books, and all games made. It was set in the future. Predators was clever because they left the Earth entirely.
I think the first film is still a good watch, but sure that makes sense.
I'd like to see a sequel providing it doesn't contradict any of the previous films (bar 'Prometheus').
That would suit me fine completely. I'm not talking about seeing a full scale, fleet on fleet action. Just something on a smaller scale like that.
The closest I could see that would fit will would be if the climax had a marine ship bombard an Alien-infested Predator ship, or vice-versa.
I'm glad you like it.
It might just be my interest in seeing that sort of space combat in a film (and how much I love seeing/reading it in Halo).
I liked the article! Don't know what I think about space battles in the AvP franchise, though. Doesn't sound right and it's much too large-scale for the sort of personal horror the franchises are about.
I believe that's Jon Davis you're thinking of.
I would like to see Aliens vs Predator vs Engineers vs Humans. Basically, the Engineers would supply Alien eggs to the Predators to hunt with.
Also, I've always been intrigued with the Machiko character from the comics and would love to see her on film.
And, I know I'm going to get yelled by some people for saying this, but I've also wondered about an "Alien King" and female Predators...if I lost people right now, I'm sorry, but they are ideas I've barely seen explored (and I'm sure people will say there's a reason for that), but is it such a bad thing to see them introduced? If you roll your eyes, then fine, but I'd still like to see new things introduced.
Anyway, since Fox is still making Prometheus, Alien and Predator films, I don't see any reason why an AVP reboot CAN'T happen and done, right.
Just call it ALIENS vs PREDATOR, and completely ignore the other two films.
Taking a page out of the initial AVP film script (based on the comic) i'd set it on a lush jungle planet with a populous of wildlife, a human colony with a small USCM security force to protect WY interests. Pulling a couple ideas from SiL's awesome AVP script, i'd have the Predators be the ones to instigate the spread of the aliens, and keep both species squarely in the villainous department.
The Strauses were snake oil salesmen through and through. They came on this site, and others, to peddle their 3rd rate garbage and to stroke their egos. They also had a blatant disrespect for the Aliens and their fans. Repeatedly they said things like "why would anyone root for the Aliens?" and "you should root for the Predator because he has honor", ect, etc. Also, their audio commentary was a unprofessional jab at all Alien fans where they repeatedly mocked the creatures performance and laughed at how much the Alien fans would hate it. As far as i'm concerned the B.S. deserved far worse then what they got and their film career is now where it belongs, Nowhere. They are a joke.
As for setting and stories:
-Predator movie set during WW1:lots of potential victims, all armed so even more honourable kills, fixed frontlines ergo homogeneus scenery (not just jungle from the first movie with added moons) and nowhere to run from the beast... just some ideas.
Alien 5 - Ripley is not a leading character, original movie atmosphere, explained eggmorphing, Sevastopollike setting, single xeno and no new hybrids, predaliens, newborns and all this BS.
If you won the Euromillons, you could make a new AvP if you wanted to.
I'm with Hicks, though - as long as Black'n'Blom's films don't tank, you can take AvPIII to the bank. The Blood Bank. (Seagal vs Aliens vs Predator - now I'd buy that for a dollar (vs RoboCop)).
Anyway, I think there's more chance of me winning the lottery than there is a new AvP film coming out.
Completely valid point. However, Alien Resurrection has a loose story thread to follow on from - and whilst people state "everyone" hates Alien 3 and Resurrection the threads here show the popular option, from the voters at least, is to follow on from Resurrection. The other thing I'm keen on for is a completely new standalone film for Alien 5 - which is what I prefer for AvP3.
I am genuinely ashamed of how they were treated here - just goes to show the general uncivilized nature of the Internet. However, they were trying to sell us on the film despite the flaws. It was a marketing ploy IMHO - I just wish people would have been more adult about it.
I think any such endeavour has to tread a really careful line - fan opinions count for sure, but a vocal fanbase doesn't make up the vast majority of viewers.
If it were me, I'd be looking at forums like this one for a long time and seeing which contributors had the knowledge and, importantly, put forward views that - by and large - were along the same lines as my "vision." The Strausse boys did that, but I honestly feel that they were badly treated on here and went too far over the fourth wall. Some say it was a marketing ploy, others that it was a genuine intent to engage with the biggest (or one of?) AvP fan forum in the world. That said - and here's the thing, if AvPGalaxy is one of the biggest forums and every single member went and saw it, that's less than 20000 people.
But that's how I'd engage with the fanbase. Subtly. But I'd hope that this sort of thinking could inform a new AvP movie (and for all we know, Neill Blomkamp is at this moment reading the epic threadery around his project). It's clear that AvPG has experts - real experts - in the subject matter at hand.
Also, if it were me, I'd be using the vocal minority as stick with which to hit the studio - the one thing everyone can agree on is that if you're going to do this, it needs to be in space, in the future, with pulse rifles and smart guns. That'll cost heaps more than Paul's movie and The Strausse boys.
I mentioned before on a different thread, though, Woodruff was saying that he'd love to see a huge budget Alien movie, but those films - as much as we love them - just don't resonate in the way that "Independence Day" did (he cited that and, I think, Star Wars) - Aliens and Predator just aren't as big. On the other hand, they did throw a lot of money at "Prometheus."
I'm confident that if Shane Black's and Neil Blomkamp's movies hit, this one will follow: it's whether later chapters of those guys renewed franchises reference each other's universes in someway shape or form.
Just as an aside, I find this an interesting standpoint, given your views on Blomkamp's movie.
I disagree with this one. I think Chopper's takedown was exactly how it should be portrayed. The Alien used stealth to its advantage. However, the fight between Celtic and Grid was just...meh. No weight or substance to it. And then, of course, when Scar got his shoulder cannon it became a shooting gallery which is reasonable as Predators obviously have advantage. That was all pretty reasonable.
It's just the wrestling match that needed working on.
Indeed. Davis wanted it grounded in his Predator franchise which was Earth-based at that point. It should never have been in the modern like that.
If it was dog-fighting, yes, I'd agree with you. But as both species should certainly have different technologies like that, the capital ship combat would be really cool. As I said, something like Halo.
Doesn't have to be an exact copy, but something more akin to the originals. Very few people like the fleshy, non-biomechanical, reused designs of the Aliens in those films.
It needs to happen. At the end of the day, Predator 2 has shown us they hunt other species. Alien and Prometheus showed us there were other beings out there. It'll stagnant if it doesn't try to expand the universe, only retread. Like I said in the homages section, it's not about reusing time and again old tropes. It's about building forward.
There is absolutely no reason to make it a sequel to the others. They're disliked for a reason. The human characters are boring and retreads and there's no loose story threads hanging that need to be addressed. It can be it's own thing ala Predators without referencing the first two.
Requiem on the other hand... That sort of did affect Ripley's sacrifice in the fact that now a major world government military now has knowledge of the Xenomorph. As far as the Predator side of things are concerned, well the government has known about them for quite sometime already. So that's really nothing new. What people had a gripe was the fact that there was a plasma caster left behind and supposedly that is what lead to space exploration. It would've been better had they stuck with the evaporated lake and finding a Predator ship.. Would've made more sense.
I do agree with the fact that there does need to be respect handled for the creatures. There definitely does need to be a middle ground. Anderson gave the Aliens better treatment than he did with the Predators, and the Brothers Strause gave the Predators better treatment than the Aliens. A middle ground is a must.. Show the creatures having a struggle with each other. And if one HAS to stand out, explain and show why a Predator or Alien character is significantly a threat higher above the rest but still able to be conceivably beaten by others as well.
I think elements from the old comics were done well in Anderson's movie but he did a different spin on it with the whole pyramid thing. I thought that was actually pretty cool, and introduced something new. Keep the blooding ritual, keep the pyramids but have them set on other worlds too (like BG-386) but if something needs to be standing alone on it's own merits.. fine. However one can't deny that the Alien vs Predator concept which we all want came from the comics. So keep the blooding ritual, keep the idea of Predators harvesting and respecting Xenomorphs.
Setting it in the future? Awesome! This is something which we all wanted eleven years ago but we never even so much as got. Why didn't Davis go with that? I have no idea, but could've would've should've, I digress. Where should it be in the future? The colonies? A space station? A Blade Runner-esque city? All of which are cool!
Ship combat? Leave that to Star Wars.
Going back to the original designs? You know.. it just sounds like that's coming from people who wants another Classic Predator, and a Giger Alien. Which is all cool and dandy but I don't want to see another Classic and Giger.. at least.. not DIRECT designs. Maybe subtle redesigns but keep the core elements completely intact. One thing that bothered me about PREDATORS was that Classic was designed for fan-service. I think that was even admitted too.
More alien species? Sure, as long as this is not a preserve planet. I wouldn't mind seeing some free range alien fauna. But I wouldn't want to see something that's.. entirely sentient. I wouldn't mind seeing something like alien primates, raptors, arachnids. I mean can you imagine a Xenomorph which gestated inside of an alien arachnid? That'd be pretty cool.
Hypothetical movie as a sequel? Like someone on the forum said.. finish it off with a third movie. It doesn't exactly have to reference the first two but it should be the sequel to them. Let AVP be it's own parallel universe or parallel continuity to the Alien and Predator stand-alone franchises.
Hypothetical movie as a reboot? Well... I have some reservations about that but again, and this also applies to it being a reboot too, let AVP be it's own parallel universe or parallel continuity to the Alien and Predator stand-alone franchises.
Just my two cents.