Predator 2 appreciation

Started by frasermaxx, Sep 06, 2022, 02:29:00 PM

Author
Predator 2 appreciation (Read 6,218 times)

Master Chief

Master Chief

#45
Lucky enough to watch it in the theaters.  8) Man, the ending is so good! When the laser beamed on Harrigan's face, I was like  :o and thought he was going to be killed.  Then when Greyback and his clan revealed themselves, I nearly lost it.  The reveal of the clan had a lasting effect on me.

BlueMarsalis79

BlueMarsalis79

#46
Something also noteworthy about that scene. It is also one of the few films with what could be described as sequel or prequel bait to actually result in something good. That being Prey recently.

BigDaddyJohn

BigDaddyJohn

#47
Quote from: Cougerboy on Sep 08, 2022, 08:29:28 AMover-the-top swearing

Aaand over the top sweating. Very important.

Kradan

Kradan

#48

Cougerboy

Cougerboy

#49
Quote from: BigDaddyJohn on Sep 09, 2022, 06:13:45 PM
Quote from: Cougerboy on Sep 08, 2022, 08:29:28 AMover-the-top swearing

Aaand over the top sweating. Very important.
Yes it is extremely important.  ;D

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#50
And snipped. I shouldn't have to be asking again - the intent of the thread is very clear, stop trying to steer it away into conflict about other things.

Highland

Highland

#51
Predator 2 for me is the Perfect sequel. Even more perfect that Aliens IMO (Not the quality of the film, just the way it expands the creature)

It takes what was good about the first film, does it again, but in a different place with different people. It HEAVILY adds to the lore without spoiling a single thing, which to be honest seems impossible these days  :laugh: .

Predator 2 when you think about it is probably the birth point for a vast majority of the offshoot ideas that ever came from Predator over the years. 

One thing I do find strange, I generally don't like when movies go over the top with the jokes ( Iron man 3 springs to mind), but for some reason Predator 2 is better for how it is. I think it's the time period. That kind of comedy/dark/horror/action is just unbeatable in that 80s/90s time zone.

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#52
And snipped again. I'm not finding it funny.

SiL

SiL

#53
I think the main thing with the humour of the first two movies is it never really comes at the expense of a meaningful moment. There's no sad moment ruined by a stupid joke like most Marvel movies. Shit's tense when it needs to be tense and lightens the mood when it needs to release steam.

Even "Want some candy?" takes a f**ked up tone.

Master

Master

#54
Another thing I want to talk about are sets of Predator 2. It has the most memorable sets out of all films with Predator. The ship is iconic but there's  much more then the ship. King Willie's alley, Metro Command precinct or Ramon Vega's apartment. All of those reeks with style and uniqueness. I especially love the door of Ramon's apartment.

OpenMaw

OpenMaw

#55
Quote from: SiL on Sep 12, 2022, 09:40:39 AMI think the main thing with the humour of the first two movies is it never really comes at the expense of a meaningful moment. There's no sad moment ruined by a stupid joke like most Marvel movies. Shit's tense when it needs to be tense and lightens the mood when it needs to release steam.

Even "Want some candy?" takes a f**ked up tone.

I think the big thing with the first film is most of the humorous tone that exists goes away the moment Hawkins' dies. Some of Arnold's best acting outside of Terminator follows suit. Nobody winks at the audience after that, and certainly when they find Hopper's team, and see one of the hostages get executed nobody is laughing or making snide remarks.

The only two exceptions are in the final duel "Ugly mother" < but the audience is absolutely on the same page, and Arnie's quip "Bad Idea." That's it. The final thrust of the film from once they enter the valley all the way through stays very earnest. Irreverent I guess?

To my mind I don't think anything sticks out in Predator 2. I was just listening to the AVPG podcast for Predator 2 and was trying to think about any jokes that really come off as tonally off. Not to me. 

Quote from: Master on Sep 12, 2022, 07:03:11 PMAnother thing I want to talk about are sets of Predator 2. It has the most memorable sets out of all films with Predator. The ship is iconic but there's  much more then the ship. King Willie's alley, Metro Command precinct or Ramon Vega's apartment. All of those reeks with style and uniqueness. I especially love the door of Ramon's apartment.

I agree. I remember the first time I saw the film as a youngin back in the late 90s. I don't think the exterior of Los Angeles is particularly interesting, but certainly the penthouse, alleyway, and Predator ship deliver some great atmosphere and visual flair. I don't  know that the slaughterhouse is a particularly interesting locale, but they do some interesting things within in it.

One of the biggest contributions to the visual language of the Predator universe is that ship, and it absolutely ticks me off every time I watch the AVP films, or even The Predator, and see those very generic uninspired designs. I love that the Predator's basically have cave paintings in their ship and that wonderful ceiling piece that we only get a glimpse of. Beautiful set design. Properly alien, yet still strangely familiar. Harkening back to our own ancestral history.

SiL

SiL

#56
"Bad idea" is the only thing I would change about Predator. That one line. Cut it out and it's perfect.

Still Collating...

Still Collating...

#57
Love Predator 2's style. And yeah, the comedy in Predator, Predator 2 and even Aliens is mostly in the beginning before shit hits the fan. People are scared of the creatures, and jokes are used to relieve tension for the characters when comedy elements are present during the middle of the movies. But they're still scared, the threat and menace of the creatures is always present. That's why I like Predators and Prey as well.

And that's why I hate The Predator cause the jokes feel forced, the creatures don't feel like a threat or scary at all, characters aren't afraid at all for the most part, and the weaponizing autism plot trope kept breaking my immersion. Who ever thought that Shane "doing expensive reshoots at night makes things automatically scary" Black  was a good idea for this should be fired.

Predator 2 is the perfect example for me of how you mix in dark comedy and so much style into basically a action-horror movie. I love the thing. Wish more Predator media was inspired by the second movie, not just the first one. Even Concrete Jungle, the game, has some epic one liners IMO.

BlueMarsalis79

BlueMarsalis79

#58
Part of my fondness for Predator Concrete Jungle comes from the way that it genuinely feels like a sequel to Predator 2. Whereas most Predator media understandably chases after the first film, whether in subtler ways, or being a soft reboot as we saw with Predators.

OpenMaw

OpenMaw

#59
Yeah. Especially with the Neo-Jamaican Voodoo Gang. "A sign from the Loa of Darkness! A message from our father Zarrigun the Scorpion God! The Loa sends us blood! Blood to make our turf sacred! Blood to make us strong! Take up your blades. Put on your ghost suits! This thing attacks in the night, but the night belongs to Les Serivturs! Les Serivturs!"


It really is a shame that "The Predator" turned out as it did. Between OWLF/Garber, the idea of the Predators having been coming here a long time, and their likelihood to return. Not to mention seeing Harrigan turn the hunt around on City Hunter, I really think there was the chance for the third movie to go from a hunt, to a reverse hunt, to an open war between agents of OWLF and a Predator clan. A dash of XCom where we start reverse engineering their stuff and using it ourselves. There were so many places to take a direct sequel to Predator 2. What a shame it'll never happen.

I'd say, more than any film in either franchise, Predator 2 really helped to open the universe up in a huge way. In spite of how "messy" the movie is, and frankly how undercooked some of the characters are, I think its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses.

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