Quote from: Voodoo Magic on Apr 12, 2021, 02:52:09 PM
Quote from: Master on Apr 10, 2021, 07:51:39 PM
Immensely interesting thread! I'll share my insights as soon as I get sober 
https://media2.giphy.com/media/9SIXFu7bIUYHhFc19G/giphy.gif
Wait no longer!
Quote from: BigDaddyJohn on Apr 12, 2021, 03:20:38 PM
One helluva hangover must've followed !
Dude, I`m not entirely fresh even right now
All righty then. At first I`d want to say the analysis by CorderyFX is on pair with my own insight about Predator design and while I do not agree with every single word he says, I think he nailed it in most points.
As for my greater insight in every Predator design I must start from the very beginning. I`m from May 1988. Just abit younger then the first film and I can`t really recall when I first saw Predator. Must have been between 5-7 y.o. cause that was the time I was allowed to see my first movies. What I do remember very well is summer vacation in our cabin in the woods when me and my brother discovered there was VHS rental nearby and we did rent all Predator (two of them for the time being) and Alien films, and watch`em to the death. I remember that there was time I was lurking for third film in VHS rentals (it was before the internet back then, so I wasn`t aware there is no part 3).
Time has passed and in 2004 AvP hit the theaters. It was the first A-P film I saw on the big screen (I tried to get in for A:R, but was not allowed by gate keepers) and I was disappointed by instant Aliens but was wracked me the most was when Scar removed his mask. The way first two Predator look without mask was planted in my brain plain and simple and the look Scar presented was just disappointing. Then there was AvP-R and till 2018 nothing did greater damage to both franchises. I learned to appreciate AvP for what it was and how grand it felt . The rest is history, as I joined AvPGalaxy during production of AvP-R.
About designs, I think what made first two great is whole functionality it presented. Seriously, first Predator should get his own version of Shadow Of The Vampire, cause it looks like breathing living creature on screen. Second Predator is also one of the Stan Winston`s finest and it cemented how creature should look in the future, right? Wrong. Every other design is downhill from there.
2004 Scar:
I mean, I don`t try to be especially harsh, but just look at it. If Jungle Hunter is German Sheppard then Scar is Pug. You can tell that it is related to Predator race, but common, compared to real deal it is just pale immitation. I admit Scar has his momments, but it`s the worst looking Predator up to date.
2007 Wolf:
To be honest Wolf is wierd looking Predator. It`s hard to make more in depth analisys cause darn movie is so God damn dark, you have problems to dig out any details out of it. No matter what they did to Wolf though, nothing tops the crime the Predalien was in this movie (most awful design from all avaliable), why they picked it haunts me to this day.
2010 Classic:
The desing itsefl looks good. They wanted to recreate original 1987 look and did it quite nicely, but the animatronics they`ve put inside are cheap excuse to Winston`s achievment. The ressult is gaping mouth with moving mandibles absolutely unable to close itself. Scar was ugly, Classic is failure.
Super Predator:
Crazy design. Animatronics are better with Super Predator, but desing is all over the place. In my headcanon he is badly burned, that`s why his face pattern is so wierd.
2018 Fugitive:
IMO best ADI Predator design, but it`s still miles from P1 and P2. Mandibles are placed to low, pharynx is placed to low and skin around mandibles is the most floopy to the date.
Upgrade:
It`s another mutant next to Super Predator and thus more forgivable in his wierdnes. He has to low placed mandibles just like Fugitive, but what bothers me the most about this one is paradoxically the lack of predator mask, not his wierd face.
That`s my stance on Predator desing. Mind you I focused mostly on the faces, as was intended in first post.
