Fred Dekker On The Predator Fan Reception and The Predator Killer Ending

Started by Corporal Hicks, Jan 05, 2019, 06:37:28 PM

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Fred Dekker On The Predator Fan Reception and The Predator Killer Ending (Read 43,378 times)

Corporal Hicks

I don’t think I would be wrong in stating that the closing scene of The Predator was not a very popular moment in the film. While a lot of the specifics regarding the behind-the-scenes story on The Predator is still unknown, it seemed fairly obvious that it was a last minute studio addition.

And we recently learnt that it could have been much, much worse than it ultimately was with some completely unexplainable cameos from Aliens’ Ripley and Newt. It turns out it’s not just us that felt that way. Responding to a fan’s comment on his Facebook page, The Predator co-writer Fred Dekker revealed that he also hated the scene.

However, most of his comment was related to the reception that The Predator has received as Fred was replying to a viewer who had reconsidered his opinion on the film after watching it on home release and now liked the film more. In response, Fred Dekker said:

Thank you, Stephen. This means a lot to me. We live in a culture that’s so cacophonous we sometimes cling to our opinions as our only voice in the din. Or we’re so married to our childhood memories of things we love that when the formula is contradicted, some feel betrayed by any attempt to take a different approach. In all candor, I have lots of issues with the movie (I also hate the super-suit ending!), but I spent three years on it and to have it trashed by toxic fans who don’t have the first clue how hard it is to get anything on the screen, well…that hurts. So thank you.

Fred Dekker on the set of The Predator in the Stargazer base.

I typically avoid expressing my own opinions in my reporting (I like to leave those to the podcast) and while I agree that toxicity seems to just be apart of fandoms these days, I also think it is never as simple as fans just being jerks who don’t know how the industry works.

There are certainly elements of The Predator I really enjoyed and elements I strongly disliked, but it never came down to being about The Predator taking a different approach to the material. If anything, that was something I really liked about it. Predator is such a versatile property and it was great to see someone exercising that versatility.

That’s not to say some fans may have disliked The Predator because it was trying to break the formula but ultimately it wasn’t just Predator fans that had issues with the film. The Predator didn’t sit well with the majority of critics either. As of writing, the film currently sits at 44 on Metacritic and 33% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Thanks to HN Entertainment for the news. Keep checking in with Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the latest on The Predator! You can follow us on FacebookTwitter, Instagram and YouTube to get the latest on your social media walls. You can also join in with fellow Alien and Predator fans on our forums!

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Eldritch_DM

I pretty much agree with you Hicks. There were elements I liked about The Predator and a lot of things that I strongly disliked.

Sadly, toxic fandoms are increasing and becoming more a thing than they should. As the majority of our fandom are all of an "older" audience, I would hope at least that we would be more welcoming and accepting of newer folks.

Corporal Hicks

It maybe worse in the bigger fandoms like Star Wars, but it always seems to me to be the negative just shout louder and devote more energy to talking about their dislike. Not necessarily that fandoms are overrun with toxicity. Keeping on Predator, I love Predators. Far more than the majority seem to but when that came out it just got to a point where I couldn't be arsed to defend it against those that didn't like it.

Eldritch_DM

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jan 05, 2019, 06:50:28 PM
It maybe worse in the bigger fandoms like Star Wars, but it always seems to me to be the negative just shout louder and devote more energy to talking about their dislike. Not necessarily that fandoms are overrun with toxicity. Keeping on Predator, I love Predators. Far more than the majority seem to but when that came out it just got to a point where I couldn't be arsed to defend it against those that didn't like it.

Too true.

Kane's other son

My guess is Fox got cold feet, slashed the budget (bye bye menagerie) and messed up the ending.

ThisBethesdaSea

Blowing off criticism as coming from only toxic fans does a disservice to the fans. While fandom, particularly the Alien and Predator fandom hosts its own set of toxicity (and the gatekeepers) the resounding opinion was that The Predator was a disservice to the lore, mythology and integrity of the series.

XenoHunter99

While no movie can please everyone, I think the fandom would be a lot less toxic if the movies were better.

RogueHybrid1701

Why am I toxic because your movie sucked?

proto leech

"waahhhh they didn't like my garbage ideas for predators they're toxic"

if your getting death threats thats one thing but people calling your terrible ideas out is not toxic. this move has damaged the predator brand pretty bad and you are one of the main reasons, you deserve the hate.

Corporal Hicks

No, he doesn't deserve hate. None of them do. There's no reason to take things personally like this. There's no need to act like children in response to releases you don't like. That's the kind of behaviour that gives off the impression that fandoms are awful. There is nothing wrong with disliking things, it's just about how you express that opinion.

Eldritch_DM

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jan 05, 2019, 07:38:13 PM
No, he doesn't deserve hate. None of them do. There's no reason to take things personally like this. There's no need to act like children in response to releases you don't like. That's the kind of behaviour that gives off the impression that fandoms are awful. There is nothing wrong with disliking things, it's just about how you express that opinion.

Well said. The voice of reason.

Still Collating...

Again with the blaming the fans trope. Yes, some responses can be out of line, but grownups should be able to take criticism without disrespecting the audience who the movie is made for anyway.

Lets get this out of the way. New for the sake of newness is just wrong. Not all new ideas work. Repeating old formulas and aspects isn't always a bad thing either. Some things just worked. Sometimes they become tiring. Balance is needed and more care should be introduced in considering some of these new ideas.
They might have been new to the franchise, but a lot of these ideas were very generic and clearly riding on the wave of the latest tropes in movies. Some new ideas were just out of place for this franchise and most of the new ideas were just badly executed. The Box Office says so, a consensus has been reached, the audience has spoken.
(Which of course doesn't mean the people who like The Predator are wrong or that their taste is worth less.)

Kane's other son

Turning Predator into a franchise was always an iffy idea. The original was a mystery: What is this thing killing everyone? You can't repeat that without the law of diminishing returns kicking in.

Huggs

I think a big problem is that we're not dealing with star wars or marvel movies here. If one of them sucks, another is coming right around the corner to make up for it.

Hate is never warranted, but frustration certainly is. How often do we get predator and alien movies really? Sometimes the gap between films is enormous. The last AVP movie was in 2007. Resurrection - Prometheus 1997 to 2012. Predator 2 - Predators 1990 - 2010. For fans like myself who strongly disliked The Predator, it may now be like 16 years since the last good one, before we get another acceptable Predator flick. Yeah, that kinda sucks. When they only get one shot in a blue moon, I'd prefer they didn't embrace the worst ideas possible like they did with this last film.

matthewjn

"Your movie is a f**king piece of shit." "f**k you for ruining the Predator franchise." or things along that line is absolutely toxic. If you really think otherwise, go get help. There are ways to express criticism while being level-headed. Figure it out.

Also, there's always those people who say things to celebrities like "If you can't handle criticism, then go find something else to do."
Well, if you can't handle being called out for bullshit, then don't say it at all. It goes both ways. Being a fan doesn't mean you get to do/say whatever you want without any sort of repercussions.

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