Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Posted by Darkness on June 20, 2010 (Updated: 22-Aug-2023)

As a lot of us know, Predator’s picture quality has been plagued with lots of grain and dust since it was released on VHS and DVD. This was due to how the film was originally shot in the late 80s and the type of stock that was used. The grain doesn’t appear all the time, it’s more noticeable in the opening scenes and in the darker jungle scenes. The first Blu-Ray release was a big step up from the DVD but the grain and cloudiness still remained. Just in time for the release of Predators, 20th Century Fox is releasing a new Blu-Ray set called Predator: Ultimate Hunter Edition which comes with a new digital restoration of the film. This article is a picture quality comparison between the two Blu-Ray releases. The first image is the old version, the second screenshot is the new version. You really need to check out the full 1080p screenshots to see the difference.


The opening shots of the movie with the helicopter bringing Dutch in. It’s fairly noticeable that all the grain in the sky has been completely removed.

 Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

 Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

There’s been a lot of talk on forums about this shot. Arnie’s face looks very waxy in the new version. It could just be because of the lighting or something. It’s an isolated shot, however. You can see from the other shots, he doesn’t look like that through the entire movie.

Arnie Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Arnie Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

The shot is of Poncho and as you can see all the grain has been removed.

Poncho Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Poncho Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

A lot of the dust in the background has been removed.

Arnie Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Arnie Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

This is a great comparison shot. In the original version, the whole shot is covered in grain. In the new version, it’s clean.

Mac Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Mac Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

There’s a lot of grain on Anna’s face and Arnie’s in the background in the original version.

Anna Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Anna Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

The movie seems to have been brightened up too. In this scene with the Predator emerging from the water, the new version is much brighter than the old version.

Predator Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Predator Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

The new version is again brighter and clearer.

Arnie Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Arnie Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

The Predator is a little clearer in this shot.

Predator Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Predator Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

The colours in this shot are considerably more vibrant in the new version.

Dead Predator Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Dead Predator Predator Blu-Ray Comparison

Conclusion
Make no mistake, Predator has never looked so good. All the grain and dust has been completely removed from the entire movie. The picture quality is crisp and clear throughout. No doubt there will be some people criticizing the new transfer for the sake of it but Predator will never look as good as this. I definitely recommend buying this version if you have the older DVD or first Blu-Ray release. Predator Ultimate Hunter Edition goes on sale June 29th in the US and July 5th in the UK.

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Comments: 10
  1. Generally a better color palette on Ultimate but one thing this review missed, that it has a slight green blanket tint. This aside, it has the best colors and is more lit in the darker scenes, as mentioned their are a few terrible looking shots such as waxy Arnie shot and some early jungle scenes, but the majority of the movie is an improvement. Similarly just as the first release is terribly grainy in some shots, the ultimate is terribly over-sharpened in some shots.

    The best version is subjective to your preference, for me the Ultimate Hunter Edition is the best, the first release has the potential to look even better than this release if you encode and remove grain, adjust colors and contrast but that would be very time consuming especially since some scenes require a different level of adjustments.

    As it is, the Hunter Edition wins, also the new release in 4K UHD sadly is the worst release of them all.

    First Release 6/10
    Ultimate Hunter Release 8/10
    4K Release 4/10
    First Release Regraded Encode 10/10

    Anyway, this is by far one of the best reviews I have come across on Predator.
    Thank you


  2. It’s entirely subjective. At the time this was released, I did genuinely believe, it was a great release and it looked like a whole new movie. But in retrospective, I think I do prefer the grain now.

    It doesn’t really matter now as the 4K release has brought the grain back.


  3. “All the grain and dust has been completely removed from the entire movie.”

    Don’t you see? Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand? IT’S SUPPOSED TO HAVE GRAIN, THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT! The very thing you’re praising it for is the very reason the Ultimate Hunter release is such a bag of shit!


  4. Iv read comments elsewhere about the versions and thank you, your review is a breath of fresh air. I agree with 100%! Ultimate Hunter Edition is the best release and by far the best quality. Sharpness and detail have been preserved to a degree and the grain and dust removed. The other editions have finer detail but are grossly covered in grain which is just awful.


  5. To my horror I saw the de-grained version for the first time last night, not at home but at the cinema (28 Sep 2015). A film of this kind is grainy, period. Predator is supposed to be a gritty, dirty experience. It is NOT supposed to look like the actors are smeared in foundation; this is the version of predator you might have if you wanted to appeal to teenage girls.

    From the outset, the removal of grain inherrant in that smokey ‘sergents hut’, makes Carl Weathers look just plain weird. Thankfully once they entered the jungle it didn’t look as bad as that opening scene, but yes, it’s way worse without the grain.


  6. The grain removal obviously removed fine detail and they felt the need to sharpen the transfer up, in the pictures you provide i can see edge enhancement, on a large screen this would stand out a mile.

    I’ll take ( i did ) the original version over the de-grained, edge enhanced mess that is the ultimate hunter edition.


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