Predator

I used to consider myself a film purist but I guess I no longer can because I really enjoyed this 'digital noise reduction' version of the film. That's because the excessive DNR was noticeable mostly in the first 10 minutes (before they got to the jungle) and for a few scenes outside of that - scenes which had incredible amounts of grain which is why they look bad when they were DNR'd to death in this release - but I imagine they would have looked worse, and more out of place, if they weren't grainless like the rest of the film (Ah, but film grain is good, and it should have been left in - in the first place - right? Yes, I'll elaborate later). For film, grain IS good. Grain basically 'is' the detail in the film. There's no denying that. I already have the 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD, which I've watched many times so I know how grainy it looks. It never bothered me because I understood that that's how the film was shot. The thing is, the original Blu-ray release of 'Predator' used a poor codec and the disc was only single layered. So, the compression artifacts made the grain look even worse. People complained, and FOX came out with this release. If they did it right the first time, and used the proper codec and bitrate (due to having the 50GB dual-layer disc that they have now), I'm sure there would be a lot less complaints. But, they screwed up the first time.Wanting to satisfy fans and milk this franchise for all it's worth (since they left out all of the special features on the last Blu-ray), they decided to "clean up" the picture, put back all of the special features, and give a little sneak peek to the new 'Predators' movie. It was a good business strategy, but film purists would not agree. At first, I was very against the idea of this release. But hell, Amazon was offering it for $13.99 and I always wanted to own 'Predator' on Blu-ray (with the best picture possible and all of the special features), so i decided to give the disc a try.The first scene of the movie looks excessively DNR'd. I'm not denying that at all. However, I'll live with that since the rest of the film looks BEAUTIFUL. It looks like it was shot yesterday. I know, I know. It wasn't shot yesterday. It was shot in 1986 and released to theaters in 1987. The film stock used was cheap, hence the film should look grainy. I know that. But damn, the picture looks so gorgeous now. I still have my Collector's Edition DVD for when I want to be a film purist and see the picture in all of its grainy glory. I wanted the film on Blu-ray, and I wasn't about go to buy the original release which was more like an upscaled DVD. If the movie were released, grain in tact, with the proper codec and bitrate, I would have bought that. I feel that this disc is the lesser of two evils.If you want the movie to look like it did when it was in theaters, please, go and buy the lovely 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD. If you want the movie to look like it was shot yesterday, buy this release. I've seen the movie enough times to know how it's supposed to look. If you can get over the first scene looking excessively DNR'd, then give this release a try. I've included a page with some comparison shots of later scenes in the movie (to see the comparison, check out the 'Comments' section). If you prefer the grainy pictures, buy the DVD or the original Blu-ray. If you prefer the 'clean' (DNR'd) image, buy the 'Ultimate Hunter Edition' Blu-ray. Aside from the first scene (the infamous shot of waxy looking Arnold - which really didn't look as bad in motion on my TV as it did in the screenshot), there really aren't too many parts of the film where detail is lost due to the DNRing that took place. I know, grain is detail, but I'm talking about the lack of sharpness that can occur when too much DNR takes place. That doesn't really happen at all, aside from that first scene. Give the screen shots a look and judge for yourself. The detail looks very well preserved, which is the ONLY reason I recommend this release. If the whole movie looked like the first scene did, I wouldn't go near it at all. But, the picture quality ends up being pretty damn amazing, albeit artificial (since I know what it SHOULD look like). Like I said, I think this release is the lesser of two evils, especially since I don't think FOX will re-release it AGAIN any time in the near future. The lossless audio (DTS-HD MA) track is amazing, the special features are great, and the picture quality (artificial, I know) is astounding. If you are a film purist, stay far away. If you don't even know what DNR means and you just want a nice looking movie, you won't be disappointed.On a side note, the menus can be a little annoying. They are very Predator-like, but they take too long to navigate and while you fastforward, an image pops up on screen showing you what chapter you're on - this is the only disc I have that does this. That stuff was only a minor annoyance that doesn't really detract from the awesome disc.In summary, I normally wouldn't recommend such a DNR'd release like this, but since the only HD alternative was the lower bitrate (and worse codec) Blu-ray that was already released (with no extras), this seems like the obvious purchase - especially since the DNR is only distracting in that first scene. Once the action starts, the film looks beautiful - and the sound is amazing.PLEASE CHECK THE 'COMMENTS' SECTION FOR A SCREENSHOT COMPARISON!

Perfect

Haven't watched this in ages only to rediscover how great movies used to be.

Classic movie well worth watching!

Now few may know this, but before Arnold Swarzenegger became `The Govenator' of California, he actually starred in a score of action films. It's true! Predator (1987), directed by John McTiernan, whose next film would be the hugely successful Die Hard (1988), solidifying his status as the director with the most machismo in Hollywood, stars the great lumpy one (Ahnold), although not quite as lumpy as he was in his first major action film, Conan the Barbarian (1982), along with Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed from the Rocky films), Jesse `The Body soon to be governor of Minnesota' Ventura, Bill Duke (he also appeared with Arnold in the mindless 1985 action flick Commando), and Sonny Landham (Billy Bear in the popular 1982 Eddie Murphy film 48 Hrs.). There are a few others, but these are main players...along with the Predator, played by the colossal 7'2'' Kevin Peter Hall, who passed away in 1991.As the film begins, we learn some gooberment officials have been captured as their chopper (that's the cool way of saying helicopter, in case you didn't know) has been shot down in some unfriendly country, which, I believe, is somewhere in South America, but they never really specify. Maj. George Dillon (Weathers) calls in a group that specializes in rescuing captures officials, dignitaries, and so on, lead by Maj. 'Dutch' Schaeffer (Swarzenegger). Among his team are Sgt. 'Mac' Eliot (Duke), Blain (Ventura), who carries one of the biggest guns I've ever seen, and Billy (Landham), along with a couple others. The mission? Go in and rescue the missing men...or so it seems, as later we find out that Dillon knows more than he's letting on, but whatever...the group, with Dillon tagging along supposedly in command, enter the jungle, find the downed chopper, and make some horrific discoveries in that another team had been sent in prior to this one, a highly trained military unit, and only their `skinned' corpses remain. Now, it's never made clear whether Dutch's group is actually in the military, or an ex-military group for hire, or mercenaries. Dutch claims they only do rescue missions, which would seem to indicate they are no longer in the military, as you don't really get to pick and choose your missions, but his men still refer to him as `Major' so I don't know...I guess it doesn't matter...as they travel deeper into the nasty, hot jungle, we get the impression they are being tracked. They find and neutralize the enemy camp, and Dillon's true motives are revealed. This soon becomes a moot point, as they team begins to lose members one by one as a unseen hostile force starts picking them off. As they race back to a safe point for extraction (the choppers won't venture in too far as the area is now `hot', which I took to mean the group's presence is known, and unfriendly soldiers are now swarming, looking for this small band), they begin to understand what they're up against is more than they ever could have bargained for, as the elite team of fighters becomes fodder for something not of this Earth.If you are looking for sweaty muscle men with big guns, then you've found your Nirvana here. The characters never really reach much more than a two-dimensional level, but that's of little consequence, as the name of the game is guns shooting, things blowing up, and pretty much non-stop action. I swear, I think this film has the most gunfire of just about any movie I've seen, and I've seen lots of them. Ventura's character actually walks around with a Gatling gun, which looks uber-cool, but hardly the type of ordinance I'd take on a covert rescue mission. If you don't know what a Gatling gun is, it usually consists of about six barrels or ten barrels mounted in a revolving frame and fires about 320 rounds a minute. Overkill? Maybe, but when it comes to the Predator, they don't hit much. The battle scenes are exciting, as they're filmed in such a way that puts the viewer into the action, rather than just watching it from the safety of your funky couch. The dialog may evoke a fair deal of wincing, as it's chock full of macho witticisms, a few examples being, "If it bleeds, we can kill it", or, when a character gets his arm grazed with a bullet, another character says, "You're bleeding!", to which the injured character replies, "I ain't got time to bleed". If it had been me, I probably would have been on the ground, crying, but then I'm neither cool or battle-harden like the characters in the film. The Predator costume looks very good, despite the age of the film and the technological advances since, so much credit goes to special effects artist extraordinaire Stan Winston. All in all, Predator is fairly pure actioneer, with a dose of science fiction and a dollop of horror (the skinned bodies...). The film and it's makers know what it is, and there's very little pretense to make it anything more than that.The wide screen picture looks about as good as it's going to get, and does show some minor flaws, but the audio seems to have been remastered for a DTS soundtrack as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1. There's scads of extras, including a commentary track by the director, text commentary, a making of documentary titled "If it bleeds, we can kill it", a section titled `Inside the Predator' which is broken up into seven featurettes proving a great amount of detail, a Predator special effects section with five featurettes, a few deleted scenes and outtakes, a Predator profile, a photo gallery, and even a few Easter Eggs (hidden features) scattered about. Is this two disc set the definitive Predator edition? I suppose so, that is until another one comes out, like they did with Terminator 2. (It's definitive for me as it's more than I ever wanted or needed)Cookieman108