"The Predator" by Shane Black (2018)

[The Chaver]

The Predator has now officially won the title of the worst opening EVER for a movie that opened on over 4,000 screens.

Ouch.

My man Black went from IM3 over 1 billion straight into career suicide.

It’s official folks.

Robocop franchise is dead.

Alien franchise is dead.

Predator franchise is dead.

Universal Monsters franchise is dead.

Terminator franchise has one last chance before it finally passes away from its slow death. It’s not looking good.

Poor Thomas Jane he has zero luck.

If you ask me, film is dead.

Seems the internet comment sections are more entertaining. They keep trying to add its style into movies.

They’re probably working on a newer form of entertainment as I write this.


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[jye4ever]

Is that what you call Marvel breaking 4 billion in just 9 months with 3 movies, death of cinema

Interesting tell me more lol

 

[Khev]

If you ask me, film is dead.

People have been saying that since JAWS, my friend.

 

[The Chaver]

Is that what you call Marvel breaking 4 billion in just 9 months with 3 movies, death of cinema

Interesting tell me more lol

I guess I’m just old. [emoji23]


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[The Chaver]

Is that what you call Marvel breaking 4 billion in just 9 months with 3 movies, death of cinema

Interesting tell me more lol

Marvel movies.

The spectacle. Lol.


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[jye4ever]

I’ll gladly take a Feige/Russo Predator, Robocop and Alien spectacle right about now

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Re: "The Predator" by Shane Black (2018)

That will be a long list lol. I'm not one to go off on a nerd rant really. I came out of Prometheus happy and even Covenant, at least some effort was put into them despite the whole mythos and general ideas going a bit sideways.

This one was just syfy channel bad lol.

Well, having watched this for a second time (yeah – I know! ) . . . the list of bad/dumb/idiotic/insulting is really pissing us off (lol) – so I’ll write that up another time.

There were SO many ways they could have delivered something better – including multiple ideas that could have been adapted or directly lifted from the novels or comics.

I know things went haywire during production and this needed re-shoots, but even if they had kept the first hour, the last 40mins could have been way WAY better than the abortion it was.

I hope they cut the last 5 minutes (handkerchief scene + new lab / gundam suit) COMPLETELY from the Blu-Ray release - they are THAT bad!

(* sigh *) . . . here’s what we felt was done well . . . (done as an image as other sites didn't want spoilers) . . .

.

 

[Khev]

Great post Heavy Metal, most Best Picture winners don't have that many good moments, lol.

And totally agreed about the "Gundam suit" lol. They should either pull a Brian Singer and just start the next movie as if that scene never happened or else open the next movie with a guy trying it on and accidentally triggering the self-destruct. "Next movie" what am I saying, lol.

 

[jye4ever]

The wake for this franchise starts at 6pm tomorrow.

 

[punisher1974]

Predators of the lost ark,
Starship predators
Robopredator
Batpredator
Predator Trek


How about Showpredators with the predator working the pole in his fishnets?

Inglorious Predaterds
The Thin Pred Line
The Hurt Predator

 

[LipSmack]

Just saw this, it was pretty good, wish Dutch would have made an appearance of some kind, but oh well. Wonder what all the set pics of the other preds and that apc was about, didnt see anything close to it.

Only thing I didnt like was the pred gauntlet at the end, was hoping it was Machiko or some more simple pred weapons for the humans, I dunno, seemed a bit much

Oh, alien goo would have been hilarious, like theyre so confident the pred wanted to help only to completely unleash hell on them so the preds couldnt populate earth, that would have been funny

 

[cerealkeller]

I saw this 2 days ago. I am a fan of Shane Black. To me, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys prove he is a very talented storyteller with characters that are witty, down-on-their-luck and become lovable no matter what horrible things they may do.

The Predator I enjoyed as a Shane Black film which happened to have Predators in it. It worked for me due to the characters, the surprise plot turns, and the first half was wonderful (even with the stupid "thumbs up" from the severed hand). I just don't know if I like it as a Predator film. It seemed to never take anything seriously, that which the original did so well. The comedy should have been toned down, and scenes given some suspense. The only really suspenseful scene was when the Predator told them he would be hunting them in 10 minutes. Then again I just saw Hereditary so after that no film could match the level of suspense that achieved.

I liked it but have been arguing with myself why I didn't love it as a Predator film. The plot twists were welcome, the characters I enjoyed. It was just that at a certain point, the danger should feel real and the characters should not be joking constantly, but showing fear encountering this alien race and being hunted down. Shane Black went too far, but taken as a Shane Black film, I enjoyed it.

Shane Black film with Predators 7/10
The Predator as a Predator film 5/10

 

[Unknown Hero]

Just got out of it. Pretty angry to be honest. It started good and went down hill after the breakout. The humor and character development made this watchable. Was kind of hoping Dutch would come out of the capsule.

 

[JAWS]

Is it though? It's been ages since I've watched it all the way through but I don't recall anything about it setting it apart from the other lovable junk we watched in the 70's and 80's. And can you really say that "The Predator" is worse than oh pretty much any zombie movie *ever* (with the sole exception of the original NotLD?) Am I comparing it favorably to any quality film? No, but I don't see how it's any less watchable than legions of crap films that we all give a pass to.

Khev you are killing me

Yes.. Yes Christine is.. First off its still at a time when Carpenter cared.. The cast is great and there are some wonderful shots. Plus Buddy Repperton is one of the great screen bullies of all time (I mostly think this because our school had a bully that looked just like him)

Christine looks great on Blu and now even better in 4K. Carpenters widescreen shots are beautiful and his score is tops (including the choice of classic rock) Arnie and Dennis make believable friends that you don't want to see split up.. Which is amazing as they share such little time together.. But kinda like Jack and David in AWIL the chemistry is there in spades.

Can I say that The Predator is any worse then say "any Zombie movie ever"

Yeah I can say that.. Return of the Living Dead and Shaun of the Dead are two great examples of blending comedy and horror the right way.. Not that some of the humor was not good in this film but like the rest of the movie it got worse as It went on.

Dawn of the Dead (while dated) still has that great "the world is in chaos" feel and does comedy better also.. It gets goofy but in such a more believable way then this film.. Plus I still sit on the edge of my seat every time Roger is about to got bit.. Every time.

Dawn Remake was a better movie in about every way also.. As was the perfectly average WWZ

Its very easy to say zombie movies are better because The predator just was not good. I think your comparison to the other schlock was more on the nose.. However I always thought Laserblast and Evilspeak were bad movies... Even back then... So there is that.



I think my biggest issue with The Predator is that there was a promise of something better. The first half hour was very good. The Predator escape and Jet planes vs Predator ship was some great action moments.. And then it turned to crap. I could not get past the bad CGI because it had bad things going on around it also.. I mean that awful ending, the bad set pieces (felt like AVP:R), the once cool but then annoying characters... Blah.. It just got dumb.. Shane Black should not direct film franchises and stick with his smaller original stories as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys is some great stuff but IM3 and this film are garbage.

 

[JAWS]

Re: "The Predator" by Shane Black (2018)

Well, having watched this for a second time (yeah – I know! ) . . . the list of bad/dumb/idiotic/insulting is really pissing us off (lol) – so I’ll write that up another time.

There were SO many ways they could have delivered something better – including multiple ideas that could have been adapted or directly lifted from the novels or comics.

I know things went haywire during production and this needed re-shoots, but even if they had kept the first hour, the last 40mins could have been way WAY better than the abortion it was.

I hope they cut the last 5 minutes (handkerchief scene + new lab / gundam suit) COMPLETELY from the Blu-Ray release - they are THAT bad!

(* sigh *) . . . here’s what we felt was done well . . . (done as an image as other sites didn't want spoilers) . . .

.

I thought the thumbs up was a bit silly and the did not care for the Aardvark line at all as it just felt "forced" and not a true thing someone would ever say.

I think I could agree with most of you list because most of the things you mention happen before the Pred Dogs and New Pred show up.. The Pred at the house scene could have been better had it not been the awful motion capture CGI that it was .


This film turned into Stephen Summers movie (the mummy Van Halsing). The characters started to feel that way.. The Kid who was great in the beginning and then just became too "cool and hip" felt like he could have been in The Mummy II...

Glad you enjoyed what you could though Spike.

Again I think my biggest issue is that it was on to something and then it just went off the rails.

 

[Rotfish]

Loved the loonie crew. Easily the best part of the film.

Up until the ending, I could write it off as a stupid but fun fan-fiction. After the ending, I'm calling it an abortion. I realize this is a pulpy franchise with B-movie roots, but there's a difference between not taking oneself too seriously and deliberately amping up the ridiculousness. This is hot garbage. The effects, both practical and digital, are crap. The story is crap. The fact that most of the insane plot points are given through cheap exposition is crap. It's just a clumsy mess of a movie.

And how in sweet hell, after all those rewrites and reshoots, did they come up with that ending? It's insulting. It took effort to make something this bad. I can't figure out if the filmmakers are stupid or they just don't care about this property.

Case in point:

Spoiler

Why does the Predator-Killer *gag* have dreadlocks? The armor attaches to the person and turns him into Iron Man, but it gives him dreads too? What for? Just because it's Predator, everything has to have mandibles and dreads? You'd have to be a sadistic casual to believe so.

 

[Khev]

I wasn't aware that Christine was a sensitive subject.

I deliberately picked Laserblast, Evilspeak and Christine because they're all schlocky films about nerds who get homicidal help from otherworldy beings which is a shared element with the kid donning the mask in The Predator. Maybe the dude in Laserblast wasn't a true nerd, who would ever know based on his atrocious acting, lol. But yes even that film I found cool and disturbing as a kid.

Yes The Predator went south and yes the only reason I'm even discussing it is because there's nothing else new this week (lol) but still, it was a good Predator movie for an hour and a good Laserblast with goofy space aliens for the other hour so I found it to be a harmless enough diversion. Like someone recently said at the end of the day it's a freaking Predator movie and this is a franchise known for not having *any* good sequels so I guess I've just learned to have fun with these flicks, lol. I rank it 3rd after Predator and Predator 2 because I just don't like any of the casts of the other films and out of AvP, AvP:R and Predators only AvP:R actually had a decent Pred in it.

And I'm glad you didn't mention 28 Days Later as a good "zombie" movie since it technically isn't.

 

[Khev]

And how in sweet hell, after all those rewrites and reshoots, did they come up with that ending? It's insulting. It took effort to make something this bad.

In literally the first film of the franchise we witness a guy take out a Predator with rocks and sharp sticks. But NOW humans have a chance because of that ******* Bayformer Iron Man suit?

 

[jstep13]

Terrible awful movie. Wish I never saw it. If the franchise wasn't dead before, it is now. Seriously, one of the worst movies I've ever seen and I've seen A LOT of movies.

 

[greygoose]

I still wish we had seen a true Predator 3 following Predator 2. Some of the ideas in The Predator, such as the Stargazer lab and escape scene, are how I imagined they would have expanded the story set up from Predator 2.