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LostTman1093

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Sup! I haven't been active lately because I've been busy with school. Never take 18 credit hours....
Anyway! I wanted to share this "editorial" I posted on my [name of social networking site withheld do to copyright claim] a while back, hope you enjoy it!

I'm not going to review every individual movie in both franchises just give my thoughts on the crossover film not including it's sequel.

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN ANY OF THE MOVIES DISCUSSED.

I go all out for these folks, no holds barred. I'm awesome like that.

EXPERIENCE WITH FRANCHISE:

?I'm a huge fan of the Alien franchise....most of it. Alien and Aliens are some of the best sci-fi movies ever made and two of my favorite sci-fi movies.
???
Alien 3, depends on what version you're talking about. The original/theatrical cut of Alien 3 is a horrid mess of sci-fi story-telling and only worth watching to compare it to the superior cut. The Assembly cut or in common vernacular, the director's cut of Alien 3 is far better than the regular version and a good watch but not anything special when compared to the first two, at least it moves the story forward.
Alien Resurrection is, excuse my French, utter s***. It is poorly written, directed, and executed. The movie does nothing to move the story forward, the plot is a jumbled mess and plays out like a SyFy channel movie, the ending is ludicrous, and overall it just doesn't feel like an aliens movie. I will say the acting by Winona Ryder, Sigourney Weaver, and Ron Perlman is superb and is really the only entertaining part of the movie.

???My experience with the Predator franchise is a bit jaded, I'm not a huge fan, but I know enough about the mythos from the movies and comics to have a, what I would say, valid opinion. I have seen parts of Predator 2, from what I saw I liked, Predators, a great suspense movie, and of course the Schwarzenegger classic. Skimmed a few predator solo comics and read a decent amount of AVP comics. I enjoy the predator mythos, just not as much as the Alien mythos, my bias on whose side I root for showing yet?

THE BLOOD/OOZE ACID COATED MEAT AND POTATOES:

???Now onto my main focus, AVP. More specifically the first film adaption AVP: Alien vs Predator. I want to make it it clear, I actually enjoyed the movie. I'll Admit, it's not that good of a movie from a fans viewpoint, but as a movie it is a fun watch for general sci-fi fans. Nothing mind-boggling but decent popcorn entertainment. From a fan's perspective, this movie is a taint on not only the mythos but of respect to both respective franchises.

???There are good things about the movie that maybe with a bit more expanding could make for a decent remake, but the damage was done, the movie just has too many faults to be considered part of either of these franchises.
I will tackle this film in three parts, the good, the ugly, and the How it could be fixed.

???1. The White-Knuckle, Heart-Wrenching (too far?) Good:
???The overall CONCEPT of the story is actually really intriguing. The Predators helping ancient civilizations (the Aztecs are the race in the film) build their pyramids as temples to the Predators as their gods. Aliens being the ritual right-of-passage hunt for the youngblood predators to become true predators. The dynamics between the two alien races is all really interesting and if executed well would make for a cool film, but as done in AVP....not so much. Acting is good, for the most part. The lead, Alexa "Lex", is a really strong, independent female lead. This is actually a good thing, as it is a tribute to Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies. Mr. Weylaid as a good presence, you really don't trust him, which is good because his company causes major problems for the crews in the alien franchise....in a couple decades, I'm getting to that. The suit work by the actors for the races is awesome. Stunts of this caliber is well done for guys in rubber suits, I'm glad the director chose the practical effect route instead of all CGI, it gives the film a gritty realistic feeling. The actors who play the crew leaves a lot to be desired, granted they all die in the end but it leaves you feeling like you should've cared more about them, but you don't.

???Special effects are well-done. All the parts of the Predator armor work as the should and look cool, the alien costumes are convincing, and the blood effect are nice. Some of the predator stuff could be worked on though, the cloaking effect is really, really bad. For the most part the effects do a good job of immersing you into the world of the film. The Queen Alien is just as badass as ever, though her death was kinda stupid. Overall, it's a decent film romp with good acting and effects, but that only carries a sci-fi movie so far. The core of the film, the fact that it's both an alien and predator film, is so far removed from the other films that it hurts the movie well beyond the fact that it's watchable. AVP dismisses and just out right ignores key aspects of both franchise's lore and passions that it is downright infuriating to fans of both

?????2. The Alien/Human Hybrid (seriously, WTF?!?!) From Alien Resurrection Ugly:
???Now for what makes AVP: Alien vs Predator a bad, I mean REALLY bad, movie. It's total disrespect to the lore and spirit of the two franchises it crossover, that's not even going into the comic book it's adapting. First off the rating, PG-13. PG-13 are you kidding me?!? All of the previous movies, including the recently released Prometheus, are all rated R. These are adult R-rated sci-fi horror films and you make their big debut movie together PG-13? I'm not saying that makes the movie bad, I'm just saying it hurts the film in more ways then just trying to broaden the audience. You've taking two franchise made for adults who watch horror movies and made a movie that teenagers can watch. There is an unrated version that adds in horrible CGI blood splatter but that's not the issue. The issue is that the director KNEW he was making a PG-13 movie and intended it to be PG-13. From the documentary on the making of the film and from other fan sources that have interviews with the director, the director is a fan of both Alien and Predator. So, He obviously knew that these are R-rated franchises with avid fans of each who were expecting something on the same level as the other films, which He knew he wasn't making. Sources state that during production, when asked about the rating of the movie, the director was pretty hush-hush. Making the movie PG-13 is disrespectful to not only the two series but also to the fans more than anything. It is not the movie's fault, just bad decisions by the crew working on the film.

?Secondly, continuity. I'm going to ignore the fact that Prometheus says that the Weyland-Yutani corporation was founded in 2012 as this movie was made before Prometheus and had no way of knowing that Ridley Scott would reboot his own continuity. I will instead focus in the continuity already established in the franchises prior to AVP. AVP takes place in 2004 not a big problem when dealing with the Predator canon as both Predator movies took place in the 80's, the problem comes when the Alien canon comes into play. The first Alien movie takes place in 2122, and Ripley is on a mining ship that traces a distress signal to a crashed ship on a unknown planet, then in Aliens which takes place in 2179, we find out that Weyland-Yutani is wanting to capture the Xenomorphs (Alien) and use them as biological weapons and Weyland-Yutani did not know about the xenomorphs until Ripley's little encounter. Unless you go by AVP in which Weyland-Yutani knew about the xenomorphs in 2004 because the predators had been hunting them on earth for centuries. This creates huge plot wholes in the Alien continuity. If Weyland-Yutani knew about the Aliens way before the Nostromo (the ship in Alien) catastrophe, why didn't they try to find them earlier? Maybe the technology wasn't there yet or whatever but then how come they say Ripley is crazy and take away her space license when she talks about her experience with the Alien? It just doesn't add up. There are many more continuity errors but if I listed them all we would be here all day, so I'm not going to waste your time (even more than I already have, see I'm nice).

???3. How to Fix the Movie's Problems and Actually Make it Good ?(in terms of series lore):

CONTINUITY:

???Keep all the stuff with the Aztecs (or any other ancient civilizations for that matter) and the Predators, that's actually really good and taken from the comics. But change the stuff that interferes with the Alien series canon. Make it fit better, use the official timeline established by Prometheus and comics. Have Mr. Weyland play an integral part in the story, His company plays a key role in the Alien series give Him some impact in the Predator mythos as well.

???Use different species from both alien races. The Aliens are xenomorphs, they take on attributes from their host, use these as more variety for the Predators to kill. Take some from more than those shown in the movies (but please, PLEASE for the love of all that is decent in sci-fi. STAY AWAY FROM THE HYBRID FROM RESERECTION) but take also from the comics and games. Aliens can take on many forms, use them. Same for the Predators. The games and comics shows different classes of Predators, have them be part of the hunt and those elites from Predators (the movie)? Yeah, bring those back.

???Lastly, make the humans important. I know the whole premise is to see these two races fight, but the humans need to be important to the overall story. Have a strong lead, they don't necessarily have to be female, but they have to likable and actually make us think the humans have a chance against the alien races. Use weapons from both franchises, I doubt a small band of Predators could stand up to a company of Colonial Marines with smart-guns.

STAY TRUE TO THE SPIRIT OF THE ORIGINAL FILMS:

???To truly be part of the overall series AVP needs to be rated-R. It will allow for it to be better fitted into both franchises. Make sure that the established mythos is at the forefront. Expand upon ideas already in both of the series, do not add and do not take away from either, what's there is already good enough, if it aint broke don't fix it. The feel of the original movies needs to be there, Alien 1 and Predator 1 played more like survival/slasher movies with a sci-fi horror feel, keep that. Both of the alien races need to be feared. These creatures are much more vicious than our own; they are not to be jacked-around with. THEY WILL KILL YOU. They need to have that air about them, which would make for a really good survival movie.

Ending Transmission....(In Conclusion):

I hope you found this long (like really long and boring man, seriously) post enjoyable, I doubt anyone really cares about my opinion on a very small sci-fi franchise, but I'm a nerd and I love this stuff

. These are just my simple thoughts and I hope you all found this interesting.
Though I've pointed out all the flaws with this movie at least it's better than....

TO BE CONTINED? (Probably not.....)

Sup! I haven't been active lately because I've been busy with school. Never take 18 credit hours....
Anyway! I wanted to share this "editorial" I posted on my [name of social networking site withheld do to copyright claim] a while back, hope you enjoy it!

I'm not going to review every individual movie in both franchises just give my thoughts on the crossover film not including it's sequel.

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN ANY OF THE MOVIES DISCUSSED.

I go all out for these folks, no holds barred. I'm awesome like that.

EXPERIENCE WITH FRANCHISE:

?I'm a huge fan of the Alien franchise....most of it. Alien and Aliens are some of the best sci-fi movies ever made and two of my favorite sci-fi movies.
???
Alien 3, depends on what version you're talking about. The original/theatrical cut of Alien 3 is a horrid mess of sci-fi story-telling and only worth watching to compare it to the superior cut. The Assembly cut or in common vernacular, the director's cut of Alien 3 is far better than the regular version and a good watch but not anything special when compared to the first two, at least it moves the story forward.
Alien Resurrection is, excuse my French, utter s***. It is poorly written, directed, and executed. The movie does nothing to move the story forward, the plot is a jumbled mess and plays out like a SyFy channel movie, the ending is ludicrous, and overall it just doesn't feel like an aliens movie. I will say the acting by Winona Ryder, Sigourney Weaver, and Ron Perlman is superb and is really the only entertaining part of the movie.

???My experience with the Predator franchise is a bit jaded, I'm not a huge fan, but I know enough about the mythos from the movies and comics to have a, what I would say, valid opinion. I have seen parts of Predator 2, from what I saw I liked, Predators, a great suspense movie, and of course the Schwarzenegger classic. Skimmed a few predator solo comics and read a decent amount of AVP comics. I enjoy the predator mythos, just not as much as the Alien mythos, my bias on whose side I root for showing yet?

THE BLOOD/OOZE ACID COATED MEAT AND POTATOES:

???Now onto my main focus, AVP. More specifically the first film adaption AVP: Alien vs Predator. I want to make it it clear, I actually enjoyed the movie. I'll Admit, it's not that good of a movie from a fans viewpoint, but as a movie it is a fun watch for general sci-fi fans. Nothing mind-boggling but decent popcorn entertainment. From a fan's perspective, this movie is a taint on not only the mythos but of respect to both respective franchises.

???There are good things about the movie that maybe with a bit more expanding could make for a decent remake, but the damage was done, the movie just has too many faults to be considered part of either of these franchises.
I will tackle this film in three parts, the good, the ugly, and the How it could be fixed.

???1. The White-Knuckle, Heart-Wrenching (too far?) Good:
???The overall CONCEPT of the story is actually really intriguing. The Predators helping ancient civilizations (the Aztecs are the race in the film) build their pyramids as temples to the Predators as their gods. Aliens being the ritual right-of-passage hunt for the youngblood predators to become true predators. The dynamics between the two alien races is all really interesting and if executed well would make for a cool film, but as done in AVP....not so much. Acting is good, for the most part. The lead, Alexa "Lex", is a really strong, independent female lead. This is actually a good thing, as it is a tribute to Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies. Mr. Weylaid as a good presence, you really don't trust him, which is good because his company causes major problems for the crews in the alien franchise....in a couple decades, I'm getting to that. The suit work by the actors for the races is awesome. Stunts of this caliber is well done for guys in rubber suits, I'm glad the director chose the practical effect route instead of all CGI, it gives the film a gritty realistic feeling. The actors who play the crew leaves a lot to be desired, granted they all die in the end but it leaves you feeling like you should've cared more about them, but you don't.

???Special effects are well-done. All the parts of the Predator armor work as the should and look cool, the alien costumes are convincing, and the blood effect are nice. Some of the predator stuff could be worked on though, the cloaking effect is really, really bad. For the most part the effects do a good job of immersing you into the world of the film. The Queen Alien is just as badass as ever, though her death was kinda stupid. Overall, it's a decent film romp with good acting and effects, but that only carries a sci-fi movie so far. The core of the film, the fact that it's both an alien and predator film, is so far removed from the other films that it hurts the movie well beyond the fact that it's watchable. AVP dismisses and just out right ignores key aspects of both franchise's lore and passions that it is downright infuriating to fans of both

?????2. The Alien/Human Hybrid (seriously, WTF?!?!) From Alien Resurrection Ugly:
???Now for what makes AVP: Alien vs Predator a bad, I mean REALLY bad, movie. It's total disrespect to the lore and spirit of the two franchises it crossover, that's not even going into the comic book it's adapting. First off the rating, PG-13. PG-13 are you kidding me?!? All of the previous movies, including the recently released Prometheus, are all rated R. These are adult R-rated sci-fi horror films and you make their big debut movie together PG-13? I'm not saying that makes the movie bad, I'm just saying it hurts the film in more ways then just trying to broaden the audience. You've taking two franchise made for adults who watch horror movies and made a movie that teenagers can watch. There is an unrated version that adds in horrible CGI blood splatter but that's not the issue. The issue is that the director KNEW he was making a PG-13 movie and intended it to be PG-13. From the documentary on the making of the film and from other fan sources that have interviews with the director, the director is a fan of both Alien and Predator. So, He obviously knew that these are R-rated franchises with avid fans of each who were expecting something on the same level as the other films, which He knew he wasn't making. Sources state that during production, when asked about the rating of the movie, the director was pretty hush-hush. Making the movie PG-13 is disrespectful to not only the two series but also to the fans more than anything. It is not the movie's fault, just bad decisions by the crew working on the film.

?Secondly, continuity. I'm going to ignore the fact that Prometheus says that the Weyland-Yutani corporation was founded in 2012 as this movie was made before Prometheus and had no way of knowing that Ridley Scott would reboot his own continuity. I will instead focus in the continuity already established in the franchises prior to AVP. AVP takes place in 2004 not a big problem when dealing with the Predator canon as both Predator movies took place in the 80's, the problem comes when the Alien canon comes into play. The first Alien movie takes place in 2122, and Ripley is on a mining ship that traces a distress signal to a crashed ship on a unknown planet, then in Aliens which takes place in 2179, we find out that Weyland-Yutani is wanting to capture the Xenomorphs (Alien) and use them as biological weapons and Weyland-Yutani did not know about the xenomorphs until Ripley's little encounter. Unless you go by AVP in which Weyland-Yutani knew about the xenomorphs in 2004 because the predators had been hunting them on earth for centuries. This creates huge plot wholes in the Alien continuity. If Weyland-Yutani knew about the Aliens way before the Nostromo (the ship in Alien) catastrophe, why didn't they try to find them earlier? Maybe the technology wasn't there yet or whatever but then how come they say Ripley is crazy and take away her space license when she talks about her experience with the Alien? It just doesn't add up. There are many more continuity errors but if I listed them all we would be here all day, so I'm not going to waste your time (even more than I already have, see I'm nice).

???3. How to Fix the Movie's Problems and Actually Make it Good ?(in terms of series lore):

CONTINUITY:

???Keep all the stuff with the Aztecs (or any other ancient civilizations for that matter) and the Predators, that's actually really good and taken from the comics. But change the stuff that interferes with the Alien series canon. Make it fit better, use the official timeline established by Prometheus and comics. Have Mr. Weyland play an integral part in the story, His company plays a key role in the Alien series give Him some impact in the Predator mythos as well.

???Use different species from both alien races. The Aliens are xenomorphs, they take on attributes from their host, use these as more variety for the Predators to kill. Take some from more than those shown in the movies (but please, PLEASE for the love of all that is decent in sci-fi. STAY AWAY FROM THE HYBRID FROM RESERECTION) but take also from the comics and games. Aliens can take on many forms, use them. Same for the Predators. The games and comics shows different classes of Predators, have them be part of the hunt and those elites from Predators (the movie)? Yeah, bring those back.

???Lastly, make the humans important. I know the whole premise is to see these two races fight, but the humans need to be important to the overall story. Have a strong lead, they don't necessarily have to be female, but they have to likable and actually make us think the humans have a chance against the alien races. Use weapons from both franchises, I doubt a small band of Predators could stand up to a company of Colonial Marines with smart-guns.

STAY TRUE TO THE SPIRIT OF THE ORIGINAL FILMS:

???To truly be part of the overall series AVP needs to be rated-R. It will allow for it to be better fitted into both franchises. Make sure that the established mythos is at the forefront. Expand upon ideas already in both of the series, do not add and do not take away from either, what's there is already good enough, if it aint broke don't fix it. The feel of the original movies needs to be there, Alien 1 and Predator 1 played more like survival/slasher movies with a sci-fi horror feel, keep that. Both of the alien races need to be feared. These creatures are much more vicious than our own; they are not to be jacked-around with. THEY WILL KILL YOU. They need to have that air about them, which would make for a really good survival movie.

Ending Transmission....(In Conclusion):

I hope you found this long (like really long and boring man, seriously) post enjoyable, I doubt anyone really cares about my opinion on a very small sci-fi franchise, but I'm a nerd and I love this stuff

. These are just my simple thoughts and I hope you all found this interesting.
Though I've pointed out all the flaws with this movie at least it's better than....

TO BE CONTINED? (Probably not.....)

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