I’ve had a productive weekend or rather I’ve had time to watch several films this weekend. So far I’ve seen, Thor 3D, Wolverine 3D, Police Story 2013, and Predator 3D.
I thought I would give my 5 cents worth on this classic action film getting a chance to be a part of the “latest” technology. As we all know (or at least should know) 3D films have been around since the late 1890’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_film#Early_patents_and_tests) but not until the 50ies it was really feasible to screen films for a bigger audience. Then it fell into the abyss and reappeared in the 70-80ies when slasherfilms such as Jaws 3D and Friday the 13th among others brought the medium to the public once again. And history repeats it self, if kind of drifted into the obscure again, until Avatar came and changed everything.
Now even I have a 3D-TV at home. And you can download pretty much all the 3D titles and watch. Films like the Wizard of Oz and Top Gun are being processed for 3D.
So why not Predator.
And after watching it, I say, Indeed why not.
Predator is for me a culmination of an highly unlikely crossbreed. Action and Science/Fiction. Previous to this films had either been one or the other. Obviously a Science/Fiction movie could have action in it and still only be a Science/fiction film. But Predator somehow changed that. Firstly by starting off as a completely machismo special forces film. Arnold and co show up, flex their big biceps and spit a lot. Then put on makeup and head into the jungle, so far so good. We’ll throw in a few sexist jokes for good measure as well. Once in the jungle the machismo bravery continues. They track a group of Guerrillas and once the find them. Unleash all their macho weaponry on them, all but annihilating the entire group of guerrillas. Luckily for them, and for the viewers, one person survives, and it’s a girl; without a brassiere (hooray for Boobies). I mean we get to see Arnold and co’s Boobs a lot in this film, but even that becomes blasé.
Then the film completely changes. From action to Science/Fiction. They find out that they are in fact the hunted, not the hunters. This we have seen in countless films. But in Predator it works especially good. And the flip comes rather unexpected.
There is something in the trees…
The predator, which we the viewers get to see, sort of, has stolen a cloaking device from the Romulans. So Arnold and co can’t see it, only the trail of entrails that it leaves behind as it is taking them out one by one.
Now even the dumbest of us out there can understand that it all comes down to Arnold vs Predator. And the final battle leaves behind weaponry, seeing these two mastodonts battling it out mano y mano.
The thing that makes me like this film so much is of course the Predator. It is so evil, or perhaps not evil, just totally indifferent to its prey. The predator is a hunter, that hunts for fun. And in this it makes the perfect allegory for humans, and as we are rooting for Arnold to save the day, we are in fact rooting for the end of humanity. (Deep huh?) And would it have been hunting for it’s own survival (initially not just in the end) this allegory would not have worked so good. The laws of necessity outweigh the laws of cruelty.
And also I really like that is set in the jungle. And with the addition of 3D the jungle becomes really claustrophobic and dense, something that was missing in the 2D version. And also I’ve alway wondered how the F**K the Predator could see anything in the grainy pixelated thermal image we saw in the 2D version. But whoa in 3D it is much, MUCH easier to understand.
OF course you can’t make a Hollywood Action/science/fiction film without getting some kind of physics/science mixed up. Like when Arnold is crawling out of the river , gets all muddy and the Predator can’t see him. Great for the story, not so great for the sciences.
- First: The muck which he covers himself with would be a couple of degrees colder than the roots in which he hides.
(But wouldn’t the mud heat up from his body temperature?)
Yes probably, but as we are implying that the mud shields (apparently indefinitely) his body temperature from the rest of the world and that apparently that process is tremendously slow, therefore it’s initial temperature would also be regained.
- Second: He does not cover his eyes with the mud!, his eyes would stick out like 2 lanterns in the Predators vision, but no… All we see are blue shades. And I’m guessing even his breath would be visible at such close proximity. Thinking about it the Predator should most certainly be able to smell him as he climbs past him in the tree. Provided he has some kind of olfactory sense of course. I can’t really tell if he has a nose somewhere in his face…
But in the end Predator is a exciting film, with a good cast and a good score. An believable story (If you have the SCI/FI-genome) and probably the coolest villain in movie history. Perhaps only rivaled by that darn chimp in Monkey Shines by George A Romero. Truly horrifying caretaker.
I give this film a Rubberbooted 8.5 out of 10, It is after all one of the few movies where Arnold has successfully transmitted an compelling emotion. And like I said, the Predator is da MAN, or thing, or crab or some kind of leech perhaps…