AVP: Alien v. Predator

AVP: Alien v Predator, 2004

Snap reviewed the original Alien films and heaped them with praise so I thought I'd pick up from where he left off. AVP brings together two of the most ruthless killers the big screen has ever seen.

The Predator first bobbed up with Arnie and Carl Weathers in 1987 - stalking, killing and skinning its prey until its heart was content. It's a calculating, dangerous mother fucker who combines state of the art technology with old fashioned rat cunning. Think Lote Tuqiri on Proton Pills.

Eight years earlier, where no one could hear you scream, we laid eyes on The Alien. Not a Marvin the Martian type extra terrestrial but a toxic, vicious, heartless slut of a thing. Not even as an infant is The Alien to be trusted. Let's face hug it out bitch.

These two cinematic serial killers first met up in comic books and video games in the mid nineties but it took a few false starts before they combined on film.

AVP is directed by Paul Anderson - not P T Anderson of There Will Be Blood fame but P W S Anderson who was in charge of Mortal Kombat and the very watchable Event Horizon.

After a giant pyramid is discovered under Antarctica the race is on to get there first. But when the hand picked team turns up - a trail has already been blazed for them and alarm bells start going off. Turns out The Predators have had a vested interest in the place for a long time and would prefer the maintenance of the building was left to them. The Aliens lurk deep in the pyramid's bowels - ready to be hunted like rabid clay pigeons.

This is good - and if you avoid the Alien's blood - clean fun. Both the Aliens and Predators look great and a convenient mid-movie explanation paints a fairly clear picture of what's going on.

It can't be compared to the first two Alien films of the first Predator but there's many worse ways to spend 90 minutes.

5/10 Nutbuckle

Star Wars - Episode IV - A New Hope

Star Wars, 1977

We all know about Star Wars - the global marketing phenomenon that started out with this low budget space opera from 1977. Responsible for launching George Lucas as a successful film-maker (his previous works THX1138 and American Graffiti while critically acclaimed were not commercially successful) as well as introducing Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca to a legion of unsuspecting children who had never seen anything quite like it.

The plot when it comes right down to it isn't the most cutting edge. Indeed it rarely rises above B-movie level and relies heavily on plotlines from other movies. However Lucas somehow created a movie that became greater than the sum of its parts. While aficionados of the genre will swear that the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, is the superior movie (and they'd be right), there's a certain charm in the original movie.

Harrison Ford is a standout in his breakthrough role as Han Solo, privateer with a heart of gold. Mark Hamill is constantly annoying as only a 17 year old teenager can - and Alec Guiness was an amalgam of every single mentor in every single coming of age movie of all time. The combination is magic on screen, complemented nicely by the villainous Darth Vader and the pretty Princess Leia.

The other movies in the series are much more complex and deal with more complicated themes, but the original is still fun for a wild two hour ride and imagining you're 7 years old and the fate of the Rebellion hinges on you 'Using the Force'. A modern classic.

8/10

- Umes

Species

Species, 1995

Natasha Henstridge is a common sight on the small screen these days (Eli Stone, Commander In Chief) but in 1995 she had hundreds of teenage boys in a spin thanks to Species.

Henstridge plays Sil - the product of a DNA splicing experiment gone right.

Part human, part Alien - Sil needs to mate with a male to properly wreak havoc on Earth's inhabitants.

Also appearing in this soft porn sci-fi are the uber cool Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Ben Kinglsey (Gandhi) and even a very young Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain).

Critics didn't welcome Species with open arms but I think it's entertaining enough to warrant a look - the supporting cast has fun with what they're given.

It's directed by Australian born Roger Donaldson who was responsible for Cold War drama 'Thirteen Days' and the very watchable 'The Bank Job' and he keeps a good pace up here.

It's probably worth the hiring fee for Henstridge alone.

6/10

Nutbuckle

Highlander

Highlander, 1986

The good name of Highlander has been tarnished by a series of underwhelming follow-ups but the original remains a downright classic.

Frenchie Christopher Lambert (Mortal Kombat) plays immortal Scotsman Connor MacLeod - over 400 years old but still up for a fight.

Mentored by the Egyptian born Ramirez (Sean Connery, Goldfinger) - MacLeod prepares for 'The Gathering' - the grand final for immortal warriors.

Standing in MacLeod's way is The Kurgan (Clancy Brown, The Shawshank Redemption) - whose 3000 years on earth have left him a little cynical and nasty. The Kurgan's people were originally so evil they would throw children into deep pits full of hungry dogs. This sort of form makes him an easy man to root against.

The idea of immortality (decapitation is the only way to finish off an immortal) has always fascinated me and it's well thrashed out here. The concept of 'The Quickening' is original and clever.

With a killer soundtrack by Queen and a wonderfully dreary snapshot of New York in the 1980's - Highlander is rewarding viewing.

I encourage you to watch the whole franchise of movies (plus the TV spin-off) but after all - 'there can be only one'.

Dark, ominous and intriguing - Highlander is a worthy addition to your video collection.

9/10

Nutbuckle

The Fifth Element

The Fifth Element, 1997

On a completely different scale to this reviewer's past work featuring Bruce Willis, the Fifth Element is a resounding success.

Luc Besson's vivd glimpse of a future comes fully equipped with George Jetson like flying cars, whizz-bang healing tubes and a memorable voyage into the world of blue alien opera.

Corban Dallas (Willis) is a ultra-washed up military man spending his days in the taxi industry when destiny comes a callin' in the very pleasant shape of all thats powerful and good in the world Milla Jovovich. And wouldn't you know it, Corban and the smoldering Serbian hit it off in a race against the clock battle to save humanity against complete Evil, epitomised by the superbly goulish Zorg (Gary Oldman).

The highlight to this movie, however, comes in the form of Rush Hour's own comic star Chris Tucker who plays the outrageous philandering radio presenter Ruby Rhod who makes Prince look shy and intraverted. Please check this movie out if only for this reason. Please.

While the Fifth Element was never destined for critical acclaim, it sits handsomely alongside other favourites in many DVD collections. This is an innovatively shot movie with a killer score that sees Willis win over many fans as the chain smoking hard ass.

Did I mention Jovovich looks fit dressed only in bandages? and just a tip - I'm not referring to tutankhamun like attire

Hilarious fun.

9/10

Midbus

Knowing

Knowing, 2009.

Nicolas Cage, oscar winner and the biggest action star of the 90s (see The Rock, Con Air & Face/Off) was on a big run of strike outs when this reviewer decided to part with his $15 of his hardest earned to see his latest offering. Bangkok Dangerous, The Wicker Man remake, Next & Ghost Rider were all akin to having tabasco sauce forcefully shoved into one's eyeballs. Quite simply, big Nic needed this film to do well at the box office and for it to be entertaining for his legions of loyal, if not growing somewhat impatient, follwers.

Well, this film goes someway to redemption. The film was a huge box office success taking over $180M worldwide.

The film centres on a series of apocalyptic events, as predicted by a troubled young school girl in the 1950s. A university professor, Cage, takes it upon himself to decipher to girl's predictions in order to prevent any future disasters. Edge of your seat special effects and a surprisingly strong sense of tension throughout keep this film moving along nicely.

It is hard to take Cage seriously these days though in many ways, whether it be the hair plugs or the fact that it is laughable to think of him as a professor.

Early in the film, heavy focus is placed on his relationship with his son and troubles he confronts in moving on from his wife allow him to explore his other side (he did win an Oscar. No really, he did) which hasn't been seen much at all since 2002's Adaptation.

This is an entertaining film which this reviewer believes most will enjoy, although it was hard not to think back to Cameron Poe or Stanley Goodspeed.

6/10

Willo

Alien Quadrilogy

Alien (1979) - Alien Resurrection (1997).

This series of four films, featuring the greatest heroine of the Sci Fi genre, needs no introduction. Despite more recent spin offs that have seen a bastardization of two franchises, Predator Vs Alien, the original series stands alone as one of the most successful in combining horror, action and science fiction.

Largely due to the brilliance of directors Ridley Scott, combat film specialist James Cameron, David Fincher and to a lesser extent Jean-Pierre Jeunet, all four of these movies approach the battle between humans and a remorseless killing machine known as the Alien.

The Alien species is largely based on a hive concept with a Queen Alien introduced in the second installment but it was without doubt the infamous chest burster that had audiences aghast in 1979 and unlike in space, everyone heard them scream. The basic xenophobia ingrained in all of us on some level is enhanced when the foreign can gestate inside our bodies next to the heart, the symbolic emotional core in all of us. This series was also groundbreaking in its portrayal of gender in science fiction with many suprised that the female character Ripley would be the one to survive time and time again. Even more were suprised by the conflicting imagery of a nurturing mother juxtaposed with the shooting of advanced weaponry and protecting her young. The idea of an evil company (read corporation) was also relatively new in the late 1970s and early 1980s and has been replicated many times since to the point where viewers in the 21st century are used to profit driven executives making their subordinates expendable.

Many fans of the series regularly debate over which installment rates the highest. Alien and Aliens were certainly difficult acts to follow. Production was heavily influenced by studio executives during the shooting of Alien 3, to the point where Fincher would no doubt have drawn parallels between Fox and the dreaded Weyland-Yutani Corporation. This reviewer tends to rate the first two installments equally, followed by 3 and then Resurrection. Each to their own of course.

There is little doubt that this series has fans of all persuasions. Fans of action movies, horror, science fiction and even the feminist movement can find something in these four excellent films. Worth the box set.

Snap says 9.5/10