In the 1980s, many of the famous films that film companies have benefited from in the 1990s were released. One of the famous movies of the action movie era is Predator, which is the second famous alien movie after Alien. For director John McTiernan, it was the first major film that made him famous. But he owes it to the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger was the main unbeatable character and that his companions in battle were comparable mountains of muscle and flesh. The likes of Carl Weathers (Rocky's adversary), Jesse Ventura and others who are the right partners for an action star of the first magnitude. But interestingly, one of the gang who help the main character is writer/director Shane Black, who made Iron Man 3 in 2013.
The Predator was created for the alien hunter of humans, enemies, aliens and other adversaries by the creators around Stan Winston, with famed director James Cameron helping out in parts, and so his terrifying character, incl. The Predator's distinctive jaws made it one of the most famous aliens, right after the Alien.
Among the interesting things about the film is that one of the first actors to try on the Predator costume, after the ape, was Jean Claude Van Damme, but he was unhappy with his acting space, so the final version of the hunter was played by an unknown former basketball player, Kevin Peter Hall, who, at 2.20m tall, was a fitting adversary for lead star Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sadly, Kevin Peter Hall had a sad fate, dying at only 36 when he was infected with the HIV virus during a life-saving car crash, and so his acting career ended in 1991, by which time he had managed to make Predator Part 2 and a few other famous films.
I'm glad this film is also available on Blu-ray. But it's a great shame that the transfer from the film strip hasn't been given more attention. At the time the film was made, digital technology was almost unknown. The film was shot on classic film, so the transfer should have retained all of the film's distinctive characteristics. I'm not saying defects that bother the film, such as dust, film damage, etc., but the film grain should remain. The use of excessive DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) unfortunately detracts from the better feel of the 27 year old film. While the colors are perfectly clear and the scenery is gorgeous, the film's underdeveloped transcription is distracting.
It's good that the sound has been improved as well. The original English DTS-HD sound is in a different (better) league compared to the Czech dub. For the Czech dubbing, the only existing version from 1994 is chosen, which does not deny its 20 years of history. I don't think it would hurt to do a new dub for the Blu-ray, because compared to the original and the picture, which is already in very good quality, the Czech sound is incomparable.
I sometimes don't understand distributors why the better editions that are released in the US don't get to us, probably because you don't get any added value to the Blu-ray that would make the price above 500 CZK richer. The Czech release only adds a DVD disc in very poor quality, which takes the picture history back to the VHS days.
The 3D picture is a great pity, it's only makes it more expensive to buy. The manufacturers didn't put that much work into it, so the 3D space is very underused. The feel of the film is therefore comparable to 2D. I personally think that old movies should not be converted to 3D. It is only about profit no more. The feeling of a movie that is filmed natively in 3D (The Hobbit, Avatar..) is completely different not only in theaters but also at home.
If you want to buy the current Blu-ray, I might wait for the non-3D version. It'll be the 30th anniversary in 6 years, when a celebratory version is sure to come out. Hopefully they'll fix any bugs to make the disc error-free.
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Original Article September 6, 2018 – Kritiky.cz
