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Predators are more than happy to ambush and kill someone who wasn't prepared for them. They seem to treat the 'can the prey fight back' standard in purely hypothetical terms. Attacks from cover that someone isn't expecting seem to be completely fair game. They do it repeatedly. The idea they look for a standup fight is some nonsense I don't know where it comes from.

Well. It’s more “does the prey have the means fight back”, surely?

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
I'm cautiously impressed

but wary, ever wary of what a 'new' predator show or movie will actually be like

I cannot wait to see the newest Ultimate GIGA Predator.

Sometimes things just need to die off and be left as they were. Predator and Aliens are prime examples of this.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Well. It’s more “does the prey have the means fight back”, surely?

Yeah. That's what I mean by 'hypothetical terms.' If they got into a scrape, could the prey resist? If yes = good hunt. Whether or not the fight is fair, on anything close to even terms, or honorable in some knightly sense is irrelevant to them. They'll stab you in the back just fine so long as the hypothetical can be answered in the affirmative.

Agree with all that. Their code of honor is very loose.

 LordofHats wrote:

The idea that sports hunters with plasma cannons and cloaking devices are actually out to have a 'fair' fight is pretty laughable. Almost as laughable as millionaires who go to Africa, gun down a lion some local guide led them to by the nose, and now want to mount on their wall like it was some great feat of skill. In the words of someone way cooler than me, any drunk hillbilly could do that with a shotgun at the zoo. Predator's honor is more of a character tic that helps keep things interesting, not some hard and fast rule of morality.

I always figured the critique of big game hunting was part of the point of the original. 'How would it feel if you were the prey?'
It didn't seem all that subtle.

Voss wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:

The idea that sports hunters with plasma cannons and cloaking devices are actually out to have a 'fair' fight is pretty laughable. Almost as laughable as millionaires who go to Africa, gun down a lion some local guide led them to by the nose, and now want to mount on their wall like it was some great feat of skill. In the words of someone way cooler than me, any drunk hillbilly could do that with a shotgun at the zoo. Predator's honor is more of a character tic that helps keep things interesting, not some hard and fast rule of morality.

I always figured the critique of big game hunting was part of the point of the original. 'How would it feel if you were the prey?'
It didn't seem all that subtle.

I've definitely seen that take.

My preferred take though has always been 'Commando from the POV of the cannon fodder.' Predator is like an action hero, but if you put the audience in the shoes of the hapless soldiers the action hero kills left and right, then the action hero is more of a monster than a hero.

Alternately: Predator is what you get when you make a Halo game but the players are a team of Grunts trying to survive Master Chief.

 Togusa wrote:

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
I'm cautiously impressed

but wary, ever wary of what a 'new' predator show or movie will actually be like

I cannot wait to see the newest Ultimate GIGA Predator.

Sometimes things just need to die off and be left as they were. Predator and Aliens are prime examples of this.

Have you watched the trailer? Because I’m not getting even a hint of your concerns from it?

Don’t get me wrong. What you said absolutely was the problem with The Predator (and this time, it’s as big as four cats, has a magnetic tail, a retractable leg so it can leap up at you better, is luminous in the dark has a pair of backup ears some of which are inside it’s head, claws the size of cups, a terrible fear of stamps, and instead of a mouth, it has four arses). But the trailer for Prey really isn’t showing a hint of that.

Honestly, if this were another franchise we'd all probably see that trailer and be really pumped. It's a pretty good trailer with all the hints of, if nothing else, a good popcorn flick with a seemingly capable cast possibly inspired by one of the better Dark Horse comics (there is a comic that has a similar plot to this and it was pretty good).

The only reason we're cautious is because The Predator happened and holy feth was The Predator awful.

Voss wrote:


I always figured the critique of big game hunting was part of the point of the original. 'How would it feel if you were the prey?'
It didn't seem all that subtle.

Hollywood usually chucks out a new spin on The Most Dangerous Game once in a while. Its even found in cartoon shows such as Thundercats and Galaxy Rangers.

My personal favourite is the 1932 RKO classic with Leslie Banks, which was a sister production with King Kong.

 LordofHats wrote:
Predators are more than happy to ambush and kill someone who wasn't prepared for them. They seem to treat the 'can the prey fight back' standard in purely hypothetical terms. Attacks from cover that someone isn't expecting seem to be completely fair game. They do it repeatedly. The idea they look for a standup fight is some nonsense I don't know where it comes from.

It does kinda depend on the scenario. If someone (that they deem worthy) makes a blatant 1v1 challenge as if it was a 6-7th edition 40k game they tend to drop the camouflage.
Moreover the kind of weapons they bring are kinda limited to the prey. Prey's predator actually doesn't seem to have a plasmacaster but instead has a spear gun, and IIRC the one in the second movie also didn't had a plasmacaster.

They also throw themselves into actively dangerous zones like warzones or gang infested cities, so while they are not necessarily looking for a standup fight, they are looking for a degree of real danger. After all they are not immune to guns and without their camouflage and stealth tactics they would quickly end dead.

But on the other hand honor codes are inherently dependent on both culture and the individual, so yeah it also is going to vary from Predator to Predator.

Pred 2 most definitely had a shoulder cannon.

Predator 2 (1990)

In Predator 2, the cannon is used by the City Hunter and is most likely used at the beginning of the film in the Columbian hideout. The first time we actually see it in use is in the meat locker when the Predator fires at Agent Keyes. A bit later, Harrigan shoots at the Predator, damaging the cannon in the process and forcing him to remove it.

Behind-The-Scenes: They re-designed the cannon with a bit of samurai influence to give the Predator a bit more personality. It was all radio controlled so it could track and follow and hit marks.

https://www.avpgalaxy.net/predator/weapons/shoulder-cannon/

He shoots at Harrington over and over again while Harrington is hiding behind some boxes before Harrington gets a lucky hit on it and disables it.

I think it's less about honour with the Predators but more about " a sporting chance". Yes I will hunt and kill you and take your bits and bobs for trophies, but if you are unarmed and cowering it's hardly good fun.

I think clearly the message in this particular film is about when you need to hunt an animal for survival and subsistence versus hunting for sport and enjoying the kill.

 AduroT wrote:
One of the AvP novels I read had a female Pred as one of the main protagonists out during a hunt to train some young’ns.

There was also the Dark Horse comics storyline of the human survivor Machiko Naguchi ‘becoming’ a Predator Huntress, which was pretty cool. I always think it was such a shame they didn’t run with that storyline from the original DH comics.

 Pacific wrote:

 AduroT wrote:
One of the AvP novels I read had a female Pred as one of the main protagonists out during a hunt to train some young’ns.

There was also the Dark Horse comics storyline of the human survivor Machiko Naguchi ‘becoming’ a Predator Huntress, which was pretty cool. I always think it was such a shame they didn’t run with that storyline from the original DH comics.

A lot of the AvP stories have the Preds end up adopting some human. The same one I mentioned there’s one human who helped out the Pred and at the end gets marked as a member of her clan.

The Dark Horse comic runs from the 90s were the highwater mark of the franchise.

 LordofHats wrote:
My preferred take though has always been 'Commando from the POV of the cannon fodder.' Predator is like an action hero, but if you put the audience in the shoes of the hapless soldiers the action hero kills left and right, then the action hero is more of a monster than a hero.

This is a good take, although there's also a certain element of the whole 'There's always a bigger fish' scenario going on. The team in the original are a comically overdone stereotype of alpha males with elite skills and all the guns, and the Predator wades through them without a care in the world until Arnie's character chooses to rely on his wits instead of his weapons.

That's also why Prey is viable as a concept. The protagonist doesn't need to be able to best the predator physically, and it would stretch credibility if she could. She just needs to be able to survive long enough to outwit it.

Going to be rated R for "Strong, Bloody Predator Violence" according to Bloody Disgusting.

Hoping there is some foul language too, so I can know how to tell someone to feth off in the Comanche dialect.

 insaniak wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
My preferred take though has always been 'Commando from the POV of the cannon fodder.' Predator is like an action hero, but if you put the audience in the shoes of the hapless soldiers the action hero kills left and right, then the action hero is more of a monster than a hero.

This is a good take, although there's also a certain element of the whole 'There's always a bigger fish' scenario going on. The team in the original are a comically overdone stereotype of alpha males with elite skills and all the guns, and the Predator wades through them without a care in the world until Arnie's character chooses to rely on his wits instead of his weapons.

That's also why Prey is viable as a concept. The protagonist doesn't need to be able to best the predator physically, and it would stretch credibility if she could. She just needs to be able to survive long enough to outwit it.

That was always my take on how to do Darth Vader and we finally got to see it a bit at the end of Rogue One as well as Fallen Order. He isn't something you can defeat he is something you have to try and survive.

I was all pumped for this, then I saw it had Europeans/colonists in it. Would much prefer to see how a pre-European contact Native tribe would handle a Predator hunt, with the Europeans around it means that gunpowder weapons are going to be available.

This movie is so extremely silly and woke. You have to ask yourself what kind of an idiot writes a story for this kind of trash.

Behold! Utter drivel from the future, as the film isn’t out until 5 August 2022…..

EDIT: I'm aware this post is old but it just came to my mind on a reread of the thread and I'm curious.

 stonehorse wrote:
I was all pumped for this, then I saw it had Europeans/colonists in it. Would much prefer to see how a pre-European contact Native tribe would handle a Predator hunt, with the Europeans around it means that gunpowder weapons are going to be available.

IDK. I kind of like the concept but it depends how it plays out. The idea that the Predator is hunting the Comanche is solid, but how do the Europeans get involved? Does the heroine pursue the Predator at some point? Do they come in because the Comanche want help? Are they taking advantage of the situation?

They're not Americans (as in US of A). I'm no expert so I could be wrong but the uniforms look like Scots Guards? That's a tad odd because the Comanche would be in the American Southwest, pretty far from where I'd ever expect them to cross paths with British troops. Not sure if that's going to be a piece of historical inaccuracy (to be fair, the vistas in the trailer are NOT commiserate with the Comanche's historical range and the movie seems to throw together a few different tribal styles under the name) or if it'll involve something like the heroine chasing the Predator at some point northward where it/she/they encounter those guys.

IDK.

Is there anyone knowledgable about uniforms who can identify these guys;



It certainly looks like an attempt to depict a specific uniform, but I could also be wrong. It's possible they're just settlers in furs, but the move is set in 1719. I'm not sure non-Spanish colonists had made it to Comanche territory by that point in time but these guys don't look Spanish. They look rather distinctly British/Scottish.

I’m genuinely wondering if the Colonists are something of a Red Herring. They may not factor in heavily at all, instead being something the Heroine uses against the Predator (run into their camp with Predator following, let their shooters do some work). Or indeed, the true killers of her village, and so she pacts up with the Predator for some good ol’ Rewenge.

It's possible they're not even part of the main plot. Just an intro/extro bit. Hard to tell. Despite being set in the Comanche Nation, the films seems to have a very American Northeast/West look to it, and the Comanche wouldn't be in those parts of America. That could just be 'who cares about historical accuracy' tho so *shrug*

And whilst not necessarily a Deal Maker? Confirmed to be R rated, so hopefully we’ll get some decent kills!

LordofHats wrote:Is there anyone knowledgable about uniforms who can identify these guys;



It certainly looks like an attempt to depict a specific uniform, but I could also be wrong. It's possible they're just settlers in furs, but the move is set in 1719. I'm not sure non-Spanish colonists had made it to Comanche territory by that point in time but these guys don't look Spanish. They look rather distinctly British/Scottish.

Seeing it in motion I think that pattern on his hat is actually a set of teeth that's been woven in, plus the guys behind him on the line are all dressed differently. The guy immediately before that, running towards the camera in silhouette has multiple small fur bundles dangling from his coat waist.

My first guess from just looking at them would be North American fur traders (AKA proto-Canadians, eh?) but they'd be way way out of region too if the natives here are Comanche. They could just as easily be frontiersmen, hunters, free trappers or the like, I'm sure there was some industry of that nature in the mid south too, right?

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:And whilst not necessarily a Deal Maker? Confirmed to be R rated, so hopefully we’ll get some decent kills!

Thats good news. They were initially saying it was shot for R, but they were considering a PG-13 rating. Fingers crossed.

This is pretty much looks loosely like a movie version of the novelization of the AvP comic if I'm not mistaken. I read the novel trilogy right as it came out in the 90s -- I think the first novel is even called "Prey".

They were excellent books (which shouldn't be surprising, since I heard the comics were outstanding but I haven't read them).

I'm guessing this will be more of a thing where it's just the predator, and maybe they'll make a tie in with Xenomorphs at the very end or something. Keep the plot a little more streamlined for movie form that way, while leaving room (and hype!) for a sequel if it's not total trash.

Are you sure?

A quick check on that novel you mention seems to indicate it's set in the future on some distant planet?

Hmmmmmmm.

Seems Prey was pitched during the filming of The Predator…..to the folks making The Predator….