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 Hulksmash wrote:
This was worth the ticket price. Really fun. Not deep but fun.

Better than Prey?

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 Hulksmash wrote:
This was worth the ticket price. Really fun. Not deep but fun.

Better than Prey?

How it compares to Prey /1 and 2 is the only real question. 1 and 2 are great classics. Prey might be the best Predator movie to the 3rd best depending on your outlook but it's definitely up there with the others. Predators is fine to Good and The Predator.... well.. we don't talk about that one.

 Lance845 wrote:

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 Hulksmash wrote:
This was worth the ticket price. Really fun. Not deep but fun.

Better than Prey?

How it compares to Prey /1 and 2 is the only real question. 1 and 2 are great classics. Prey might be the best Predator movie to the 3rd best depending on your outlook but it's definitely up there with the others. Predators is fine to Good and The Predator.... well.. we don't talk about that one.

You missed Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.

I quite enjoyed it. A little bit cheesy, but some good action and alien gribblies. The ending hook got a good chuckle out of me.

I really enjoyed that. Best Predator movie, IMO.

I didn't expect to get a little moist-eyed in a couple of places, nor laugh as often but it manages that amidst some cool fights.

I liked


I was puzzled that Wayland-Yutani

Enjoyed it.

I'd say the best predator since the first two, what a cross over with Alien should've been, and a good sci-fi action film in it's own right. BUT...

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 Hulksmash wrote:
This was worth the ticket price. Really fun. Not deep but fun.

Better than Prey?

Not better. But different. And very fun. Overall if forced to rank them I'd go this order;

1) Prey
2) Predator
3) Predator: Badlands
4) Predators (Honorable Mention)

Honestly it's because all of them are just different. I can't get behind the AvP stuff because Darkhorse/novelizations were so much better that I just can't. But those four above are all expanding/creating lore, giving us interesting and different takes, and are genuinely well done movies.

Yeah, I think different is the best way to describe Badlands.

But not at all in a bad way. Different in the same way that Aliens is different to Alien. One is a sci-fi action movie and the other is a sci-fi horror movie.

I really enjoyed Badlands. It fits nicely into the series but is a different type of movie, but still a good one. I grinned all the way through it, and it moves at quite a pace, never felt bored and the run time flew by.

I can definitely see why some people won't like it, it is a different type of Predator movie but personally I loved it.

Seeing it tonight. In 4DX.

I had fun overall and liked a lot of elements but I can certainly see why it would also rub some the wrong way. The first part where it is mainly just Predators and Dek learning about the Catachan home world was the strongest, I think. When Thea initially shows up she is annoying, but not in a well thought out way, but in a "oh they are trying for comedy relief and failing" way. Thankfully she is more tolerable later. The third act is a lot of fun but I think if they had had the guts to have the security forces be human instead of all synths it could have been one hell of a violent, bloody, good time and far more memorable. Still, it was quite violent for a PG-13.

We know humans have been aware of Yuat'ja for some time I'm just wondering how they got enough exposure to learn their language that fluently. The beginning with a quote from the Yuat'ja codex made me think of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.

Pretty much agree with the comments above. Particularly that I think some folk won’t like it.

But for me? It’s a cracking film, but also not at all what I was expecting, though keep in mind I’d purposefully avoided spoilers and trailers.

Speaking of which!

I think the most eye rolling part is the “universal translator”. I speak and you hear stuff in your language while others hear it in theirs. But then she later just speaks Yautja. So it’s just a weird thing so the entire movie isn’t just 95% subtitles, but also we don’t make the Predator speak English.

What I've heard is that its basically a typical Disney plot line just wearing the aesthetic of the Predator IP. So that's why you have the evil family figure, the misunderstood protagonist with insecurities, the quippy sidekick and the merchandisable "cute" Disney companion. Think along the lines of "Pretty Little Predator Princesses".

I think the main problem is using the Predator IP for this than just using an original or arguably more suitable existing IP. It would be like doing a romantic comedy formula with the SAW franchise. Moreover, the thing I'm most disappointed by is how the OG practical effects from the first predator still look far better than the CGI and design of the predator in this movie.

I had the same thought. But…



Defo want to see it again, but maybe not in 4DX. Being thrown around is fun, but makes the action super blurry!


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 Grimskul wrote:
What I've heard is that its basically a typical Disney plot line just wearing the aesthetic of the Predator IP. So that's why you have the evil family figure, the misunderstood protagonist with insecurities, the quippy sidekick and the merchandisable "cute" Disney companion. Think along the lines of "Pretty Little Predator Princesses".

I think the main problem is using the Predator IP for this than just using an original or arguably more suitable existing IP. It would be like doing a romantic comedy formula with the SAW franchise. Moreover, the thing I'm most disappointed by is how the OG practical effects from the first predator still look far better than the CGI and design of the predator in this movie.

I say give it a watch. Honestly.

This is to Predator as Andor and Skellington Crew is to Star Wars, and Alien Earth is to Alien and Aliens.

I’m not saying you’ll love it, or even like it. But I’d be surprised if you hated it.

No, she literally explains it as a Universal Translator and specifically says when she speaks he hears Yautja and everyone else hears their language. She later speaks Yautja specifically as well for your stated reasons. It’s just a movie ploy so she’s not speaking in sub titles the whole movie without humanizing the Predator too much by having him speak English for the audience.

Grimskul wrote:What I've heard is that its basically a typical Disney plot line just wearing the aesthetic of the Predator IP. So that's why you have the evil family figure, the misunderstood protagonist with insecurities, the quippy sidekick and the merchandisable "cute" Disney companion. Think along the lines of "Pretty Little Predator Princesses".

I think the main problem is using the Predator IP for this than just using an original or arguably more suitable existing IP. It would be like doing a romantic comedy formula with the SAW franchise. Moreover, the thing I'm most disappointed by is how the OG practical effects from the first predator still look far better than the CGI and design of the predator in this movie.

I described it to someone as a more violent Lilo and Stitch as it comes down to “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten”. While I understand your second point I think given the context of the film and dealing with this specific Yuat'ja in this specific scenario it works out. If they tried to use a "normal" Predator instead of a runt* that is an inexperienced, ostracized target for execution it would be hard to swallow.

*By Yuat'ja standards, obliviously.

AduroT wrote:It’s just a movie ploy

Would a mass marketed film trying to be sold to a large audience do that? Just employ a movie ploy like that?

 AduroT wrote:
No, she literally explains it as a Universal Translator and specifically says when she speaks he hears Yautja and everyone else hears their language. She later speaks Yautja specifically as well for your stated reasons. It’s just a movie ploy so she’s not speaking in sub titles the whole movie without humanizing the Predator too much by having him speak English for the audience.

While it's a ploy it's a decently explained one when you consider she's the "science" model and her sister is the "hunter" model while otherwise it's just a bunch of Synth goons.

My only real issue with the film was:



But honestly if that's the worst thing I can think of for the movie then it's a pretty good movie as far as making sure not to take you out of it while watching it.

In previous Alien movies Mother has referred to the ship’s computer, so I assumed it was the AI program in charge of the operation.

Seems to be really well at the box office.

$105m budget. Opening Weekend expected to gross $25m-$30m. It did $40m, so massive over performed. Globally it’s done $82m

And for me, that’s well deserved. This is a really fun film to watch.

Hopefully it trounces Now You See Me Now You Don’t Next Week, because that film looks effing dire, and there were three related ads last night.

 Grimskul wrote:
What I've heard is that its basically a typical Disney plot line just wearing the aesthetic of the Predator IP. So that's why you have the evil family figure, the misunderstood protagonist with insecurities, the quippy sidekick and the merchandisable "cute" Disney companion. Think along the lines of "Pretty Little Predator Princesses".

I think the main problem is using the Predator IP for this than just using an original or arguably more suitable existing IP. It would be like doing a romantic comedy formula with the SAW franchise. Moreover, the thing I'm most disappointed by is how the OG practical effects from the first predator still look far better than the CGI and design of the predator in this movie.

Even worse from this perspective, it’s a Found Family film about a vulnerable young man kicked out into the harsh world by his fundamentalist father where he forms a very-not-romantic bond with a broken woman and an impressionable orphan who teach him to appreciate flowers and design his own outfit.

Just realised something.

No heat vision in Badlands?

I don’t think Dek has earned his hunting rig yet … so no thermal? I always assumed that was part of ther helmet.

EDIT: Just watched OG Predator and the pred has…worse vision…without helmet…so I don’t know…


The combat Sythentic folks are oddly underpowered IMO. Perhaps not having a full sensor suite is part of W-T’s shortsighted cost cutting?

Or just inverse rule of ninja…

We never see thru their eyes, and he loses his helmet pretty early on.

I think Badlands was okay. I'd rank it on Nr. 5 in my list of predator movies, right after AvP1.

The story was nothing you haven't seen a hundred times, the movie suffers from trying hard to get a 13 rating or whatever you call it in english.
I liked the yautja language, but it was probably pretty close to white guy trying to imitate japanese


So, in the end a fun movie, but nowhere near of Prey or Alien Romulus which I liked very much.

I really enjoyed that, just enough humour to balance the action. The somewhat cliche storyline is actually a very smart move, as it’s an easy shortcut to make the predator an engaging character.


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Also, I could read too much into, but In the original Alien vs Predator story, the lead predator is broken tusk. I don’t know whether that’s just an Easter egg, or leaving themselves open to future possibilities…

In terms of rankings? I honestly find it difficult.

Predator set a high bar. Cool setting, charismatic cast, and a sudden, effective inversion of its genre where the Super Hard Team USA are suddenly and grossly outclassed by a foe

But from there? I think Prey is more interesting as a follow up. It takes the formula and remixes it just a little. It respects the tropes, but explores them in a new and effective way. And when the rug pulls come? They’re again respectful, this time to the audience. For instance, everything Naru uses to take down the Yautja she learns over the course of the movie, and in acceptable “not just because she has to” ways.

That puts it somewhat above Predator 2 and Predators. Both of those are fun movies which at least try to being something new to the lore. Mixed results, but overall both incredibly watchable movies.

The two AvP have deeper flaws. In the first a lot of things happen just to drive the plot to the next scene. The second, which I otherwise consider the superior film? It’s just too damned dark. There’s a lot of potentially very cool action going on, it’s just a shame they decided to film it, but not let us see it.

The Predator is a nonsensical mess of uninteresting utter drivel from beginning to end. No redeeming features. Nothing to recommend. It’s just a bloated, unfunny pointless mess. So…the James Corden.

Then we have Predator Badlands. I really enjoyed it. I respect the film maker Not Just Making Another Predator. It went in a new direction, seamlessly dovetailed in The Company, and thankfully turned out pretty well.

I think I’d have to put it 3rd. Possibly 2nd.


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Also, a special shout out to Killer of Killers. Being animated and due to my own peculiarities I can’t quite consider it proper entry. But once you move past the very stylised animation? It’s an interesting set of stories well told.


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Also also also?

I do appreciate that we now have more Good Predator Movies than Bad Predator Movies.

I have a number of problems with the AvP films, quite a few of which stem from “you had perfectly good source material in the graphic novels and novelisations, why didn’t you just film that?!”

1) why set it on “present day” Earth? Particularly if you’re involving Weyland? Right from the start, it stretches your suspension of belief. Also trying to make it into some apocalyptic threat, rather than just a survival story just detracts from caring about the characters.

2) tired “ancient aliens” tropes. Ok, it gives them a cool clockwork maze, but the idea that the Predators use Earth for this complex initiation thing is just…silly. The Predators hunt humans because we’re interesting, resourceful, prey.

Actually, thinking about it, 1&2 are linked in that they waste so much time with all the complex setup, you don’t get much left for the “human protagonist and Predator hunter have to learn to work together to survive” element of the story, which is the thing that made the original stories interesting in the first place! (That’s what Badlands gets right I think, simple story, focus on the relationships of the protagonists)

3) AvP was the first film to have the ridiculously shortened gestation for the Xenomorphs and I hate it (one of the things that stopped Romulus from being truly excellent in my mind). Also combined with cliche “hide the zombie bite” film stupidity.

4) Requiem leans too hard into “correcting” the lower age rating of AvP (which wasn’t really the problem with the first film, but had some very vocal fans complaining about), so some of the gore is just gratuitously over the top (looking at you, maternity ward scene). I have no problem with gore in general, but here It’s just cringey and unnecessary.

5) The producers seem to get bored with their own story about 2/3rds of the way through and decide to just do a knock-off Aliens re-run, complete with APC and self-destructing nuclear power plant. (Hint to anyone producing media; if you’re not producing something good in its own right, don’t reference a much better thing and remind me what I could be watching instead of this!)

It’s a shame because neither film is terrible, but they feel like such wasted opportunities. The Winston Wolf clean-up Predator from Requiem in particular was a neat idea.

Looks like this movie is on track to be a $60+ million loss. Hollywood business math is brutal and crazy!

Predator: Badlands is sliding fast at the box office, and at this point, it’s looking like Disney could take a $60+ million loss on the film, if not more.

After 13 days as of Wednesday, the movie has earned:

Domestic: $69,223,314
International: $70,193,224
Worldwide: $139,416,538
And the numbers aren’t improving. Weekend #2 cratered at just $13 million, a brutal 67.5% drop, signaling that the movie has already burned through its core audience.

With a $105 million budget and the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier needed to break even, Badlands must hit $262.5 million worldwide just to stop losing money.

It won’t even come close.

Which is daft. It over performed against expectations on its opening weekend.

I know box office hasn’t been right since Covid, particularly for Disney. I do wonder how much of that is people with Disney+ just being patient.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Which is daft. It over performed against expectations on its opening weekend.

I know box office hasn’t been right since Covid, particularly for Disney. I do wonder how much of that is people with Disney+ just being patient.

Why pay for a movie in the theater when I can wait a month or two and watch it at home on my free disney+ (it comes with Spectrum now).