Predator
(1987/Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C- Film: C+
Despite
aging a bit in some of its graphics, John McTiernan’s first Predator (1987) is the only film of
four so far that give the alien character any edge. After this one, it is B-movie and wrestling
territory, as the franchise never saw a serious peak since. Raw
Deal did not work out for Arnold Schwarzenegger as much as it was hoped
for, but this film put him back on the map and he was back on his way to the
top of the box office. We have covered
this film in one of its better DVD releases, as this link will show:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1944/Predator:+Widescreen+Collector
There is
not much to add, except that I was never a big fan of this film twisting some
conventions of bad Vietnam films when you think about it, let alone its
sequels. It was going to take impressive
playback to enjoy this and despite this being a 25GB Blu-ray and fortunately,
this is the best the film has looked since its theatrical release and the sound
has been upgraded nicely.
The 1080p
MPEG-2 @ 19BPS 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is easily better than the
previous DVD versions, including the one we covered, but the original camera
materials need a little more work.
Nevertheless, Director of Photography Donald McAlpine, A.S.C., did a
memorable enough job here and this has suspense the revisits highly lack. The DTS HD Master Audio (MA) Lossless 5.1 mix
includes the D-BOX bass enhancement function if you have the equipment, but
this already had a decent soundtrack when it was issued in 70mm 4.1 blow-up
prints back in the day. Alan Silvestri
turns in one of his more serious scores.
Unfortunately, a trailer in High Definition is the only extras related
to the film, so bigger fans will want to hold onto their DVDs like the one
already covered.
- Nicholas Sheffo
