Alien vs. Predator (film)
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| Alien vs. Predator | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Paul W.S. Anderson |
| Produced by | Gordon Carroll John Davis David Giler Walter Hill |
| Written by | Story: Paul W. S. Anderson Dan O'Bannon Ronald Shusett Screenplay: Paul W.S. Anderson |
| Starring | Sanaa Lathan Lance Henriksen Raoul Bova Ewen Bremner Colin Salmon |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | August 13, 2004 |
| Running time | Theatrical Cut: 101 min. Director's Cut: 115 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $70,000,000 |
| Preceded by | Alien: Resurrection Predator 2 |
| Followed by | Alien vs. Predator: Survival of the Fittest |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Alien vs. Predator (also known as AvP) is a motion picture released in 2004 by 20th Century Fox and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It is based both on several series of Alien vs. Predator comic books published by Dark Horse Comics and on the Alien and Predator films which spawned the original characters. The release of the film marks the two species' first shared appearance in a motion picture.
Tagline:
- Whoever wins...we lose.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The events of Alien vs. Predator are set in 2004 on Earth. As a Predator ship nears the planet, Earth satellites detect a mysterious heat bloom beneath the ice of the island Bouvetøya near Antarctica. Billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland assembles a team of scientists to investigate the heat source and claim it for his multinational communications company the Weyland Corporation (foreshadowing the Weyland-Yutani Corporation of the Alien series). The team includes paleontologists, archaeologists, linguistic experts, drillers, mercenaries, and a "rough and tumble" female guide named Alexa Woods.
As the Predator ship reaches Earth orbit, it blasts a hole down through the ice towards the source of the heat bloom. When the human team arrives at the site, an abandoned whaling station, they find this hole and descend beneath the ice. There they discover a mysterious pyramid and begin to explore it, finding proof of a civilization predating written history and what appears to be a "sacrificial chamber" filled with dismembered human skeletons. Meanwhile, three Predators land and kill off the humans at the surface, making their way down to the pyramid and arriving just as the team unwittingly "powers on" the structure. An Alien queen awakens from cryogenic stasis and begins producing eggs, from which facehuggers hatch and attach themselves to several of the humans. Chestbursters soon result and quickly grow into adult Aliens. Conflicts erupt between the Predators, Aliens, and humans, resulting in several deaths. Unbeknownst to the others, one of the Predators is implanted with an Alien embryo by a facehugger.
Through translation of the pyramid’s hieroglyphs, the explorers learn that the Predators have been visiting Earth for centuries. It was they who taught early human civilizations to build pyramids, and they were worshipped as gods. At regular intervals they would visit Earth to take part in a rite of passage in which several humans would sacrifice themselves as hosts for the Aliens, creating the "ultimate prey" for the Predators to hunt. If overwhelmed, the Predators would activate their self-destruct weapons to eliminate the Aliens along with themselves. They deduce that this is why the current Predators are here, and that they must be allowed to succeed in their hunt so that the Aliens do not spread to the rest of Earth.
As the battle continues most of the characters are killed off (including Weyland), leaving only Alexa Woods and a single Predator to face off against the remaining Aliens. The two ally with each other and use the Predator’s self-destruct device to detonate the pyramid, killing the remaining Aliens and escaping to the surface. The Alien queen escapes as well, and the three do battle in the whaling station. Alexa and the Predator defeat the queen by attaching its chain to a heavy water tower and pushing it over a cliff and into the ocean, dragging the queen down to the ocean floor. The Predator, however, dies from its wounds. A Predator ship suddenly decloaks and several elder Predators appear. They collect their fallen comrade and recognize Alexa as a worthy warrior. As they retreat into space, a chestburster bursts forth from the dead Predator. It appears to be an Alien/Predator hybrid, as it has the characteristic jaw mandibles of both species.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Sanaa Lathan | Alexa "Lex" Woods |
| Raoul Bova | Sebastian De Rosa |
| Lance Henriksen | Charles Bishop Weyland |
| Ewen Bremner | Graeme Miller |
| Colin Salmon | Max Stafford |
| Tommy Flanagan | Mark Verheiden |
| Joseph Rye | Joe Connors |
| Agathe De La Boulaye | Adele Rousseau |
| Carsten Norgaard | Rustin Quinn |
| Sam Troughton | Thomas Parkes |
| Petr Jákl | Stone |
| Pavel Bezdek | Bass |
| Kieran Bew | Klaus |
| Carsten Voigt | Mikkel |
| Jan Filipensky | Boris |
| Adrian Bouchet | Sven |
According to the novelization, the three Predators are named Scar (the main Predator), Celtic (the leader who attacks Quinn) and Chopper (who has the shortest screentime). Scar is also noted in the credits, and Celtic is acknowledged in one of the DVD commentaries. Chopper has also been called Gill. The three are easily distinguishable owing to their different masks - Celtic has a very elaborate design over his mouth, Chopper has several horizontal 'ribs' beneath his eyepieces and Scar's is almost entirely smooth. In addition, the Alien which fights Celtic is listed in the credits as "Grid", owing to the gridlike pattern Celtic scars onto it. Also the Predator Leader of the Spaceship, the one who gives Alexa the hunt victory spear, is called Elder, since he's the main leader of all the pack.
[edit] Production
[edit] Origins
Screenwriter Peter Briggs created the original spec screenplay in 1990-1991, which itself was essentially a rewrite of the first comic series of the same name.[1] In 1991 he successfully pitched the concept to 20th Century Fox, who owned both film franchises, although the company did not move forward with the project until 2003 after several re-writes of the original concept and screenplay and several changes to the cast and crew.
The writing credits submitted by the studio to the WGA recommended that Peter Briggs and Paul W.S. Anderson be credited for the story, while Anderson and Shane Salerno get the screenplay credit.[citation needed] Instead, the WGA denied any sort of credit to Briggs or Salerno, and instead gave co-story credit to original Alien writers Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett on the rationale that some story elements were based on a deleted scene from that film.[citation needed] Shocked at this decision, the studio offered Salerno an executive producer's credit, but he turned it down.[citation needed]
Before AvP was greenlighted, James Cameron, the maker of Aliens, started work on a story for Alien 5, but when he heard of AvP, he thought that the crossover would "kill the validity of the franchise" and stopped work on his script. He changed his opinion about AvP after seeing it, however, going on record with Ain't it Cool News that he actually thought AvP was "pretty good".[2]
[edit] Location
Production began in late 2003 on the Barrandov Studios backlot in Prague, where the vast majority of the filming took place, although the film was set on the Norwegian Antarctic island of Bouvet. The setting of the film, Bouvet Island, is referred to as "Bouvetøya Island". "Bouvetøya" is the Norwegian name and is a combination of the words Bouvet and øya ("the island"). The film claims that Bouvet Island is not controlled by any nation, as is the case with Antarctica. The island, however, has belonged to Norway since 1927. Additionally, an animation in the movie shows Bouvet as being located off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, when in fact it is over 1,600 km from the nearest land. At this distance, Bouvet Island can be considered the most remote island (and indeed the most remote place) on Earth.
[edit] Effects
A number of changes were made to both the appearance and equipment of the Predators in AvP. Director Paul Anderson and the film's costume designers chose to give the Predators heavier armor in AvP than had been seen in the prior Predator films, partly because they felt it made the Predators seem less vulnerable to the Aliens and partly because it gave them a larger, sturdier overall appearance. Some fans, however, were upset with the costuming, as many felt that it made the Predators appear overly bulky, unstable and awkward. In addition, the Predator's vision system has been modified; it now includes a viewing mode used for tracking the Aliens. Modifications have been made to almost all of the previous weapons: the wrist blades are longer and larger, and can be fired; the net gun has been built into the wrist gauntlet, and its nets automatically contract; a folding shuriken-style weapon has replaced the disc; a more ornate version of the spear appears at the end of the film, perhaps only given to Predator elders; the plasmacasters are larger and more powerful, for use against Aliens; and one Predator is given a pair of giant, retractable fore-arm claws, though he never gets a chance to use them.
[edit] Reception
Critics were not allowed to view the film in advance.[3] Once critics were able to review the film they were not very positive about it. [4]
Despite mostly poor reviews, the film earned more than $38 million over its US opening weekend and spent its first week of release at the top of box office charts. However, the success did not last long and subsequent weeks saw the film's revenue take a severe decline. Even so, it ranks as one of the most successful films to date in either franchise. Adjusting revenue for inflation, AVP's final gross still outpaces all of the films released after Predator. It should be noted, however, that this only includes Predator 2, Alien³ and Alien: Resurrection.[citation needed]
In 2006, James Cameron (director of Aliens) said that of the five Alien films, he would rate it third.[2]
The film earned $171.2 million worldwide, with a sequel, Alien vs. Predator: Survival of the Fittest, scheduled for December 10, 2007.[5] Visual effects artists, the Brothers Strause, known for directing commercial and music videos, are confirmed to be directing the project.[6]
[edit] Influence
- Simon Pegg remarked in an interview, when asked about a sequel to Shaun Of The Dead, that "you can retroactively damage a product by adding to it". He cited AvP as an example, with the tagline "Whoever won, we left". [7]
[edit] Spoofs
[edit] Magazines
- In the summer of 2004, MAD Magazine reran its Alien and Predator spoofs together in the same issue of MAD XL. The two spoofs, both written around the time the two original movies came out, were called "Alias" and "Predecessor", respectively.
- In the Fundalini section of an issue of MAD, there was a spoof movie poster for "Ewok vs. Predator", for which the tagline was: "Whoever wins... Lucas gets richer.".
- In the front section of an issue of MAD, there was a picture of a comic page that had "Spy vs. Spy vs. Alien vs. Predator
- An ad for The Simpsons/Futurama crossover in both respective comic series parodied the poster shown above with Bender in place of the predator and a drooling Homer in place of the alien with the tag line "Whoever wins, we laugh."
[edit] TV
- In an episode of MADtv, A movie titled "Alien vs. The Princess Diaries vs. Snuggle The Fabric Softener Bear" was advertised with the tagline "Whoever wins, we lose 8 dollars, or 10 if you live in a major city".
- In one of the many cutaways of the episode of Family Guy entitled "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter", a clip of a (fictional) movie called Kramer vs. Predator was shown. It consisted of Dustin Hoffman's Kramer from Kramer vs. Kramer telling the Predator it could not have custody. The Predator responded by shooting Kramer in the face with its plasma caster.
- The show Robot Chicken has made cracks at this movie more than once. The first time the movie was referenced was a subtle, short gag involving an Alien and a Predator playing chess in the park. The second was a much longer segment which featured an "Alien" going on a date with a "Predator" on the show Blind Date which ended up with the Predator activating the wrist-bomb and blowing the Alien up after the Alien accidentally punched a hole in the Predator's mouth with her secondary mouth while kissing.
[edit] Internet
- Alien Loves Predator is a humorous online comic where a Xenomorph (Abe) and a Predator (Preston) are best friends and housemates in current-day New York City.
[edit] Production Notes
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This section is currently a list, and needs cleanup. A good lead should be written for this, and/or the entire section converted to prose. Once this task is complete, please remove this message. (talk, help, how to edit) |
- AVP had both the shortest filming & post-production schedules of any "major studio" film in 2004, filming was given 2 1/2 months while post-production was given just 4 months to complete.
- This film bases some of its ideas off the theory that aliens helped Egyptians build the pyramids.
- Paul W.S. Anderson stepped down from directing Resident Evil: Apocalypse to write and direct this film, though he still wrote and produced other.
- This film was rumored to be in development ever since a skull from the title characters in the Alien film series appeared in the spaceship trophy room in Predator 2.
- Except for scenes with stand-ins, Ian Whyte played all of the Predators.
- When one of the explorers is searching the whaling compound and walks past a door to a building, there is a shot from within the building in which the red light from the guy's flare comes through the crack in the door to form a flat vertical beam that's picked up by the dust/snow from inside the room, just like the blue salvage scanner from the beginning of Aliens.
- The role of Max Stafford was written specifically for Colin Salmon.
- Screenwriter Shane Salerno was the last writer and served as "closer" on this movie. He worked on the film for 15 months, including from pre-production up through filming in Prague and all the way through post production. However, he did not receive the co-screenplay by credit that 20th Century Fox recommended him for to the WGA. Shane has a co-screenplay credit on the novelization of the film, dozens of magazine articles, and many of the original theatre posters.
- At one stage Peter Weller was attached to do a cameo as John Yutani, the other half of the infamous Weyland-Yutani Company from the Alien films. .[citation needed]
- This is the first Alien film, and also the first Predator film, to get a rating other than R.
- The character of Verheiden was named after comic book writer Mark Verheiden, creator of the first Aliens vs Predator comic series and first story ever involving both species. Contrary to popular belief, this comic was released prior to the appearance of the infamous alien "skull" in Predator 2 (1990).
- The drawings that Paul W.S. Anderson used for his original presentation to 20th Century Fox were done by Patrick Tatopoulos.
- After the opening credits are shown, SFX designers Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis have brief cameos as technicians who discover the heat bloom coming from the pyramid.
- The altars where victims were placed in the Chamber of Sacrifices of the pyramid is arranged exactly the same as the hibernation pods in the original Alien.
- During filming over 1 ton of KY jelly was used for the Alien saliva.
[edit] See also
- Alien vs. Predator titles in-general, including films, comics, novels, and games
- Aliens versus Predator computer game series
[edit] References
- ^ Cinescape Presents v3 #9, "Movie Aliens"|
- ^ a b Quint interviews James Cameron. AintItCool. Retrieved on 2006-12-18.
- ^ Critic viewing. FilmForce.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
- ^ Critic reviews. yahoo.com. Retrieved on 2007-1-2.
- ^ Sequel scheduled. SuperHeroHype. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
- ^ Sequel directors. ComingSoon. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
- ^ Simon Pegg "damaging a product". Cinecon. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
[edit] External links
- Official movie website
- Alien vs. Predator at the Internet Movie Database
- Alien vs. Predator at Rotten Tomatoes
- AvPGalaxy - Latest news on the movies, games and novels.
- AVPVM: Browser based MMORPG set in the AVP universe
Categories: Wikipedia articles needing factual verification | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with sections that needed to be turned into prose | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | 2004 films | Alien and Predator series | Alien (film series) films | Crossover fiction | Films based on comics | Teen films | Predator series | Bouvet Island | Films shot in Super 35 | Alien visitation films | English-language films
