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Category:    Home > Reviews > Action > Science Fiction > Horror > War > Vietnam > Predator (1987/Blu-ray)

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


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