Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14769 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-10-13
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Although it was only made in 1987, Predator is already the kind of film that has action fans sighing, "They don't make 'em like that any more". Few later films can equal its testosterone-fuelled scenario, its graphic violence or its genuinely unnerving sense of danger. An alien big-game hunter comes to Earth to hunt the meanest, most dangerous creatures on the planet. Naturally, Arnold Schwarzenegger and his astonishingly muscle-bound team of marines are prime targets. The premise has a compelling Zen-like simplicity and the correspondingly minimalist script consists, for the most part, of the statuesque soldiers snarling one-liners at each other ("I ain't got time to bleed", "If it bleeds we can kill it") in between firing unfeasibly large weapons.

Director John McTiernan emphasises the claustrophobic confines of the jungle setting, allowing tension to build for the film's first two thirds by keeping the titular hunter concealed from both its prey and the audience. Composer Alan Silvestri's nerve-jangling percussive score racks up the tension yet further. When the creature does show its handiwork the results are horrifically gory, and, thanks to the film's insistently realistic tone, all the more terrifying. By the final act, a memorably mud-caked Arnie must discard all his high-tech weaponry and fight hand-to-hand against creature effects wizard Stan Winston's classic monster; McTiernan's action choreography ensures that the outcome of this hard-fought duel is never a foregone conclusion.

On the DVD: Predator at last gets the DVD release it deserves. Its previous incarnations used the bowdlerised TV edit; but this two-disc set restores the full theatrical cut, with skinned corpses aplenty and Carl Weathers' lopped-off arm among other messy delights. Not only that, but the sound options are now ultra-vivid Dolby 5.1 or DTS 5.1, though the anamorphic picture is still grainy in some of the darker scenes. John McTiernan provides a decent director's commentary, but much more fascinating information can be had from a text commentary option.

On the generously filled second disc there are seven short behind-the-scenes featurettes (including one dedicated to "Old Painless" the Gatling gun) plus a retrospective documentary, "If It Bleeds We Can Kill It", which includes both old and new interviews with many of the cast and crew. There are also outtakes and a deleted scene, special effects segments, camouflage tests and a text profile of the creature and its weaponry, plus a photo gallery. --Mark Walker

Synopsis
In the remote jungle of a Central American country, an elite group of commandos led by Major Dutch Schaeffer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), embarks on a CIA mission to clear out a guerrilla stronghold and rescue the remaining hostages. However, the hunters become the hunted when a highly intelligent, otherwordly being slowly and methodically starts killing off members of Dutch's team. Possessing a chameleonlike camouflaging ability and a deadly alien arsenal, the creature tracks down the soldiers one by one. Director John McTiernan's film is a thrilling high-action flick, filled with great one-liners (courtesy of Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura, and the rest of the cast) and excellent special effects.

Customer Reviews

Be careful here, people...
Just a quick note to warn purchasers of this new 2-disc set that due to a foul-up by Fox it seems that many copies contain the wrong Disc One. I don't know how widespread this problem is, but in my local shop every single copy was incorrect - and, yeah, I made 'em check! :)
Due to a pressing or packaging error Disc One was the old single-disc edition of Predator - i.e. no DTS, no audio commentary, and a heavily-censored version of the film! Disc Two was correct.

Disc One SHOULD have a large picture of Arnie's face and say "Disc One" on it - the incorrect disc has a fuzzy picture of Arnie with a gun and DOES NOT say Disc One.

Seeing as the previous UK DVD release of Predator was a foul-up on Fox's part in the first place - apparently they mistakenly used a heavily-censored master intended for the German market - you would have thought they'd have taken a little more care this time around...

It's a good film, as I'm sure you already know, and it's good to see that it's finally been given a decent release in the UK - providing you've got the right disc in the pack!

Awesome Film But Poor Quality DVD
I am a long time fan of Arnie films especially this one and the Terminator Films but unlike the excellent Terminator DVD's this one is very poor.I saw the original film at the cinema and the DVD version ruins it.The film is heavily cut and edited poorly (the censors have had a field day at it). The picture quality is very poor especially in the darkened scenes (it looks like the quality of a VHS tape not DVD).And the only plus point is the audio which is excellent. In a nutshell I would think twice about buying,I'm a great fan and this is one of my all time favorite films but when the DVD's are this poor you have to ask yourself is it worth the money.Get the video version instead more in it, better edited and better quality.

PREDATOR DISC ERROR WIDESPREAD
Further to last review posted by 'nealvincent', I can confirm you need to be extra vigilant with the incorrect disc mistake with the 2-Disc Special Edition of this Predator DVD. I went to Blockbuster & all the discs they had were wrong. Other shops also same problem. The worrying this that people obviously just do not know - thanks to 'nealvincent' for bringing it to our attention...cheers mate!

Still waiting to get this DVD with correct discs - cannot comment on the ones from Amazon, I don't know whether they know the problem.

What a great movie eh - 80s classic as I am sure you'll agree!