Customer Reviews
Prealienator - By: Eddie, 24 Nov 2008 
When this film was released, there must have been many who were rubbing their hands in anticipation of the Mother of alll Battles, Alien vs Predator, with the two most fearsome contemporary extra-terrestrials going head to head. But when you think about it, could it ever have worked? Its been done before: King Kong vs Godzilla, Godzilla vs the Thing, Wolf Man meets Frankenstein, & so on. The format of video game to film has been done before, not least Mortal Kombat which was adapted for the big screen by Paul WS Anderson, the man behind the film reviewed here, also apparently derived from a video game. Enough said.
The two originals on which this film is based were hugely successful. Alien had a brain & although Predator was reallly only testosterone driven action it was still good & exciting entertainment. Alien vs Predator has neither of these qualities, in fact it has very few qualities at alll. The acting is dreadful & the characters are two dimensional although many of these are dispatched during the first half of the film. Theres a bit of a backstory about ancient civilizations which brings us up to speed but apart from that there is no story at alll. What's more, the big battle never comes & between picking of the cast the two rivals simply break into occasional squabbles which falll far short of exciting. Only the ending left me with a sense of dread as the door is left wide open for a further spin-off - Prealienator - heaven help us. At the time of writing though, I'm not aware that this has yet happened but the Aliens have met Predator in a 2007 sequel which I haven't seen. And don't intend to.
Most of the film is shot in near darkness which makes seeing anything rather difficult. Now there's nothing wrong with dark sets, but you can't have total darkness: it has to be lit correctly but here it seems to exist simply to disguise cheap special effects & to keep the budget down.
There's nothing new here, we've seen it alll before: face huggers, chest bursters, complicated dental arrangements, invisibility & alien weapons. We saw it alll in the original(s), although here Predator does seem to have a few more ninja-like skills & different weapons, not that this helps.
Stupid & pointless.
.
Top no brainer - By: Bob Salter, 21 Nov 2008 
I watched this the other night & expected to hate it. For someone who considers himself to be a serious film buff I am thoroughly ashamed of myself. I actuallly found myself enjoying it. Well anyone who is looking for more cerebral fare was on a no hoper from the start. But this film doesn't pretend to be something its not. We get Alien & predator two of the scariest screen creations ever battling it out together. Oh & they throw in a few human beings for a bit of fodder. The leading lady is like Bouadicea on steroids. What a woman. I am in love. Even the one surviving predator was well impressed & that must take some doing. The touching scene at the end where she is scarred on the face with the remains of her alien vanquished brings a tear of pride to the eye. So what do we get in this film. We get a few predators & a lot of Aliens. One particularly big Alien who is extra nasty & you throw alll these in with the humans & let gladatorial combat commence. The title sort of promises this & it delivers on alll fronts. Well what more do you reallly want. No, a work of art it aint, but for straight forward entertainment without having to engage brain it delivers nicely. I reallly liked it. Whoops, did I reallly say that?
No match on originals but still an entertaining thriller - By: Stampy, 18 Nov 2008 
A group of explorers set out on a journey to find a pyramid that is hidden miles below the earth's surface, only to find a raging battle is happening between Aliens & Predators.
When you see alll the sequels made from the original Alien & original Predator, a prospect of a meeting in the same film sounded like a fantasy. But low & behold it was achieved in 2004 & was an exciting prospect considering the originals broke minds in 1979 & 1987. However with the extra sequels made & the products available, they have become a franchise & when watching this Sci-Fi thriller, you will believe this was used to build on the already established brand, & was a product to test ride the ever improving CGI effects.
Die hard fans of the originals will not take too kindly to the cheesy reflection on how the creatures came to be alive & the ongoing battle they have been fighting for hundreds of years. This reallly puts a negative vibe on the two greatest creations in Sci-Fi history. Here they feel quite ordinary, not to mention a ridiculous turn from one towards the end, he was almost human it was that silly.
The reason Alien & Predator worked in their first appearances was because they were a mystery. Their presence was frightening as they hung around in the darkness without the humans knowing where they were, creating a horrific & very tense innuendo. Here we see the Predator about 10 minutes in, face on coming to earth & so the tone of the film is set & we know pretty much what will happen.
However despite the essence of inevitability, there is a tense & excitement to proceedings. The humans vs the Aliens & Predators are always exciting & the finely directed action sequences will have you on the edge of your seat.
The plot is pretty predictable throughout but has a great ending. Not to mention the fact you see a finely balanced fight between the two monsters, with an interesting climax. The excitement is excellent as you can never predict which out of the two the superior is. Another sequel Requiem was released in 2007 but with this interesting & open ending, it is best to leave it where it is.
The humans are almost forgettable come the end. It is alll about the creatures from other planets with their own lives & rules to live by.
Despite the fact this was made for profit & to show off the tools on the computer screen, it is an entertaining film with some impressive action sequences.
7/10
a decent film...DO NOT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY - By: S. J. Pinder, 16 Jul 2008 
as a fan of the stunning four alien films(particularly the first two)and the first predator film i decided to give this film a go...i didnt have high expectations when i watched it so therefore i didnt take some of the scenes seriously.
after it finished i was a little dissappointed yet thought it was decent & reasonably fun to watch...it was by no means scary,but some of the effects were particularly good.
it suffered at the box office in 2004,which is very understandable.
my advice is to buy it at this great price & give it a chance...it isn't completely awful but at the same time it doesn't stand out as being a great horror film...nevertheless it is a lot better than some of the tripe we have had in he previous few years...and it is better than its sequel.
in my eyes this is a completely different franchise & should not be compared to the(mesmerising) alien franchise nor the original predator film as they are & always will be far superior,interestingly i got a lot more enjoyment out of this film than i did with the sequel to predator which was...well...plain awful.
the Queen is given a CGI makeover which gives her the ability to be more agile & flexable when chasing after victims,but by doing this it makes her far less scary than in the astoinding ALIENS when she first made her debut...however there are some decent performances(occaisonly steroetyped)and Sanaa Lathen made a decent(not astounding...and never will be Ripley)performance as the lead heroine,but it is of course the fight scenes that of course gives this film the edge it needs...and that is the only thing that keeps it stable...while not gory the scenes are entertaining & far better staged in this film than in the awful sequel...this film i by far more superior.
alll in alll it is a decent film that while not as stunning as the alien films manages to stand its own ground & remains very independant & better than some horror films of today but fails to become an astounding sequel or the super gory action spectacular that us hardcore Alien fans alll hoped for...but it is okay & the(i wish they hadnt bothered)sequel makes this film better.
a 5.5/10 from me.
Was this film a joke? - By: R. A. Barnes, 24 Apr 2008 
The director of this movie should be shot due to his film leading to the death of the Alien & Predator franchises.
Although this film does have its very rare moments, it is very disappointing. It could have been done so much better.
The script was poor which enabled to film to have hardly any action in it at alll & when there is some fights, the aliens & preds seem static. Some of the CGI (Computer Graphic Images) are fairly poor especiallly with the Alien Queen.
The back of the dvd sleeve just rounds the film up: the only good review is from the director's CGI company.
