Hypestyle
08-03-2004, 10:20 PM
20th Century Fox is hedging its bets that Generation X and Y will buoy business for their latest monster mash, AVP. Hearkening back to the days of Frankenstein meets the Wolfman (or, Godzilla vs. Mothra), this marks the second cinematic offering to feature two post-modern movie antagonists in a duel (the first was Freddy vs. Jason). Despite the cinematic origins of both monsters, the impetus for the movie may have more to do with comic book culture.
The Predator franchise fizzled with only the second entry in the series, 1990’s Predator 2. Taking over from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Carl Weathers, Danny Glover, Bill Paxton and Gary Busey are the tough guys stymied by the creature here. The movie didn’t catch on in theaters, though it ended up becoming a hit on cable. The climax of that film laid the seed for the eventual pairing- Glover’s character stumbles across a trophy room in the Predator’s spaceship- it is filled with the skulls of the various ‘game’ it has defeated, including a human skull and the submarine-shaped skull of an Alien creature.
The Alien franchise hit its peak with its first sequel, James Cameron’s Aliens in 1986, and since then coasted by with two under-performing follow-ups: 1992’s Alien3 was directed by David Fincher, who would go on to helm Seven. Fincher’s film was stylishly dark, but had a depressingly nihilistic streak as it somehow managed to kill all the principal characters, including Sigourney Weaver’s pioneering heroine Ripley. 1997’s Alien: Resurrection brought back Ripley—as a clone—but the muddled narrative didn’t hold, and the ‘hybrid’ Alien looked rather silly.
Over the years, the toothy terrors quickly became cult favorites among science fiction aficionados, and became lucrative sources of licensing revenue for Fox, thanks to a steady stream of action figures, prose novels, T-shirts, video games, and more. It was Dark Horse comics that secured the comic book license for both franchises, and circa 1989 began publishing a series of books based on each concept. It wasn’t long before both were combined in the first Aliens vs. Predator comic series, circa 1990. A script for a movie surfaced as early as 1992, but it quickly ended up in development limbo. In the comic book world, the monsters have faced off against each other for years now, occasionally diverting to harass such do-gooders as Batman and Superman.
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Hype's Hype box: The alien vs. predator movie is going to be rated PG-13?!?!?!?! It is outrageous to me. Apparently, the dorks at Fox want to appeal to young kids without running into problems from parents, so that’s probably the main reason. But old-school fans want a rated R film. We don’t want a watered-down commercialized version. If they want to bring more kids to the franchise, then that’s what the video games and toys are for. I will go see the film, but my hopes are that the lack of bloodletting won’t ruin the experience. In order to get their current rating, I presume a lot of bloodshed was cut back. Also, the adult language was probably cut down. In all likelihood, there will be no exposure. However, I am curious as to how the Alien birth scenes will happen. By now it is legendary, but will it be bypassed altogether? Since the movie is PG-13, that may be the route they chose to go.
... on another level-- It's way past time for Marvel to get in on this fight-- I wanna see Predator vs. Punisher, Wolverine, Daredevil, Cap, Thor and Spider-Man, and Aliens vs. X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four...
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The Predator franchise fizzled with only the second entry in the series, 1990’s Predator 2. Taking over from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Carl Weathers, Danny Glover, Bill Paxton and Gary Busey are the tough guys stymied by the creature here. The movie didn’t catch on in theaters, though it ended up becoming a hit on cable. The climax of that film laid the seed for the eventual pairing- Glover’s character stumbles across a trophy room in the Predator’s spaceship- it is filled with the skulls of the various ‘game’ it has defeated, including a human skull and the submarine-shaped skull of an Alien creature.
The Alien franchise hit its peak with its first sequel, James Cameron’s Aliens in 1986, and since then coasted by with two under-performing follow-ups: 1992’s Alien3 was directed by David Fincher, who would go on to helm Seven. Fincher’s film was stylishly dark, but had a depressingly nihilistic streak as it somehow managed to kill all the principal characters, including Sigourney Weaver’s pioneering heroine Ripley. 1997’s Alien: Resurrection brought back Ripley—as a clone—but the muddled narrative didn’t hold, and the ‘hybrid’ Alien looked rather silly.
Over the years, the toothy terrors quickly became cult favorites among science fiction aficionados, and became lucrative sources of licensing revenue for Fox, thanks to a steady stream of action figures, prose novels, T-shirts, video games, and more. It was Dark Horse comics that secured the comic book license for both franchises, and circa 1989 began publishing a series of books based on each concept. It wasn’t long before both were combined in the first Aliens vs. Predator comic series, circa 1990. A script for a movie surfaced as early as 1992, but it quickly ended up in development limbo. In the comic book world, the monsters have faced off against each other for years now, occasionally diverting to harass such do-gooders as Batman and Superman.
************************************************** ****
Hype's Hype box: The alien vs. predator movie is going to be rated PG-13?!?!?!?! It is outrageous to me. Apparently, the dorks at Fox want to appeal to young kids without running into problems from parents, so that’s probably the main reason. But old-school fans want a rated R film. We don’t want a watered-down commercialized version. If they want to bring more kids to the franchise, then that’s what the video games and toys are for. I will go see the film, but my hopes are that the lack of bloodletting won’t ruin the experience. In order to get their current rating, I presume a lot of bloodshed was cut back. Also, the adult language was probably cut down. In all likelihood, there will be no exposure. However, I am curious as to how the Alien birth scenes will happen. By now it is legendary, but will it be bypassed altogether? Since the movie is PG-13, that may be the route they chose to go.
... on another level-- It's way past time for Marvel to get in on this fight-- I wanna see Predator vs. Punisher, Wolverine, Daredevil, Cap, Thor and Spider-Man, and Aliens vs. X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four...
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