Alien vs. Predator (2004) (Exclusive Series) (Hulu)
- Matt Palmer
- Sep 23, 2022
- 3 min read
Initial release date: August 13, 2004
Studios: 20th Century Fox/Davis Entertainment/Brandywine Productions/Impact Pictures
Tagline: Whoever wins ... We lose
It's our planet ... it's their war
Plot: When the wealthy and ambitious Charles Bishop Weyland funds an expedition to Antarctica, he hopes to find a mysterious source of heat that had been detected. Led by a tough guide, Alexa Woods, Weyland and his team uncover a pyramid, but they also find malevolent parasitic aliens. Making matters worse, another extraterrestrial species, known as Predators, arrives to hunt the other aliens, with the humans caught in the middle of the conflict.
Cast
Sanna Latham - Alexa Woods
Raoul Bova - Sebastian de Rosa
Lance Henricksen - Charles Bishop Weyland
Ewen Bremner - Graeme Miller
Colin Salmon - Maxwell Stafford
Tommy Flanagan - Mark Verheiden
Joseph Rye - Joe Connors
Agathe de La Boulage - Adele Rousseau
Carsten Norgaard - Rusten Quinn
Sam Troughton - Thomas Parks
Petr Jakl - Stone
Writer/director: Paul W.S. Anderson (Monster Hunter; Resident Evil: The Final Chapter)
Rated PG-13 for violence, language, horror images, slime and gore (101 min)
Well, I finally got around to checking out the first 'Alien vs. Predator' movie that was released in 2004. Both of the AvP movies did receive heavily mixed reactions from both fans and critics when they were first initial released. And, the 2004 movie is just OK at best.
'Alien vs. Predator' does deliver some decent action-packed moments that are really cool - especially when you see the Aliens battle the Predators. And, the whole little backstory of the alien species having been coming back to Earth after thousands of years is sort of intriguing.
One thing I think killed the movie was the PG-13 rating. Since all of the Alien/Predator movies were R rated, you would think this would have the same rating. Well, at least, this movie's sequel, 'Requiem' is rated R. So with the PG-13 rating, this movie did seem a little tamed compared to the others.
One more thing and this is a slight spoiler. When the lead character (Alexa) teams up with the Predator towards the movie's conclusion, it was both sort of cool and at the same time, kind of felt out of place.
'Alien vs. Predator' can currently be streamed on the Hulu streaming platform.
Here are a few interesting tidbits for 'Alien vs. Predator':
The Antarctic setting on Bouvet Island is based on the unexplained "Vela Incident" of September 22, 1979, where a satellite recorded a flash of light near the island. It was first speculated to have been a man-made nuclear explosion, or a natural event, such as a meteor strike, but this has never been resolved.
When Ridley Scott and James Cameron, directors of 'Alien' and 'Aliens' heard of this crossover, they both disliked the idea, dismissing it as "franchise milking."
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' (even though that was only meant as a nod to the popular AvP comic book series).
The Morse code picked up by the satellite at the beginning spells out the words, "Whoever wins, we lose". This, of course, is the tagline used to promote the movie.
Only movie in either the 'Alien' or 'Predator' series to be made for, and receive, a PG-13 rating from the MPAA. This choice led to much backlash from fans of the otherwise R-rated franchises. As a compromise, an unrated version was later released on DVD.
This was a project that had floated around for a decade. It was only when Anderson did his verbal pitch to the Fox execs that anyone showed any real interest. Fox green-lit the movie immediately.
'Alien vs. Predator' was released in North America on August 13, 2004 in 3.395 theaters. The movie grossed $38.2 million over its opening weekend, and was No. 1 at the box office; Grossed $80 million domestic and had a worldwide gross of $177 million, making it the second highest-grossing film in either franchise.
A sequel titled 'Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem' was released in December 2007.
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