Blu-ray Review: Alien vs. Predator 2 - Requiem

A misfire on all almost all counts, Alien vs. Predator 2 is an oppressively dark creature feature. Its incomprehensible script leaves more questions than answers, and the action is either pitch black or cut too fast to see what’s going on. The cardboard cutout characters are plucked from one of a few hundred direct-to-cable monster movies, and respect to previous film canon is roughly nill. Some nifty gore can’t save this mess.

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The low lighting doesn’t allow for the purity of this transfer to show through often. Video is sharp and detailed, and noticeably so when you can catch glimpses of anything in the light. Black levels are either set too deep or the source material is impossible to transfer. There’s no way to tell. Colors are strong and not oversaturated.

Bass is the highlight of this stunning audio mix. The depth, clarity, and power of the LFE channel is astonishing at times. The surround channels are consistently active. Action scenes are loaded with activity. Lighter scenes feature loads of immersive activity, such as the typical array of forest sounds and the sewer is amazing with dripping water and echoes.

Two commentaries are included here, one from the enthusiastic co-directors Greg and Colin Strause. The second is from the special effects team and they go in-depth about the need for suits and CG. Five featurettes go in depth into the making of the film, with loads of footage behind the scenes and shots from other movies in both franchises for comparison, not time padding. They run close to an hour total all together.

An “added footage marker” points out the small differences in the unrated cut when new scenes pop up. The Weyland/Yutani Archives is a pop-up feature that actually goes quite in depth into the history of the films and the creatures. There are a lot of options to play with, making this an above average pop-up extra.

While the ending of AvP2 leads into the Alien films, there was originally going to be a scene that takes place on the Alien home world. After showing the Predator planet, the directors felt this was overkill and the scene was dropped.

Article Author: Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki is a 12-year movie and game critic. He currently freelances for Blu-ray review site DoBlu.com and video game site MultiPlayerGames.com.

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