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in: Stories set in the 1990s, Articles that need to be expanded, Predator 2, Predator film series

Predator 2

Revision as of 09:12, 17 September 2014 by Leigh Burne (talk | contribs) (→‎Cut Scenes)
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"He's in town with a few days to kill."
―Predator 2 tagline

Predator 2 is a 1990 science fiction action film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, María Conchita Alonso, Bill Paxton, Robert Davi and Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator. Written by Jim and John Thomas, the film is a sequel to Predator and concerns a new alien hunter, this time on a killing spree in Los Angeles. The Predator's slaughter of the city's warring gangs brings it into conflict with a hardened police officer and his colleagues, and also attracts the attention of a covert government taskforce attempting to capture the creature.

The cast is entirely new apart from Kevin Peter Hall, who returns to play the new Predator, Elpidia Carrillo, who makes a cameo appearance as Anna from Predator, and stuntman Henry Kingi, who briefly appeared as an unnamed guerrilla the first movie and plays the role of El Scorpio in the sequel. The film received negative reviews and gained a moderate return at the box office. However, like its predecessor, it gained a strong cult following after its initial release. It was followed by a further sequel, titled Predators (2010).

Plot

In 1997, Los Angeles is suffering from both a sweltering heat-wave and a vicious street war between police and Colombian and Jamaican drug gangs. Engaged in a protracted shootout with the Colombians are police detectives Leona Cantrell and Danny Archuleta as they await the aid of their boss, veteran Lieutenant Mike Harrigan. After an intense firefight, Harrigan's aggressive tactics force the criminals to withdraw into a nearby building. A series of explosions rock the structure, followed by mysterious gunfire. Harrigan proceeds inside against orders, only to find the Colombians have been mysteriously slaughtered. He follows their leader, El Scorpio, who is the only survivor, to the roof of the structure and shoots him. After the Colombian falls from the roof, Harrigan catches sight of what appears to be the hazy silhouette of a large transparent man, but dismisses it as an effect of the heat.

At the police station, Harrigan is introduced to Special Agent Peter Keyes, leader of a federal task force purportedly investigating the cartels, and warned to stay out of his way, news he does not take to kindly. Harrigan is also introduced to a young, cocky officer who has been assigned to his team, Jerry "The Lone Ranger" Lambert.

Later, Jamaican gang members attack the Colombian drug lord Ramon Vega at his apartment, ritualistically murdering him. The Predator strikes again, slaughtering the Jamaicans and leaving only Vega's unarmed girlfriend alive. Arriving at the scene first, Harrigan and his team enter against orders, observing one of the Predator's weapons stuck in an air-conditioner before Keyes and his team arrive. Enraged at his defiance, Keyes threatens Harrigan, saying he will "disappear" if he interferes again. Harrigan orders Lambert to follow Keyes, while he and Archuleta discuss plans to return to the crime scene later for further investigation into the murders. Archuleta arrives before Harrigan and attempts to retrieve the weapon they spotted earlier, which has gone unnoticed by Keyes' team. Unfortunately, the Predator has also returned to the scene and, revealing itself to Archuleta, attacks and kills him.

Harrigan is devastated, vowing to his superiors and Keyes to destroy the perpetrator responsible for his friend's death. After Cantrell and Lambert trail Keyes to a slaughterhouse, they visit the city's chief pathologist to investigate the weapon Archuleta had found. She discusses its origins, noting the weapon's material does not correspond with any element on the periodic table, and that it has almost no weight despite cutting like steel. Harrigan decides to set up a meeting with the Jamaican drug lord King Willie, hoping he will know who is behind the attacks. Willie believes that whoever, or whatever, is involved in the killings of his men is not of this world. More confused than ever, Harrigan leaves — before the Predator immediately attacks and beheads King Willie.

Leona suspects that the killer is toying with Harrigan. Further clues from the pathologist links the killer to a slaughterhouse, such as the one to which Lambert tailed Keyes; Harrigan tells Cantrell and Lambert to meet him there. En route, Cantrell and Lambert witness a group of armed thugs threatening an innocent passenger on the subway. They pull their guns, initiating a tense standoff that is broken when the Predator suddenly bursts in through the roof of the train and attacks. During the confusion, Cantrell herds the passengers towards the front of the train while Lambert challenges the Predator alone. After stopping the train and getting the passengers to the surface, Cantrell doubles back to find Lambert has been killed. She also encounters the Predator, which overpowers her.

Harrigan arrives at the scene to discover Cantrell is still alive, having been spared because she was pregnant. Following a blood trail down the subway tunnel, he witnesses the Predator mutilating Lambert's body — removing his skull and spinal column in their entirety as a trophy. Harrigan pursues the creature to the surface and then across town in his squad car, only to be captured by Keyes' special team.

Keyes finally reveals to Harrigan the nature of the killer, and that he and his team have been following encounters with the "other world life forms" ever since Alan "Dutch" Schaefer and his team were attacked in the jungles of Val Verde ten years earlier. Keyes and his men are determined to capture this creature for study, realizing its value as a potential means for immense technological advance. Armed with cryogenic weaponry intended to immobilize the creature, they have set a trap for it in a vacant slaughterhouse which the Predator has been raiding for food. The team wear thermally insulated suits to mask their heat signatures and render them invisible the the Predator's heat-based vision. However, the Predator switches its Bio-Mask's scanner through a number of different ranges of electromagnetic wavelengths, finally settling on the ultraviolet spectrum, allowing it to see the black lights being used by the team. The Predator attacks, massacring Keyes' team. Harrigan, who foresaw trouble, is able to escape custody and arms himself before heading inside to confront the Predator himself.

During the ferocious battle, Keyes reappears, still alive but scarred from the previous confrontation, and briefly succeeds in subduing the Predator, before the creature rallies itself and kills him. Harrigan flees to the rooftop where the battle continues, before moving through an apartment building and finally into the tunnels under the city, where Harrigan discovers the Predator's ship. The two engage in a final duel on board, ending with Harrigan killing the Predator by slicing it open with it's own weapon. An exhausted Harrigan suddenly finds himself surrounded by several more Predators. Instead of attacking, the creatures carry away their dead clan-mate, while an Elder Predator gives Harrigan an antique flintlock pistol as a sign of respect. Harrigan escapes the ship just as it blasts off into space. The remaining members of Keyes' team confront him, blaming his interference for their failure to capture a Predator. As Keyes men flee ahead of police backup, Harrigan, holding the flintlock in his hand, comments that they will get another chance.

Cast


Production

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred as Dutch in the 1987 film, was originally intended to reprise his role in the sequel. However, Schwarzenegger declined the part, stating that he did not approve of the sequel's concept, feeling that taking the Predator into the city was a bad idea. The Dutch character was subsequently rewritten as Peter Keyes (Gary Busey). Returning to the role of Anna in the sequel, Elpidia Carrillo was originally intended to be in two scenes, but the part was cut back to a brief cameo appearance on a video screen in the government agents' surveillance trailer. Her character is seen amidst footage of the damage to the Central American jungle caused by the explosion at the conclusion of the first film. Actor Henry Kingi, who had an uncredited role as a guerrilla killed by Dutch in Predator, also appeared in Predator 2, albeit as a different character.

Due to excessive violence, Predator 2 was originally given an NC-17 rating in the U.S. The film was cut numerous times before being granted the desired R rating. More graphic and gory shots of mutilated bodies and decapitations by the Predator were cut throughout the film, including from the death of Bill Paxton. Other cuts were made for time purposes, including a subplot revolving around Maria Conchita Alonso's pregnancy and the chase sequence where Danny Glover tracks the Predator to the slaughterhouse district, which was originally significantly longer. The uncut version of the film has yet to be released.

Music

See: Predator 2 (soundtrack)

Reception

The film received negative reviews, with Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert suggesting it represents an "angry and ugly" dream.[2] Since its initial release, the film has, like its predecessor, gained a cult following.[3] The worldwide box office revenue totaled $57,169,413 in ticket sales. Although this surpassed the cost of the film's budget, it was considered an overall disappointment in comparison to its predecessor's performance.

The film currently holds a 23% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 4.6/10.

Novelization

Main article: Predator 2 (novel)

The novelization provided a small amount of information regarding the fate of "Dutch" from the first film. Keyes recalls memories of speaking with the battered Major while in firmed in a hospital, suffering from radiation sickness. "Dutch" is said to have escaped from the hospital, never to be seen again. Furthermore, the novel also tells a great deal of the story from the Predator's point of view, such as its humiliation of having its mask removed by Harrigan, and reasoning for not killing Cantrell due to its discovery of her pregnancy.

Cut Scenes

See: Predator 2 deleted scenes

Re-release

In 2010 the film was re-released in the NuArt Theatre in Los Angeles on 23 April 2010, at an event hosted by Bloody Disgusting.[4] Despite hopes to the contrary, the new release did not contain any additional footage or scenes reinstated.

Trivia

  • Predator 2 has the largest credited cast of any of the films in the Alien, Predator and Alien vs. Predator franchises, with 55 members.
  • Moreover, Predator 2 is the only film in the franchises where the "monster" gets top billing, above even the actors playing the lead human roles.
  • The film introduced several new facts about the Predators that have since become key aspects of the character, including their strict honor code (hinted at in the first movie when the Jungle Hunter spared Anna because she was unarmed) and many of their most iconic weapons.
P2-the alien skull-1-

The Xenomorph skull in the trophy room.

  • Predator 2 also heralded the first cinematic crossover between the Alien and Predator franchises when a Xenomorph Warrior's skull appeared in the trophy cabinet aboard the Mother Ship near the end of the film. The skull was included as something of a joke by effects artist Stan Winston, who worked on both Aliens and Predator 2, and also as a nod to the original Aliens vs. Predator comic, which had been published the previous year.[5]
  • The scene where Keyes' team is decimated by the City Hunter in the slaughterhouse is an almost exact copy of the Hive ambush scene from Aliens. In both cases, the person overseeing the operation (Garber in Predator 2, Lieutenant Gorman in Aliens) watches events on video screens in their command center away from the action and rapidly loses the ability to control the situation once things go wrong. Both sequences also end with somebody outside of the present command structure (Harrigan in Predator 2, Ripley in Aliens) taking it upon themselves to try and help the personnel under attack. Furthermore, the way the sequences are shot is also very similar, with the actual combat edited so as to be intentionally confusing and unclear.

Goofs

See: Goofs

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Predator 2 (1990) - Box office / business
  2. ↑ "Roger Ebert, Film Review for Predator 2". suntimes.com (November 21, 1990). Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
  3. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes, Film Reviews for Predator 2". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
  4. ↑ BD Hosts 'Predator 2' Screening Friday, April 23 at the NuArt in Los Angeles!
  5. ↑ Stephen Hopkins, Kevin Peter Hall, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stan Winston, Joel Silver, John Davis, Jim Thomas, John Thomas. The Hunters and the Hunted: The Making of 'Predator 2' (2003), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
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