burnt" aliens.The hunt commences, and action ensues!As for the spoilers - here they are. The predator/human relationship. How many people thought it was supposed to be some kind of stupid love story! IT WASN'T! In the book, this was explained a little better I think, and would be a lot easier for others to understand. It's a show of respect. He accepts her as a predator because she kills an alien. In the book - the predator she saves was originally one of the high ranking predators. He's ended up on his own, and the girl saves his life. In show of mutual clan respect, the Predator marks her, and they go on fighting "the good fight" so to speak.either way - loved the movie. If you hated it, give me your extra tickets and I'll go see it again!

four Alien films , the Weyland Corporation has discovered a pyramid buried under 2,000 feet of ice in Antarctica. They assemble a team of researchers and explorers to investigate, but when they arrive, they discover a tunnel already dug through the ice--a tunnel that wasn't there just 24 hours before. While exploring they uncover part of the history of the titular Aliens and Predators on the Earth, and may have just walked into the middle of a "war".Despite my best attempts to avoid comments from the peanut gallery prior to finally watching Alien vs. Predator, I had heard a number of negative remarks. I can't for the life of me understand the negative reviews of this film. Often, disparaging remarks arise from the ranks of pimply, purist fan boys living in their parents' basement, who usually resemble the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons. But in this case, I can't even imagine why the purists would not like this film. It's perfectly consistent with the mythologies presented so far in both series, and the mood, pacing, story, cast and so on are also consistent with the other films. I can only imagine that the naysayers had already created their own Alien vs. Predator films in their heads long ago, and when this one didn't match their Cartesian theatrical versions, they blew raspberries. How they'd have low enough IQs to expect other creative minds to match their personal constructions yet still be able to speak and write intelligibly remains a mystery.In Alien vs. Predator, writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson has managed to create a fascinating extension to the mythos of both creatures' worlds not to mention human history , while building a bridge between the two story lines, all in a wrapper combining the suspenseful action sequences that both series are known for and the traditionalist horror trappings that are often found in the Alien series. He presents a similar ragtag cast of characters as are found in every film in both series, and in the tradition of the Alien films, gives us a somewhat surprising woman as the smartest, strongest and most resourceful person at hand.I loved the sets and locations--the beginning of the film was a quickly paced travelogue of exotic locales. The main action takes place not only in Antarctica, but far under the ice is what is essentially a traditional Mummy film setting. It most closely hearkens back to Alien 3, but with a much more conventional Gothic horror atmosphere than Alien 3's industrial dinginess. The sets were beautifully built, shot and lit, with incredible production design down to the smallest details. There are also excellent little nods to films as diverse as the Indiana Jones series beginning with Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 , the Cube 1997 series, and the Stargate 1994 series. Some might be put off by such references, but they are traditional in the arts not just in film , they're fun for genre fans, and they further deepen and cement an overarching mythos for many different films, all with a degree of pretense that they are set in the real world. If the alternate history presented here were true, then of course there would be similarities to the lock used on AVP's weapons-bearing sarcophagus and Stargate's portals--they stem from the same source, or similar sources .I loved the creature designs here, and I thought the effects were among the best I've seen. The action sequences were exciting and suspenseful to me, the film was well paced throughout, and the cast was good to excellent especially Lance Henriksen and Sanaa Lathan . I also loved the ending, with its opening for AVP2. I agree that I would have preferred the film to be a bit longer I rarely think a film is too long and I wouldn't have minded more gore, but neither of those facts actually affect the quality of the film in my opinion, they're too much personal preferences in my view to justify subtracting points for them.If you've enjoyed any of the Alien and Predator films, forget the naysayers, Alien vs. Predator is comparable to the quality of the rest of the series. If you haven't liked most or many of the films in both series, ask yourself why you expected different with this one. If you haven't seen much of either franchise yet, get started!

is a real sign of respect for the fan . It is highly remarkable that the cast involved play intelligent adults, luckily there's no high school students; so many years have gone since the last sequel of Alien and Hollywood could perfectly spoil it again using people like Sarah Michelle Gellar or Matthew Lillard. The way the script uses the strong elements of both mythologies is very clever as it is the display of personality of the main Predator. After all, Predators are a extraterrestrials with more sophisticated technology than humans, they don't communicate with the earthlings until they prove to be worthy the communication.Almost all of the action movies use and abuse CGI nowadays but AVP uses these FX wisely mixing them with puppets, that results in a film not just a video-game. The results are bombastic in that aspect, and there's enough blood from the Aliens and Predators to satisfy the thirst from gore fans.And what about the confrontation of the ugly-faced stars? Unforgettable. AVP has some of the most powerful images created in any of these franchises mainly in the confrontation sequences.

and of course the CGI is finally watchable and say state of the art, not some lame blinking LEDs all over.

direction and it's a far better film than it has any right to be.Of course, that PG-13 rating will always be a nuisance when dealing with a crossover between 2 legendarily brutal and violent film franchises. You can tell the film is significantly holding back on its violence, and while AvP is still able to retain a surprising sense of dread and suspense despite this, I can't help but feel that there is a truly scary movie underneath all the heavy censorship. The action scenes, while impressive, do tend to get somewhat ridiculous and nonsensical at times. Not Kong: Skull Island nonsensical, nowhere near that level, but still somewhat silly.The beautiful Sanaa Lathan's performance as Lex Woods is absolutely incredible. In fact, I may actually prefer her performance and character to Ripley of the original series. She commands such a powerful screen presence and authority on her vocal delivery and her facial acting is beyond exceptional. Lathan is an incredibly convincing crier and scenes that require her to be emotionally tormented or horrified are some of the best performed in the entire franchise. Lathan's arc from cautious bystander, helpless to save her teammates from violent death, to strong warrior couldn't be written better and Lathan's switch in the 3rd act into a more angry, fearless character is performed with such passion and conviction. I fully believe that this is the kind of battle-tested fighter who could take on an Alien Queen with nothing but a spear and a chain by the end of the film. AvP is noticeably interested in the concept of how leaders watch from the sideline, while heroes out their lives on the line against even the most insurmountable odds of failure. Lex begins a leader and ends a hero, largely through witnessing the strength of her employer, Weyland.Speaking of, Lance Henrikson Recently discussed in my review of Pumpkinhead is almost as excellent as the aging industrialist Charles Weyland. He subverts much of the expectations one would have for this kind of character; a billionaire industrialist, and descendant of the notoriously ruthless Michael Weyland. Bishop is fearless, proactive, bold and motivating and Henrikson does a wonderful job capturing the aging Weyland's strength, humanity and "never say die" spirit. His noble sacrifice to help Lex and Sebastian escape was a genuinely saddening moment, but no other end would seem more appropriate for such a hero.A big reason why I love AvP so much is its themes of sacrifice and just how selfless and sacrificing these characters are. Lex, Weyland and Sebastian, all seemingly ordinary people, are fully ready to give their lives for one another on the expectation that the same would be done for them. There's a real camaraderie to them, a sense of heroism that's not only lacking in most casts of the Alien films, but in the casts of most team ensembles in general. Even the seemingly ruthless Predator Scar goes through a rather satisfying arc from lone wolf to loyal and sacrificing hero through his time spent witnessing Alex's heroism. Odd as it sounds, his borderline romantic interactions with Lex are genuinely satisfying. There's a weird chemistry there in a sort of "Beauty & the Beast" kind of way and both Sanna Lathan and Ian Whyte play it surprisingly well in their body acting. Also, kudos to AvP for being the first Predator film to actually give us a Predator with a personality in the oddly comedic Scar, small character moments like his prank on Lex or his cocky scoff at a ferocious chestburster are rather charming.The special effects work is still stunning to this day. Those who watch the film now may be surprised at just how much practical effects work was done on this project rather than CGI and it certainly pays off. The Predators and Aliens hardly ever look fake, yet the film never has to sacrifice much in the way of speed to make their fights look natural. It gets to the point where I almost have to look for shots of them that look bad.I'm no Paul W.S Anderson fan, but his visual direction here is absolutely incredible. The dusty, shadowy halls of the ancient temple maze work much in the same manner as an especially effective Haunted House; Gothic, claustrophobic and with the added danger of constantly shifting surroundings making escape almost impossible. The very limited use of music and nail biting sense of tension and pacing that Anderson stages his kills with are as chilling and creepy as those of any R-rated Alien film. Anderson's shots of the majestic, seemingly endless expanse of Antarctica have such a beauty, even an artistry, to them. They almost feel more out of a Discovery nature documentary than an Alien or Predator film.AvP: Alien vs. Predator is nowhere near the disaster it's made out to be, nor is it the brainless, soulless video game it's been unfairly maligned as. It's well acted, has strong characters and themes, gorgeous direction and excellent cinematography. For my money, it's the 3rd best Alien film. It's certainly 100 times better than either of the pretentious, nonsensical Alien prequels that Ridley Scott cranked out. I'm picking Paul W.S Anderson over Ridley Scott. Hell is having a snow day.

try to look within that huge chasm of votes.155 10's.............................27 1's Avg 5.9.........median 8.0I think being a "franchise" movie....is part of the "WHY"...in the vote split. I'd be interested to hear others thoughts as to why.I'm in my 50's with a broken back....and sitting beyond 30 minutes is painful. But I've found my back to be an excellent yardstick of how "entertaining or captivating" a movie is. I probably walk out of half the movies I start. I loved just about everything about this movie. The special effects, the actors, characters, story and the allegiance to previous movies in each series. I know the auteur set will raise their noses to this, but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie....in fact as much if not more than any other movie this year. I'm one of 63% that gave it a 10.Doc

watch it and enjoy it. It might be an excellent film, but it's just a good movie. ;

weapons stayed the same as well besides a modification in the razor disc. I had been anticipating this movie ever since the jaguar game came out. And i was pretty happy with the results myself. The casting could have been better and the could have reserved the F-word for the ugly mother F---Eur line. But these things can be over looked. When it comes down to it, you wont appreciate this movie at first glance. You need to see it again and think of the good points, in comparison to the bad points and form your own opinion. My opinion is as follows: This movie is F--k Awesome.

realistic, and had to be used to make scenes where the Aliens and Predators get flung through walls!The dark and dull setting of the Aztec Pryamid is great and builds up tension and suspense well, combined with the good directing that reveals where the Aliens are lurking around. I have to say though, its the Aliens that really make this movie. The props are make them look as though there real, and the close camera shots of its acid-dripping mouth are cleverly done, and taken from this first Alien film, as many other little scenes have been taken from Predator and Alien films. The lack of blood and gore is a straight notice as well - I guess the reason being because of the movie people wanted to keep the age limit down tut tut , and this is a problem you have noticed with Terminator 3, a 12? What were they thinking? A 12 year old won't have seen the previous Terminator films!The way the characters combine with the Aliens and Predators is great. I have to say though, it was strange at first to see spoiler Sanna being helped by the Predator later in the film, and it even makes you feel sorry for the Predator uh oh when it dies at the end. the film length was also a bit odd. The extended version, available on the basic DVD is just 1 hour 26 minutes long, so how long the normal version is I would worry about..But with these niggles aside, its good entertainment - less blood and gore as in the films Predator and Aliens admittedly, but you don't need that to make a good film like this, which is what many people have failed to pick up. I would say watch it if you've seen the Alien and Predator saga's, and you'll be entertained.