Aliens vs Predator Requiem - Thoughts

It all started in 1979, with Sigourney Weaver in the very first Alien movie. Almost a decade later came Predator, with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1994 both these iconic sci-fi characters were brought together and made to pit it out against each other in the first Alien versus Predator Super Nintendo video game. In 1999 a first person shooter variant of the game came to the PC; followed 2 years later by a sequel with vastly improved graphics - Aliens versus Predator 2. Finally in 2004 the first Alien vs. Predator movie was released; though critics complained of cardboard characters and weak dialogues, the movie was financially successful grossing over $172 million against its $60 million production budget. The film's success led to a sequel in 2007 titled Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (AVPR).


The Alien is certainly a primitive race, parasitic in nature; they’re only focus being reproduction and procreation of the species. The Predator on the other hand is a highly evolved warrior race. Exhibiting traits of Valor, Sportsmanship, Judgment, Ownership, and the likes. In the first movie the 2 races battled as part of a regular ‘coming of age’ sort of periodic ritual. In Requiem a rogue alien infestation aboard a Predator vessel calls for a ‘hunt and clean-up’ sort of response from a monitoring Predator. The action sequences are pretty decent, and the mood and ambience of a small town in over its head is quite apparent. The sheer helplessness of the human race is depicted well. Also effective is the intent in the thoughts and actions of the Predator without any form of subtitles, narration, or reference to it by human characters.

AVPR is obviously a very niche sci-fi film, appealing to AVP franchise lovers, Sci-Fi fanatics, and perhaps hardcore action and special effects freaks. Don’t expect intense character development, or a plot with a great deal of depth. In fact, the human race, and the associated characters are merely collateral who are caught in the cross fire. It just so happens that the Alien and Predator are battling on Earth. The secret to enjoying this movie is going in with the right expectations. While there were some scenes which were obvious and stereotype in nature, overall it was a decent action flick.

Video quality was good, but quite dark in keeping with the mood of the movie. Skin tones were average and not extremely clear. Sound was brilliant, possibly thanks to the DTS 5.1 soundtrack. Dialogue between characters was crystal clear, echoes in the sewer resonating with realism, and all ambient everyday sounds reproduced remarkably. Surround stage usage was minimal but sufficient. The score was well matched to the action, aiding in maintaining the pulse and tempo of the movie. The DVD I was watching was a Region 1 US release, which was presented in regular 16:9 widescreen; being the Unrated edition, it had some additional content as compared to the theatrical release.

My Recommendation: Watch It - (For those of you who either love Sci-Fi, or the AVP franchise)