A dozen screengrabs that prove just how much Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem will very much rock your world.
By Burbanked on Aug 28, 2007 in Blogging, Movies, Trailers | 8,449 views |
It’s really pretty amazing the way that Hollywood works. When a long-running franchise has run itself right into the ground, the always-dependable studio executives somehow discover how to breathe new life into old characters and storylines, inevitably finding amazingly new and spectacular ways to thrill and amaze us, the generous and patient moviegoing American popcorn-munching audience.
Case in point: the new red-band trailer for Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem currently available for download over at ign.com. By the way, I got tipped off on this from Chris at Movie Marketing Madness, who is totally stoked by this trailer!
Of course, you HAVE to watch this kickass trailer yourself, but I thought I’d share some screengrabs (and when you click on them, they embiggen! and some are so sick!) with you to demonstrate just how original and reimaginative this thing totally is!
 See what they’re doing here? By using the same tagline from a movie that’s 28 years old, they actually make it new again for today’s discriminating audience! It’s old…but it’s new! Again! |
 Remember how that one Alien movie, the really big action-y one, had the child in it? Remember how that was cool and popular? This one’s got a kid in it, too! Look how scared he/it is! Scared children rock! |
 Oh! Oh! I remember this one, too! In the first Predator movie, that monster thing hung those nasty skinned bodies upside-down and those guys found them when they looked up. I remember that! Boy, but these Requiem filmmakers sure are making their movie comfortably familiar for me. I’m so happy. |
 OMG! There’s that actress who’s on that exciting action TV show – and she’s playing in an action movie! And OMG I hope she gets to shout and blow things away! She’s in a movie! |
 Oh, this must be a flashback because Ripley is driving a vehicle with a little girl sitting next to her and she’s all “COME ON!” to the guys she’s trying to rescue…OMG! OMG! That’s that TV actress again, but she’s doing that thing Ripley did! OMG! |
 See, this is smart. This is where we get to remember what a brilliant strategic fighter the Predator is. He’s got the power to turn invisible, which can only be achieved by showing his victim his brightly glowing eyes for two seconds after he disappears. He heightens the tension because, in his invisibility, he can still be seen for a tense moment. So cool. |
 That one super popular Alien movie had those military guys in it and they were always shooting automatic weapons everywhere and guess what? This one has that, too. And it happens in the rain, which so rarely happens in the movies. Rain! |
 I just had to include this one because Chris at Movie Marketing Madness thought it was funny. He’s so right. That chick got pwned! Booya! |
 Again, look how smart this is. After eighteen Predator movies, they can still give us something original in the fact that the character uses new and different weapons. And they gave him a whip like Indiana Jones and it’s like five months before THAT movie will come out! Eat it, George Lucas! |
 Oh no they didn’t! This is like that Rambo trailer with all the shooting and the gory and the exploding throats and the thing and the blood! This is so much like that and at the same time it’s so, so much better! |
 Total brilliance. I just love how in the other Alien movies they always show the monster’s second set of jaws just come snapping out toward you, but you never really see it go through someone, they just do that wimpy thing where it happens off-screen and that’s not scary at all because you just have to think about what it might have looked like, and it’s cheating, really, by the filmmakers. Now this time we totally get to see that thing explode this dude’s head and that is just so so so much better than how I imagined it. I’m near tears right now, I just can’t handle how great this is. |
 AND OH MY GREAT AUNT BETTY’S CRACKERS BUT THEY DID IT AGAIN AND WE GET TO SEE IT ALL AND HOLY MT. RUSHMORE IT TOOK THAT DUDE’S WHOLE NOSE OFF AND BY THE GRACE OF DON KNOTTS DO I DESPISE RIDLEY SCOTT AT THIS MOMENT FOR CHEATING ME ALL THOSE YEARS AGO THAT PRICK. |
Well, that’s it for me. I can barely breathe now, that trailer was just so innovative and clever and didn’t at all dumb down the franchise for me. It looks like Christmas will come early this year when AVP-R (LOVE that acronym!) opens on December 25th.
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MC | Aug 28, 2007 | Reply
I have never been more happy to see a bizarro badge…. ever.
Ray | Aug 28, 2007 | Reply
Absolute brilliance. And no, I am not referring to the trailer.
Lukas | Aug 28, 2007 | Reply
wow, you sure know how to whine…the trailer looked good, and it is now confirmed that nothing works for you guys. Most people complained that the first one was PG 13 and now you complain that there is too much “gore”? Get over it…
Burbanked | Aug 28, 2007 | Reply
Lukas – I guess that “getting over it” is a little tougher when one can remember earlier movies in a franchise that emphasized subtlety, imagination and fear instead of gross-out shock. There’s a reason, I’d suggest, that the original Alien is still being dissected and discussed today when, say, Dr. Giggles isn’t.
And I’m not sure that this can truly be classified as a “trailer”. It’s more like “a series of what’s likely the grisliest shots from the movie flashed before our eyes like a shiny object is used to distract an infant”.
KC | Aug 28, 2007 | Reply
Alan that was freaking hilarious… I need to get my bizzaro up!
Burbanked | Aug 28, 2007 | Reply
KC – we’re still talking about blogging…right?
Mike Doc | Aug 29, 2007 | Reply
I am not amused, and I certainly won’t be adding the phrase “Oh my Great Aunt Betty’s crackers!” to my daily vernacular anytime soon.
Lukas | Aug 29, 2007 | Reply
I understand what you say, Burbanked, I feel the love for the originals too, but I am prepared to give this new movie a shot, since this “preview” looks interesting at the least.
I think it is pretty logic that a movie about Aliens vs Predators will not carry the same amount of suspense that the original did. The dynamic between both species is not the same as the one humans had, of course. Predators can go mano to mano with the aliens, very different from the “hiding” and “escaping” position of humans, which allowed for a much more “thrilling” effect for the audience.
I dont know, just my 2 cents. Lets watch it and see what happens then…
Burbanked | Aug 29, 2007 | Reply
It’s true, Lukas, that the action/horror dynamic between Predators and Aliens is different than in previous films.
I guess I’m not that big a fan of such franchise cross-overs; I’d debate that they’re nice gimmicks, but ultimately don’t add much to the overall legacy of the characters and situations. Why not create a completely new and original take on the material? Or why not – shocking though it may seem – spend the creative energy producing an entirely NEW franchise that someone else will bastardize decades down the line?
Norm Schrager | Sep 3, 2007 | Reply
Oh lord, do you guys nail it. When an entire industry (okay, most of an entire industry) is aimed at 14-21 year-old boys, of course you can recycle every decade or so! When those 14 year-olds turn 24, some of them stop giving a shit. And those that still care, don’t mind the incessant repetition.
And goodness knows the integrity of both the Alien and Predator series needs to be upheld. Holy mackerel, somebody save us from ourselves. (I’m not sure who “us” is actually, but I feel better.)
I happened to mention a possible Fahrenheit 451 remake in ‘09 and one of our readers went ballistic. Well, guys, gotta go mull over that remake of Summer Rental. I’m joking.
Norm
http://www.meetinthelobby.com
Great White Snark | Sep 4, 2007 | Reply
Wow, if AVP-R (heh) pisses you off, I think you might enjoy the rest of this list of “pathetic upcoming geek movie sequels” that I put together. Let me know what you think.