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Thanks to James Cameron, Schwarzenegger found himself with
a better offer: Terminator 2 : Judgement Day. Knowing
too well that the film would probably make a pretty buck even
without him, they bought in a new lead and just cranked up
the effects budget with the change they saved on not re-hiring
the Oak.
Danny Glover (who at one time was contacted to do the sequel
with Arnie) stars as a Los Angeles Copper, circa 1997 (Um,
the future, as it were). The city is now ridden with crime
and the climates as hot as hell.
Not only does our hero have to deal with hordes of malicious
gang members - as we see in the film's opening minutes - but
he's got another adversary to do battle with: the undetectable
towering Predator (Kevin Peter Hall, again in the suit) -
who's out of the jungle and in the city, with - as the poster
reminds us - "A Few Days to Kill".
It's disappointing that they couldn't do more with the sequel.
After all, Predator (1987) was one of the best action
thriller's of the '80s - top script, funky ensemble and an
endless array of awe-inspiring action and adventure.
Sadly, Predator 2 is nothing more than an okay movie.
The characters are clichéd, the storyline is a bit
wonky, the effects aren't that impressive and there are not
a lot of memorable moments. Still, if you enjoyed the original,
you'll no doubt still enjoy the sequel. Enough.
Overall, it's not a bad offering. Good sound and vision and
a nice array of extras. Pity the film's not that much chop
though.
DVD Extras
The 'Special Edition' comes with quite a few good extras,
beginning with dual commentaries. One from director Stephen
Hopkins, and another from Jim and John Thomas. Both commentaries
are quite informative, but Hopkins seemingly holds your attention
a tad more.
Over on Disc-2 there's a retrospective documentary (featuring
a mesh of old and new interviews) chronicling the making of
the movie (and just further proof that Gary Busey is a frickin'
loon), a couple of older featurettes, a look at how they did
some of the pre-CGI special effects for the film, full-length
versions of the made-up tabloid TV show "Hard Core"
that features in the film, and some other bits and bobs.
Conclusion: Movie 70% Extras: 85%
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