AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004) Explained

we go hey guys what's happening nyet here with film comics explained and today we'll be taking a look at the 2004 sci-fi action classic alien versus Predator which is directed by Paul WS Anderson starring Lance Henriksen Sanaa Lathan rolled over and human Bremner the idea of crossing both the predator and alien worlds together originated in the alien versus Predator comics series of the same name which is written in 1989 by Randy straggly and Chris Warner and was also hinted and Perdita too when a xenomorph skull appeared in a trophy case aboard the predator ship screenwriter Peter Biggs created the original speculative script for a VP in 1991 and successfully pitched the film to Fox who owned the franchise and decided to shelve it for over a decade chiefly due to their focus on the film Alien Resurrection which saw the return of Ripley one of the biggest issues concerning the film crossover was the fact that there were over six producers extensively involved in the development of the independent Alien and Predator films up until that point and each one was pretty concerned about bringing the two creatures together Anderson pitched a story idea to John Davis the producer involved in the original predator film and also showed him concept artwork created by Randy Bowen which impressed him so much that he was able to get the ball rolling on pre-production Anderson then hide shame salomo to begin developing a script idea which expanded on some of the elements of Peter Briggs script already owned by the studio mixed in with Paul's vision for the film and a shooting script was finalized in 2002 the plot of the shooting script was heavily influenced by the work of Erich von däniken a Swiss author that specialized on theories that explored extraterrestrial influences on early human cultures Daniken believe that early civilizations were able to construct the massive pyramids found around the world with the help of aliens and though his theories have been rejected by most academics as pseudoscience Anderson saw the potential for this to bridge the gap between the aliens and the Predators because the film is a sequel to the predator films and a prequel to the alien series Anderson was very cautious of contradicting continuity in the franchises and chose to set the film on the remote Norwegian Antarctic island of Beaufort over stating it's definitely the most hostile environment on earth and probably the closest to an alien surface you can get the isolated location also served the added function of explaining why nobody from the alien universe had ever heard of the Xena moss over a hundred years later the first actor to because for a VP was Lance Henriksen who played the character bishop in aliens and Bishop 2 and alien 3 although the alien films are set roughly a hundred and fifty years after the events of FEP Henriksen was written in his Charles Bishop Weyland a billionaire entrepreneur who was the creator of Weyland industries not to be confused with Weyland Corp which is what the company would eventually become under the guidance of his son Peter Weyland this is extremely important to know as a lot of people simply assume that annecy had rewritten the history behind the alien universe what this essentially meant was that the bishop Android team in aliens was a line of androids created in the image of the original company's creator at the same time although the bishop scene in aliens said over a hundred years not in the death of Charles Bishop Weyland was most definitely an Android a major point of contention is whether or not Bishop - in alien 3 was human or Android in the extended addition to the film we do see him bleed red blood after being struck in the head as opposed to the milky white blood scene in most other androids at the same time I do think a major hint is in his credited name which simply appears his bishop - aside from that I thought it was a fantastic addition to the cast of AVP which helped ground the film in the alien universe do things off please hey what you doing man hey what you're doing drink [Music] [Applause] sanaa lathan who impressed anderson and the producers with her audition was then cast as the film's protagonist Alexa woods an adventurer and survival expert who is strongly based off of magico Noguchi a character in Strad leads alien versus Predator comics ma Chico had essentially lost her entire colony to xenomorphs and earned respect among the yahshua which allowed her to become a blooded predator the first human ever to achieve this and something that Woods would eventually achieve as the film progressed Lathan was also the only member of the cast to undergo rigorous physical training regimen which helped give her a commanding presence as the group's leader the film is set in the year 2004 were a Wayland satellite detects a mysterious heat signature beneath the uninhabited island at Beaufort over roughly a thousand miles off the coast of Antarctica using his company's advanced thermal imaging technologies Charles Bishop Whelan discovers a pyramid buried 2,000 feet beneath the ice which sets him on a quest to claim it on behalf of his company Weyland industries using a highly skilled team composed of linguistic experts drillers mercenaries and a survival expert that reluctantly agreed to lead the group what the team did not know was that they were actually about to partake in a yahshua rite of passage where humans would be sacrificed to create the ultimate prey setting up camp near the band and whaling station the group arrived at the location where they planned on drilling only to find that a passage had been created which led them directly to the pyramid the passage which was not visible prior to their journey was actually created by a predator ship that orbited the earth which had also sent down three unbloodied predators I have a comprehensive video that covers the predator hierarchy and cultural dynamics that are Lee flicks two below but suffice to say that these three predators were adolescents that we're about to engage in a rite of passage one that would elevate them in the actual society and grant them the use of more advanced weaponry and armor as seen in the extended predator universe using the path created for them the group eventually located the mysterious pyramid and began to explore it finding evidence of a prehistoric civilization and what appeared to be a sacrificial chamber containing human skeletons with ruptured rib cages the group also accidentally triggered a trap device that activated the pyramid turning it into a live maze whilst also awakening and dormant Queen that began laying eggs at the same time three predators named scar Celtic and chopper arrived on the scene and began to kill the mercenaries that were on the surface before making their way inside the structure the eggs in the chamber eventually hatched sending facehuggers that quickly attached themselves to each person trapped inside these eventually burst out of their hosts during the second life cycle before turning into Xenomorphs officially kick-starting the hunt for the yahuwah who began mercilessly attacking all armed humans and Xenomorphs during the ensuing conflict the speciality weapons of the Predators were also stolen by the humans making their hunt more problematic and arranging the h-word in the process further hunt was initially successful both Celtic and chopper were killed by single xenomorph that proved too cunning and fierce for either of the adolescent predators to handle Bishop who was also very sick ultimately decided to sacrifice himself to give a lecture and Sebastian who were carrying the stolen alien weaponry enough time to escape from scar who was furiously pursuing them the two also witnessed Skaar killer facehugger and an alien with a shuriken before unmasking and branding himself with the blood of the fae slugger marking his transition into a blooded predator unfortunately for Skaar the celebration was short-lived as a nearby facehugger managed to leap onto his face and implant an embryo inside of him I think this is a method ritual the human at once they've been sent here to prove that they're worthy to become adults that's white they didn't carry those guns with them to begin with they'd have to earn them through translation of the pyramids hieroglyphs a lexer and Sebastien were able to learn that the Predators have been visiting the earth for thousands of years and that it was actually the Yahshua who taught early human civilizations how to build periods they also discovered that every hundred years unbloodied predators would visit earth to take part in a rite of passage by which several humans sacrificed themselves to create the ultimate prey for the Predators to hunt who if overwhelmed would all activate a self-destruct device to eliminate the aliens and themselves realizing the potential risks of having an unchecked population of Xenomorphs on the island both woods and Sebastien decided that the Predators must be allowed to succeed in their hunt and though Sebastien lost his life to a xenomorph attack Woods was able to assist scar and a xenomorph kill enabling the two to form in alliance scar also fashioned a shield and weapon for woods before marking her with the blood of the xenomorph indicating that he had accepted her as a skilled warrior the two successfully made it out of the pyramid just a scar triggered his wrist gauntlet explosive device leveling the structure destroying all the aliens inside however the Queen which had been released from her restraints earlier engaged them on the surface seeking vengeance for the destruction of her brood which she managed to achieve by impaling scar moments before being pulled into the ocean by the way to the massive water tank which had been chained to her after the death of scar the predator ship which had been watching the events unfold from above and cloaked itself revealing several blooded and Elite predators the leader of which handed elixir a gift in recognition of her acceptance into their clan symbolized by the scar burnt onto her cheek which was the emblem of that clan I also thought it was interesting to note that the xenomorph Queen didn't actually die at the end of the film and would have likely just frozen on the ocean floor returning to the cryogenic stasis that she was in at the start of the film as the Predators retreated back into space burster with a hybrid form of an alien and a predator erupted from scars chest paving the way for the sequel which explored the characteristics of this unique hybrid I don't know about you but I was sort of hoping that Alexa woods would join the Predators after being accepted into their clan I mean from the start of the film we noticed that she was highly-skilled adventurous and more importantly extremely isolated from the rest of the world which is where she felt most at ease it's because of this that I truly think it would have been a natural transition for her to leave the earth at the same time we wouldn't have been able to see the hybrid featured in the sequel [Music] [Music] production for a VP began in October of 2003 at Behrend off studios in Prague where most of the filming took place the following year richard Bridgeland was in charge of sets props and vehicles and basses designs on the early concept sketches commissioned by Andersen with over 30 life-sized sets eventually being constructed many of which were interiors of the pyramid the pyramid carvings sculptures and hieroglyphics were influenced by Egyptian Cambodian and Aztec civilizations and were all blended in to explain that the Predators were actually responsible for the development of each of these cultures while the shifting rooms were designed to evoke a sense of claustrophobia reminiscent to the anxiety inducing sets developed by H R Giger who worked on the alien series the production crew did their best to keep the use of CGI to a minimum at the behest of Anderson who insisted practical effects to be used whenever possible having previously worked on alien 3 and Alien Resurrection special effects company amalgamated dynamics Incorporated were hired to work on the movie under the supervision of Arthur Windus and John Brunner the basic shape and structure of the predator weapons and armor was kept for the films with minor variations being made to the Riske gauntlets the plasma casters and the predator masks worn by each of the Predators the same was also done for the Xenomorphs though the ones featured in the film were mostly puppets unlike the man suits used in the past alien films the alien Queen was filmed using three variations with a four point eight metre practical version built to scale that required a total of twelve people to operate another puppet that was roughly a quarter its size and a computer-generated one that we're all mixed in to create the final effect while the film was a decent effort at bridging the two worlds together it lacks a V in any real character development unlike the first three alien films and predator which all had strong ensemble casts we don't really care for most of the characters in AVP which made their downfall less significant than it should have been in fact the only two characters that were fully developed and grew as a story unfolded were both Alexa and Skaar all in all though flawed in parts a VP is a solid sci-fi film and expansion in the universe that we all love [Music] well that's all for today folks thanks to all of you guys who requested we take a look at alien versus Predator if there's any other stuff you'd like me to check out please don't hesitate to ask as always it's been a pleasure nyet here with film comics explained thanks for stopping by [Music] [Music]

Channel: FilmComicsExplained

Views: 806,930

Keywords: Predator, The Predator, aliens, xenomorph, yautja

Id: m6nOkW3jjw8

Length: 14min 39sec (879 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 09 2018