Stars: Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen, Ewen Bremner

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Summary: A group of archaeologists find themselves fighting for survival when they discover a number of aliens buried in the ice. Their survival rate is hampered further by the arrival of more aliens on a training mission.

When audiences caught a glimpse of an alien skull mounted in the trophy cabinet of a Predator in the 1990 film PREDATOR 2, it seemed a franchise was about to be born. Sure enough, comic book artists immediately seized on the possibilities suggested by the brief scene, and a number of skirmishes between the deadly foes were played out on the printed page. Fans have had to endure a lengthy wait for a cinematic match-up, but writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson (EVENT HORIZON) has finally delivered the blood-splattered goods in ALIEN VS. PREDATOR. Set in the near future, a team of archaeologists lead by Charles Wiedland (Lance Henriksen, returning for more ALIEN action after appearances in the second and third films) ventures towards an inexplicable hot zone detected in Antarctica. Joined by Alexa Woods (Sanaa Lathan) and the requisite amount of human fodder for the otherworldly creatures to feast on, Wiedland and his cohorts discover a sizeable underground pyramid. Chaos ensues as they awake the Queen alien from her blissful slumber, causing face-hugging and chest-bursting scenes aplenty. But the ailing crew has a further quandary to grapple with in the shape of some fearsome Predators, who are using the aliens as bait for their offspring to brawl with in an ancient initiation ritual. With the human team trapped in the labyrinth-like pyramid, the battle evolves into a nail-biting three-way tussle between the archaeologists and their extraterrestrial adversaries. Fans of both the ALIEN and PREDATOR movies should find much to satiate their appetites here, and with an ending suggesting further hostilities between the pernicious coupling, this one looks set to run and run.

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Reviewed by: cooljimbop
Posted on July 21, 2005 1:58 PM

If you loved the Alien and Predator films I'm afraid you will probably be disappointed by this. The story is awful, as is the direction (why are the fight scenes filmed so zoomed in?) and Paul WS Anderson messes with the mythology of both films. There are a few choice scenes, however, and numerous references for the keen eye to spot but otherwise this shouldn't have been made. You can tell the director had a 12 rating in mind when he made it. Simply not good enough to be classed as an Alien or Predator movie.

Reviewed by: philreyn
Posted on August 31, 2005 12:15 PM

Long awaited, and maybe not the blockbuster we had expected. Had they made this a few years earlier when interest was at it's highest, I think it would have had more impact. Despite this it's not too bad an attempt. Sanaa Lathan is a very sultry and capable lead (though she's no Ripley), and it was a nice touch to include Lance Henriksen as a completely different role to Bishop. Not up to Aliens and Predator, but a vast inprovement on Alien 3!

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In delivering non-18-rated excitement, Alien vs. Predatoris an acceptably average science-fiction action thriller with some noteworthy highlights, even if it squanders its opportunity to intelligently combine two popular franchises. Rabid fans can justifiably ask "Is that all there is?" after a decade of development hell and eager anticipation, but we're compensated by reasonably logical connections to the Alien legacy and the still-kicking Predator franchise (which hinted at AVP rivalry at the end of Predator 2); some cleverly claustrophobic sets, tense atmosphere and impressive digital effects; and a climactic AVP smackdown that's not half bad. This disposable junk should've been better, but nobody who's seen Mortal Kombat or Resident Evil should be surprised by writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson's lack of imagination. As a brisk, 90-minute exercise in generic thrills, however, Anderson's work is occasionally impressive... right up to his shameless opening for yet another sequel. --Jeff Shannon

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Commentary By Paul WS Anderson And Lance Henriksen And Sanaa Latham, Commentary By the Special Effects Team, Inside Look Hide And Seek, Inside Look Elektra With Jennifer Garner, Inside Look Robots With Chris Wedge, Conception Featurette, Visual Effects Featuret
Subtitles:	French, Spanish
Year:	2004
Release Date:	March 7, 2005
Runtime:	97 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	26681 C D V D
Keywords:	Special, Alien, Two, General, Edition, Wide, Screen, Fiction, Science, Predator, Horror, Discs, Sci, Fi, Vs
Genre:	Science Fiction