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Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem | 
| Director: The Brothers Strause
Actors: Steven Pasquale, Reiko Aylesworth, John Ortiz, Johnny Lewis, Ariel Gade
Studio: 20th Century Fox
This item is no longer available
Rating:  303 reviews
Sales Rank: 15490
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 94 Minutes
ASIN: B0014E3NEQ
Theatrical Release Date: December 25, 2007
Release Date: October 27, 2008
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| Synopsis:
In Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the iconic creatures from two of the scariest film franchises in movie history wage their most brutal battle ever ? in our own backyard. The small town of Gunnison, Colorado becomes a war zone between two of the deadliest extra-terrestrial life forms - the Alien and the Predator. When a Predator scout ship crash-lands in the hills outside the town, Alien Facehuggers and a hybrid Alien/Predator are released and begin to terrorize the town. |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 298 more reviews...
 Apology Accepted...Thank You, Brothers Strause! December 26, 2007
Michael Pappalardo (Ronkonkoma, NY United States)
106 out of 139 found this review helpful
I absolutely hated the first AvP. That's quite a shock, considering that anyone who knows me personally knows that I have simply adored the Alien and Predator franchises for the majority of my 25 years. But what happens when you take two of the most violent, most terrifying and most successful film franchises and slam them together? Well, the first time around we got one hour and twenty minutes of sewage on a film reel. Where Paul W.S. Andersen clearly did not care to do any research on either franchise, the Brothers Strause manage to pull a few punches and deliver us a winner!
Don't be fooled...this is not a great movie by any means. The whole point of the film is that, if you are a fan of either of these monstrous creatures, you will not be disappointed in the action. Taking up precisely where the previous movie left off, we find our young hybrid achieving adulthood rather quickly (a faux pas that Andersen also pulled on us), and causing an incident which results in the ship crashing down to earth, in a rural colorado town. Within one day, all Hell breaks loose as the small, unassuming town is quickly beset on all side by an infestation that no exterminator would ever want to tackle...except for one. Receiving the ship's distress call, a lone Predator is dispatched to earth to take care of the infestation, and clean up the mess that was caused by their mistake.
If you're expecting a groundbreaking plot and Oscar-worthy performances, be warned...you will not find them in this film. What you WILL find is the movie that should have been made in the first place, albeit in a slightly different setting. Almost seeming like an apology for the previous train wreck delivered by Paul Andersen, the Brothers Strause take the franchise in a new direction with a few shocking (and horrifying) surprises. Most if not all fans will be very happy with the movie's hard "R" rating, a component severely lacking from the first film.
With an R rating, expect buckets of gore and tons of violence. Both franchises are brought right back to their roots with all the gore you would expect, with some horrifying twists thrown in for good measure. AvP:R borrows much from the previous movies in both franchises, as well borrowing some elements from movies such as Species. Based on that, I would highly recommend that you do not take your pregnant wife or friend to see this movie.
There are some key differences between Requiem and the first film that are apparent right from the start. The lone Predator in this film is quite possibly the most fearsome Predator yet seen in any film. Though the pure favoritism for the Aliens displayed in the first movie is gone, we do not get favoritism for the Predators in this movie either...both sides deal significant damage to one another, with plenty of death to go around. With humans caught in the middle, it isn't pretty for anyone involved. The design of both species is much better as well...instead of the rubber muppet-faced Predators from the first film, we get an impressive, monstrous visage that has seen its share of battles. The Aliens are also quite impressive, looking very similar to their Aliens roots. The Hybrid is a unique, ferocious monstrosity with a shocking new twist in the Alien lifecycle mutation.
None of the actors in this film are of any particular renown, and seem to be the type you'd find in a Sci-Fi original film or a(*shudder*) Lifetime movie. Many people hace complained of the "Dawson's Creek" style drama that manages to leak into the film at several points. Personally I didn't find it all that bad, but the sappy drama is laid on a bit thick. Being that these actors aren't quite mainstream, you definitely won't be getting memorable performances. Just take solace in the fact that you won't have to deal with it anymore when the Aliens get their hands on them.
With that said, the movie itself is a fast-paced, action-packed hour and a half. The carnage begins in less than 20 minutes, and it just never seems to stop. Contrary to what some have said, the action is easy to follow. The battles are far less gimmicky than the first film, where we had Predators built like clumsy linebackers trying to pull off Kung Fu and Tae Kwan Do manuevers. The Predator is once again a lean, muscular killing machine much akin to his previous Predator film counterparts. His skill with weaponry and hand-to-hand combat is intense, and the battles with the Aliens never cease to be entertaining.
Overall, the movie was a drastic improvement over the original. It is by no means a great movie, and it is definitely not what I envisioned what Aliens vs Predator would be when it finally hit the big screen when the comic was first released nearly 20 years ago. However, it is definitely a tremendous leap forward for the franchise, and it more than makes up for the sour taste left in the mouths of Alien and Predator fans everywhere. While Paul Andersen and Fox politics managed to dump both franchises into the deepest, darkest sewer, the Brothers Strause have managed to pull it back into the light of day. It can't quite wash the stench of the first film out of it, but it was by no means a let down.
I absolutely hated the first film and will never forgive Andersen and Fox for almost ruining both franchises, but with this highly entertaining sequel, we have an absolute adrenalin blast with some element of horror and suspense thrown in to action romp akin to Aliens. The film ends with yet another ambiguous opening for a sequel that ties both franchises together.
Lets take some time to sum it all up:
Pros:
- It's rated "R"...and it's definitely hard "R"
- Non-stop action from start to finish
- The entire movie is essentially an appreciative nod to previous films in both franchises
- No Predator and human hand-holding romps through fields of flowers
- Enough blood to quell the thirsts of even the most parched of the bloodthirsty
- Excellent creature design
- No Paul Andersen
- Excellent special effects
Cons:
- Like Andersen, the Brothers Strause clearly haven't researched the Alien life-cycle (chestburster to adult in less than 10 minutes?)
- The entire cast seems to have been dredged from the bottom of Hollywood's B-list
- Pacing can be a bit too fast at times
If you hated the first film but you're still holding out hope, then don't waste any time...see it now!
 Thanks goodness I'm not the only one who thinks they need to watch this with night vision May 21, 2008
Jenny J.J.I. (That Lives in Northern Nevada)
44 out of 54 found this review helpful
This is one of the worst films I have ever seen (try to see) and a shameful abuse of one of the greatest movie monsters of all time. The Alien is no longer scary. Gone is the elegance. Gone is the menace and chilling patience. Made by people who know how to make FX but have no real idea about how to make a movie. I sometimes wondered if they were making fun of what had gone before, like a Zucker/Abrams flick as it seemed to veer into what could be construed as parody. Sadly, no.
I knew going in it would be bad, and that it would probably be yet another nail in the coffin of my favorite sci-fi sequels ("Alien" in my case, though I do enjoy the "Predator" films). I had seen the "redband" trailer, and stared in horror at its frenetic menagerie of 80s teen slasher cliches; I even watched the "exclusive" online clip of the film's first five minutes, and hoped that they had been edited down from a better-paced original (as it turned out, they had not). But even so, I gave the movie a shot. Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps because if a beloved artifice that one has admired for years is to be systematically dismantled and thrown on the trash heap, one should be there to watch it burn. At least, I thought, with my expectations this low, this movie's directors would have to try very hard to undercut them.
They did. I mean really, they must have tried hard. It takes some kind of effort to take two of the most durable mythologies in modern scifi and make them a backdrop to a pizza guy's coming of age. Seriously. That is the only discernible story-arc in this entire film. Truth be told I could forgive even that if the characters hadn't came pre-assembled right out of the teen movie stock barrel. Instead this film spends 40 minutes trying to make us care whether Smarmy Teen gets it off with Hot Blonde before Blond Bully Ex-Boyfriend finds out. Thank God he has Troubled Ex-Con Brother (who trumps in along with his buddy, Nice Cop) to help him out once the aliens (who arrive courtesy of "disturbing" evisceration of Happy Hunting Dad and his son, Curious Preteen) start to take out the population (such as Mumbling Bum Who No One Will Ever Believe and Dense Cop Who Keeps Looking In The Dark After Everyone Else Has Left). They soon meet up with Screaming Bereft Mother and Military Chick, who saves her daughter Cute Little Girl after her husband Wussy New Man is vivisected in line with tradition.
Honestly, with this zoo of automated plot-bots to manage, how do the aliens and the predators (actually a Predator) get a look in? Well in truth, they don't. Very little time is spent developing either character (and let's face it, since neither character actually talks, that isn't surprising) and any tension built up between them is quickly dissipated as the film returns to the interminable "I Know What You Did Last Summer" slasher plot. I'm not sure what sort of budget this had but you can see that money spent on each subsequent Alien or Predator film is getting less & less, with average special effects, no name actors, bland locations & surprisingly cheap looking production values. Please stop embarrassing yourselves even further.
 [3.5] Not as bad as you've been lead to believe, but . . . January 17, 2008
Steven Hedge (Somewhere "East of Eden")
41 out of 51 found this review helpful
not nearly as good as it could have been either as this entry into both franchises returns a bit more to its roots in look and feel and to a strong R rating for violence.
This sequel to the previous AVP film picks up right where the last one left off and that is with a mutant alien/predator bursting out of the chest of the dead predator on his ship from the previous film. As I've been doing lately, I will dispense with the plot summary as this is no epic or great quality film that requires any real in-depth analysis even though it is fun entertainment. It's simply a satisfying sci-fi/horror flick with non-stop action as these two different aliens battle for supremacy in and underneath a small hick town south of nowhere.
As you may have read from many of the mixed reviews on here, this film has its hits and misses which resulted in so-so reviews and a rather lukewarm reception from fans of these two aliens.
The Hits:
(1) Great action sequences.
(2) Very good special effects and make-up.
(3) A cast of B actors that are both believable and rather likable.
(4) The return to R violence (kind of a necessity with this genre).
(5) The mutant alien is a great idea and played out nicely here.
(6) Numerous memorable and effective moments (you'll never forget the maternity ward scene!).
(7) The dark cinematography and rainy sequences is something of a return to the earlier Alien flicks (although a bit overdone here - see #1 below). It does create tension and it's a nice salute to the prior Alien films, but it also has its limitations.
The Misses:
(1) Okay, there is dark and then there "I can't see a darn thing" dark. While it's nice to see some homage paid to the earlier Alien films which were all dark and a bit wet (which can create an incredibly tense atmosphere), this film does go a bit too far (in an effort to save money?). I don't think it's as bad as some on here have claimed, but it is definitely a bit too dark.
(2) Those involved with this film have claimed to "research" both franchises so that this film could be more accurate than the previous AVP film; however, there are numerous errors within this one too (i.e. the chestbursting sequences happen too soon after infection in contrast to ALL the previous Alien films --mutant alien notwithstanding).
(3) A predictable and somewhat flat ending.
For some the negatives overwhelm the positives and for others vice versa. I'm one of the "others." Heck, it's mindless entertainment for those who enjoyed the previous flicks, but are not obsessed with them. I had a generally good time with this film as I didn't expect much from it and, therefore, I got more than I expected.
To each his own. :o)
Mother of Zeus, this film is terrible January 23, 2008
Ian (California, USA)
22 out of 28 found this review helpful
I spent a good ten minutes trying to come up with a witty and creative way to start this review, but failed. Therefore, because there's no real easy way to say it, I'm just going to get this one fact out in the open.
Alien vs Predator: Requiem is a terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE film, easily among the most disappointing and most unexciting action films I've ever seen, and quite possibly the worst film of 2007.
***
Why is it so very, very hard to make a good Alien vs Predator movie? That's a question I think a lot of Xenomorph and Yautja fans are going to be asking themselves that question a lot as they walk out of theaters shaking their heads and wondering how this film even got off the ground.
As a sequel to the original Alien Vs Predator (which I will admit to enjoying tremendously), AVPR was supposed to be an apology for the original, a return to everything Xenomorph and Yautja fans love...menacing creatures, dark, creepy, isolated, and dark environments. Action, blood, gore, guts, chestbursters, guns, plasma cannons, 'Get to the choppa!' lines. It even has the first screen appearance of the Predalien, a creature seen frequently in the non-film AVP franchise...and yet, while it has all these elements, the film fails completely, missing the mark on almost all fronts and ending up a dark, poorly edited, confusing and unsatisfying mess.
The film gets off to a very good start, picking up immediately after the conclusion of the previous AVP film. Scar is dead, his ship and fellow Yautja on their way back to their home planet. Yet, as those who watched the previous film know, Scar happens to be host to a new type of Xenomorph...a vicious combination of the predators and the xenomorphs, the predalien. Emerging from his chest, this new beastie quickly goes on a rampage and the spaceship falls back to earth, crash landing in the remote mountains of Colorado...and near a small town isolated from the rest of the world. Within the span of a few minutes facehuggers escape, a predator on the Yautja's home planet heads to earth, and the unsuspecting humans of this small Colorado town are completely unaware of the danger now ramming itself down their faces.
With all these elements, it's almost inconceivable that the film would fail. The directors, the Brothers Strauss talked at great length at how they were going back to the feel of the original movies and gave the general impression that they had done their homework about the two franchises. Yet the end result mirrors nothing the two said. It's as if they were trying to put on a front of trying to convince the fans that they knew what they were doing, yet knew at the same time that the film was turning out very poorly. Rather then being a suspenseful, action packed film, AVPR is a mess where half the time it's difficult to tell what's going on.
I'm going to be blunt...AVPR is poorly shot. With all the close ups and above the waist shots of the aliens and predator, I got the impression that the filmmakers were trying to cover up the fact that the creatures apparently wern't working well when they were moving around, so they apparently hoped we wouldn't mind if we saw them close up and almost never full body. The predalien for example, fully appears on screen only twice if my memory serves me correctly. Considering the previous films, not just in the AvP franchise but the predator and alien franchise as well with it's large mix of wide, close up and medium shots, AVPR shows us the least of the creatures and considering what's come before it's very noticeable and quite irritating how we never see the aliens running around, scurrying, jumping, etc. Having a lot of the action shots be handheld and shaky makes me feel nauseous and dizzy from how the camera shakes so much. The cinematography here is, for the most part, poor, save for a few gorgeous shots of the town and the surrounding mountains.
But the camera work isn't helped at all by what has to be THE WORST lighting in a major Hollywood film I've ever seen. Lighting, a fundamental and vital part of film making, is generally a difficult feature to get the hang of and very difficult to master. While the daytime scenes in the film are fine, it's the night scenes in the second half of the film that are bad. Dark, dark, dark, and more dark are the color platelets you'll see here. The hospital sequence near the end of the film is particularly notable as there are a few shots where you literally cannot tell what the hell is going on, seeing fuzzy, out of focus high contrast human shapes moving around, along with vague alien shapes. For a student film, this can be acceptable because the student is still learning the ropes. But for a major motion picture? That's pretty much unacceptable, especially considering that your audience is supposed to be able to see what's going on. Your audience is not supposed to be squinting, trying to make out dark shapes moving around on a dark background.
When you combine the bad cinematography with the bad lighting, it's a predictably bad combination. Yet, the editing between the two, which relies on very quick, rapid fire cuts makes it an outright disastrous combination, where you can't see what's going on and fast cuts don't help at all. So on the base levels of production values, AVPR fails utterly.
The story and characters, as you can probably guess, don't help either. We have a large cast of human characters, but almost all of them are completely uninteresting. There's the ex-con out of prison, the marine lady back from Iraq or whatever, the high school jock and his croonies, the panicking lady, the little girl, etc. As you might have guessed, all of them are pretty much cookie cutter characters with some attempt given to give them some depth, but failing pretty badly. I found myself interested only in the policeman and think that perhaps the only human characters should have been him and perhaps the mom and kid. You don't really care for anyone else, as they're introduced sorely to die. Literally. There's one charachter about 2/3rds of the way through the film who shows up, says something along the lines of "I couldn't help them because I was scared!", is given a gun, then dies, all with a screen time of approximately four minutes. I literally laughed at how silly it was.
And the story? Well, the predator needs to kill the aliens. The end. Pretty basic and uninspiring, but really, we don't expect a very deep and engaging plotline for these kind of movies. I do wish there were more fight scenes and far, far less humans, but at this point it's kinda moot.
Which brings us to the last big point: Since this is a film about aliens fighting predators, how does it turn out? Poorly. There are more fights this time around then the previous film, but as said before, the lighting, camera work and editing make almost all the fight scenes a chore to watch as you try to see what's going on. Not even a final one on one fight between the predator and predalien can save the film and by that time I just didn't care anymore and wanted the film to end so I could get out of the theater...but then the film brings a rather unexpected and unwelcome twist...it borrows the climax of the film from another film almost completely! This is, in effect, the only real shock of the film...seeing an ending borrowed from another film that I won't reveal here (but if you've been following a certain high successful film trilogy over the past few years, you'll recognize it instantly).
There is one good thing about AVPR, and that it has a large amount of blood and gore which should delight fans of such things. People are killed by the dozens and in gruesome ways (you've no doubt heard about the pregnant woman by now so I won't elaborate on her), with one actually being a bit jumpy (involving a Shuriken). So the gore is good...but it's a tiny drop in a a chaotic hurricane of disaster.
As the film finally, mercifully comes to an end, not even the introduction of a new and semi-important charachter with semi-ridiculous dialog can save it. When the film shot to black and the credits rolled I instantly got out of my seat and walked out of the theater in disgust at the amount of money I wasted watching this film.
Avoid this film at ALL costs. Don't even rent it at the video store when it comes out on DVD. Go watch the original AVP instead. Heck, go watch Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. AVPR has taken the place of worst film in both the Alien and Predator franchises with it being a completely uninspired, boring, poorly lit and hard to watch film.
Let us now hope that Fox kills off the franchise for good...or at least bring back Ridly Scott, James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver and/or Arnold Schwarzenegger to try and salvage what they can.
Requiem for a Spleen (aka, Night of the Predatory Aliens) March 5, 2008
AMP (Somewhere on Earth)
17 out of 25 found this review helpful
The Good Things:
-Definately more action, special effects, and gore.
-Predator has more goodies.
-Alien/Predator hybrid monster gets to wreak all sorts of havoc.
-For that matter, all of the creatures get to wreak all sorts of havoc.
-Even the military gets to blow some things up.
-This is the first time you get to see the predator homeworld.
-This is also the first time you get to see average people encountering aliens or predators (main characters are not military, spacemen, androids, commandos, explorers, or anything else fancy).
-At the very end, there is a reference to the Yutani group (which later merges with Wayland), thus continuing to correspond to the Alien saga. Also leaves the movie open for a sequel.
-The rest of the film stays true to the original concepts of the Alien/Predator sagas.
The Bad Things:
-Camera moves were shaky at some points, and lighting is very dark. As a friend of mine pointed out, it makes it harder to actually see any of the aliens.
-Characters started off good, but seemed dull at the end, and many wound up dying.
-There is also no hero character as there is in all other Alien/Predator films (such as Ripley or Schwartzenegger's character). You can only root for the Predator (or maybe the Alien...).
-Lots of senseless deaths.
-A few brutal parts (the aliens kill children, babies, and a pregnant woman).
-Some parts seemed ripped off (the ending reminded me of "Resident Evil: Apocalypse", the story reminded me of "Dawn of the Dead," one part reminded me of "The Faculty," and other parts resembled the other Alien/Predator movies).
This feels a lot less like Alien or Predator and more like "Dawn of the Dead." The focus for half of the movie is on a bunch of people who wind up as alien fodder. The other half is the cool half, where the aliens are fighting (and there is plenty of fighting!). It is good in a way, because it is more unique than the others (we finally get to see aliens trashing Earth). It is also bad, because the film is dehumanized.
Ultimately, this is a brainless action/horror flick. I would reccomend it if you are looking for such a movie. I reccomend it more to Alien/Predator fans (and perhaps fans of other brainless horror movies).
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