Predator reboot incoming

[Terralthra]

Yeah, I know - that's the standard criticism. I can understand that criticism, but unlike most hated sequels, Alien 3 wasn't stupid - it wasn't really a bad movie. It was just really nihilistic and depressing. It was pretty far from your typical Hollywood formula, with the main characters from Aliens dying meaningless deaths, Ripley's new love interest dying suddenly, and Ripley ultimately dying as well. But I don't think it was actually a bad movie, in the way that Terminator 3 was just stupid.

Surely not the first time it's been proposed, but I always think of Alien3 as a cold-sleep dream. Yes, Ripley is riding off into the sunset with a new family, but that doesn't heal the scars or the trauma. Think about it: after losing her real family and her work "family" from the Nostromo, surely her biggest fears are: a) having an alien chestburster in her b) losing all her family in her sleep again c) having to be alone against an alien without any weapons to speak of and d) a queen getting off of LV-426 (also e) [implied] being betrayed by an android again, after she trusted him). Bam bam bam bam, here's all your worst fears, in order. Enjoy confronting them in a hellhole made up of surreal, dangerous people.

Sounds like the perfect nightmare for her.

[PREDATOR490]

Alien 3 being a dream would be nice... if only Alien 4 did not cement it as being real and further screwing over the franchise further.

I cannot see any attempt at exploring Predator mythology ending well without a drastic change in genre from monster-horror. Predators are vicious killers so I dont think making one a good guy is really going to work without serious back breaking gymnastics to change the established behaviour.

Maybe if the film tries to be about something more than vicious murder or action it might work. I.E Humans and Predators trying to understand one another etc.
However, I have serious doubts Hollywood will take that risk and even if they do, this is the same kind of concept that Prometheus went down with the insane attempt to create a mythology around Jesus Christ.

[DaveJB]

The new film is being directed and co-written by someone who was involved with writing the original Predator, so if nothing else he should understand what made that film work. Then again, Prometheus was directed by the director of Alien, and look how that turned out...

[Grumman]

Surely not the first time it's been proposed, but I always think of Alien3 as a cold-sleep dream.

Which is really the ultimate insult, isn't it? Like Indoctrination Theory, it's the audience saying "It was all a dream" is a better story than the one you came up with.

[FTeik]

The new film is being directed and co-written by someone who was involved with writing the original Predator, so if nothing else he should understand what made that film work. Then again, Prometheus was directed by the director of Alien, and look how that turned out...

He's old and needed the money ... .

About a possible plot, how about this:

For the Predators hunting and collecting trophies is more like a coming-of-age-ceremony (and if they prove themselves a regular occuring tradition/event every year, while the rest of the time they're as "normal" a space-faring civilisation as us would be). On one of their trips they stumble upon a human colony, that has been whipped out (natural disaster/corporate or political warfare/security-breach in the biolab) with exception of one or two kids. The survival of the human kids impresses the Predators enough, that they adopt them into their culture. Fastforward ten to twenty years and have the adopted humans go on their first hunt and have them get cought by the rest of humananity, who on the one side wants to reintegrate them into society (the scientists/civilian leadership/hopeful grandparents) and on the other want to use them to exploit them as much as possible and learn about the Predators, who are also on the way to get their own back. The resulting carnage could also be the starting point for future conflict in a sequel.

[Darth Tanner]

Why on earth would I want the predators to 'adopt' a human or show an open warfare situation. That's not at all what Predator(original/2/s) was about and would be a totally different film - why even use the Predator licence if your going to do a 180 away from it. There are literally thousands of different setting and stories you could tell without straying from the alien with cool tech hunting humans idea.

I certainly don't want to see an in-depth look at Predator 'culture'. The film is vicious murder or action, I don't see the need to very away from that.

Predators was cool other than putting in the new 'super' predators for some weird and unexplained reason - it ultimately had no import to the film or plot other than having a predator vs predator fight scene that was crap anyway. I understand the actual meaning behind the different predators was cut, which i think is definitely a good thing.

[Gandalf]

As long as we don't have to see any of that hunter culture crap, I'll be happy. Though it would be amusing if the ones we saw were just space rednecks, and the rest of their culture looks down on them the same way we look down on big game hunters.

I certainly don't want to see an in-depth look at Predator 'culture'. The film is vicious murder or action, I don't see the need to very away from that.

This. Change the setting and the guys the Predator is hunting, but keep the rest.

[Cykeisme]

As long as we don't have to see any of that hunter culture crap, I'll be happy. Though it would be amusing if the ones we saw were just space rednecks, and the rest of their culture looks down on them the same way we look down on big game hunters.

Yes, THIS!

I hate it when a piece of fiction has ONE example of some dude doing some shit (doesn't even have to be space aliens), then some other writers decide to "expand" on it.. and suddenly we have an entire uniform mono-cultural civilization where EVERYONE does that same shit.
Not only does everyone do that shit.. that shit is also their favourite thing to do, they do it all the time, their lives revolve around doing that shit, and they are nothing without it.

[Darth Nostril]

AvP Requiem hinted at this.
When the Predator ship goes down on Earth a distress call goes out, the scene shifts to a Predator world then zooms in to .... just one guy in his home receiving the call.
There's no task force dispatched to clean up the Alien infestation, just this one guy, who then arms himself with kit from the downed ship.

Why the big ship the crashed ship launched from didn't get the same distress call and turn back beats me. You know, the one with dozens of heavily armed Predators onboard who are all veterans of fighting the fucking xenomorphs.

[Channel72]

I'm kind of partial to the idea of doing a period piece with the Predator... a running theme with the Predator franchise is that they've been hunting humans for centuries. Having a Predator on a hunt in the Middle Ages, or perhaps over the span of a couple of centuries, (I don't know what their lifespan is supposed to be...) would be interesting, in a "Highlander" sort of way. For extra points, pretend that a Predator was the inspiration behind various legendary monsters, like Grendel or whatever. (I guess they already did this with the Aztec gods in one of the AvP movies)

Hey, Predators fit decently enough with some of the descriptions in Beowulf anyway:

Every nail, claw-scale and spur, every spike
and welt on the hand of that heathen brute
was like barbed steel. Everybody said
there was no honed iron hard enough
to pierce him through, no time proofed blade
that could cut his brutal blood caked claw

Too bad Grendel didn't seem to have cloaking tech and a laser-guided plasma canon. Oh well... maybe due to that whole "honor" thing, the Predators forgo using sophisticated weaponry when hunting in pre-industrial cultures.

But that premise is really easy to fuck up, so maybe it's better they don't do that.

[Alkaloid]

I dunno, I could get behind the idea of "Pirates of the Caribbean 6: Predator."

[andrewgpaul]

I could see it going the other way - rather than having the humans being picked on by the more advanced Predators, have a primitive Predator attacking a human settlement.

If I could think of a good way to do it, I'd even have some civilised, non-hunter "Predators" around, too.