Alien vs. Predator: Survival of the Fittest
Encyclopedia
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (also known as AVP:R) is a 2007 American science fiction film
. A sequel to 2004's Alien vs. Predator
, it continues the film crossover of the Alien
and Predator
media franchises. Filming began on September 25, 2006 in Vancouver
with the Brothers Strause
(Colin and Greg) directing the film based on a screenplay by Shane Salerno
. The film's lead roles are played by actors Steven Pasquale
and Reiko Aylesworth
.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was released on December 25, 2007 and received a largely negative response from film critics. The film grossed $9.5 million on its opening day and took in a worldwide gross of $128.9 million in theaters. According to Home Media Magazine, the film debuted at #1 in sales and rentals on Blu-ray and #2 on DVD
when it was released on home video on April 15, 2008. Since then, the film has gained $28,550,434 in home video sales, bringing its total film gross to $157,461,400.
, a Predator
spaceship is leaving Earth carrying dead Aliens, living facehuggers, and the body of the Predator that defeated the Alien queen. A chestburster erupts from the dead Predator's body; it is a new creature that is a hybrid of Alien and Predator characteristics. It quickly matures into an adult and begins killing Predators throughout the ship. A Predator's weapons fire punctures the hull and the ship crashes in the forest outside of Gunnison, Colorado
.
With the Predators dead, the hybrid and several facehuggers escape, implanting embryos into a nearby father and son and into several homeless people living in the sewers. A distress signal from the wrecked ship reaches the Predator home world and a lone Predator responds, traveling to Earth and using its advanced technology to observe the cause of the crash and to track the facehuggers. It begins to erase the evidence of the Aliens' presence by destroying the crashed ship and using a blue liquid to dissolve the bodies of the facehuggers and their victims.
Meanwhile, ex-convict
Dallas Howard (Steven Pasquale
) has just returned to Gunnison after serving time in prison. He is greeted by Sheriff Eddie Morales (John Ortiz
) and reunites with his younger brother Ricky (Johnny Lewis
). Ricky has a romantic interest in his more affluent classmate Jesse (Kristen Hager
) and is being harassed by her boyfriend Dale (David Paetkau
) and two of his friends. Kelly O'Brien (Reiko Aylesworth
) has also just returned to Gunnison after service in the military, and reunites with her husband Tim (Sam Trammell
) and daughter Molly (Ariel Gade
).
The Predator fights a number of Aliens in the sewers, and as the battle reaches the surface several of them disperse into the town. The Predator pursues some to the power plant, where collateral damage
from its weaponry causes a city-wide power outage
. Ricky and Jesse meet at the high school swimming pool but are interrupted by Dale and his cohorts just as the power fails and an Alien enters the building, killing Dale's friends. Another Alien invades the O'Brien home, killing Tim while Kelly escapes with Molly.
Kelly, Molly, Ricky, Jesse, Dale, Dallas, and Sheriff Morales meet at a sporting goods store to gather weapons. Troops from the Colorado Army National Guard
arrive but are quickly killed by the Aliens. When the battle between the Predator and the Aliens enters the store, Dale is killed and the Predator's shoulder cannons are damaged; it is able to modify one into a hand-held blaster.
As the survivors attempt to escape Gunnison they make radio contact with Colonel Stevens (Robert Joy
), who indicates that an air evacuation is being staged at the center of town. Kelly is suspicious of the military's intentions, convincing a small group to go to the hospital where they hope to escape by helicopter
, while Sheriff Morales heads to the evacuation area with the rest of the surviving citizens. The hospital, however, has been invaded by Aliens and the hybrid creature. The Predator soon arrives and in the ensuing battle Jesse is killed, Ricky is injured, and Dallas takes possession of the Predator's blaster cannon.
As the battle reaches the rooftop, Dallas, Ricky, Kelly, and Molly escape in the helicopter while the Predator battles the hybrid hand-to-hand. The two creatures mortally wound each other just as a military jet arrives; rather than a rescue airlift it is a bomber, executing a tactical nuclear
strike that destroys the entire city and kills all of the extraterrestrials along with the remaining citizens. The shock wave causes the fleeing helicopter to crash in a clearing, where the survivors are rescued by the military. The Predator's blaster cannon is confiscated by Colonel Stevens and presented to a Ms. Yutani.
, brothers Colin and Greg Strause moved to Los Angeles to break into the film business. After an unsuccessful attempt to find employment at ILM, the brothers worked on the X-Files
film and founded their own special effects company, Hydraulx
. The company produced special effects for films such as Volcano, Titanic
, The Day After Tomorrow
, Poseidon and 300
and the brothers began a career directing commercials and music videos. Colin believes Hydraulx secured a strong relationship with 20th Century Fox
, which owns the Alien and Predator franchises.
The brothers unsuccessfully pitched an idea for the first Alien vs. Predator film and Fox almost bought a film titled Wolfenstein suggested by the brothers, "When the script came up for this movie, they thought we'd be perfect for it because it's an ambitious movie for the budget that they had and they knew that having our visual effects background was going to be a huge thing." The brothers were hired to direct the sequel to Alien vs. Predator in late spring 2006 and had limited time to start filming in the fall.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was filmed on a 52-day schedule in Vancouver
. During filming breaks, the brothers supervised visual effects work on 300
, Shooter and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
by using in-house supervisors and a system called Mavis and Lucy, which let the brothers track, view and approve dailies. Colin estimates Hydraulx produced 460 of the 500 visual effects shots including the nuclear explosion which was created using Maya
fluids and BA Volume Shader. The interior of the Predator ship was created using CGI, as the brothers felt it would be more cost effective than building a set. The visual effects team peaked at 110 people for several months and averaged 70, almost all of the entire Hydraulx staff.
Using their knowledge in visual effects and making use of principal photography, the brothers tried to film as much as they could on camera without resorting to CGI, Colin said "Other than the exterior spaceship shots, there are no pure CG shots". CGI was used for the Alien tails and inner-jaws, whereas they required puppeteers and wire removal on previous films. The main visual effects of the film included set design, a nuclear explosion, the Predator's ship crashing and the Predator cloak, about which Colin stated "We wanted to make sure it didn't look too digital".
was hired to compose the score for the film. The end credits track entitled "Requiem" is a clash of two main themes, one consisting of the Predator type theme (bongos and basses) and the second of the Aliens (high pitched violins, violas and flutes). The directors Colin and Greg Strause wanted to take a new direction from Harald Kloser
's Alien vs Predator score and wanted Tyler to use some reference to the two films' original score pieces, such as the horrific violas and percussion from James Horner
's Aliens and the primitive tribal percussion from Alan Silvestri
's Predator and its sequel. Brian Tyler also referenced composer John Frizzel
's Alien Resurrection into the score, in the tracks of National Guard pt.1 & 2 and Taking Sides.
classification decision for the film is the same as the original (Rated 15), whilst the Australian ACB rated the film MA15+, up from the original's M rating.
The film grossed $9,515,615 on its opening day for an average of $3,707 per theater and was number ten at the box office. It grossed $5 million in Australia, $9 million in Japan and the United Kingdom and $7 million in Russia for an international total of $86,288,761. As of February 24, 2009, the film had taken in a domestic gross of $41,797,066 and an international gross of $87,087,428, bringing it to a total of $128,884,494. The budget of the film was $40,000,000. The film is the lowest grossing Alien film in the domestic box office and is the second lowest grossing Alien film worldwide, next to the original Alien, excluding the effect of inflation.
and 29 out of 100 at Metacritic
, the worst for a film in the franchises. Chief criticisms of the film included acting, dialogue, cardboard characters, over-the-top gore, bad lighting and "jumpy editing"; however, a few critics called the film "a fun B movie
".
Chris Hewitt of Empire
called it an "early but strong contender for worst movie of 2008", while BBC
critic Mark Kermode
's scathing review called the film "noisy, badly shot rubbish". Stina Chyn of Film Threat
felt the camerawork "is a smidge too shaky and the lighting/color design too dark for me to relish the Predator-on-Alien butt-kicking". Josh Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle dismissed the film stating it was "An orgy of mindless violence, a random collection of bloody bodies, alien misanthropy and slobbering carnage designed to bore straight into the pleasure centers of 13-year-old boys and leave the rest of us wondering when the movies got so damn loud." The Hollywood Reporter
contributor Kirk Honeycutt called it a "dull actioner that looks like a bad video game".
Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly
felt it was a "B movie that truly earns its B", though he gave it a grading of "B" on an A to F scale. Variety
contributor Joe Leydon said it "Provides enough cheap thrills and modest suspense to shake a few shekels from genre fans before really blasting off as homevid product," and Ryan Stewart of Cinematical said he "can't recommend it as a good movie on its own merits, stocked as it is with cardboard cutout characters and a barely coherent plot, but it's miles more interesting than the last Alien vs. Predator film." Todd Gilchrist of IGN
stated the film is "competently executed, occasionally scary and frequently fun to watch, no matter whether you choose to laugh at or with it".
There was the occasional positive review; Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times stated "It may not be classic sci-fi like the original Alien, which it has in its DNA, but it’s a perfectly respectable next step in the series." Daily Variety called it "Slam-Bang-Horror Action!" and MovieWeb.com said "A cool new monster...over-the-top violence...AVP-R is a lot of fun!"
and Daddy Day Camp
. On May 8, 2008, AVP:R was nominated for an MTV
Movie Award for Best Fight Sequence.
and Blu-ray Disc
on April 15, 2008 in North America
and May 12, 2008 in the United Kingdom
by Fox Home Entertainment. It was released in three versions: a single-disc, R-rated version of the 94-minute theatrical presentation, a single-disc unrated version extended to 101 minutes and a two-disc unrated version with the 101 minute film and a second disc of special features. Extra features on the single-disc editions include two audio commentary
tracks: one by the directors and producer John Davis and a second by creature effects designers and creators Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis.
Disc one of the two-disc unrated edition includes both commentary tracks as well as both cuts of the film seamlessly branched and an exclusive "Weyland-Yutani archives" picture-in-picture reference guide to the warring alien races; five behind-the-scenes featurettes: "Prepare for War: The Making of AVP-R", "Fight to the Finish: The Making of AVP-R", "AVP-R: The Nightmare Returns - Creating the Aliens", "Crossbreed: The Predalien", and "Building the Predator Homeworld"; multiple galleries of still photos showing the creature designs and sets; and the film's theatrical trailer. The second disc includes a "digital copy
" download feature.
In its first week of release, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem debuted at #2 on the DVD charts, earning $7.7 million and #1 on the Blu-ray charts. The film has made $28,550,434 in DVD sales in the United States
, bringing its total film gross to $157,461,400.
video game for the film was released on November 13, 2007 in North America, November 30 in Europe and December 6 in Australia. The game, developed by Rebellion Developments
and published by Sierra Entertainment
, was a third-person
action-adventure game
, allowing players to take the role of the Predator from the film. The game received generally negative reviews from the gaming press.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
. A sequel to 2004's Alien vs. Predator
Alien vs. Predator (film)
Alien vs. Predator is a 2004 American science fiction film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson for 20th Century Fox and starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen. The film adapts the Alien vs. Predator crossover imprint bringing together the eponymous creatures of the Alien and Predator series, a...
, it continues the film crossover of the Alien
Alien (franchise)
The Alien film series is a science fiction horror film franchise, focusing on Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and her battle with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien"...
and Predator
Predator (franchise)
The Predator film series is a science fiction horror film franchise. Produced by 20th Century Fox, the series started in 1987 with the film Predator, which led to two sequels and novel, comic book and video game spin-offs....
media franchises. Filming began on September 25, 2006 in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
with the Brothers Strause
Brothers Strause
Brothers Greg and Colin Strause are a directing duo, most famous for directing Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and Skyline, and special effects artists who make movies and grew up in Waukegan, Illinois...
(Colin and Greg) directing the film based on a screenplay by Shane Salerno
Shane Salerno
Shane Salerno is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He has written or co-written several blockbuster films including Armageddon and Shaft and is also one of the writer-producers of the successful CBS drama series Hawaii Five-0...
. The film's lead roles are played by actors Steven Pasquale
Steven Pasquale
Steven Pasquale is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Sean Garrity in the critically acclaimed series Rescue Me. He made his debut on the HBO series Six Feet Under, playing a love interest for David. He also starred in the film Aliens vs...
and Reiko Aylesworth
Reiko Aylesworth
Reiko M. Aylesworth is an American film, television and stage actress, best known for her role on the television series 24 as Michelle Dessler.-Life and career:...
.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was released on December 25, 2007 and received a largely negative response from film critics. The film grossed $9.5 million on its opening day and took in a worldwide gross of $128.9 million in theaters. According to Home Media Magazine, the film debuted at #1 in sales and rentals on Blu-ray and #2 on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
when it was released on home video on April 15, 2008. Since then, the film has gained $28,550,434 in home video sales, bringing its total film gross to $157,461,400.
Plot
Following the events of Alien vs. PredatorAlien vs. Predator (film)
Alien vs. Predator is a 2004 American science fiction film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson for 20th Century Fox and starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen. The film adapts the Alien vs. Predator crossover imprint bringing together the eponymous creatures of the Alien and Predator series, a...
, a Predator
Predator (alien)
The Predator is a fictional extraterrestrial species featured in the Predator science-fiction franchise, characterised by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport, including humans and its fictional counterparts, Aliens....
spaceship is leaving Earth carrying dead Aliens, living facehuggers, and the body of the Predator that defeated the Alien queen. A chestburster erupts from the dead Predator's body; it is a new creature that is a hybrid of Alien and Predator characteristics. It quickly matures into an adult and begins killing Predators throughout the ship. A Predator's weapons fire punctures the hull and the ship crashes in the forest outside of Gunnison, Colorado
Gunnison, Colorado
The historic City of Gunnison, a Home Rule Municipality, is the county seat and the most populous city of Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,854. It was named in honor of John W...
.
With the Predators dead, the hybrid and several facehuggers escape, implanting embryos into a nearby father and son and into several homeless people living in the sewers. A distress signal from the wrecked ship reaches the Predator home world and a lone Predator responds, traveling to Earth and using its advanced technology to observe the cause of the crash and to track the facehuggers. It begins to erase the evidence of the Aliens' presence by destroying the crashed ship and using a blue liquid to dissolve the bodies of the facehuggers and their victims.
Meanwhile, ex-convict
Convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...
Dallas Howard (Steven Pasquale
Steven Pasquale
Steven Pasquale is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Sean Garrity in the critically acclaimed series Rescue Me. He made his debut on the HBO series Six Feet Under, playing a love interest for David. He also starred in the film Aliens vs...
) has just returned to Gunnison after serving time in prison. He is greeted by Sheriff Eddie Morales (John Ortiz
John Ortiz
John Ortiz is an American actor and Artistic Director/Co-Founder of LAByrinth Theater Company.-Career:In 1993, John made his film debut as Al Pacino’s young cousin ‘Guajiro’ in Carlito’s Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad,...
) and reunites with his younger brother Ricky (Johnny Lewis
Johnny Lewis
Jonathan Kendrick "Johnny" Lewis , also credited as Johnny K. Lewis, is an American actor.-Life and career:Lewis began making television appearances while in his late teens with guest starring roles in American Dreams , Boston Public , and The Guardian , among others...
). Ricky has a romantic interest in his more affluent classmate Jesse (Kristen Hager
Kristen Hager
Kristen Hager is a Canadian film and television actress.-Biography:Hager was born in Red Lake, Ontario, and made her first television appearance in the mini-series Beach Girls in 2005. A year later, she appeared in the TV series Runaway, which starred Donnie Wahlberg and child actress Niamh Wilson...
) and is being harassed by her boyfriend Dale (David Paetkau
David Paetkau
David E. Paetkau is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Evan Lewis in Final Destination 2 , Beck McKaye in Whistler , and Sam Braddock in the CTV television series Flashpoint ....
) and two of his friends. Kelly O'Brien (Reiko Aylesworth
Reiko Aylesworth
Reiko M. Aylesworth is an American film, television and stage actress, best known for her role on the television series 24 as Michelle Dessler.-Life and career:...
) has also just returned to Gunnison after service in the military, and reunites with her husband Tim (Sam Trammell
Sam Trammell
Sam Trammell is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Sam Merlotte in the HBO vampire series, True Blood, which saw him nominated for a 2009 Scream Award for "Breakout Performance - Male."...
) and daughter Molly (Ariel Gade
Ariel Gade
Ariel Gade is an American child actress from San Jose, California. She made her first acting appearance on an episode of television’s Strong Medicine, and followed this with a performance in Barry Levinson’s Envy .-Career:...
).
The Predator fights a number of Aliens in the sewers, and as the battle reaches the surface several of them disperse into the town. The Predator pursues some to the power plant, where collateral damage
Collateral damage
Collateral damage is damage to people or property that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome. The phrase is prevalently used as an euphemism for civilian casualties of a military action.-Etymology:...
from its weaponry causes a city-wide power outage
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
. Ricky and Jesse meet at the high school swimming pool but are interrupted by Dale and his cohorts just as the power fails and an Alien enters the building, killing Dale's friends. Another Alien invades the O'Brien home, killing Tim while Kelly escapes with Molly.
Kelly, Molly, Ricky, Jesse, Dale, Dallas, and Sheriff Morales meet at a sporting goods store to gather weapons. Troops from the Colorado Army National Guard
Colorado Army National Guard
The Colorado Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization...
arrive but are quickly killed by the Aliens. When the battle between the Predator and the Aliens enters the store, Dale is killed and the Predator's shoulder cannons are damaged; it is able to modify one into a hand-held blaster.
As the survivors attempt to escape Gunnison they make radio contact with Colonel Stevens (Robert Joy
Robert Joy
Robert Joy is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Sid Hammerback in CSI: NY and playing Charlie in Land of the Dead.-Early life:...
), who indicates that an air evacuation is being staged at the center of town. Kelly is suspicious of the military's intentions, convincing a small group to go to the hospital where they hope to escape by helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
, while Sheriff Morales heads to the evacuation area with the rest of the surviving citizens. The hospital, however, has been invaded by Aliens and the hybrid creature. The Predator soon arrives and in the ensuing battle Jesse is killed, Ricky is injured, and Dallas takes possession of the Predator's blaster cannon.
As the battle reaches the rooftop, Dallas, Ricky, Kelly, and Molly escape in the helicopter while the Predator battles the hybrid hand-to-hand. The two creatures mortally wound each other just as a military jet arrives; rather than a rescue airlift it is a bomber, executing a tactical nuclear
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
strike that destroys the entire city and kills all of the extraterrestrials along with the remaining citizens. The shock wave causes the fleeing helicopter to crash in a clearing, where the survivors are rescued by the military. The Predator's blaster cannon is confiscated by Colonel Stevens and presented to a Ms. Yutani.
Cast
- Reiko AylesworthReiko AylesworthReiko M. Aylesworth is an American film, television and stage actress, best known for her role on the television series 24 as Michelle Dessler.-Life and career:...
as Kelly O'Brien, a soldier who returns to her family in Gunnison from military service. - Ariel GadeAriel GadeAriel Gade is an American child actress from San Jose, California. She made her first acting appearance on an episode of television’s Strong Medicine, and followed this with a performance in Barry Levinson’s Envy .-Career:...
as Molly O'Brien, daughter of Kelly and Tim O'Brien. - Kristen HagerKristen HagerKristen Hager is a Canadian film and television actress.-Biography:Hager was born in Red Lake, Ontario, and made her first television appearance in the mini-series Beach Girls in 2005. A year later, she appeared in the TV series Runaway, which starred Donnie Wahlberg and child actress Niamh Wilson...
as Jesse, a classmate of Ricky Howard who begins to show interest in him, angering her boyfriend Dale. - Gina HoldenGina Holden- Early life :Holden was born in the small town of Smithers, British Columbia, Canada, and moved often while growing up. With every move, Holden would join whatever community group she could so she could follow her passion for acting. At fifteen, she was signed to a modeling contract and moved to...
as Carrie, a waitress. - Chelah HorsdalChelah HorsdalChelah Horsdal is a Canadian actress and model.-Life and career:She grew up in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver with her mother, Lindsay. Her father is the folk singer Valdy...
as Darcy, wife of the father and son hunting pair who go missing in the woods. - Robert JoyRobert JoyRobert Joy is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Sid Hammerback in CSI: NY and playing Charlie in Land of the Dead.-Early life:...
as Colonel Stevens, commander of the military forces attempting to contain the Alien infestation. - Johnny LewisJohnny LewisJonathan Kendrick "Johnny" Lewis , also credited as Johnny K. Lewis, is an American actor.-Life and career:Lewis began making television appearances while in his late teens with guest starring roles in American Dreams , Boston Public , and The Guardian , among others...
as Ricky Howard, a high school student and younger brother of Dallas. - John OrtizJohn OrtizJohn Ortiz is an American actor and Artistic Director/Co-Founder of LAByrinth Theater Company.-Career:In 1993, John made his film debut as Al Pacino’s young cousin ‘Guajiro’ in Carlito’s Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad,...
as Eddie Morales, the sheriffSheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Gunnison. - Steven PasqualeSteven PasqualeSteven Pasquale is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Sean Garrity in the critically acclaimed series Rescue Me. He made his debut on the HBO series Six Feet Under, playing a love interest for David. He also starred in the film Aliens vs...
as Dallas Howard, a recently-released convictConvictA convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...
who returns to Gunnison and reunites with his brother, Ricky. - David PaetkauDavid PaetkauDavid E. Paetkau is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Evan Lewis in Final Destination 2 , Beck McKaye in Whistler , and Sam Braddock in the CTV television series Flashpoint ....
as Dale Collins, Jesse's boyfriend who bullies Ricky. - Sam TrammellSam TrammellSam Trammell is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Sam Merlotte in the HBO vampire series, True Blood, which saw him nominated for a 2009 Scream Award for "Breakout Performance - Male."...
as Tim O'Brien, husband to Kelly and father of Molly. - Ian WhyteIan Whyte (actor)Ian Whyte is a Welsh actor, stuntman and former professional basketball player.-Career:Born in Bangor, North Wales, he is known best for portraying almost all of the Predators in both Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. He stands at the height of .- Filmography :- External links :*...
as the PredatorPredator (alien)The Predator is a fictional extraterrestrial species featured in the Predator science-fiction franchise, characterised by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport, including humans and its fictional counterparts, Aliens....
, one of the film's titular alien species. The main Predator of the film comes to Earth in order to eliminate the Aliens and all traces of their presence. This Predator was nicknamed "Wolf" by the production team, after Harvey KeitelHarvey KeitelHarvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
's character in Pulp FictionPulp fictionPulp fiction may refer to:* pulp magazines, short stories presented in a magazine format, printed on cheaply made wood-pulp paper* Pulp Fiction, a 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino...
whose role is also that of a "cleaner". Whyte had previously portrayed the Predator in Alien vs. PredatorAlien vs. Predator (film)Alien vs. Predator is a 2004 American science fiction film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson for 20th Century Fox and starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen. The film adapts the Alien vs. Predator crossover imprint bringing together the eponymous creatures of the Alien and Predator series, a...
. Additional Predators in the film's opening scene were played by Ian Feuer and Bobby "Slim" Jones. - Tom Woodruff, Jr. as the Aliens, the other titular species of the film. Having previously portrayed the Aliens in Alien 3, Alien Resurrection and Alien vs. Predator, Woodruff reprised the role for Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. He also portrayed the Alien/Predator hybrid creature, dubbed the Predalien by the production team.
Production
Inspired by Terminator 2: Judgment DayTerminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
, brothers Colin and Greg Strause moved to Los Angeles to break into the film business. After an unsuccessful attempt to find employment at ILM, the brothers worked on the X-Files
The X-Files (film)
The X-Files is a 1998 American science fiction-thriller film written by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Rob Bowman. It is the first feature film based on The X-Files series created by Carter that revolves around a fictional FBI paranormal investigation unit called the X-Files...
film and founded their own special effects company, Hydraulx
Hydraulx
hy*drau"lx, alternatively spelled HYDRAULX and Hydraulx, is a visual effects company based in Santa Monica, California.It was founded in 2002 by Greg and Colin Strause, directors of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. In 2005, the studio completed over 700 visual effects shots for feature films...
. The company produced special effects for films such as Volcano, Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
, The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American science-fiction disaster film that depicts the catastrophic effects of global warming in a series of extreme weather events that usher in global cooling which leads to a new ice age. The film did well at the box office, grossing $542,771,772 internationally...
, Poseidon and 300
300 (film)
300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
and the brothers began a career directing commercials and music videos. Colin believes Hydraulx secured a strong relationship with 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, which owns the Alien and Predator franchises.
The brothers unsuccessfully pitched an idea for the first Alien vs. Predator film and Fox almost bought a film titled Wolfenstein suggested by the brothers, "When the script came up for this movie, they thought we'd be perfect for it because it's an ambitious movie for the budget that they had and they knew that having our visual effects background was going to be a huge thing." The brothers were hired to direct the sequel to Alien vs. Predator in late spring 2006 and had limited time to start filming in the fall.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was filmed on a 52-day schedule in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. During filming breaks, the brothers supervised visual effects work on 300
300 (film)
300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
, Shooter and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a 2007 American superhero film, and the sequel to the 2005 film Fantastic Four. Both films are based on the Fantastic Four comic book and were directed by Tim Story...
by using in-house supervisors and a system called Mavis and Lucy, which let the brothers track, view and approve dailies. Colin estimates Hydraulx produced 460 of the 500 visual effects shots including the nuclear explosion which was created using Maya
Maya (software)
Autodesk Maya , commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video...
fluids and BA Volume Shader. The interior of the Predator ship was created using CGI, as the brothers felt it would be more cost effective than building a set. The visual effects team peaked at 110 people for several months and averaged 70, almost all of the entire Hydraulx staff.
Using their knowledge in visual effects and making use of principal photography, the brothers tried to film as much as they could on camera without resorting to CGI, Colin said "Other than the exterior spaceship shots, there are no pure CG shots". CGI was used for the Alien tails and inner-jaws, whereas they required puppeteers and wire removal on previous films. The main visual effects of the film included set design, a nuclear explosion, the Predator's ship crashing and the Predator cloak, about which Colin stated "We wanted to make sure it didn't look too digital".
Soundtrack
Brian TylerBrian Tyler (composer)
Brian Tyler is an American composer, producer, conductor, and film producer most known for his scores of Eagle Eye, The Expendables, Battle: Los Angeles, The Final Destination, Rambo, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Final Destination 5. Tyler is a symphonic conductor and conducts his own scores....
was hired to compose the score for the film. The end credits track entitled "Requiem" is a clash of two main themes, one consisting of the Predator type theme (bongos and basses) and the second of the Aliens (high pitched violins, violas and flutes). The directors Colin and Greg Strause wanted to take a new direction from Harald Kloser
Harald Kloser
Harald Kloser is an Austrian-born film composer and writer who has won the BMI Film Music Award in 2005 for both of his scores of Alien vs...
's Alien vs Predator score and wanted Tyler to use some reference to the two films' original score pieces, such as the horrific violas and percussion from James Horner
James Horner
James Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...
's Aliens and the primitive tribal percussion from Alan Silvestri
Alan Silvestri
Alan Anthony Silvestri is an American film composer and conductor.-Career:Silvestri is best known for his collaborations with director Robert Zemeckis, having scored Romancing the Stone , the Back to the Future trilogy , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Death Becomes Her , Forrest Gump , Contact ,...
's Predator and its sequel. Brian Tyler also referenced composer John Frizzel
John Frizzel
John Frizzell is an American film and television composer. As a young boy, Frizzell sang soprano in the National Cathedral Choir, the Paris Opera Company, and the Metropolitan Opera Company. However, once he hit puberty, his voice changed...
's Alien Resurrection into the score, in the tracks of National Guard pt.1 & 2 and Taking Sides.
Box office
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was released in North America on December 25, 2007, in 2,563 theaters. It was rated R for violence, gore and language, unlike its predecessor, which was given a PG-13 rating. The BBFC'sBritish Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
classification decision for the film is the same as the original (Rated 15), whilst the Australian ACB rated the film MA15+, up from the original's M rating.
The film grossed $9,515,615 on its opening day for an average of $3,707 per theater and was number ten at the box office. It grossed $5 million in Australia, $9 million in Japan and the United Kingdom and $7 million in Russia for an international total of $86,288,761. As of February 24, 2009, the film had taken in a domestic gross of $41,797,066 and an international gross of $87,087,428, bringing it to a total of $128,884,494. The budget of the film was $40,000,000. The film is the lowest grossing Alien film in the domestic box office and is the second lowest grossing Alien film worldwide, next to the original Alien, excluding the effect of inflation.
Critical response
As with its predecessor, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was not screened for critics, although once able to view the film, the response was largely negative. Based on 68 reviews, the film scored a 12% approval rating at Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
and 29 out of 100 at Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the worst for a film in the franchises. Chief criticisms of the film included acting, dialogue, cardboard characters, over-the-top gore, bad lighting and "jumpy editing"; however, a few critics called the film "a fun B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
".
Chris Hewitt of Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
called it an "early but strong contender for worst movie of 2008", while BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
critic Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons...
's scathing review called the film "noisy, badly shot rubbish". Stina Chyn of Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
felt the camerawork "is a smidge too shaky and the lighting/color design too dark for me to relish the Predator-on-Alien butt-kicking". Josh Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle dismissed the film stating it was "An orgy of mindless violence, a random collection of bloody bodies, alien misanthropy and slobbering carnage designed to bore straight into the pleasure centers of 13-year-old boys and leave the rest of us wondering when the movies got so damn loud." The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
contributor Kirk Honeycutt called it a "dull actioner that looks like a bad video game".
Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
felt it was a "B movie that truly earns its B", though he gave it a grading of "B" on an A to F scale. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
contributor Joe Leydon said it "Provides enough cheap thrills and modest suspense to shake a few shekels from genre fans before really blasting off as homevid product," and Ryan Stewart of Cinematical said he "can't recommend it as a good movie on its own merits, stocked as it is with cardboard cutout characters and a barely coherent plot, but it's miles more interesting than the last Alien vs. Predator film." Todd Gilchrist of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
stated the film is "competently executed, occasionally scary and frequently fun to watch, no matter whether you choose to laugh at or with it".
There was the occasional positive review; Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times stated "It may not be classic sci-fi like the original Alien, which it has in its DNA, but it’s a perfectly respectable next step in the series." Daily Variety called it "Slam-Bang-Horror Action!" and MovieWeb.com said "A cool new monster...over-the-top violence...AVP-R is a lot of fun!"
Awards
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was nominated for two Golden Raspberry awards in the fields of Worst Excuse for a Horror Movie and Worst Prequel or Sequel. The awards however, went to I Know Who Killed MeI Know Who Killed Me
I Know Who Killed Me is a 2007 American horror-thriller film directed by Chris Sivertson and starring Lindsay Lohan.-Plot:The quiet suburb of New Salem is being terrorized by a serial killer who abducts and tortures young women, holding them captive for weeks before murdering them...
and Daddy Day Camp
Daddy Day Camp
Daddy Day Camp is a 2007 American family comedy film directed by Fred Savage in his feature film directing debut. It was the sequel to Daddy Day Care , with a recast of the characters that appeared in the original film. The film was produced by Revolution Studios and released by TriStar Pictures...
. On May 8, 2008, AVP:R was nominated for an MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
Movie Award for Best Fight Sequence.
Home media release
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on April 15, 2008 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and May 12, 2008 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Fox Home Entertainment. It was released in three versions: a single-disc, R-rated version of the 94-minute theatrical presentation, a single-disc unrated version extended to 101 minutes and a two-disc unrated version with the 101 minute film and a second disc of special features. Extra features on the single-disc editions include two audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
tracks: one by the directors and producer John Davis and a second by creature effects designers and creators Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis.
Disc one of the two-disc unrated edition includes both commentary tracks as well as both cuts of the film seamlessly branched and an exclusive "Weyland-Yutani archives" picture-in-picture reference guide to the warring alien races; five behind-the-scenes featurettes: "Prepare for War: The Making of AVP-R", "Fight to the Finish: The Making of AVP-R", "AVP-R: The Nightmare Returns - Creating the Aliens", "Crossbreed: The Predalien", and "Building the Predator Homeworld"; multiple galleries of still photos showing the creature designs and sets; and the film's theatrical trailer. The second disc includes a "digital copy
Digital copy
Digital Copy provides consumers who purchase a film on DVD or Blu-ray Disc with an additional, digital copy of the movie for devices capable of operating with a file in contrast to a DVD.-Features:...
" download feature.
In its first week of release, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem debuted at #2 on the DVD charts, earning $7.7 million and #1 on the Blu-ray charts. The film has made $28,550,434 in DVD sales in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, bringing its total film gross to $157,461,400.
Video game
A tie-inTie-in
A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
video game for the film was released on November 13, 2007 in North America, November 30 in Europe and December 6 in Australia. The game, developed by Rebellion Developments
Rebellion Developments
Rebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
and published by Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
, was a third-person
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
action-adventure game
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
, allowing players to take the role of the Predator from the film. The game received generally negative reviews from the gaming press.