Predator -Widescreen Collector's Edition-

Product Description A sneaky alien monster attacks commandos on a jungle mission in South America. Additional Features A legion of Predator fans will be grateful for the wealth of extras included on the collector's edition DVD. It's pretty standard stuff, however, mostly comprised of materials from the film's original 1987 making-of documentary, with new interview clips (featuring Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Shane Black, and others) provided for retrospective history. John McTiernan's laid-back commentary is interesting primarily for his perspective on the production's troubled history; his appreciation of the cast; the deliberately "pornographic" gunfire scenes (intended to please studio executives with its sheer excessiveness); the laughable failure of the first (and immediately abandoned) Predator design; Schwarzenegger's weight loss (partially due to a nasty case of diarrhea); and various anecdotes relating to the challenges of filming in the jungles of Mexico. The text commentary is best reserved for devoted fans and film students, covering a wide range of behind-the-scenes details regarding stunt work, armory and ordnance, sound design, cinematography, and other primary aspects of production. The featurettes are brief and fairly routine, covering such areas as makeup, Schwarzenegger's leadership qualities on the set, preliminary special-effects tests, the modified gatling gun nicknamed "Ol' Painless," and a tribute to creature actor Kevin Peter Hall, who died in 1991. While most of this material was previously released on a European DVD, its region 1 debut was well-timed to coincide with the late-summer 2004 release of Alien vs. Predator. --Jeff Shannon