Predator 2 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This was a fairly good representation of a challenging image.
For the most part, sharpness seemed fine. The movie came across as accurate and distinct. Only minor instances of softness impacted this largely well-defined picture.
Jagged edges and moiré effects created no concerns, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws failed to manifest, and with a lot of grain, I didn’t suspect problematic use of digital noise reduction.
When I say “a lot of grain”, I mean it, as Predator 2 offered one of the grainier images I’ve seen. Was it always this grainy and I just didn’t notice on other formats? Maybe, but if you’re grain-a-phobic, this one will become problematic for you.
Predator 2 presented a lively palette, and the disc replicated those tones well, although all that grain could impact them somewhat. Still, the image handled some scenes with red lighting nicely, and the other hues came across as tight and vivid. HDR added some range and impact to the hues.
Black levels seemed deep and dark, and shadows were appropriately clear. HDR brought greater punch to whites and contrast as well. No one will confuse this for demo material, but the movie seemed fairly well-rendered given the nature of the source.
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio of Predator 2 also demonstrated some issues related to its era, but it mostly was satisfying. Audio from the forward channels worked well, as the music showed good stereo presence and effects blended together neatly and cleanly.
Material seemed well placed and elements moved smoothly between channels. Surround usage appeared somewhat excessive and artificial at times, but the rear speakers usually provided good reinforcement of the front speakers. Too much music came from the back channels, but effects became nicely engrossing and lively.
Audio quality seemed quite good. Speech sounded natural and distinct, and I noticed no issues related to intelligibility or edginess.
Music appeared very strong, as the score consistently came across as bold and dynamic, with solid clarity. Effects also seemed clean and accurate, and they packed a serious punch.
Low-end material appeared tight and deep, as elements such as helicopters and the predator’s heartbeat presented tight and deep bass. Overall, the mix for Predator 2 worked nicely and earned a “B+”.
How did this 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Audio remained identical, as both sported the same DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix.
Visuals became a different affair, as the 4K UHD offered superior delineation and colors. It also lost the minor edge haloes and print flaws of the Blu-ray.
The 4K also gained grain, which could create a negative to some viewers. For me, the positives reigned and made the 4K the more appealing image.
On the 4K disc itself, we find two separate audio commentaries. The first comes from director Stephen Hopkins. He offers a running, screen-specific piece that covers logical subjects but never catches fire.
Hopkins goes over story issues, the cast, locations and sets, visual and practical effects, the movie’s look, MPAA ratings concerns, and music. All of these make perfect sense, and we learn a fair amount about the movie.
However, the conversation usually remains fairly superficial and doesn’t deliver a rich examination of the topics. For example, Hopkins briefly mentions that they originally wanted to pair Danny Glover with Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the latter chose to work on T2 instead.
And that’s that - no more detail about how the film would have differed in that incarnation or anything else. A moderate number of gaps interfere, and the track generally remains low-key. It comes across as average.
For the second commentary, we hear from writers Jim Thomas and John Thomas, both of whom sit together for their running, screen-specific discussion. When they speak, the brothers offer nice reflections. Unfortunately, they chime in too infrequently and leave quite a lot of dead air.
Nonetheless, I learned a fair amount of good information from this chat. We get notes about the original plans for the story and various changes that occurred along the way.
They also discuss limitations placed on the filmmakers as well as anecdotes from the shoot. They elaborate on issues that didn’t get enough coverage in Hopkins’ piece, so for example, we hear more of how a Predator 2 with Schwarzenegger would have worked.
As I mentioned, when the guys talk, they prove useful. It’s the gaps that make this a less scintillating commentary than I’d like.
The remaining extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy, and we go to a documentary called The Hunters and the Hunted. In this 35-minute, 41-second piece, we hear from Hopkins, Jim and John Thomas, Stan Winston Studios’ John Rosengrant, executive producer Michael Levy, stunt coordinator Gary Davis, creature creator Stan Winston, and actors Bill Paxton, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Maria Conchita Alonso, Ruben Blades, Morton Downey Jr., and Kevin Peter Hall.
”Hunted” goes over the basic concept behind the sequel, the characters and actors, the design and execution of the predator, filming on location in LA, stunts, sets, the movie’s climax, and finishing the flick.
One disappointment: most of the interviews come from 1990. The only new comments are with Hopkins and Rosengrant, so everyone else was shot during the making of the movie.
Those kinds of chats don’t necessarily have to be less useful, but they lack perspective and they tend to be fluffy and without much substance, as they mostly exist to promote the film.
Much of “Hunted” suffers from that tone. Especially in the program’s first half, it fails to deliver many interesting notes as it stays with superficial elements like basic character information or praise for the actors.
The program improves in its second half as it gets into the technical aspects of the predator creature and actually shooting the movie. Despite those better elements, the documentary remains lackluster.
A section called Evolutions offers some special effects development clips. These pieces last a total of eight minutes, 24 seconds and cover four scenes: “Main Title”, “Something on the Roof”, “Enemy in the Alley”, and “Subway Showdown”.
In these, we see effects elements at various stages of completion while we hear commentary from visual effects supervisor Joel Hynek. He discusses the material and lets us in on the methods used to execute the elements. I like the rough footage, and Hynek’s remarks present a nice discussion of the work.
For a look at the predator’s arsenal, we head to Weapons of Choice. This offers “weapons analysis clips” that take a total of six minutes, 49 seconds. They cover “Gauntlet Knives”, “Self Destruct”, “Plasma Cannon”, “Net Launcher”, “Smart Weapon” and “Telescoping Spear”.
We hear remarks from Hopkins and (mostly) Rosengrant. They get into the design of various weapons and how they were made to seem real in the flick. The show goes through the bits awfully quickly, but it develops the topics with reasonable detail to make the show informative.
Within the “Promotional Gallery”, a number of components appear. We discover three theatrical trailers. Five TV Spots also pop up in this area.
Three featurettes fill out the “Promotional Gallery”. The Predator Goes to Town runs a mere three minutes, three seconds. It features remarks from Jim and John Thomas, Hopkins, Levy, Alonso, Glover, Busey, and Paxton.
We also get some goofy comments from Californians on the street. The filmmakers go over basic story issues and not much more. Some of the footage from the set is fun to see, but there’s no useful information here.
We get a 1990 international featurette that runs five minutes, 42 seconds. Mostly it shows movie clips in addition to some behind the scenes snippets and interview tidbits from Hopkins, Glover, Busey, Alonso, Blades, and Paxton.
A few of the shots from the scene seem decent, but the interviews lack substance and the featurette exists as nothing more than a glorified trailer.
Another promotional program from 1990, Creating the Ultimate Hunter lasts three minutes, 40 seconds. However, at least this one tries a little harder to divulge filmmaking information.
We get the same mix of materials as we learn about the creation of predator vision, urban camouflage, and the predator’s weapons. The piece names none of the participants, so while I recognized Hopkins, Winston, Glover, the Thomas brothers and Downey, I couldn’t identify any of the other technical personnel.
The material from the set seems moderately useful but not deep, and the details about the effects also fail to tell us much. Like the prior featurette, this one remains very oriented toward hyping the film, so don’t expect to learn much from it.
For a fun addition, we get two Hard Core segments. These are the clips created for the fictional tabloid news show seen in the movie. “City at War” lasts three minutes, 17 seconds, while “From Penthouse to Slaughterhouse” goes for three minutes, 48 seconds.
Some audio elements fail to appear, so no narration can be heard, and Pope’s reports lack a lot of the necessary sound effects. Nonetheless, it’s cool to get a closer look at these pieces.
A lively and generally exciting little action flick, Predator 2 doesn’t do anything to redefine the genre, but it works well as a whole. It seems consistently more satisfying than the disappointing original movie, and it contains enough solid thrills to make it a success. The 4K UHD offers generally good picture and strong sound as well as an intermittently involving roster of supplements. I like the movie and think the 4K UHD becomes a satisfactory rendition of it.
Note that as of May 2021, this 4K UHD version of Predator 2 appears only as part of a “4-Movie Collection”. It also comes with 4K UHD copies of Predator, Predators and The Predator. (Actually, it also can be found in a “3-Movie Collection”, but that went out of print when Fox released the “4-Movie” set.)
To rate this film, visit the original review of PREDATOR 2
