Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Predator and Alien Warrior from AVP: Requiem

You've seen the Predalien for the upcoming AVP: Requiem. Now it's time to bring on the two main factions of the movie: the Predator and Alien Warrior.

Personally, I like the Predator more. The first and second movie are still two of my all-time favorites after so many years. However, unlike the first AVP, the Predator in the past always seems more mysterious, and deadly too. In the first movie, you only get to see him turning off his cloaking device towards the end of the movie. The only two weapons the Predator used were the shoulder cannon and wrist blade, but he managed to eliminate an entire commando squadron lead by Arnie (except the hero of corse ^^). Those two weapons established the long-lasting 'trademark' of this race, as they were included in the following movies as well.

Predator1_Weapons_s
The shoulder cannon and wrist blade from the original Predator.

The second Predator movie put a lot more weapons on the lone hunter. Apart from the shoulder cannon and wrist blade, the notorious retractable spear, Smart Disc, forearm cannon, net gun and spear gun are also available, and the movie also revealed the versatility of the Predator's mask in showing not just infra red vision, but plenty of other visibility modes. Predator 2 in my opinion is also the goriest in this series, and the highest body count 'accomplished' by the hunter.

Predator2_Weapons_s
Weapons in Predator 2: (clockwise) spear gun, forearm cannon, smart disc, spear and net gun.

The first AVP movie introduced the Shuriken, ceremonial dagger, longer (and cooler wrist blade) and more decorative masks for the Predator. At the same time, they were the most heavily armored ones in the series as well, but disappointingly, they seemed pretty 'amateur' XD and not as agile as their previous brethren. Two of the three were KO-ed by the same single Alien warrior, and the last one needed human technology to escape from the 'hunting ground'. I read somewhere that they were juvenile Predators who went to such 'hunt' for the first time, but their performance was still very disappointing nonetheless.

AVP_PredatorTrio_s
I totally miss the Celtic warrior. XD He actually appeared for a brief moment at the end of Predator 2. Remember him?

AVP_Weapons_s
Weapons in AVP: (top down) ceremonial dagger, long wrist blade, and shuriken.

That's why I have quite a lot of hope for this upcoming AVP. Although I believe the flow of the story is more important than merely satisfying the fans' expectations, but I really hope that the Predator will be much more powerful this time.

And apparently from the trailer, it's quite promising ^^ Apart from the action, the Predator is armed with a pair of shoulder cannons for more firepower, and a chain whip, which he used to make mincemeat out of an Alien warrior in the trailer.

Can't wait to see the the rest of his action in the next few days ^^

AVP-R_Predator_01 AVP-R_Predator_02
This is the 14-inch (36 cm!!) action figure from Hot Toys. He seems a bit thin though...

AVP-R_Predator_03 AVP-R_Predator_04
AVP-R_Predator_07 AVP-R_Predator_06
What happened to his face? From all the scars, he seems like a seasoned hunter who had been through many combats with the Alien.
Hmm... very promising indeed.

AVP-R_Predator_07
The details of the Predator's mask are extremely close to the movie version. Apart from the engraving, all the cracks and scratches seem to be straight out of the movie.

AVP-R_Predator_08
I wonder what all those engravings on the mask means?.

The Alien warriors on the other, is quite static in term of their designs throughout the years. Very slimy, and the clutched teeth with plenty of dripping saliva is the long lasting image I have about this creature ^^

AVP_Alien_s
"You ugly son of a..." XD

For AVP: Requiem, the head of the Alien Warrior shows more silhouette of its skull underneath, and its hands seem a bit different from the other previous movies. I'm not exactly sure about that though. Fans of Alien should be able to tell.

AVP-R_Alien_01_s AVP-R_Alien_02_s
AVP-R_Alien_05_s AVP-R_Alien_06_s
This is the 16-inch (40 cm!!) Alien Warrior action figure, also from Hot Toys.

AVP-R_Alien_03_s AVP-R_Alien_04_s
The Facehugger! Yuck!