Movies - Alien vs. Predator

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	Movies - Alien vs. Predator

Alien vs. Predator (also known as AvP) is a motion picture released in 2004 by 20th Century Fox and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. It is based both on several series of Alien Vs. Predator comic books published by Dark Horse Comics and on the Alien and Predator films which spawned the original characters. The release of the film marks the two species' first shared appearance in a motion picture.

Background

Screenwriter Peter Briggs created the original spec screenplay in 1990-1991, which itself was essentially a simple rewrite of the comics. In 1991 he succesfully pitched the concept to 20th Century Fox, who owned both film franchises, although the company did not move forward with the project until 2003 after several re-writes of the original concept and screenplay and several changes to the cast and crew. Production began in late-2003 on the Barrandov Studios backlot in Prague, where the vast majority of the filming took place.

As a precautionary measure aganist bad press, the filmmakers declined to let critics view the film in advance, a wise decision given that once critics were allowed to review the film they were, as expected, not very positive about it.

Despite the poor reviews, the film earned more than 38 million dollars over its US opening weekend and spent its first week of release at the top of box office charts. However, the success did not last long and subsequent weeks saw the film's popularity (and thus revenue intake) severely decline.

The film ultimately made enough money ($80.3 million) and won itself enough of a fanbase that a sequel is rumored to be in the works.

Storyline

Set in 2004, the film centers at first on billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland, owner of multi-national communications giant Weyland Corporation (which eventually becomes the Weyland-Yutani Corporation of the Alien films). Weyland is dying of an unnamed disease and is concerned that he has not done a sufficient job of securing a legacy by which he will be remembered. An opportunity for him to do so seems to present itself when one of the corporation's satellites detects a sudden, never-before-seen heat source emanating from below the surface of an ice-island next to Antarctica. In a desperate bid to secure the source of the heat bloom in the name of the corporation, Weyland hastily assembles a team of scientists, paleontologists, archaeologists, linguistic experts, weapons experts and a "rough and tumble" female guide with a reputation for leading groups into unfriendly terrain in the hopes of mounting a quick discovery and retrieval campaign.

Once on site, the team discovers an incredibly advanced, self-powered pyramid with the capability to turn itself on and off based on input from a semi-mechanical, Aztec-style calendar. Believing that within the pyramid lies the proof of an empire predating humankind, the group goes in, but finds much more than ancient sarcophaguses and hieroglyphics. Dismembered human skeletons and the fossilized remains of alien creatures that appear to have violently burst out of the humans' chests are found in a sacrificial chamber, while hieroglyphs inside the structure seem to indicate that the events are all part of an ancient ritual. Matters only get worse when three Predators (Yautja) arrive, apparently to take part in a gruesome rite of passage wherein young Predators must travel to Earth and kill the Alien (Xenomorphs) creatures or die in the process. Suddenly thrust into the middle of a fight that's been happening for millennia, the humans find themselves battling for their lives as the Predators and Aliens continue their battle for superiority.

Trivia

A number of changes were made to both the appearance and equipment of the Predators in AvP. Director Paul Anderson and the film's costume designers chose to give the Predators heavier armor in AvP than had been seen in the prior Predator films, partly because they felt it made the Predators seem less vulnerable to the Aliens and partly because it gave them a larger, sturdier overall appearance. Some fans, however, were upset with the costuming, as many felt that it made the Predators appear overly bulky, unstable and awkward. In addition, the Predator's vision system has been modified; it now includes a viewing mode used for tracking the Aliens. Modifications have been made to almost all of the previous weapons: the wrist blades are longer and larger, and can be fired; the net gun has been built into the wrist gauntlet, and its nets automatically contract; a folding shuriken-style weapon has replaced the disc; a more ornate version of the spear appears at the end of the film; the plasma-casters are larger and more powerful, for use against Aliens; and one Predator is given a pair of giant, retractable fore-arm claws, though he never gets a chance to use them.
There is a considerable amount of confusion in regards to the Bishop android who appeared in the Alien films and his tie to Weyland in AVP. In Alien³
we are introduced to a character credited as "Bishop II", who claims that he is a designer for Weyland Yutani and that the Bishop android (seen primarily in Aliens
) was created in his image. However Charles Weyland is played by Lance Henrikson in AVP, the same actor who portrayed both Bishop and "Bishop II". Based on this and the fact that the events of AVP take place decades (if not more than 100 years) before the events of Aliens, it is most likely the case that the Bishop android was created in the image of Charles Weyland as seen in AVP, and that "Bishop II" is simply another machine who is either lying when he claims to have been a designer or who has been programmed with false memories. Some debate still surrounds this subject, though Lance Henriksen has admitted his own opinion that "Bishop II" was an advanced model of the Bishop android.
The Alien gestation cycle as shown in the Alien films seems to take anywhere from several days to several weeks; however in AVP the gestation cycle takes what seems to be only a few hours, far quicker than should be possible. There is some indication that the Predators have altered the Queen's reproductive system to allow for this quickened gestation, but it's not entirely explicated in the film.

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