Predator 2
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Predator 2 (1990) is a science fiction movie starring Danny Glover. It is a sequel to the successful Predator which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. Apart from suit actor Kevin Peter Hall, the film had an all new cast. The movie was poorly received upon release when compared with the original, although it has grown into a cult classic since, with video and DVD.
Taglines:
- Silent. Invisible. Invincible.The Ultimate Hunter
- Hunting season opens again …
- The Ultimate Hunter.
- This time he's coming to a different kind of jungle.
- This Time … Los Angeles, 1997.
- He's In Town With A Few Days To Kill
Plot
The film is set in 1997 during an unusually high heat wave in Los Angeles. A vicious street war between rival drug gangs armed with military-grade weapons (Jamaican and Colombian drug cartels) dominates the city. A gang war has erupted in the streets after the uncovering of a drug run, with cops Leona (Maria Conchita Alonso) and Danny Archuleta (Ruben Blades) awaiting the aid of professional and hard-trained cop Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover). After an intense firefight between cops and criminals, the injured are rescued from the crossfire, which leads to the criminals withdrawing into a nearby building, where they have set up a supply area and intend to load up for a final battle with the police. A series of explosions rocks the inside of the building, followed by random gunfire. Harrigan investigates, only to find all but one of the criminals dead, but with no bullet wounds. The last criminal falls to his death, and Harrigan leaves the site with his comrades, but not before spotting a nearly transparent silhouette that appears to be a large person, which he disregards as an effect of the intense heat wave. Harrigan's crew determine that a new "player," armed with state-of-the-art (or better) weaponry has entered the Jamaican/Columbian drug war.
Back at the station, Harrigan is introduced to Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), leader of a federal task force investigating rumours that Jamaican drug lords aim to take over the West Coast from their Columbian rivals. Harrigan is later introduced to a star-transfer from another district, Jerry Lambert (Bill Paxton), whose carefree attitude coupled with his competence as a cop makes him a valued, if sometimes annoying, ally.
Jamaican criminals attack a key honcho of the Colombian drug gangs. The intruder takes advantage of a situation and kills every Jamaican at the site, leaving only a prostitute, who is discovered, repeatedly murmuring "The devil came and took them" in Spanish. Harrigan, having disobeyed orders pending Keyes' arrival on site, is threatened by the federal agent, telling him he is in over his head. Harrigan tells his comrade Danny they will come back later to investigate when Keyes' team has left the site, to retrieve what they think is a speartip of some sort. Danny gets there first, however, and upon retrieving the item, is killed by the mystery attacker. (By this time we have caught only split-second glimpses of the Predator on screen.)
Harrigan is devastated. He vows to destroy the individual responsible for his friend's death, with Leona and Lambert's aid. He encounters Keyes again, this time threatening and telling him to stay out of his way. Keyes only responds by telling Harrigan that he still has no idea what he's facing. They see a medical consultant, the lead pathologist in the city, to explain the origins of the spear tip; she is only able to tell the team that Danny was killed when his heart was cleaved in two, "boned like a fish," and that the spear tip's molecular structure does not correspond with the elemental table, although it is nearly weightless and cuts like fine steel. Harrigan sets up a meeting with King Willy, the Jamaican drug lord leading the Voodoo Gang. Willy seems to be slightly insane, but insists that the man killing everybody is not of this world, speculating he is some demon, and that he cannot be killed. Harrigan leaves, and Willy almost immediately slaughtered by the Predator, who was listening to their conversation.
Leona believes that the person responsible for the killings is aiming for Harrigan, if only for the fact that Danny was killed only minutes before Harrigan arrived, and that King Willy was murdered only minutes after Harrigan left. She and Jerry are again with the medical officer, who tells Harrigan that the special task force (who incidentally took the surviving prostitute from the gang murder site to an undisclosed location) deleted everything from the database, except for a piece of evidence that suggests strongly that whoever murdered Danny had only recently been in a slaughterhouse. Jerry reveals that that he lost Keyes while tracking him in the slaughterhouse district. Harrigan tells them he'll meet up with her and Jerry, (pausing in front of a taxidermy shop; perhaps for a moment, Harrigan realizes what he is facing, but it passes). He visits Danny's grave, and upon leaving, finds Danny's necklace on a tree branch (perhaps a challenge from the Predator, although some believe it was a sign of respect).
Meanwhile, as Jerry and Leona make their way to Harrigan on the LA subway, a group of thugs threaten a man who pulls out a gun. The thugs also produce firearms, as well as half the people in the car, including Jerry and Leona. During a pause in which trigger-fingers are itchy, the Predator attacks. Leona manages to make it past the hunter and push everybody to the forward cars, while Lambert stays behind to battle the Predator. As the subway stops, Leona doubles back to check up on Lambert, only to find that Jerry is dead, and encounters the Predator, who scans her body closely with infrared technology.
Harrigan arrives on the scene and sees that Leona is alive. Before she is taken away in an ambulance, Harrigan overhears that she is pregnant. Harrigan meets with another cop, who tells him about the attack. Harrigan concludes that only people who were brandishing weapons were attacked. He runs down the tunnel that the train came from, just in time to witness the Predator rip Jerry's skull and spine from his body. Harrigan pursues the being by car, only to be stunned and captured by the special task force team led by Keyes.
Keyes reveals his agenda: Black Ops have been following encounter sites of the titular alien Predator-race. To do this, they have discretely set up a modular pheromone detector network, referred to in the film by the fictional acronym OWLF. The detectors are keyed specifically to the smells unconsciously emitted by the Predator species. Keyes and his men hope to capturing and study it, particularly because of its advanced technology. The government is well aware of the situation that occurred in the first film and has theorized that the species come from an environment with a much higher temperature (and favor areas of conflict, where their activities can go relatively unnoticed), thus explaining this preference for hunting in LA during the heatwave. Armed with suits which block out body heat (the manner in which a Predator sees), and with weaponry that is intended to freeze and immobilize the creature, they set a trap for it in a warehouse. They also flood the warehouse with radioactive trace particles, believing that this will give them additional help in distinguishing the Predator's movements against the background count. They then go in to the warehouse and attempt to capture him.
However, they are unaware that the Predator actually has the ability to see in several different spectrums, including one that allows him to track the presence of the ultraviolet lamps and tactical lights the agents are using. The Predator seizes the advantage and kills everyone except Keyes, as Harrigan escapes custody and arms himself. A short battle follows between Harrigan and the alien, resulting in Keyes' death. The Predator flees, followed closely by Harrigan, who manages to use the Predator's smartdisk to deactivate the Predator's explosive device and sever the Predator's arm. The pursuit ends underground, onboard the Predators' ship.
Upon this vessel, the two have a final battle that ends with Harrigan's use of the smartdisk to kill the Predator. Harrigan becomes aware that there are other Predators onboard, and drops the smartdisk in defeat, knowing he is outnumbered—but they do not attack. Instead, they take their fallen comrade's body away, and the elder of this tribe says "Take it." and gives Harrigan an antique pistol inscribed "Raphael Adolini 1715", proving that the Predators had long been visiting Earth to kill for sport.
A Predator comic book story by Dark Horse Comics entitled Predator: 1718 retcons the pistol as belonging to a pirate captain who, as he dies, gives it to a Predator.
New facts about Predators
Predator 2 established several new facts about the Predators, and actually painted them in a somewhat less harsh light than the previous film. The Predators are something of a noble hunter, and as a code they refuse to hunt or kill any unarmed, ill, or pregnant prey. Also, at the end of the film, after Glover chases the alien back to his spaceship and kills him, he comes face to face with a dozen more Predators as they decloak and surround him. Presumably because their comrade was defeated in a fair match, they let the human leave while attending to the dead Predator, even giving him a trophy in honor of his victory.
At the end of the movie, a Xenomorph skull can be seen in the Predator's trophy collection. In retrospect this could have appeared to be a hint for the upcoming spinoff, Alien vs. Predator, but the movie had been made fourteen years prior to AvP. Many people including the writers of Predator 2 believed that Stan Winston indeed put the Alien head in the Predators' skull collection to intentionally connect the two franchises, both owned by 20th Century Fox. However, the first appearance of the mixed franchises, the first comic of Alien vs. Predator, was released by Dark Horse Comics in November 1989, a year before Predator 2 was released.
Also, it is seen that the Predator featured in Predator 2 is somewhat different from that in the first movie, although not just in appearance alone. This Predator uses a different array of weapons to hunt its prey, like spears, spearguns, and smartdisks (although both rely on rather sadistic means of medical treatment, and also make use of wristblades). However, both Predators were in distinctly different environments, which might have called for a change up in weaponry, along with personal preferences. (It was stated in promotional material that this Predator was younger and chose a densely populated urban area for a more ambitious hunt) Still, many of the tendencies the two had still remain: both cloaked often, did not kill unarmed people, and seemed to understand human speech, to an extent.
Trivia
- The shot in which the group of Predators uncloaks at the end of the scene is strikingly similar to a shot near the end of The Fog, in which a group of ghosts are revealed. This is possibly a nod to the presumed influence The Fog had on the Predator films, because there are many similarities (a hidden, near invisible enemy that attacks from nowhere, can be anywhere at once, and bludgeons its victims). Another possibility is that this is simply a widely-recognised, effective means of achieving suspenseful cinematography.
- The final shot where all the other Predators decloak, we see the leader Predator, or Elder of this clan. It is the same Predator that gives Danny Glover an antique flintlock pistol from the 1700s. Look very closely at the design of that particular suit. It is the same suit that was used in the first Predator movie although changed a little bit in color, and Kevin Peter Hall who played both Predators for both films also doubled as the Elder Predator in the ending. If you listen to the commentary on the new Predator 2 Double Disc DVD, this was revealed.
- Before fighting the Predator, Harrigan arms himself with a semi-automatic shotgun, body armor, his Desert Eagle handgun, and a Colt XM177E2 modified with an M203 Grenade Launcher. In the first Predator movie, Dutch was carrying a similar M16/M203 assault rifle.
- Predator 2 is set during an unusually high heat wave. In the original film, Anna reminisces about what is assumed is a Predator attack in her village when she was a child. Agent Keyes also suggests that the Predator is attracted to "heat and conflict."
External links
- [PredatorFans] - Predator films fansite
- [Predator: The Hunted] - fan site; contains all Predator info
| Alien movie series |
| Alien | Aliens | Alien³ | |
| Predator movie series |
| Predator | Predator 2 |
| Movie cross-overs |
| AVP: Alien vs. Predator | AVP: Alien vs. Predator 2 |
| Cross-overs |
| Alien vs. Predator | Aliens vs. Predator vs. The Terminator | Batman vs. Predator | Alien Loves Predator |
| Relating to the Alien universe |
| Bishop | Ellen Ripley | LV-426 | Nostromo | Space Jockey | The Derelict | United States Colonial Marines | Weyland-Yutani | Xenomorph | Yautja | | M56 Smart Gun |
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