AVP: Requiem - Win DVD

Fan fiction and films are big, as in popular. The web is awash with stories from popular franchises, usually to the chagrin of their original creators. Although they may not be technically great, as movies or prose, they do often contain some great ideas. I can't help thinking that ALIENS VS PREDATOR probably started out that way, except the fans happened to be professionals who thought it would be really cool to pit these to iconic creatures against each other, thereby giving birth to the multi-platform hybrid of games, comics, novels and movies. The first AVP movie was directed by UK games-to-movies specialist Paul W S Anderson, and was a surprisingly popular and financial success, in spite of its drubbing by the critics (what do they know?). And when ALIENS vs PREDATOR: REQUIEM, the sequel to that film came out earlier this year it did the same, confounding the critics with its success.

AVP2 moves the battle to downtown USA and is directed by The Brothers Strause, a pair of self-confessed ALIENS and PREDATOR geeks, who also happen to run a CG visual effects house. In this latest story a Predator spaceship carrying Alien samples crashes on Earth near a small Colorado city and before long the Aliens are on a raping and pillaging frenzy, pursued by a Predator known as a "cleaner" whose job is not simply to hunt but to remove all traces of the creature. There is also a hybrid Alien, called a Predalien that is an Alien that was incubated in a Predator and has taken on some of its characteristics. To the credit of the directors they have used practicals (men in monster suits) as much as possible, which gives the film some credence, something it desperately needs.

We are also introduced to the core archetypal (although they are more stereotypical) characters. The town sheriff, the misfit and his brother, the blonde love interest and the mother (a military veteran just returned from a tour of duty) and daughter. None of them are characters that you particularly care about and with all the mayhem going on around them it is not that important. If the dialogue wasn't so cheesy and predictable then maybe we would feel differently towards them, but it is not about them – it's about the Aliens and Predators and they supply plenty of visceral action, which is what most people will be going to this film for. US audiences might identify with the townsfolk and the threat from outside they have to face but for us it is all about the action and the movie delivers plenty of it.

The DVD release has extended scenes, which basically means more gore and not more character development, which will excite the fans, and, after all, it will only be them that are interested in this release. And being a fan-driven film the extras, which come on a second disc, are filled with fanboys (i.e. the directors) enthusing about the production in the commentaries and the behind-the-scenes docs.

Definitely one for the hardcore fans.

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ALIENS VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM is on DVD and Blu-Ray from May 12 through Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and is available from major retailers including Amazon and Play.

To celebrate the release we have five copies of the DVD to give away, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox. Click below to enter the competition. Entries close May 21 2008.

Review: Chris Patmore

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