Alien vs. Predator: Why It Takes Almost an Hour to See the Film’s Battle of Iconic Sci-Fi Monsters

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In the film titled “Alien vs. Predator,” you anticipate witnessing two iconic sci-fi beasts engaging in a fierce, unrestrained battle, as suggested by its title and the excitement it promises. However, director Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2004 adaptation of the Dark Horse comic, which has an Elseworlds-style crossover, waits almost an hour before fulfilling this tantalizing expectation.

Initially, Anderson included a short fight scene between Xenomorph and Yautja in the film, set a century before the main plot (which is now available for streaming on Peacock). However, he later chose to omit this sequence to evoke the suspense found in Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, both of which can also be streamed on Peacock.

For More on Alien & Predator

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Predator’s Modern Day Director on Why This Movie Pays Tribute to the Original Predator Film

Why Alien vs. Predator holds back on the titular showdown for almost an hour

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Anderson stated, ‘I removed it since I felt it was spoiling the whole experience,’ he explained. ‘Instead, I wanted to create an anticipation similar to watching Alien vs. Predator, as in the Cameron and Scott movies, where the creatures are revealed much later.’

In both Alien and Predator films, the appearance of their respective iconic creatures – the Chestburster in Alien and the titular Predator in Predator – are delayed significantly into the movies. The Chestburster is revealed after 56 minutes in Alien’s nearly two-hour runtime, while the baby Xenomorph appears an hour into the 2-hour, 17-minute sequel, Aliens. Similarly, the titular Predator isn’t fully unveiled until an hour and 19 minutes into a one-hour-and-46-minute run of Predator. Additionally, Stan Winston’s famous mandible design for the Predator only gets under 10 minutes of screen time in the movie.

Beyond creating suspense like those iconic films, Anderson aimed to emulate their hands-on techniques as well. As he explained, “I wanted to return to the visual style of movies directed by Jim Cameron and Ridley Scott, where they predominantly utilized practical effects such as actors in suits or miniatures – and we did just that. However, it’s important to note that while there is a significant amount of computer-generated imagery (CG) in the film, we only turned to CG when absolutely necessary; it was always our last option.

He went on to explain: “One benefit we had was reducing the number of visual effects shots from 3,000 to just 500. This allowed us to conserve our budget and ensure each effect was top-notch. The challenge with a film featuring many visual effects is accepting that not all of them will be exceptional.

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2025-01-24 23:31