Predator still holds up remarkably well as one of the best 80s action movies, directed with real panache and craftsmanship by John McTiernan before he was led onto the rocks by the sirencall of bad remakes of Norman Jewison films. For all the macho posturing and outrageous dialog of the first half ("I ain't got time to bleed"), once the hunt is on and the stakes are raised, he takes it deadly seriously and delivers the best jungle manhunt since Merian C. Cooper thought of another use for those jungle sets built for his monkey movie.

Predator 2 is a lot better than I remembered, although a long way from being as good as the original. Although the ripoffs of Wolfen are even more pronounced here than in the original, it enlarges on the predator mythology and manages to come up with an interesting Schwarz-free premise for a sequel that occasionally pays dividends. Unfortunately Stephen Hopkins is no McTiernan, botching the most promising setpiece aboard a runaway subway train and failing to get the most out of a warehouse sequence, although the finale in the Predator's spaceship is well handled and he does throw in one neat piece of editing when Calvin Lockhart's hammy rasta villain meets the rasta from another planet.

I've never understood the tidal waves of sci-fi fanboy revulsion for Paul W.S. Anderson, who's always seemed a competent if unambitious journeyman who'd have to die and be born again at least twice to make the bottom 250 directors working today, let alone the bottom three. Given the no-win situation with the fans of both franchises that was Alien Vs. Predator (an international co-production between every country that offers decent tax breaks) he delivers an okay entry in a franchise that has always underachieved more often than it succeeded. While some scenes are nowhere near as effective as they should be, the Antarctic setting makes a nice change from Sigourney Weaver running around yet another spaceship and it has a few good ideas even if surprises are thin on the ground. No excuses for Colin Salmon's truly awful performance, though, nor the non-ironic use of deadmeat characters talking about their children at home, but an enjoyable enough monster mash.

This is a must have. This triple feature dvd is definitely worth the extra money over the other trilogy set(if you can find it). Mainly because it includes the collector's editions of each movie.

The original movie and sequels are riveting stories which hold a viewer's attention. This is no ordinary ET, it's a marvelous creation that passes in and out of view at will. From the jungle, to the summer heat of the big city, to underground caverns, I enjoyed each and every one of these movies.