MovieChat Forums > The Predator (2018) Discussion > This was Starship Troopers bad...

This was Starship Troopers bad...


Even though I enjoyed Starship Troopers. It's that level of stupidity plus a bit more worse. Most of the actors are of C list or lower (excluding Thomas Jane imo [The Expanse]). The constant jokes take away any semblance of suspense or action (touch/punch that pussy). The stupid ending with the gundam like suit was even more retarded.

I swear the first Predator that came to Earth was some PC/SJW type female predator that wanted to help the humans for god knows why... safe... space? lulz

One of the dumbest hippy/frat boy soldier I have ever seen with the 'as evidence' then running off (dereliction of duty) for no god damn reason other than shipping off the stolen tech to his home (surprisingly showing the cloak didn't get the guy he threatened to steal it for himself or sell it off to the highest bitter).

This could easily be a straight to DVD/Blu-ray and no one would have cared. Such a disappointing reboot if one can call it one and directed by the guy who was in the very first Predator movie (who only cracked a joke) and decided to make the movie a semi-comedy.

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First off, Starship Troopers is awesome, and if you think it's a "stupid" movie then you missed a lot of Paul Verhoeven's social commentary.

You may find this article interesting:

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/-em-starship-troopers-em-one-of-the-most-misunderstood-movies-ever/281236/

I don't even like a lot of what Vehoeven was trying to say in the film, but I love the movie nevertheless because it's great.

Regarding The Predator, I think people are being too hard on the film. I thought it had issues but I still liked it more than I didn't.

I will echo a sentiment that I have seen expressed in some reviews I've encountered: The first half of the film is a lot better than the second half. It's right about the halfway point that the 10 ft tall CGI Super Predator is thrown into the story and that shit was just unnecessary, and that's about when the movie starts to run off the rails a bit. The predators in the earlier part of the movie are totally practical and the suits look great and predators are already totally bad ass, so there's no need to shift to some ridiculous CGI thing.

Also, the narrative just becomes a lot more predictable in the second half and the ending is pretty weak. At one point I just sat back in my seat and said to myself, "Well, it's just a movie now." That is, not a movie that feels special or unique in any way or that delivers cool surprises, but is just a run of the mill action movie.

The first half is fun though, with some good action, likable characters, trademark Shane Black wit, and a cool visual style, so it's the shame the film couldn't keep that momentum going. But I don't think the regression to purely average filmmaking in the second half of the film kills the movie, it just makes it less than it could've been.

All in all, I'd probably give it a 7/10. On Stuckmann's A-F scale, I'd say it's a B-.

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Hey hey, I loved Starship Troopers. I'm just using it as a reference point on the level of stupidity it goes along with it albeit a bit worse than ST. I couldn't enjoy The Predator film though as there is no real plot depth to it and it felt so generic. The ending made it even worse. If you ever seen the first Predator, there was suspense and mystery to the predator itself. Now it's just oh he crashed landed and then starts immediately shooting at shit after 10 minutes into the film.

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STFU Rorikon, Starship Troopers is a sci-fi CLASSIC. STFU!!!

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Starship Troopers must be pretty damn good then. I give The Predator an A, having seen none of the others except for AvP2, regrettably. (The opportunity just hasn't presented itself, and the Ultimate Hunter Edition Blu-ray is atrocious! You need only look at the screenshots of Rubber Arnold and Porcelain Carl Weathers.)

The actors were quite likable. Keegan Michael Key will never be Orson Welles or Laurence Olivier, but he was awesome. The kid definitely stole the show.

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Starship Troopers is a hell of a lot of fun. If you haven't seen it, you definitely need to rectify that.

As for the other Predator movies, you should definitely check out Predator 2, but you need to go into it understanding that it's VERY different from the first Predator film. Much like The Predator, it places the predator in the city, but it takes that concept even farther. It's a fun movie, though. I just recently rewatched it for the first time in probably 20 years and I enjoyed it.

Alien vs Predator is a lot better than AvP 2, so even if you disliked AvP 2, AvP is still worth a watch in my opinion. Yes, it's PG-13 and has some dumb shit in it, but it's still an entertaining film with some cool production elements.

A lot of people like Predators from 2010, but I thought it was an altogether dull affair and I probably will never watch it again.

Personally, if I were ranking them I'd go something like:

Predator 2*
Predator
The Predator
AvP
Predators
AvP 2

* Yes, I put Predator 2 over the original film. I'm sure I'll get some shit for that, but what can I say, it's just a more entertaining movie to me.

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Personally, think P2 is one of the most underrated underplayed action movies ever.

I didn't even know it was a thing until a couple of years ago. Still, think P1 is a perfect 10/10 and much better but P2 is at least a 7/10. Doesn't deserve the neglect it gets.

I suppose predators is getting kind of the same treatment. Most casual movie fans have completely forgotten it as well. I'd give it a 6-7/10 as well.

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Thing is, I remember seeing Predator 2 as a kid and being really disappointed in it. I liked the first film a lot and was hyped to see the sequel, and then was like, "What is this shit?" I think I was taken aback by how different it was from the first film.

But then I revisited it just a few months ago and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. It's a fun movie and, as you say, "one of the most underrated, underplayed action movies ever."

There are a handful of 90s action movies that are like that. Another one from that decade that I really like that few have seen, and almost everyone seems to have forgotten, is The Long Kiss Goodnight. If you aren't familiar with it, you should check that one out. Lots of fun.

As for Predators, eh, I really found it quite boring. Not a bad movie, per se, but not a particularly interesting one either. I saw it once and that was enough.

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"The Predator" had many good laughs and a well thought out gang of characters (except Munn's misplaced dr). Other than that, it was a mess of a movie with characters teleporting around, lousy continuity, and entry-level writing. On top of that, it includes the idea that autism is our evolution and what the Predators are after. Even claiming that the autistic kid is "the one true warrior." Oh ffs.

My ranking:
P1: 10/10
P2: 6/10
AVP: 3/10
AVP2: 5/10
P3: 8/10
P4: 4/10

It sucked.

... and I love Starship Troopers. Only goofy in its jingoism. Superb action and balls. No production/directing flaws. I don't consider it stupid at all. Verhoven was an excellent director (never mind Showgirls) and I always wished that he would have directed a Wonder Woman movie.

Long Kiss Goodnight is probably the only Renny Harlan movie I ever liked. Usually his movies are virtually unwatchable.

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Can't say I noticed any teleporting or continuity issues.

The autism thing was kind of strange. I can see where they were coming from with it--autistic people can often come at the world from weird angles and have abilities that normal people do not--but I don't think people who struggle with emotional intelligence are the next stage of human evolution.

I'm surprised you rate AvP lower than AvP2. AvP, in my opinion, was clearly the superior film.

At least we agree on The Long Kiss Goodnight, though. Really fun movie and probably Renny's best, though Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea and Driven are also worth a watch.

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Characters are suddenly in stolen helicopters and police cars. People are in the RV, out of the RV, and back in the RV in a blink of the eye with no attention to flow nor the-making-of-sense. Nice Predator comes to help, kills a ton of unarmed scientists, then won't kill an unarmed person. People/Predators shoot/don't-shoot for no reasons other than what the script is about to do or reveal. Just awful.

I'm afraid that I cannot agree with you on those other Renny films. DBS had a few moments. Harlan makes trash. Even the episodes of Burn Notice he did were wretched. LKG is the ONLY one by him I liked and I think I have seen them all (oh god, why did I do that?)

*EDIT: I had written "Suits" instead of "Burn Notice" woops. (they are similar only in aprox what season number they began to suck)

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There have been instances before in the Predator series where the predator does not kill unarmed civilians, especially women. I want to say this goes all the way back to the Asian girl in the first film.

So there is definitely precedent for a predator only killing things that he deems to be a threat or a worthy kill. Unarmed women cowering in the corner just don't do it for him.

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Not supposed to kill anyone unarmed. That's the point. Continuity,

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Well these scientists just had him strapped down to a table and were about to start experimenting on him, so it makes sense that he would seem them as a threat.

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I agree almost 100% with your ratings above.

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Starship Troopers is a great film so go **** yourself lol.

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Pearls before swines, bro!

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I don't know what that means lol

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It means they can't appreciate beauty.

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Ah gotcha lol. Yep that is true.

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So bad its good then?

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Maybe, you'll have to see it for yourself. I semi-fell asleep on the 2nd half of the film. A funny part was when the kid went trick or treak and well something fun happens when bullies come to play.

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Comparing this to Starship Troopers is a compliment - so, gg.

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The corny nature of Starship Troopers was the point. Verhoeven was satirizing the mobile infantry’s view of war, war is a horrible thing but is often glamorized and glorified, furthermore whichever side you are on you think you’re right no matter what horrible things you side does.

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ST was silly but it was a satire on American patriotism (I'm sure everyone already knows that ,lol), but The Predator was just try hard funny with a few good sequences here and there and overall bombastic mess.

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