A couple of thoughts about the "Predator" films... (SPOILER WARNING)

[Sundowner]

So far no one has been brave enough to peak at a Predator's down stairs mix up huh

 

[Wolfie138]

I didn't care for Predators at all - I'm still not sure if it was supposed to be a re-boot, re-make, a nod, a tribute, or what. It was basically the bones of the original barfed up on a plate of dissapointment and regret.

the trailer and the horrible "super" new Predators were enough to put me off. i also made the mistake of reading the original script when it got leaked. put a whole new shine on the word "ghastly".

 

[CB2001]

At least two female designs were created for Predators but never got past the concept art stage.

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Interesting that they considered doing at least one for the film (it definitely would have counterbalanced the only human female character in the film). But I think I agree with a lot of others about the design. Honestly, it looks sort of along the lines of a lot of the fan art I've seen, where the artist attributes a lot of feminine details that are typical in human females. Honestly, if I were designing one, I wouldn't look at the typical women of Earth. I'd honestly look at professional female body builders (I mean, the Predator in the first looks sort of similar to the professional male bodybuilders of the time. I don't know if that was the production designer's idea, but it involuntarily does. With female body builders, they do have some recognizable female attributes, but they appear to gain some masculine details as well). I think you'd want to have a female Predator that could sort of keep up with the males, in both action and appearance.

Another option is that the females are very different from the males. They may not be as mobile as the males or have a different body construct (quadrupedal etc ...) More of a termite queen that's only good for reproduction and little else. That might explain why the males are the hunters, they hunt and take care of the females who can't fend for themselves.

Another option may be that Predators are hermaphrodites (like the somewhat similar Kafers in the 2300AD RPG by GDW) or may even change gender at different points in their life cycle.

Both of these make sense. Honestly, the first one would seem odd to most filmgoers (especially since the males are depicted as hardcore hunting and killing bad-asses. And to them, it'd seem odd the female Predators aren't as bad-ass as the males while human females presented in the films have been just as equally bad-ass as human males and almost as bad-ass as male Predators), but it would make a lot of sense as to why their culture hunts. But the problem with that idea of the males hunting for the females is this: it negates the point of collecting the skulls of creatures they've hunted as trophies. Plus it also contradicts why they would attempt to evolve their hunting skills by having a game preserve (as we see in Predators), unless the hunting and trophy collecting is meant to be some sort of offering to the females (sort of like how human men will buy jewelry for human women).

The idea of hermaphrodites reminds me of something brought up in the first Jurassic Park film, about how some species of frogs interchange their sex (which, due to the DNA being use in the dinosaurs, allowed a group of all females to breed). So, that'd make a bit of sense that an alien species would do so. The thing is that the films never really addressed if they were reptilian in nature or not (though one can assume they are due to how they appear).

Thermal imaging cannot see thru mud, period. It is an issue of density of material and insulation thickness. The Predator would have absolutely picked up every inch of space that Arnold touched though. Residual heat lasts much longer than you would think. The sensor picks up the variation in temperature from the ambient temp of the immediate area.

As far as the females go, I believe their society has been described as Matriarchal, with the males competing for the females. This comes from the novelizations, comics, etc.

So, for the thermal imaging, you're saying it is due to the mineral composition, but the thickness of it as well? That'd make a lot of sense (kinda like how you can add foam or some sort of cloth material a room to cut down on the acoustic reverberation that would occur if you were to talk).

Yeah, the society stuff is from the expanded universe stuff that I made mention of before. But even with a lot of tie-ins and their direct involvement, sometimes some details don't sync up due to the point of view of the individual working on it, so we are not sure how much could be considered canon, if it could be considered canon at all.

Actually, as I recall, there was one that was more slender, more 'gracile' than most of them that stood out as appearing more 'feminine' to me and my husband. It was subtle, but noticeable to us.

I've looked at pictures from that scene, but I didn't notice any one of them stand out as being slightly feminine. I could be wrong of course.

 

[terryr]

Paragraphs!

Every fan version of a female is some bikini babe with a mask.

I hope the one they eventually show is a big fat pig with six teats.

 

[Jeyl]

If there's one thing that bothers me about the PREDATOR films outside of never seeing a female version is that they've sort of fallen into the "klingon syndrome" where they turned the entire species into a race that's so obsessed with hunting it's a part of their life. Kind of like how Ron D. Moore turned all the Klingons into honor obsessed bigots.

I'd like to see a Predator (Male or Female) who isn't a hunter. Maybe a soldier who dawns a high tech set of armor, or just an explorer that doesn't have any weapons. I'm not trying to humanize them mind you, I just don't believe for a second that every single member of that race just wants to hunt big game.

In my opinion, I always saw the Predator in the first movie to be one of those hunters who hunts game that they're not supposed to. The species doesn't want any trouble from other races that could potentially go to war with them in the future. AvP of course totally destroys that, but I don't count AvP in anything period.

 

[ONEYE]

There is only one female Predator, her name is Bertha. She is festively plump, and gives "berth" only once a year. She mates once a year as well. Only 10 of the worst male Predators are chosen to mate with her. After each successful mating, she eats the male.

 

[crabra comander]

If
In my opinion, I always saw the Predator in the first movie to be one of those hunters who hunts game that they're not supposed to. The species doesn't want any trouble from other races that could potentially go to war with them in the future. AvP of course totally destroys that, but I don't count AvP in anything period.

Those are the Bad Bloods, the exiled Hunters. Other Predators hunt them down wherever they go if I'm not mistaken. And this is shown slightly in Requiem:sick and Predators:thumbsup...

 

[CB2001]

If there's one thing that bothers me about the PREDATOR films outside of never seeing a female version is that they've sort of fallen into the "klingon syndrome" where they turned the entire species into a race that's so obsessed with hunting it's a part of their life. Kind of like how Ron D. Moore turned all the Klingons into honor obsessed bigots.

I'd like to see a Predator (Male or Female) who isn't a hunter. Maybe a soldier who dawns a high tech set of armor, or just an explorer that doesn't have any weapons. I'm not trying to humanize them mind you, I just don't believe for a second that every single member of that race just wants to hunt big game.

In my opinion, I always saw the Predator in the first movie to be one of those hunters who hunts game that they're not supposed to. The species doesn't want any trouble from other races that could potentially go to war with them in the future. AvP of course totally destroys that, but I don't count AvP in anything period.

Well, one could see the first movie as one of the "hunters who hunts game they're not suppose to", but there's a good chance that the Predator's species were designed to be obsessed with hunting by the Thomas Brothers. I've pretty much done my fair share of writing and have created a lot of things that required backstory well before the events of a story (including two big mega-corporations that are waging a secret war, with one side trying to protect humanity from the other's attempts to advance technology in a way that could wipe out all of humanity). Of course, when I do it, I'm working from what I was taught in creative writing from my time at Florida State University and it could be just how only I write. But then again, I know of some examples where the writer and/or director has developed the backstory that is never really featured, such as the character of Vincent in the movie Collateral, which Tom Cruise was able to use to get an understanding of his character and shaping his performance.

So, it's really hard to say if the "species obsessed with hunting" was something that came out of the sequels or if it was something that the Thomas Brothers designed themselves when they did the first script.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

The first script was about a band of hunters on a rights of passage type of deal in a backwater planet kind of setting, if I remember correctly.

Which means... the one we saw in the first movie may not even be a fully grown adult, but just a juvenile sent out to prove himself.

I doubt the whole species is just all about hunting. It's just so shallow and single-minded regarding an alien race that has space traveling capabilities. Maybe they are galactic lawyers once they've shaven off their horns so to speak in their youth?

 

[terryr]

I have a hard time picturing a Predator society. Are there secretary preds, janitor preds, cook preds, construction preds, computer geek preds, etc.?

They seem built for just one thing.

 

[crabra comander]

Their planet is pretty crappy...they are like tourists trying to get away from their crappy city life, with high powered, state of the art cameras, traveling the universe for the ultimate amusment park...

 

[Apollo]

:lol Now THERE is a terrifying thought! :lol

Maybe they are galactic lawyers once they've shaven off their horns so to speak in their youth?

 

[n0regret5]

google image search comes up with this.

unsurprisingly she was modelled by a dude

2000 AD & SF Modelling: Female Predator - done!

 

[ONEYE]

I have a hard time picturing a Predator society. Are there secretary preds, janitor preds, cook preds, construction preds, computer geek preds, etc.?

They seem built for just one thing.

Predator-y lenders, the horror!