Predator 2

Shot in standard wide screen, the 1.85:1 picture has been remastered for this new DVD and is a major improvement on the old one. The edge enhancement has been virtually erased and it seems crisper and more defined. Director of Photography Peter Levy deliberately exposed the daylight footage before being developed to give it a bleached, washed-out look, so don't let that distract you. A superb transfer, indeed.

The new DTS 5.1 soundtrack sounds amazing. Stereo effects, split surrounds and pounding .1 LFE will convince you that the carnage onscreen is really happening in your living room. As expected, Silvestri's score comes through brilliantly and puts the finishing touch on Predator 2's rambunctious sound design.

Director Stephen Hopkins provides the most interesting commentary. However, he does sound a bit bored, which is a major contrast to the enthusiastic young director seen in the original promo materials. Maybe, he's a bit more jaded and cynical now, but he does liven up at a few points.

The second commentary, by writers Jim Thomas and John Thomas, is less scene-specific, as they ramble on about Predator and go off on tangents. Not the best of commentaries, unless you like random conversations.

The Hunters And The Hunted featurette is a newly assembled doc, made from old and new footage of Stan Winston, Hopkins, cast and crew. It lasts for 30 minutes and is actually quite good. Gary Busey comes across as being a seriously funny guy, far from the psychos he so often plays.

Creating The Ultimate Hunter is a four-minute promo fluff piece from 1990. It's not that amazing to be honest.

The Predator Goes To Town is another three-minute promo fluff piece from 1990. It's a little bit more fun than the other.

The six-minute International featurette is the final fluff piece from 1990 and focuses more on the actors talking about the movie.

Evolutions featurette offers special effects development clips. They last a total of eight minutes and cover four scenes: Main Title, Something On The Roof, Enemy In The Alley and Subway Showdown. We see effects production in various stages of completion, while hear commentary from visual effects supervisor Joel Hynek. He discusses the material and lets us in on how it was achieved.

The Weapons Of Choice clips provide essential info on Predator's smart disc, extending spear, shoulder cannon, wire net, wrist blades and self-destruct.

The Extended Hard Core Reports is basically unedited clips of sleazeball character Tony Pope's tabloid TV show. They're a bit rough looking to fully enjoy.

A long stills gallery and trailers are also included.