I won't spend too much time reviewing this film - suffice to say, it's my second-favorite Schwarzeneggar film, just behind "Conan the Barbarian" and just barely edging out "Terminator 2." The first third of the film contains hardly any sci-fi element - it's more a quality military action flick. Moreover, it's *fun*. This is one fun action movie, in a way action movies have forgotten how to be. Sometime in the last ten years or so, action films suddenly got a moral conscience - as the death, violence and mayhem increased, the heroes became more and more tortured and rather unlikable. Never mind the jingoistic pro-military overtones of films like "Predator" and "Commando" - those days are gone.

But I digress. This is a quality, fun action film. That's what makes it so unfortunate that it's cursed with a sub-par DVD. I bought this DVD because, unlike the initial "Predator" DVD release, it had anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital sound. It had no extras, but frankly I'm not all that big on extras - I just want a quality copy of the movie.

The sound is fine. Where this DVD fails is the image quality. Early on the in the film, there's a lot of specks on the screen. I didn't notice any pixelation, but anytime there's a big section of sky or color (which, this being a jungle film, was fairly rare), you can see a number of specks. I would have hoped for a better transfer.

Since this is a bare-bones DVD, I suspect there will be a "Predator" deluxe DVD sometime in the future, with a better transfer. It's become the usual method-of-operation for DVDs...release a not-so-perfect DVD, make everyone buy it, then release the special edition.

Boo.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age