Comments for Secret Laboratory

Comment on An Impassioned Case for Why Predator Was One of The Greatest Films Ever Made. by Shane Lindemoen

Shane Lindemoen — Fri, 10 May 2013 22:03:20 +0000

I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way about such a great film. Thanks for reading Phil!

Comment on An Impassioned Case for Why Predator Was One of The Greatest Films Ever Made. by Phil

Phil — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:36:28 +0000

Thank you for the article Shane, it was an excellent read. What you feel and the way you analysed Predator echoed almost to a tee my feelings on it. In the way you suggest it was made at “the perfect time”, I feel I was introduced to it at an equally influential point in my childhood and it has stuck with me like no other film.

What was also incredibly crucial to its effectiveness was the sheer design and concept of the adversary. Apart from the Xenomorph, nothing has come close to its design as a believable being that a far off planet may spew out. It mixed the human-esque with the mystery of the alien brilliantly and what is more, the film did very little to try to explain anything beyond what Arnie needed to know to fight it. That moment of self-reflection in the closing scenes where Arnie for the first time considers what it is he has been facing and receives the same emotion back is perhaps one of my favourite moments in cinema.

Oh and that soundtrack, tingles down the spine every time. Every time.

Comment on Secret Laboratory’s reporter, KE6YDO, needs your help! He’s sleeping in a Volkswagen Rabbit for Christ’s sake. by Timothy Martin

Timothy Martin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:04:33 +0000

My brother has serious drug problems and asks that you save your donations for now as he’s receiving a large family settlement. Thank you

Comment on An Impassioned Case for Why Predator Was One of The Greatest Films Ever Made. by Shane Lindemoen

Shane Lindemoen — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:52:54 +0000

This is the best answer I have for you based on the research: Back in 85′, James Cameron was on a flight to Japan with both Stan Winston and Joel Silver – this was a few months after Arnie had a sit down with the Thomases and Mcteirnan, detailing his ideas for a rewrite. Cameron was in mid-production with Aliens and he was helping Winston spit-ball concepts for what the Predator was going to look like – JC was the one who came up with the initial idea for the mandibular face. Keep in mind that production for Predator was halted and delayed several times for various reasons – one being, they couldn’t figure out what the Predator was going to look like. Two, the whole JCVD debacle. Three, Arnie’s wedding. Silver had a copy of the manuscript and passed it off to Cameron so that he could have a look, to wit he remarked something along the lines of, “Wow, nice characterization here.” The reason I believe Cameron went back and re-tagged a few of his characters was because I know that he’s a stickler for detail, and he wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to define his story a bit more. I also know that JC had a minor re-write (James Remar was slated to play Hicks but it didn’t work out, and they had to restructure a few things when Michael Beihn came into the picture). I think Cameron went back and re-fleshed his characters based on what was happening over in Mexico – and it worked, obviously, Aliens ended up being another milestone of cinematic achievement. Of course, what happened on that flight depends entirely on where JC was in the production of Aliens, but I prefer my story – simply because Predator’s execution was slightly better with regard to its characterization, and those concepts were pretty much set in stone after Arnie signed on for the film, which happened before that flight to Japan.

Comment on An Impassioned Case for Why Predator Was One of The Greatest Films Ever Made. by Shane Lindemoen

Shane Lindemoen — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:03:23 +0000

We cinephiles do tend to get a bit long-winded. Thanks for reading mate!