Alien Vs. Predator

Alien Vs. Predator movie trailer - starring Lance Henriksen, Ewen Bremner, Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Tommy Flanagan, Colin Salmon. Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Theatrical Release Date: 8/13/2004 Genre: Action-Adventure Rating: PG-13

When we got the chance to revisit the Predators for AvP:R, we were able to return to design elements that made the original great. Whereas Paul Anderson's Preds were heavily-armored newbies at battling Aliens, the Strauses wanted a craftier, veteran Alien hunter. This lone 'Wolf' predator wouldn't need NFL worthy body protection, he relied on his skill and cunning. OK, he also had a nuclear wrist bomb, but the point is, we got to make a sleeker Predator. And the best part was that because there was only one main Pred in the movie, we never had to dress a 6'4' stunt man in a suit made for a 7'1' Ian Whyte. No more chubby Predators. In the end, the movie was so damn dark, who could tell? Here's Ian Whyte in one of the first test fittings. He was so thrilled not to be lugging around the extra bulk that he decided to take a stroll through ADI.

Exactly how does an Alien dispatch of it's victim? It's not as easy as it might look. Ridley Scott may have painted a casaba melon to double for Yaphet Kotto's forehead in close up, but in ALIEN 3 Fincher wanted a wider shot to show Charles Dance's entire face as he got chomped. We developed a pneumatic air blood canister mounted inside a replica head to give a big splatter of brains. We've refined the technique over a few movies, and here's how it worked on AVP:R. Courtesy of ADI.

AvP director Paul Anderson wanted big Predators and big Predator shoulder cannons. Here's one of the first tests of the animatronic shoulder cannon mechanized by Lon Muckey and assisted by Samara Hagopian. Courtesy of ADI.

In our experience, AvP was one of the better combinations of practical and digital effects. To accomplish the Queen Alien's egg laying chamber scenes, for instance, we created a cable articulated 1/3 scale puppet Queen and a hand puppeted Ovipositor. Digital warriors swarmed her to set her free. We also tested a 1/4 scale Queen rod puppet. This video shows us giving it a first go. At this point it was mostly just wiggling, but you gotta start somewhere! Courtesy of ADI.

In editing these videos we realized how little footage we have of mechanical heads without skins attached. That's because usually by the time the animatronics are done, it's fairly late in the build schedule, so skins get put on as quickly as possible, and often at about midnight, to be ready for painting by morning. We decided to peel the head skin off the 'Wolf's' face, and show you what goes on inside a Predator's head. Courtesy of ADI.

ADI lead sculptor Steve Wang brought his refined style to the design of the Pred-Alien for AVP:R. Other sculpting luminaries Mike O'Brien, Casey Love, and Tully Summers were equally important to getting the character right. As it's name suggests, we combined elements of both a Predator and an Alien. Kind of like a Liger. Only more awesome. Courtesy of ADI.

ADI tests the 'facehugger' mechanics for Alien vs. Predator.

The Predator and the Alien battle to the death in a ancient temple created specifically for that purpose.

A Predator doesn't think billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland (played by Lance Henriksen) is worth fighting because he's got lung disease. Weyland doesn't like being ignored so he tries to set the Predator on fire.

Alexa manages to kill an alien.

Some scientists are examining an ancient temple when the doors suddenly close and these strange eggs appear.