Prey (Predator 5) - streaming on Hulu

[Steevy Maximus]

This was good. Like, not even good by franchise standards, but a legit GOOD MOVIE. The cast was great, and Amber Midthunder turned in what SHOULD be a star making turn. The film nailed the peculiar contrast that made the original so memorable: it started largely as a period piece with native Americans (and on its own merits, pretty good), then chucks in a massive space alien.
The cinematography just eked every ounce from the natural setting, looking better than films with much larger budgets. While there were a couple Easter Eggs for fans, the film never loses sight of its core objectives and nails them.

About the only flaws that could be levied against it is some rough CGI (likely a result of the limited budget) and the fact it IS a Predator film, and it does follow a particular pattern.
But, it’s like instead of trying to reinvent pizza as is the pattern in Hollywood, Prey opted to use its resources to just make a damn good pizza. And is all the better for it.

Of all the big franchise entries this year, I think Prey comes across as the freshest and biggest surprise of them all. I find it a bit sad that the film may not garner as much success as it should by being dumped on Hulu. ESPECIALLY given how good it is.

 

[Lobjob]

I'd wager more people might give it a chance because lots of people have Hulu. I hope so. Its pretty great.

I liked the quick animated teaser at the end too.

Spoiler: Spoilers

Predators usually respect those that kill their own. I don't want to overstay our welcome in this setting but there's still some story left to tell here, if they want to.

 

[Fero McPigletron]

If they're going to go crazy, I want to see a Predator in Victorian times and get tied in with Jack the Ripper, hehe

 

[Dake]

Yep - best entry since the original (and I liked Predator 2 when it came out but hasn't aged as well imo). Midthunder was fantastic, but no surprise after her turn in Legion.

 

[PiratedTVPro]

I've been following @DannyTRS since the Totally Rad Show days (2007?) and love seeing him grow into the director who would make this film. Fantastic film, upset we'll never get to see it in theaters.

 

[TM2-Megatron]

Truly a shame dumping this on some trashy streaming service. It deserved a theatrical release, and deserves to sit alongside the first two as a blu-ray or 4K on people's shelves.

Although I'll always love Predator 2 as a schlocky 80s action flick with a sci-fi bent, Prey is easily the equal of the first Predator. Together, they make a great trilogy.

 

[Dake]

I'm not sure I'd call Hulu "trashy", but I also wouldn't be surprised if this got a limited released in theatres based on the response.

In fact, it may have helped it reach a wider audience this way.

 

[Powered Convoy]

I heard of people seeing it in the theater, no idea where.

One would hope it gets a home media release.

It was also Hulu's biggest release, film or series.

 

[Lobjob]

I'd rather it get released on a streaming platform so it can be a success rather than a medicre theater flub because nobody got off the couch to go see it. On Hulu, people got to stay on the couch and be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

I'd rather it get released on a streaming platform so it can be a success rather than a medicre theater flub because nobody got off the couch to go see it. On Hulu, people got to stay on the couch and be pleasantly surprised.

Fair enough, fair enough.

That said, I think the powers that be HAVE noticed the positive reception because I’ve seen an uptick in ads for the film in my YouTube algorithm. Certainly a LOT more than I saw leading up to the release of the film.

 

[PiratedTVPro]

I heard of people seeing it in the theater, no idea where.

I'm pretty sure it didn't get any kind of theatrical release that I've been able to find.

I ended up watching it in a theater this weekend all alone, but that's only because I'm Creative Director for a theater chain and can put whatever I want on the screen for myself. Might do MCU and Star Wars premieres the same way from now on.

 

[Axaday]

I just saw this last night when I saw D+ was offering it as a Hulu crossover.

I really liked it! I didn't seen Predator 4 or AVP2 and I didn't care much for Predators, but I knew about this one when it was coming out and always wanted to see it. This is the kind of thing I have always thought the Predator franchise should be doing. The first two movies were a commando movie and drug cop movie that got hijacked by a Predator and everybody made the biggest deal about Predator 2 revealing a Xeno skull at the end, but the flintlock was a bigger deal to me. I dreamed of an American Revolution movie getting hijacked by a Predator, but this is in the same vein.

1719 was a neat choice of time period, because it is a really weird time. The natives have horses and are aware of white men, but are still living on their own terms. Adding the French hunters gave the movie a really rich playing field of hunters. Rat hunting ant, snake hunting rat, wolf hunting rabbit, not sure what the bear was eating. Natives hunting deer, cougar hunting natives, natives hunting cougar, French hunting bison, Yautja hunting everything that hunts.

I didn't catch until reading synopsis after that she had an herb that lowered her body temp. It is a LITTLE big of a stretch that she put that together and was able to set the trap at the end, but it was exciting to watch. The whole movie was.

I am iffy on the bear scene. Not an expert, but I am doubtful about a bear catching a whiff of a person up on a ridge just getting up and running at it like a dog. I thought they avoided people as much as possible and only ran when they had to?

-=-=-

I'm not a hunter. My dad didn't hunt after he was grown and has admitted he was never very good at it (much better at programming computers), but both of my parents came from hunting families and I have all my life been tenuously connected to that. Uncles and cousins take a lot of fish and deer home every year. My grandpa took me quail hunting when I was probably 6 years old, which was not a good idea if he wanted to get anything other than time with his grandson. I feel like without really meaning to make this point, the film is a really good depiction of the inconsistency in hunting culture. There are these rules to make hunting "sporting" and Predator always has the rule that you don't attack weakened or defenseless prey. But even so hunters do always like to have a great deal of technological superiority, don't they? I won't attack a human who is pregnant or has cancer or no weapon, but I will shoot laser guided spears at a man with a knife. I'll track people at night with infrared scanning and an invisibility cloak an impale with with 15 inch claws when they didn't know I was there. When it is people with stone weapons against a Sci-Fi alien it is really easy to see, but it isn't a lot different from sitting in a tree with a rifle waiting for a deer, right?

 

[The Predaking]

I just saw this last night when I saw D+ was offering it as a Hulu crossover.

I really liked it! I didn't seen Predator 4 or AVP2 and I didn't care much for Predators, but I knew about this one when it was coming out and always wanted to see it.

Predators gets a lot of flak, but I personally enjoyed it. I would recommend seeing AVP2 as a good popcorn film but don't take it seriously. It is the one time that you get to see a town of humans fighting Xenomorphs on Earth though, not just a rag tag group or a marine squad. Predator 4 has Olivia Munn in it, and is good for a rental. None of them are as good as Prey though. Prey is the best sequel to the franchise.

This is the kind of thing I have always thought the Predator franchise should be doing. The first two movies were a commando movie and drug cop movie that got hijacked by a Predator and everybody made the biggest deal about Predator 2 revealing a Xeno skull at the end,

To be fair, seeing the Alien head in the trophy room was an epic moment in the 90s, and it lead to a lot of comics, video games, and two decent action movies.

but the flintlock was a bigger deal to me. I dreamed of an American Revolution movie getting hijacked by a Predator, but this is in the same vein.

I did like the idea that the Predators had been coming to Earth for centuries. AVP kind of expands on that....

1719 was a neat choice of time period, because it is a really weird time. The natives have horses and are aware of white men, but are still living on their own terms. Adding the French hunters gave the movie a really rich playing field of hunters. Rat hunting ant, snake hunting rat, wolf hunting rabbit, not sure what the bear was eating. Natives hunting deer, cougar hunting natives, natives hunting cougar, French hunting bison, Yautja hunting everything that hunts.

That bear fight scene was great!

I didn't catch until reading synopsis after that she had an herb that lowered her body temp. It is a LITTLE big of a stretch that she put that together and was able to set the trap at the end, but it was exciting to watch. The whole movie was.

It was great! I am hopeful that we will get a sequel! Screenrant has this to say about it:

Prey 2 might have taken a little longer to be green-lit than many fans anticipated, but the sequel was officially confirmed in February 2024. Along with the announcement of the Prey sequel, it was also revealed that a standalone film, Badlands, will be released first. Because Badlands is first on the schedule, it will likely take a while for Prey 2 to begin development in earnest, and creator Dan Trachtenberg has been handling one project at a time.

I am iffy on the bear scene. Not an expert, but I am doubtful about a bear catching a whiff of a person up on a ridge just getting up and running at it like a dog. I thought they avoided people as much as possible and only ran when they had to?

Maybe it was really hungry?

 

[Axaday]

Maybe it was really hungry?

I think it was eating a deer or something.