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PREDATOR 2 (1990)
  • 🎬 Overview
    • Title: Predator 2
    • Release Year: 1990
    • Director: Stephen Hopkins
    • Writers: Jim Thomas and John Thomas (also wrote the first film)
    • Production Company: 20th Century Fox
    • Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Horror
    • Runtime: ~108 minutes
    • Rating: R (for violence, gore, strong language, and drug content)
    📖 Plot Summary
    Set in a futuristic 1997 Los Angeles plagued by crime, gang wars, and a record heatwave, the film shifts the Predator from the jungle to an urban battleground.
    • Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover), a tough LAPD cop, investigates a string of brutal murders amidst escalating gang violence.
    • The killings are not gang-related but committed by a Predator who has chosen the city as its new hunting ground.
    • Harrigan clashes with a secretive federal task force led by Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), who knows about the Predator and is trying to capture it alive.
    • The Predator hunts gang members, police, and even Keyes’s team, using its advanced weapons.
    • Harrigan eventually confronts the Predator in a subway, rooftops, and finally its ship.
    • In the climax, Harrigan kills the Predator with its own weapons.
    • He is then confronted by a clan of Predators who honor him by sparing his life and giving him an antique flintlock pistol dated 1715—a symbol of the long hunting tradition.
    👤 Main Cast
    • Danny Glover – Lt. Mike Harrigan
    • Gary Busey – Special Agent Peter Keyes (leader of the OWLF team studying the Predator)
    • Ruben Blades – Detective Danny Archuleta (Harrigan’s partner, killed by the Predator)
    • Maria Conchita Alonso – Detective Leona Cantrell (Harrigan’s ally, survives due to being pregnant)
    • Bill Paxton – Detective Jerry Lambert (cocky new recruit, killed in the subway sequence)
    • Robert Davi – Captain Phil Heinemann
    • Kevin Peter Hall – The Predator (reprised role, in suit)
    👾 The Predator(s)
    • The Predator in this film is referred to as the "City Hunter".
    • Still uses cloaking, wrist blades, and plasma caster, but introduces new weapons:
      • Smart Disc (throwing blade)
      • Spear/Combistick
      • Net gun
      • Medicinal kit (self-healing technology)
    • More emphasis is placed on Predator culture and code of honor:
      • Spares pregnant women and unarmed prey.
      • Collects skulls as trophies.
    • Final act reveals a Predator ship with multiple hunters, showing they travel in clans.
    • The antique pistol gift ("Raphael Adolini 1715") foreshadows the expanded lore later explored in comics and Prey (2022).
    🎥 Production Notes
    • Setting shift: The idea was to expand beyond the jungle, showing how the Predator adapts to an urban environment.
    • Casting: Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally approached to return as Dutch, but he declined due to script disagreements and scheduling conflicts (Terminator 2 prep). His absence led to the creation of Harrigan.
    • Filming: Shot mostly in Los Angeles during 1989. The sweltering heat was intentional for atmosphere but also caused difficulties for cast and crew.
    • Kevin Peter Hall’s last film role before his death in 1991 (AIDS-related illness).
    🎶 Music
    • Composer: Alan Silvestri (returning from the first film).
    • Score mixes militaristic percussion with urban, tribal, and jazz elements to reflect the LA setting.
    🧩 Themes
    • Urban jungle: Violence and chaos in LA mirror the original jungle setting.
    • Escalation: The Predator chooses a city over a forest—suggesting humans have become the apex prey in their own concrete jungle.
    • Predator Code of Honor: More developed than in the first film, introducing the idea that they respect worthy opponents.
    • Authority vs. Chaos: Harrigan defies both gangs and federal control (Keyes’s task force).
    💥 Reception
    • Box Office: ~$57 million worldwide on a ~$35 million budget → less successful than the original.
    • Critical Response: Mixed to negative at release:
      • Critics found it overly violent, chaotic, and lacking Schwarzenegger’s star power.
      • Others appreciated its bold shift in setting and world-building.
    • Legacy: Over time, it gained a cult following, especially among Predator fans who value its expansion of lore.
    📚 Legacy & Influence
    • Expanded the Predator mythology (clans, ships, honor system).
    • Introduced the trophy wall scene, which in later expanded universe material included a Xenomorph skull—laying groundwork for the Alien vs. Predator crossover.
    • The 1715 pistol became a major plot point decades later in Prey (2022).
    • Helped establish that Predators hunt on Earth repeatedly throughout history.
    • Inspired comics, novels, and video games expanding the Predator universe.
    âš¡ Fun Facts
    • Bill Paxton became the only actor to be killed by a Terminator, an Alien, and a Predator (earning him a fan "sci-fi horror triple crown").
    • The original script had Dutch returning at the end on the Predator ship, but Schwarzenegger’s exit killed that plan.
    • Gary Busey’s character Peter Keyes is later revealed in expanded lore (The Predator) to be the father of Sean Keyes (played by Jake Busey).
    • The film’s heatwave setting is tied to Predator lore—Predators hunt on Earth during hot years when conflict is already high.
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