The Big Picture · Review · Rankings · Interview
August 8, 2022/ 71 min/ Sean Fennessey · Chris Ryan
Sean and Chris review Dan Trachtenberg's 'Prey' and rank all seven Predator movies against it, then Trachtenberg explains how he built the thing.
9 films across 3 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
'Prey'the seventh Predator movie, streaming on Hulu
A 1719-set prequel with a Comanche lead (Amber Midthunder) hunting the first Predator to land on Earth, and the first feature film dubbed entirely in Comanche. Chris calls it 'elemental' and 'muddy, dusty... grimy': slow to start, but the last 70 minutes deliver three or four big set pieces. Both hosts think it plays better on a big screen than the Hulu default.
The Predator Movie Rankingsbest to worst
No. 1: 'the best use of Schwarzenegger' and, per Sean, 'one of the great action movies maybe ever made.' Hasn't aged a day.
The Robert Rodriguez-produced, Nimrod Antal-directed entry both hosts love: 'trash special ops and junk sci-fi,' with Walton Goggins, Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, and Mahershala Ali.
'Probably the third best of these films in totality,' per Sean, though he thinks it might climb with rewatches.
Danny Glover, Ruben Blades, and a very 1990 gang-war plot. Sean calls it 'honestly less successful than Prey,' though it's earned a cult following over the years.
Shane Black's version. 'Bad vibe central,' per Sean, who says it 'was not really fully together,' hampered by reshoots and a production controversy that overshadowed it.
Bottom tier for both hosts. Sean: 'that movie doesn't really stack up to the others.'
In conversation
Trachtenberg pitched it in 2017 as a Rogue One-style side story, then watched it get shelved through the Fox-Disney merger before 20th Century read the script again. He redesigned the Predator's silhouette to recapture the original's three-stage reveal, and describes shooting the swamp sequence in a dug-out mud pit that reeked so badly some actors needed doubles.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing No Time to DieNo ExitThe Bob's Burgers MovieBarbarianAmsterdamBullet TrainBodies Bodies BodiesOnce Upon a Time in the WestRoomThe PianistAliensInglourious BasterdsCrocodile Dundee IIE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Trachtenberg's influences and other work 10 Cloverfield LaneMad Max 2The NeverEnding Story
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Black Mirror ('Playtest')The BoysLegionHome ImprovementSuccessionWinning TimeStation ElevenMidnight Mass
Video games Predator (NES)FIFA World Cup Launch Edition
Ads Boar's HeadFanDuelNetflixPepsiColgate Optic White