It barely needs saying that the best project Stephen Hopkins has ever been involved in, and by some distance, is 24. But the others haven’t been awful either, apart from perhaps Lost in Space and The Ghost and the Darkness. Hm. Argument seems to have fallen apart there.
And it won’t be helped by adding Predator 2 to the list, as seen on TV last night. But while idly watching the movie as a means of putting off the better things I had to do, I caught the fleeting reference to the Alien films – an Alien skull is amongst the trophies in the Predator’s space ship – and suddenly my childish sci-fi joy was roused.
Tom’s discussed the issue already, but sometimes the urge to pursue continuity is so strong, its almost primal. The cross-over was probably only intended to be a knowing nod to genre fans, but at that moment I wanted nothing more than to see a genuine Alien against the Predator movie. I wanted to learn of the intricate symbiosis of enmity between the two species, to glimpse their histories and ecologies. (I also want to know more about the race that piloted the ship that had fallen victim the Aliens in the first film, and how ‘The Company’ had come to know about it to send Ian Holme to go and bring one back, but that’s yet another world of geekdom.)
Such a thing has often been mooted, and indeed comics and computer games along those lines have been a backbone to the fanbase of both franchises. But the idea is also despicable to the purism that underscores continuity fetishism, and Sigorney Weaver has spoken of it with a shudder. Even thinking of it, I knew that the film being terrible would probably be the price to pay for this tiny pleasure.
Well, be careful what you wish for, for last week Alien Vs Predator started filming in Prague. But at least the congregation of these movie series, which have boasted James Cameron, Ridley Scott, John McTiernan and David Fincher amongst their helmers, wouldn’t be entrusted to as small a name as Stephen Hopkins, would it?
Oh no. This one’s being directed by Paul W. S. Anderson.