A Brief History of Aliens vs Predator. Dark Horse. Ruthlessly efficient biological killing machines. Fascinatingly grotesque and bizarre extraterrestrial monsters. More than a match for an entire cast of human characters. And, most importantly, stars of 1. Century Fox- distributed films and licensed to Dark Horse Comics. These are the similarities that forged a decades- long bond between the Aliens and Predator franchises, linking them into a symbiotic relationship that has infested medium after medium, and lasted over 2. In fact, the only creatures that the Aliens- with- a- capital- A, the so- called “Xenomorphs” of the now 3. Aliens, come into conflict more often with the than the mysterious humanoid hunters of the Predator franchise are humans, which stands to reason. We’re the ones making the movies and comics and video games, after all. By 1. 99. 0, the H. The Honourable Hendrik Verwoerd; 7th Prime Minister of South Africa; In office 2 September 1958 – 6 September 1966: Monarch: Elizabeth II (1958–1961). Since Dark Horse started mashing the worlds of Alien and Preadtor together, we've seen a number of crossovers featuring the deadliest creatures in the galaxy. Lizzie Widdicombe is a Talk of the Town editor. She writes for the magazine and for newyorker.com.R. Giger- designed Aliens had starred in two films, 1. Alien and 1. 98. 6’s Aliens. That was the same year that the film Predator 2, a sequel to the 1. Predator film, saw release, and its climax helped fan the flames of Alien vs. When Danny Glover’s sweaty Los Angeles police detective snuck aboard the Predator’s ship and examined the wall of skull trophies, among them was the head of one of the Xenomorphs from Aliens. It seemed to promise a franchise vs. The publisher started making Aliens comics in 1. Predator series in 1.
Monster Zero Year Of Release: 1966 Running Time: 95 Minutes DVD Released By: Simitar Directed By: Ishir The following year, Dark Horse first combined the two in an issue of Dark Horse Presents, and then launched the four- issue Aliens vs. Predator miniseries, by Randy Stradley and pencil artist Phil Norwood. At the time, these comics offered the deepest and fullest understanding of the Predator aliens and their culture, which was kept purposely mysterious in the films (and preceding comics). Set in the far- flung future of the Aliens franchise, Stradley’s story originated the idea that the Predators used semi- domesticated Aliens as part of a tribal, rite of passage for young hunters; seeding worlds with Xeno eggs and then hunting that actual deadliest game. In the original series, the Predators find one of their traditional hunting ground planets has been turned into a farming colony by Earthlings, leading to the first Aliens vs. True to the films, Stradley had a single survivor, but unlike those in Predator films, she gains the respect of the Predators and is given a place in their society. Dozens of other Dark Horse comics followed, from 1. Deadliest of The Species to last year’s Fire and Stone, with some particularly weird crossovers adding still more franchises into the mix in between, like Aliens vs. The Terminator (not anywhere near as awesome as it sounds, sadly), Superman and Batman Versus Aliens and Predator and, my personal favorite for its apparently unironic title, Aliens vs. Predator/Witchblade/Darkness: Overkill. Top Cow/Dark Horse. The next big year for Aliens and Predator relations was 1. Prose novels and video games. The former came in the form of Aliens vs. Predator: Prey, written by Stephen Perry and Stephani Perry. Based on the original Dark Horse miniseries, it was similarly set on the farming colony and starred human CEO- turned- honorary Predator Machiko Noguchi. The Bantam- published novel was then followed by two more, 1. Hunter’s Planet by David Bischoff and 1. War, by Stephani Perry, both of which also starred Noguchi. As for the video game, it was a Capcom- created beat ’em up arcade game in which two- to- three players could choose from four playable characters — two Predators and two human cyborgs (one of which was named “Dutch” and loosely based on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character from the original Predator). Hordes and hordes of Aliens, of course. It was awesome. That same year Atari released a Rebellion- developed first- person shooter with the same title, in which the player could choose to play as an Alien, a Predator or a human Colonial Marine. Rebellion developed two other, updated versions of the game in following years, one in 1. These versions similarly allowed players to pick among the three species to play as, and gave each a different campaign to complete, consistent with the goals of the species chosen. While the Aliens vs. Predator movie was something that was rumored and/or hoped for since 1. Dark Horse provided a perfectly good template for in their original miniseries — it didn’t come into fruition until 2. Century Fox. The final Paul W. S. Anderson- directed product was an awkward mash- up of the rite of passage hunts from the original comics with rather forced Erich von Daniken “ancient aliens” theories. Here, the ancient aliens who brought civilization to Earth and were worshiped as gods were the Predators. They stocked a hidden pyramid with a cryogenically frozen Alien queen, and when investigating humans blunder in, the Predators begin hunting, with the humans caught in the middle. Somewhat unfortunately, it was both the most widely- seen Aliens vs. Predator story and one of the poorest. That didn’t stop a 2. Predator: Requiem, directed by special effects experts The Brothers Strause from a script by Shane Salerno, built off of the goofy ending of the previous film, in which an alien baby bursts from the chest of a Predator corpse, evidencing traits of both creatures. This hybrid, referred to as a “Predalien,” and a bunch of Aliens crash land in a populated area of modern day Earth (Something the previous film avoided, so as to keep the proceedings to a relatively “alien” part of Earth). A lone Predator comes to Earth to try and destroy the Aliens, the Predalien and all evidence of both before they could be too- widely discovered by humanity, but of course the film’s cast of characters are obviously well aware that their town is being over run by creatures from outer space. One of the weirdest iterations of the franchise in any medium, Requiem has the dubious distinction of bringing the two alien species down to Earth and into a traditional alien invasion/horror movie plotline that doesn’t serve either particularly well. While conflict is, of course, inherent in the relationship between these two species — and how could it not be, given that their shared franchise is defined by the “vs.” between their names — it doesn’t have to be that way. In the greatest, and most unofficial, iteration of the franchise, web cartoonist Bernie Hou found at least one member of each race that get along pretty well: Abe and Preston. They are the titular characters in Hou’s 2. Alien Loves Predator. In the surreal series, Abe and Preston are two typical New York roommates, going about their daily lives of situational humor. Think Seinfeld, basically, except it stars an Alien and a Predator. The title, and the stars, present Hou’s stories with an inherent absurdist subversion of the joint- franchise and, more directly, the sitcom- ic strip format, which is only emphasized by the fact that the strip rarely ever acknowledges that its stars are, you know, an Alien and a Predator. Whether arguing about baseball in Hou’s web comic or trying to destroy one another, Aliens and Predator just kind of go together. They’re not inextricably linked, but they are certainly established partners. Maybe not Batman and Robin, but definitely Batman and Superman; the Galaxy’s Finest. What the future holds for these two franchises is anyone’s guess, but based on the successes of both, we can expect many more appearances of the Aliens/Predator combination franchise over the course of the next 3. Next: Predator's Weirdest Hunting Trips. Harper (film) - Wikipedia. Harper (released in the UK as The Moving Target) is a 1. Technicolor film based on Ross Macdonald's novel The Moving Target in Panavision and adapted for the screen by novelist William Goldman. It is directed by Jack Smight, with an ensemble cast that includes Robert Wagner, Julie Harris, Janet Leigh, Shelley Winters and Arthur Hill. Goldman received a 1. Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. The film pays homage to the Humphrey Bogart. Sam Spade and other detective films by featuring Bogart's wife, Lauren Bacall, who plays a wounded wife searching for her missing husband, a role similar to General Sternwood in the 1. Bogart- and- Bacall film, The Big Sleep. In 1. 97. 5, Newman reprised the role in The Drowning Pool. Private investigator Lew Harper's (Paul Newman) marriage to Susan (Janet Leigh) is on the rocks and he doesn't have many friends, but one of them, mild- mannered attorney Albert Graves (Arthur Hill), brings him a case in Santa Theresa, 9. Los Angeles. Ralph Sampson, the millionaire husband of hard- boiled Elaine Sampson (Lauren Bacall), has disappeared after flying from Las Vegas to L. A. Ralph, worth $2. Elaine, physically disabled from a horseback riding accident, doesn't even seem to like her husband and believes he is off with another woman. She just wants to know where he is. Harper first interviews Elaine's spoiled, seductive step- daughter, Miranda (Pamela Tiffin), and her amiable boyfriend Allan Taggert (Robert Wagner), the missing man's private pilot. He is told Sampson disappeared from the airport after calling a hotel to send a limousine for him. The hotel staff says Sampson cancelled his request shortly after making it. A photo of a glamorous starlet in a bungalow Sampson keeps at the hotel leads to Fay Estabrook (Shelley Winters), now an overweight alcoholic. Harper gets her drunk to see if there is any evidence linking her to Sampson's disappearance. While she is passed out, he answers her phone and pretends to be the . Betty says that Fay was seen with a stranger . After Harper hangs up, Troy comes out of the woodwork. He is Fay's husband, Dwight Troy (Robert Webber), and the house is his. He kicks out Harper at gunpoint. Harper tracks down Betty Fraley, a lounge singer with a nasty drug habit. When he asks about Ralph, she recognizes his voice from the phone call. Harper, noticing the fresh track marks on her arm, threatens to turn her over to the narcotics squad, and Betty admits she knows Sampson, but only casually as a drunk who comes into the bar. Harper becomes more insistent and Betty has the bouncer, Puddler (Roy Jenson), throw him out. Puddler works over Harper in the back alley until Taggert comes out of nowhere and knocks Puddler unconscious. Taggert had apparently been following leads himself which led him to the lounge. They head back to Troy's house to check on the truck, thinking Sampson may be in it. While Harper is inside the house, he hears gunshots. Taggert, standing watch outside, spotted the truck and tried to shoot the tires. Harper tries to run the truck down on foot, but the truck with distinctive tire tracks attempts to run Harper over before it speeds away. Elaine receives a message from Ralph asking her to cash in $5. She verifies that the handwriting is Ralph's and Harper deduces that he's actually been kidnapped. After Graves cashes the bonds for her and puts the money in the estate's safe as a contingency, Harper advises him to call in the cops to guard it while he goes up to a remote mountaintop property that Sampson gave away to Claude (Strother Martin), a bogus holy man, for his cult's Temple in the Clouds. Despite Claude's attempts to distract him, Harper looks around. He finds a huge kettle of beans cooking and a tire print identical to the truck's. Back at Sampson's estate, Harper finds a ransom note with instructions to drop the cash that night at an oilfield outside of town. Since the note assumes they already have the cash, Harper suspects the kidnapper has an inside source, which someone eavesdropping on his call to Graves confirms. They decide that Taggert and Graves will make the ransom drop with Harper nearby to observe the pickup. The man picking up the money is shot dead and the cash taken, however, by someone following in a white convertible. A matchbook on the body leads Harper to The Corner, a seedy bar in Castle Beach, a beachfront community. Harper cons the barmaid into revealing the dead man was . Outside, Harper spots the truck that earlier tried to run him over, driven by Puddler, which he follows back to the mountaintop temple. There, he uncovers a smuggling operation of illegal immigrant labor run by Troy, who use Claude's temple as a front, with Eddie as the smuggler. Harper is caught by Troy, who knows nothing of the kidnapping or Eddie's part in it but recognizes the white convertible as Betty Fraley's. Puddler takes Harper to another location and beats him, but Harper manages to kill him and escape. At the estate, Graves tells Harper that the dead man was Eddie Rossiter, a small- time car thief and junkie who has a sister, Betty, also a junkie. Harper concludes that because Taggert was the only person who knew Sampson was in L. A. Taggert was at The Piano to rescue Harper because he was a fan who fell in love with Betty, he shot at the truck not to stop it but to warn Eddie, and Taggert was the person Eddie called in Las Vegas, to arrange the kidnapping. He confronts Taggert, who pulls a gun on him. Harper vows to let Taggert escape with the money if Harper is allowed to finish the job of finding Sampson. Taggert tries to kill Harper but is shot when Graves bursts into the room. After Harper tells Miranda that Taggert is dead, Miranda admits she hated her father out of self- loathing. Graves, who has long been in love with Miranda, attempts to console her. Harper goes looking for Betty and the money in Castle Beach, where she and Taggert had their love nest, and locates the cottage by finding her white convertible parked outside. He hears Betty being tortured inside by Troy, Claude and Fay. She tells them the money is hidden in a deep freeze storage locker. Harper bursts in, shoots Troy, slugs Claude, locks Fay in a closet and, after he retrieves the key to the locker, helps Betty to escape. After he says that he knows she double- crossed and killed her brother, she reveals that Sampson is being held in an abandoned oil tanker. Harper calls Graves to tell him to meet them there. Harper is hit over the head from behind while searching the ship, knocking him unconscious. Some time later Graves revives Harper. They find Sampson dead, presumably murdered by whoever hit Harper over the head. They also discover that Harper's car is gone, driven off by Betty. When she sees them looking for the car, she flees at high speed along a narrow winding hillside road and is killed when the car swerves off the road. Harper and Graves retrieve the money. Harper says that he knows that Graves is the one who hit him from behind and killed Sampson, because if it had been Betty or another kidnapper, Harper would have been searched for the key to the locker. Graves admits he killed Sampson when the opportunity arose because Sampson was cruel to everyone including him, prodding Graves to pursue Miranda's affections just for his own cruel amusement. Harper tells him that he has no choice but to turn him in. Harper tells Graves he'll need to shoot him to stop him. Graves cannot bring himself to shoot Harper. Neither man is sure what to do next; each pauses uncertainly, saying to himself, . Kastner met with Goldman and expressed a desire to make a tough movie, one . Goldman suggested the Lew Archer novels of Ross Macdonald would be ideal, and offered to do an adaptation. Kastner agreed, saying he would option whatever of the novels Goldman suggested, and Goldman chose the first The Moving Target. According to Goldman, the script was offered to Frank Sinatra first who turned it down, then to Paul Newman, who was eager to accept as he had just made a costume film, Lady L, and was keen to do something contemporary. The name of the lead character was changed from Lew Archer to Harper because the producers had not bought the rights to the series, just to The Moving Target. But when that company wound up its film operations it was not made. The Drowning Pool was released, by Warner Brothers, in 1. See also. Retrieved May 2. Los Angeles Times (1.
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