Hello everyone, Matthew here. I’m going to start this off by stating the obvious.

Fanedits are great. They offer alternate viewing experiences for audiences. There have been some that are so well done that they become the go-to version of films for people. That’s happened with Star Wars with Adywan’s Original Trilogy Revisited (Return of the Jedi is still coming). Now, I am happy to say that 2018’s The Predator has received one as well.

*In order to view or access a copy of a fanedit, it is highly recommended that the viewer has a copy of the original film. That is the legal way to have a fanedit.*

Shane Black’s The Predator was released this past September. It had gone through a bit of a rocky production. There was the controversy that had gone on between the studio, Olivia Munn, and Shane Black regarding an individual on the production of the film. Then, there was the completely extensive reshots of the whole third act of the film. (It was apparently heavily targeted in test screenings by audiences. There were ideas that were filmed that apparently will never see the light of day. Mostly because the fans and people were so vocal regarding their opinions and thoughts on those ideas (Emissary Predators). Apparently, there were originally to be more than just one Predator in the film. There were to be some hybrids that were more militaristic and helping the Loonies in their fight against the Upgrade Predator.)

The final film was one that had some issues (pacing, story fluff, and tone being key among them). Studio interference is probably another key issue with the finished film. These were what resulted in the film not receiving positive word of mouth during its theatrical run. It had a budget of $88 million and its box office was only a small $160.5 million. It is sad that there is a high chance that this could be the last time we will see the Predator grace the silver screen again.

Now, this fanedit of The Predator is one that improves it immensely. It addresses the issues with the pacing, story fluff, and the tone. Which results in the film being a leaner and more thrilling experience.

Here’s the cut list for this version of The Predator:

No more Predator dog turning on the Uber-Predator. (This was an issue that quite a few people had regarding the theatrical version. It felt very un-needed.)

The introduction of Olivia Munn’s character at the dog park has been removed. We are introduced to her as she arrives at Project Stargazer. This is how it should have been.

The first contact scene between McKenna and the Predator in Mexico is now treated as a flashback on the bus.

The previous change now allows the film to hit the ground running as we see McKenna arrive at the local bar in Mexico asking the bartender to mail the contents of his backpack.

A lot of the scenes involving McKenna’s son have been removed. Actually, McKenna’s family fall to the side a bit. However, this strengthens the time that we are given with those characters.

A few of the scenes have been rearranged as well allowing the film to move more smoothly.

The running time for the theatrical was 1h 58m. This edit of the film brings the running time to 1h 23m. 35 minutes has been trimmed to make the film a leaner, meaner, action machine.

Note: The subtitles for the Upgrade Predator when he speaks, they were not translated into English. It still is in the Predator language. This didn’t hinder the film, for me, as it was placed strongly in the humans’ perspective.

If you can find this version of the film, which isn’t hard to do. (Google Search is your friend. Just look for The Predator 2018 fanedit.) I highly recommend it. This brings The Predator into line with the previous films in the franchise. And has become my essential version of the film.

Again, in order to view this – you need to own the original film on dvd, blu ray, or digital.

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Matthew Steele

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