DVD Review: Prey

Prey
(DVD Prey)

Prey is an original TV-movie made for the Hulu streaming service in 2022 and later released to DVD in 2023, which serves as a prequel to the long-running series of “Predator” films that began with the eponymous Arnold Schwarzenegger film “Predator” in 1987. In all of the Predator films, single representatives of a technologically-superior hunter/warrior alien species are dropped off to hunt and kill one or more humans in an exotic location. In the original Predator, it was a Central American jungle, in Predator 2 it was the mean streets of Los Angeles.

 

The Predator is always armed with high-tech equipment, both for hunting tasks but also for repairing its own injuries if needed. And if they’re successful in their kills, they take heads and spines as trophies.

In Prey, the setting is the Great Plains and mountain region of the United States, but all the way back in the 1800s. And the prey being hunted is a combination of Comanche warriors and French trappers. the central character in Prey is Naru (played by Amber Midthunder), a young woman who has trained for the warrior arts but who isn’t allowed to join the men in hunts. Her self-taught skills are put to the test when the alien Predator pretty much wipes out most of the men in her tribe’s hunting party.

 

This film is extremely atmospheric and the quality of the production easily rivals the earlier feature films in the series. The focus on the Native American culture in the film is a refreshing change of pace — the film features a large Native American cast, and using your DVD player’s special menus, you can choose to view the movie with either a spoken English or spoken Comanche soundtrack. Longtime fans of the Predator franchise will find several nice “Easter eggs” connecting Prey to films set later in the continuity.

 

Prey is an excellent addition to the Predator series. I highly recommend this one! One note: Many of the action sequences in this film, especially in the final 20 minutes, are very dark — you may have to adjust your screen’s settings to make out all the details.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try all of the other Predator films, especially the 1987 original, which set the benchmark by which all the others are measured. Personally, my favorite is Predator 2 with Danny Glover.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film ) | ( official Prey web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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