With Prey a runaway hit on Disney’s Hulu streaming service, people are quick to call it the greatest Predator sequel ever. But wait just a second folks – has everyone forgotten about 1990’s Predator 2 starring Danny Glover? Easily the least seen movie in the Predator franchise, this guns-blazing sequel married the urban action genre to the sci-fi/horror vibe of the first movie, and the result is a kick-ass movie that too few action fans have seen. It didn’t set the box office on fire, but it’s at least as good as Prey and should be celebrated as a truly great Predator movie. We’ll tell you why in this episode of The Best Movie You Never Saw!
For one thing – Predator 2 has a kick-ass hero. Danny Glover’s Mike Harrigan is more of an everyman than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch. Not the hulking military man, Harrigan is instead an edgy LAPD cop who runs an anti-gang unit (filled with character actors like Bill Paxton, Maria Conchita Alonso, and Ruben Blades). When gangsters start getting murdered in a dark, ritualistic fashion, Harrigan is on the case, only to find that the hunter has now become the hunted. Gary Busey co-stars, with Stephen Hopkins filling in for John McTiernan in the director’s chair. In this episode, we explain how Glover was a last-minute replacement after Steven Seagal and Patrick Swayze both declined the lead and how Busey’s part was originally written for Schwarzenegger. And what’s with Laurence Fishburne’s cameo in Predators? Wouldn’t that have been cooler if it had been Danny Glover reprising his role as Harrigan?
This episode of The Best Movie You Never Saw is written and narrated by Chris Bumbray, edited by Bill Mazzola and produced by Adam Walton. Let us know what you think of Predator 2 below!