R-Rated Predator Scenes That Didn't Make The Cut
After nearly 35 years, the "Predator" franchise is still going strong. Despite a fair share of disappointment during its seven-film (and counting) run, every decade produces a strong chapter that reinvigorates interest in the mysterious alien hunters. John McTiernan's muscle-bound 1987 creature feature starring Arnold Schwarzenegger remains the best. Still, more recent offerings like Nimród Antal's 2010 sequel "Predators" and Dan Trachtenberg's 2022 prequel "Prey" have closed the gap and provided hope for future entries.
Delightfully R-rated, the "Predator" series follows a group of elite alien warriors, brought to life with incredible special effects, who venture to different planets to test themselves against the best killers they can find. Curiously, none of the films have allowed a Predator to claim victory over their most formidable foes, though they do enjoy minor victories that make way for some nasty spine-ripping action. To date, we've seen Predator eliminate its victims in various ways by utilizing its fierce array of high-tech weaponry.
Even so, sometimes the Predator goes a little too far, killing in a manner deemed inappropriate even for the above 17 crowd. Thankfully, most of these extreme examples exist in special editions of films, allowing fans to savor alien madness. Meanwhile, other gruesome ideas never made it off script pages. Fear not, dear reader, for we've done the research and called attention to some cool R-rated scenes from the "Predator" series that didn't make the final cut. It's game time!
Hawkins' skin in Predator
Surprisingly, John McTiernan's original "Predator" doesn't feature too many deleted sequences. A few extended beats (and those bizarre Jean-Claude Van Damme sequences) exist for fans to savor, but none are too exciting. On the other hand, an early script draft contains many fascinating ideas that didn't make the final cut. Written by Jim and John Thomas, the "Hunter" screenplay follows the same story beats seen in the final film, albeit with a drastically different third act. Instead, following the intense jungle battle between Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the Predator, the extraterrestrial warrior retreats to his ship. Dutch gives chase, traversing the rugged terrain and eventually stumbling upon the creature's camp.
Dutch surveys his surroundings and spots "translucent human skins stretched over frames, the hair of the attached scalps moving lightly in the wind; skinned bodies, some lying on the ground, others hung from the trees, like Hopper and his men were." Fans can read about the scene on page 98 of the script and enjoy an extended action sequence that sees Dutch blast the Predator with its shoulder cannon just as it scurries inside its spaceship. Earlier cut scenes also feature the Predator placing Hawkins' skull on a "glowing surface" aboard its ship, ideas that were ultimately scrapped and used for the climax of "Predator 2."
Penthouse slaughter in Predator 2
"Predator 2" doesn't live up to the incredible thrills of its predecessor, mainly due to a diminished budget and the absence of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Still, the Stephen Hopkins-directed sequel offers enough B-movie fun to satisfy fans itching for more bloody extraterrestrial carnage. Moving the action from the forest to the urban jungle of Los Angeles offers a fresh spin on the formula, and Danny Glover's portrayal of Lieutenant Mike Harrigan serves as a worthy successor to Dutch, flanked by a rock-star cast consisting of Gary Busey, Rubén Blades, María Conchita Alonso, and the late, great Bill Paxton.
Uniquely, Hopkins significantly increased the body count and gore, hinting at an even nastier NC-17-rated cut on the DVD/Blu-ray commentary, necessitating last-minute edits to tone down the violence. These extended bits have yet to see the light of day, but you can find a few scenes on YouTube that didn't make the final film; notably, footage taken by a fictional media outlet known as "Hardcore News" that provides alternate glimpses of the action through the eyes of sleazy reporter Tony Pope, played by Morton Downey Jr. You can see the entire reel here, including creepy, alternate footage of the Penthouse Massacre aftermath, which begs the question: why hasn't anybody made a "Predator" found-footage movie?
Keyes death in Predator 2
As explained above, Hopkins toned down the gore in "Predator 2" to achieve a more commercial-friendly R-rating. Consequently, a pivotal scene late in the picture left viewers scratching their heads.
During his investigations, Harrington eventually bumps into a special task force intent on capturing the Predator. Led by maniacal Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey), this high-tech band of soldiers corners the alien warrior and ends up in a violent shootout within a slaughterhouse. At one point, Keyes fires at the demon from behind a slab of meat. In retaliation, the Predator launches a smart disc at Keyes. The weapon slices through the meat and strikes our human warrior, cutting him in two. Oddly, Keyes' lower torso tumbles to the floor while his upper half magically vanishes.
According to Hopkins, in his DVD/Blu-ray commentary, they filmed the upper torso gore entrails, but they were forced to axe the beat because the MPAA thought the moment proved too graphic for general audiences. At the very least, we can rest peacefully knowing the bizarre death scene resulted from studio interference rather than incompetence on behalf of the filmmakers.
Jerry's extended death in Predator 2
The train sequence in "Predator 2" stands out as one of the film's most memorable moments. Bill Paxton's Jerry Lambert and María Conchita Alonso's Leona get into a standoff with some goons aboard a subway. Before the situation can escalate further, the Predator leaps aboard the vehicle and lays waste to everything in sight. A strobe light effect caused by train damage drenches the scene in dread as we only get quick flashes of the Predator's gnarly violence.
In a last act of heroism, Jerry distracts the alien being long enough for the surviving passengers to escape. The formidable policeman fires and unloads clips at the Predator until only a golf ball remains in his arsenal, which he also chucks out of spite. Harrigan (Danny Glover) arrives at the scene and finally pursues our dreadlock-sporting baddie through the subway tunnels. He spots the Predator when he rips Jerry's spine from his lifeless torso and screams as he passes by the mutilated corpse. Nasty stuff.
Except it could have been much worse. According to the comic book adaptation and "Predator 2" lore, the original version showed the Predator ripping out Jerry's backbone up close. You can see what the "extended" bit might have been like in this video. While it only adds a few extra seconds, it's still violent enough to send shivers down the spine.
Antarctica slaughter in Alien vs. Predator
Following a long hiatus, the "Predator" franchise returned in the form of Paul W.S. Anderson's 2004 sci-fi crossover "Alien vs. Predator." An adaptation of the popular comic series, which drew inspiration from an Easter egg featured in "Predator 2" showing a Xenomorph skull aboard the Predator's ship, "AvP" sees the snarling hunters battling a group of aliens inside a pyramid located in Antarctica. Naturally, a group of humans — played by Sanaa Lathan, Lance Henriksen, Raoul Bova, Ewen Bremner, and Colin Salmon — are stuck in the middle of the wild conflict, leading to plenty of stylized extraterrestrial violence.
Despite abundant action, "AvP" mostly squanders its premise with a mediocre story, poorly staged set pieces, bad CGI, and a noticeable lack of terror. Bizarrely, 20th Century Fox opted for a PG-13 rating, which forced Anderson to trim language and moments of violence. You can see these slight alterations in the unrated version of the film, primarily in the scene where a trio of Predators takes out a small squad of soldiers before traveling into the tunnel to the pyramid. As odd as it may sound, the digital blood and gore make the sequence harder and raise the stakes for our human characters. These Predators are not messing around.
Predalien in Alien vs. Predator
According to author Marc Cerasini, who wrote the official novelization of "AvP," the original script underwent several changes that drastically altered the final film. There was a prologue set in Cambodia, the appearance of five Predators rather than three, and, most exciting of all, the arrival of a Predator/Xenomorph hybrid. The strange creature, dubbed the "Predalien," was set to emerge from a Predator corpse early in the story and would have participated in the war within the pyramid. Cerasini included the beast in his novel, though its appearance occurs briefly near the end of the book.
The Predalien concept is still featured in the finished film, bursting out of the Predator Scar's body right before the credits, but that's it. The monster would also appear as the main antagonist in the "Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem" sequel. Still, the hybrid might have injected Anderson's entry with a little more pizzaz. As is, "AvP" feels like a jumble of scenes ripped from better movies and never entirely comes to life. The hybrid at least provides something original for viewers to savor, a critical element considering "AvP" is the seventh film in what was already feeling like a stale franchise in 2004.
Skinned predators in Aliens Vs. Predator - Requiem
Following the disappointing (and watered-down) release of "AvP," Fox gave the franchise another try with "Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem," which serves as a sequel while simultaneously starting from scratch. Mostly. The events pick up immediately following the events of "AvP." The Predalien erupts from Scar's corpse and lays waste to the Predators on board the Predator spacecraft, which then crashes on Earth. Aliens then spring from the wreckage and ravage a small town.
Meanwhile, an advanced Predator, Wolf, arrives and takes the Xenomorph outbreak head-on. Into the fold drops a handful of barely memorable human characters who take turns dying horrible deaths. This results in a film more akin to a slasher picture than an "Alien" or "Predator" sequel. While directors Greg and Colin Strause crank up the violence, gore, and language, necessitating an R-rating, "AvPR" is too grim to enjoy — and it could have been much worse.
"AvPR" underwent substantial changes during its production. Several scenes were shot and cut or planned and jettisoned before filming. A notable beat sees Wolf stumble upon his comrades, skinned and hung inside the ship wreckage by the Predalien. This discovery partially motivates our hero to follow and kill the hybrid baddie and would have provided him with a little more character depth. If you look really hard, you can see snippets of the hanging bodies in the final film.
Kids in the hospital in Aliens Vs. Predator - Requiem
"AvPR" also omitted an extended sequence featuring a pair of youngsters named Kendra and Curtis, who sneak around evading aliens during the hospital outbreak. According to AvP Galaxy, the kids witness the Predalien taking an interest in a batch of babies. One of the kids knocks something over, drawing the Predalien's attention and leading to a "Jurassic Park" sequence where they duck and cover from the bloodthirsty aberration. Taking refuge inside a closet, Kendra and Curtis witness the Predalien kill an orderly and attack a group of pregnant women.
The children eventually escape the hospital and hijack a car. An alien pursues them, leaping on the vehicle's roof. Kendra drives toward our main characters, and a group of soldiers destroys the alien in a hail of gunfire. Another alien emerges, and Kelly (Reiko Aylesworth) leaps on a mounted gun and takes the creature down in a scene promoted heavily in the trailers. Kendra and Curtis head off with the Sheriff (John Otiz) and die when the atomic bomb drops on the town at the end of the film.
Likely cut for pacing issues, fans can see snippets of footage from the Kendra/Curtis sequence on the tie-in trading cards series from Inkworks and a handful of production stills.
Alternate character deaths in Aliens Vs. Predator - Requiem
AvP Galaxy also notes that Sheriff Morales, an essential character in the story, along with Carrie (portrayed by talented actress Gina Holden) and Ricky (the late Johnny Lewis), were all destined to face a bleak and unfortunate end.
In an earlier draft of the script, aliens gruesomely tear Sheriff Morales in half while he seeks refuge in a convenience store. In the film, we last see him cowering in terror as the nuclear bomb drops on the town during the final act.
Meanwhile, Carrie's death dragged on a little longer than we saw in the theatrical cut. The Predalien watches her from the restaurant's roof before launching its assault. After cornering the kindhearted waitress in the kitchen, the film would have cut to the Predalien's perspective as it glances down at the fetus in her belly, shedding light on the motive behind its attack.
Not to be outdone, the Predalien was poised to tear poor Ricky in two, highlighting the Strause brothers' penchant for gruesome carnage. However, Fox objected to this idea and decided the character should survive his encounter with the Predalien, shrugging off a stab wound. While these additions may not elevate "AvPR," fans of graphic violence may find them satisfying.
An alternate final fight in Aliens Vs. Predator - Requiem
Sticking with "AvPR," the final fight between Wolf and the Predalien was designed much differently than what landed on the big screen. According to Mr. H Reviews, the heroic Predator would hop on the roof covered in his fluorescent blood after slicing through the alien hoard, displaying the toll the battle took on him. Following a lengthy fight sequence, he would rip out the Predalien's inner jaw and use it to kill the big bad. In the finished film, Wolf rather anticlimactically kills the Predalien with his wrist blades.
Following this encounter, the Predator was going to die moments before the nuke touched down. The script details his valiant death, explaining that a group of Xenomorphs storm the roof and tear off his arm before he can activate his self-destruct device. Dallas (Steven Pasquale) then grabs the Predator's plasma canon and heads to the chopper, which escapes just in time to evade the nuclear explosion. As with most of the edits, Fox scrapped these moments due to budget restraints.
Special forces massacre in Aliens Vs. Predator - Requiem
The last entry for "AvPR" is a scene that would have ended the picture on an incredibly bleak note. The theatrical release allows our main heroes, Kelly, Dallas, Molly (Ariel Gade), and Ricky, to escape before the nuclear bomb explodes. However, the Strause brothers shot a scene in which the main cast crashes into the woods, where a group of special forces meets them. A tense moment ensues. Dallas reluctantly hands over the Plasma Pistol he lifted from the Predator. Everyone relaxes, and the special forces team opens fire and eliminates our core group.
Per AvP Galaxy, the studio rejected this sequence in favor of a more hopeful ending, an odd choice considering early scripts ended on a dark note. Shane Salerno's early draft of the screenplay, written in December of 2005, wraps up with Molly watching the nuke explode, her face pressed against the helicopter window. "The bright light strikes the ground," the script explains. "There is a flash of intense white light that floods the entire screen. THE END."
Everyone involved in "AvPR" clearly didn't grasp the core elements that made the "Alien" and "Predator" franchises so wildly popular, hence the inflated violence, bland characters, and downbeat ending. Every "Predator" film contains moments of gore, but the experience is always more exciting than exhausting. Thankfully, a third "AvP" film never developed past the concept stage.
A parachute victim in Predators
Nimród E. Antal's "Predators" provides fans with a solid but clunky sequel to John McTiernan's "Predator," cleverly expanding franchise lore while introducing a new band of heroes to cheer for. The "requel" even contains a few fun callbacks to the first movie and feels more in line with the 1987 film than the "AvP" series, both in tone and style. Antal and producer Robert Rodriguez craft solid action scenes and get the most out of a cast featuring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, and Laurence Fishburne. "Predators" is far from perfect, but it at least felt like a big step in the right direction for the series. Naturally, we have yet to get a sequel.
No matter. Fans can still enjoy "Predators" and bask in a few deleted scenes. In one notable excised bit, Brody's character happens upon the remains of another human who died before he could join their party. For those unaware, the sequel follows a group of elite killers on an alien planet combating a team of Predator warriors. We're left to imagine the hunters' stealthy capture of our heroes, only to witness their abrupt awakening mid-fall onto the alien terrain. The survivors include nine persons; this fallen soldier would have made for an even 10 for the Predator to track down.
An alternate climactic battle in The Predator
Of all the films on this list, Shane Black's "The Predator" is the most disappointing, if only due to the talent involved in the anticipated production. Here was a chance to course the long-running franchise into a big-budget spectacle. Unfortunately, the film underwent massive reshoots that completely reconfigured the plot.
Black and co-writer Fred Dekker intended to tell a story about a Predator fighting alongside humans against evil Predators. This "Fugitive" alien would team up with the "Loonies," the film's main protagonists, led by Boyd Holbrook's Quinn McKenna, to stave off an "Upgraded" Predator sent to kill a batch of Predator Emissaries. The Predators are in the midst of a civil war, with half seeking Earth's destruction and the other half keen on protecting the planet.
Late in the film, the Loonies unlock these important facts at Area 51, where the good guy Predators reside alongside a general played by Edward James Olmos (missing from the finished film). Using an assortment of high-tech alien gear, the Loonies and Emissaries engage in a high-speed chase featuring hybrid, dog-like Predators. Brutal death scenes ensued. Baxley (Thomas Jane) gets his skin ripped off!
This entire sequence takes place during the day, which Black felt didn't work, resulting in an overhaul that led to the messy nighttime bit seen in the finished film. Oh, what could have been!
Come and get us motherf******! — The Predator
Since the first "Predator," every sequel has seemingly tried to somehow incorporate Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch. The big guy was negotiating to star in "Predator 2," but contract talks broke down, and he went on to star in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." In 2010, Adrien Brody told MTV that "Predators" would feature Dutch "passing the gauntlet" to his character in the film's final scene. That moment never came to fruition.
Similarly, Shane Black (who starred in the original movie) ended his script for "The Predator" with a cameo by Schwarzenegger, in which he seemingly recruited Casey, McKenna, and Rory to fight in an intergalactic war. After Schwarzenegger fell through, the production knocked around several ideas designed to excite audiences for a sequel.
"We shot three different endings for The Predator, all variations of a 'Predator Killer,' explained visual effects artist and puppeteer Yuri Everson on Twitter. "This unused ending was Predator Killer Ripley wearing the breather mask we created for the film. You can see her name tag there on her costume." Yes, that's Ripley as in Sigourney Weaver's character from the "Alien" franchise.
Another idea featured the return of Rebecca "Newt" Jorden, the child played by Carrie Henn in James Cameron's "Aliens." In another deleted moment seen in the official trailer and used in the novelization for "The Predator," McKenna looks up to the sky and says, "Come and get us, motherf*****," essentially challenging the Predators. Sigh.
Treetop chase in Prey
Finally, "Prey" is the movie many fans have wanted from the "Predator" franchise for years. The acting is solid, the action crisp, and the feral Predator makes for an imposing force, and it really should have been given a theatrical release. You could stick a Predator in any time frame against any foe and find success — so why doesn't Fox/Disney take this easy path? Hope is on the horizon as director Dan Trachtenberg revealed "a host of 'Predator' projects" in the works, including a sequel to "Prey" currently titled "Badlands." Sign me up!
If you haven't seen "Prey," the plot follows a Comanche warrior named Naru (Amber Midthunder) as she battles a ferocious Predator on the Great Plains in 1719. The conflict leads to plenty of familiar extraterrestrial violence, including a killer sequence in which the mandible-faced warrior slaughters a squad of French voyageurs. As customary, Naru takes on the Predator by herself in the third act. Their ferocious fight occurs in a thick forest where Naru uses her vast skills to gain the upper hand.
However, a deleted scene further escalates the intensity. At one point, the duo would have fought amongst the treetops, a sequence that was scripted and designed in previz (which you can see on the home media release of "Prey") but never shot. As is, the climax is more than enough, though fans likely wouldn't have cried over more Predator havoc. Thankfully, we're going to get more "Predator" movies from filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg soon enough.