Project Geekology

Predator: Badlands (2025)

• Anthony, Rich • Episode 152

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 51:18

Send a text

A Predator with a heartbeat changes everything. We take you into Badlands, where Dek, the runt of a Yautja clan, hunts a nightmare that even his father fears, and where Thia, a synth with surprising empathy, rewrites the rules of survival. This isn’t just another invisibility-cloak stalk-and-slash. It’s a character-first story built on honor, trust, and a planet that wants you dead the second you step on it.

We unpack how Badlands bridges Predator and Alien without feeling like homework. From Weyland-Yutani fingerprints to the chilling return of “MU / TH / UR,” the film plants canon ties that feel earned. The ecosystem is more than a backdrop: razor grass shapes armor strategy, aerial hunters weaponize the environment, and the Kalisk’s regeneration forces smarter tactics. We dive into the “baby” Kalisk twist, why it works beyond cute-factor, and how it reframes Deck’s mission from trophy to responsibility.

Our conversation goes deep on synth morality, Thia’s evolving conscience vs Tessa’s corporate directives, and why giving a Predator visible emotion can expand the myth without neutering it. We call out the clean action geography, expressive creature work, and why the PG-13 rating still lands visceral impact through alien fluids, industrial carnage, and mounting dread. Then we look ahead: the final shot hints at a matriarchal reckoning, possible crossover momentum, and a sequel path that could let Predator carry the honor-and-tactics banner while Alien brings the biotech nightmares.

If you’re here for lore, we’ve got it; if you’re here for a smart, modern hunt story, you’ll find that too. Hit play, join the debate on Yautja culture, synth ethics, and the Kalask design, and tell us: should the Predator evolve emotionally, or stay mask-and-mystery forever? Subscribe, share with a friend, and drop a milky, juicy five-star review to boost the signal.


Twitter handles:
Project Geekology: https://twitter.com/pgeekology
Anthony's Twitter: https://twitter.com/odysseyswow
Dakota's Twitter: https://twitter.com/geekritique_dak

Instagram:
https://instagram.com/projectgeekology?igshid=1v0sits7ipq9y

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@projectgeekology

Geekritique (Dakota):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwciIqOoHwIx_uXtYTSEbA

Support the show

Welcome, Hosts Down To Two

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to episode 152 of Project Geekology. And this week we are covering season four of Twin Peaks, Sans Dakota and Jen. Just kidding. We're actually going to be covering Predator Badlands, but Sans Dakota and Jen. They will be back by the time this episode comes out. But I am one half of your host today, Anthony, and joining me this week as always is Rich.

SPEAKER_00

And I guess you could say that we're kind of this episode's kind of like Thea, right? Because uh last week we had four and now we're down to two. So it's like we're just uh half a synth.

Gaming Catch-Up And Nostalgia

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we're we're half a dollar over here. You know, there was four of us, and now we're down to two. But before we hop into the meat of the conversation, we always start these episodes of what we've been up to. Rich, what have you been up to?

SPEAKER_00

Let's see. Uh I had to deal with the fact that uh man, the one thing I hate about Nintendo games is that they don't devalue. So like one of my favorite pastimes used to be uh going to Best Buy and like looking around for like, you know, what PS2 games were like six dollars. You know, I remember I bought a Starsky and Hutch video game that was based on the movie, not on the show, and the point of the game was to get the viewers, to keep the viewers high. So it was like you were actively like trying to get more viewers on this TV show. Uh I'm just saying all that because I just bought Marvel Ultimate Lions 3. It came out like 10 years ago, and that$59.99, man. I could I could not find it anywhere, new discounted. But I really I really I love that game. So I'm getting into that a little bit on the Switch, on the uh PS, on the PlayStation side. I I think last week I mentioned that I finished Outer Worlds. I kind of like went on a uh a little bit of like a game-ending streak where I I finished Astrobot, I finished uh Outer Worlds 2, and uh I'm back in it, boy. I'm back in it. Red Dead Redemption. Just uh just saw the sunset set on uh ult on Arthur's life. I'm playing it so much that my wife keeps coming in and actually sitting down and going like, so is he dead yet? Like she's like, why are why aren't you John yet? I was like, I had some stuff to take care of. Uh but I'm uh made I love Red Dead. I just I can't I don't think I can ever like I'm wal I'm looking at it and I'm still like I know the ghosts of Yote and uh you know is probably better looking. My son has it and I should just play it. But um I can't get over how good looking Red Dead Redemption is and how good the game is. Like I'm just I've watched Arthur spoiler alert, I've watched Arthur die like ten times, and it still hits me every time when he falls off that couch for the uh the the couch, when he falls off the horse for the first time in Sandini coughing, I'm still like, oh no. And then I I I get the feeling that he feels every time where I'm like, wait, I wanna finish this, or I wanna I wanna finish this mission, or I wanna I wanna finish this garment set. Like I'm I'm losing time, and then as I'm going through it, you know, you're I'm giving I'm eating, you know, some of the big game stuff that I created at the campfire, and then it doesn't fully heal him because he's got the tuberculosis and it's really set in. And that's when it still sets in on me. I'm like, oh man, I'm really running out of time with this character, you know. It still does that to me. It's ugly if you haven't played it and you listen to the show, if there's one thing that you ever hear me say, it's gotta be go go play Red Dead Redemption. But what have you been up to, Ant?

SPEAKER_02

I know you you talk about Red Dead like I do with the Persona games.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean it's I think it's my it's my I'm 40, gonna be 44 this year, and I don't know if there's gonna be a game that ever takes over. Like I don't unless they come out with another Red Dead or like a really great Elder Scrolls game, you know. Like I'm not looking forward to GTA, like I know half the world is looking forward to how great it's gonna be, you know, but and I know Red Dead is essentially GTA, but you know, but in the West, but there's something different, man. It's not uh I don't feel like I'm just some sort of murderer, you know. I don't feel like I'm a terrible person. Like you're you're doing some good things, you're helping the nun out, you know, helping the kids. Uh I don't know, man. Like there's different stuff that you do as Arthur along the way that makes you feel like I don't ever remember feeling GTA, going like, oh, you know what? No, I'm a my this guy's he's a good guy. You know, like I never thought that about any of the characters with Arthur. I think like you really get that point-driven home at the you know, as you're playing it, uh, you know, he's a good man. Like, ooh. So that's and and it makes me beholden to like his morality. Like, I don't rob people in that game. I've I've there's like a uh a little thing where it's like rob five town folk, right? I have never robbed one person in Red Dead Redemption. I've never gone past like a person in the town and like, oh man. Like I feel I'm like Arthur wouldn't do that. Also, you don't get enough money, but um like Arthur wouldn't do that. And I think that I don't know if there's a game, I don't know if there's a game that takes you on that emotional ride the way this game does.

SPEAKER_02

Probably the first one.

SPEAKER_00

Which is, you know, just so you know, the you know how they have the re-release. This is what happened, by the way. I downloaded that one, right? The new like the new Red Dead Redemption that he came out with for PS5. And my intention was to obviously play it, but then I was like, let me just go and play a little bit more Red Dead Redemption 2. So I think that when I finally f I'm I'm in the John, you know, I'm already John now, Marston, so you know, I'm not that far from have being at the point where I think I'm just gonna start by probably by next week when we talk, I'll I'll have either beaten it because I'm I'm off this week, or I'll be in the throes of beating it, I think, next episode.

SPEAKER_02

Nice. Is there uh anything else that that you had going on aside from uh games?

SPEAKER_00

I don't uh luckily uh this the track season's just about to be over. I'm on vacation. Uh this week New York schools have the whole week off. So uh nah man, this is it. Like right now it's it's kind of like Red Dead. It's just in I you know what's funny is that I um I noticed some saves from last year. So from my from like another playthrough, and my saves are are the same time. It seems that like just before baseball starts, when the baseball game loses its luster, and I've beaten my Christmas games just about this time in February, I have to go back to Red Dead. But uh what have you been up to, man? I uh you know, lost some power, I heard some things were electrifying.

Power Outage And Blizzard Binge

D&D Sparks And Stranger Things Bits

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah. On Monday, the power went out for quite a few hours from five five around yeah, five p.m. to two a.m. that the power went out. And it wasn't me, it was not just me, but it was like a few of us in in our area. There was uh I guess like a Transformer blew out nearby. And um like I live in I I live in like a community, and so like I think it kind of affected some of the other ones like nearby. So I'm just like I'm like, oh my gosh, dude, that drove me nuts. So yeah, I ended up staying at a buddy's house for the night and worked over there the next day because you know I just you just never know when it comes to that stuff. I didn't think, you know, I was like, it could have been 2 a.m. or 2 p.m. the next day, you know. So I was just like, I don't feel like using PTO to call out. I also probably wouldn't have been able to sleep well because of like, you know, the house, it's warm down here, so the house would be getting warm. So at least like, you know, when I came back, you know, everything, you know, the AC and everything was kicked on, so it felt nice and cool that the next um yesterday. So yeah, so I had to deal with that. Aside from that, just been playing a still been playing a a lot of like Overwatch ever since they did that revamp and and um World of Warcraft been bouncing between the Blizzard games. I've been on a a Blizzard kick these uh past couple weeks, so or for a while, like it was World of Warcraft for like most of the time and then when they did that revamp now Overwatch has kind of edged in that time a little bit, but yeah, I've been just been enjoying my time, you know, I've been playing with some some old friends that I hadn't played with in a while because they came back and so it it's been a good time. I I always love being able to uh game with uh old friends that you know there's that there's that feeling, you know, that you had during that time, and you kind of get that nostalgia when when you get a little taste of it again, so that was so it's been a good time.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I I did forget to tell you, uh you and Dakota I wish Dakota and uh Jen were here. Charlie has uh fully created a backstory for a character for D D. He's mate, taking the plunge, he's ready. He's already he just came up to me before uh we were recording and he's like, Hey Dad, look. And he shows me like this Google uh his uh Apple notes app, and it's all filled up that he's uh getting ready to get his character. So uh I don't know, you might get Vecna. I don't even know what that means, but uh maybe Charlie's somehow gonna show up on your campaign one day.

SPEAKER_02

That's a campaign. Like he he he just drops in on uh on Dakota and Jen's campaign.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like he's been random, like he's it's so crazy. Like I was just saying I was like, what? I was like, we don't even like he doesn't have the he has no idea how to play, but he does know the all the roles and he's made his character, so he was very uh he's very excited about that.

SPEAKER_02

Nice, nice. Does he have any plans on joining any campaigns anytime soon, or is he just preparing himself?

SPEAKER_00

I think he's just preparing himself. He wants to get into something at some point in the next couple months. Uh I think it's because of episode 16 of uh Stranger Things from uh season five.

SPEAKER_02

He's really Oh, direct directed by you?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, man, so good. Episode 16. Like everyone's talking about like the controversy over nine, and I'm like, guys, wait till you get to 16. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02

He's just like, just keep watching. Everybody else is like, yeah, but the series is over. No, it's not.

SPEAKER_00

It lives out in our hearts. I know what Elle's doing right now.

Enter Predator Badlands

SPEAKER_02

But yeah, um, I I don't know if you got anything else to say, or did you want to hop into the discussion Predator Badlands?

SPEAKER_00

I think uh let's let's go take a let's take a jaunt into the melans. Melans.

SPEAKER_02

Let's do it. I know that we usually start stuff off or thing things that we usually cover that are that are new. We usually start off with our relationship with the series. Rich, tell us your relationship with the predator series.

SPEAKER_00

Man, did we go back no we didn't do Predator, did we?

SPEAKER_02

No, no, we haven't done Predator. So we've kind of touched the Predator verse by because remember we you and I we watched Alien vs. Predator. Yep. We didn't cover it. That's right, that's right. But it was kind of between two of the alien movies. So it's crazy because tech technically covering this movie, we're kind of going back to the alien series a little bit, also.

Predator Franchise History

SPEAKER_00

I was like, it's just a dirty trick. Let's see. So for the whole franchise, I mean, we covered Back to the Future a couple weeks ago, and that happened to be like the movie that I had seen like the most. Like the top three movies that I've seen most of all time are that movie, Major League, and then the original predator, because I went to Miami as we always did, and one summer the hotel just was playing Predator on repeat on the movie channel, and I mean someone downstairs just kept popping it back in, and I must have watched that movie like three times a day. I love the original Predator. It I mean, I fell in love with Arnold just the other day. Someone someone has been out at work for three months, and we do a lot of Arnold impressions, and I walked by and suddenly I hear like, I'll meet you at the party, Richta. And I'm like, who was like, Dylan! And we we clapped hands and we flexed in front of his class as the the entire class is like, what are these men doing? But we were excited to be able to relive the predator scene. I mean, it's such a I love that one. I did watch Predators, Predator 2 when I was a kid with Danny Glover. Not what I expected, I would say. And then I I I saw parts of the Odrian Brody one, but I don't think I've been as loyal. Like I I haven't seen every single I did see what's the one that came out with the uh Native American protagonist?

SPEAKER_01

Oh Prey. Prey was good.

SPEAKER_00

I saw Prey.

SPEAKER_01

Prey was good.

SPEAKER_00

Um so I I I saw Prey, yeah. So I've seen I think almost all of them except Predators, which what was that for? Is that the third one?

SPEAKER_02

Or I I think isn't that the one that came out maybe what like in 2018?

SPEAKER_00

Maybe, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I I I remember I actually I've seen like all of them. Okay. And yeah, that one was a little odd. That's the one that has like that giant predator in it. Like there's like one that's just like a lot taller than the rest of them.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And Alien Alien vs. Predator is the one that we saw that had like the training ground, right? In like like they they had the building where they had to like train and that they had the aliens in there. Like the Oh where the Yaucha had to train against like against the xenomorphs, like in that uh uh you mean alien vs.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that's the one, yeah, okay, yeah. So that one Okay, yeah, yeah. I think they would send them as a that was their way of proving themselves.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like like puberty or whatever, like the rite of passage. So yeah, I mean I uh I I think you know more about the franchise than I do, but uh I think uh I know the first one pretty well.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's it's crazy. Yeah, for me, I I grew up also like watching them younger. My dad, you know, he grew up through the 80s, so he like watched all that stuff. So naturally, people who grew up through the 80s are gonna show that stuff to their kids. It's I mean it's a na it's a natural thing. Everybody does it, right? They always pass their stuff on to their kids, so you know, I've I've seen stuff like that, you know, Terminator, all obviously Star Wars, but yeah, the Predator movies, you know, I've always seen them, and for some reason, and I am I right or wrong, but I always like associated it, it's been a while since I've seen the first one, associated the first one happening during the Vietnam War.

SPEAKER_00

So I think that it's after, because the idea is that like I think that like uh say like J they were see I actually feel like it makes more sense in my head chronologically for it to be like the early eighties or the sev late seventies just because of it being in South America and the uh the kind of like the idea that like uh the South American countries that are being infiltrated by US forces.

SPEAKER_02

I don't know, like Because they're they're there for a whole other reason.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think because I think I think they're like like veterans of Vietnam or something. Like A-Team type guys.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

I don't think we actually get a time. I wish we had a guy. Imagine if we knew somebody who like knew timelines, right?

Timelines And Canon Crossovers

SPEAKER_02

And could like place when this movie Actually, believe it or not, I actually looked at the timeline for this movie. Really? Predator Badlands, yep. And supposedly it takes place well after Alien Resurrections, your favorite movie.

SPEAKER_00

Oh.

SPEAKER_02

Alien Resurrection, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

What year did that's so that's like in the 80s, right?

SPEAKER_02

Well, it so on the timeline in because you know how alien it's like 20, I think the I think Alien Resurrection, if I remember correctly, Dakota would know this. I think that that was like 2392.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Yeah, 2381. So I actually I have I found something here that says that Prey was 1719 and that Predator was actually 87, and that Predator 2 is 97. Because it was like 10 years later, like it was like the heat had risen again. Because remember in the original Predator, it was like every couple of years when the when it gets too hot, you know, like it happens. Because I think the whole tagline, because I think in two the whole thing was like, you know, it's also hot in the city, you know, and that's why it was set in LA instead of being in like a jungle, which is who thought I just I really want to know who was like, yeah, you know what? The first one worked really well in like a wooded, like a jungle, right? Why don't we move it to the city? Like it just made snow. It was just because of like like just violent.

Deck, Thea, And Yautja Culture

SPEAKER_02

Well, I guess because they they they didn't want it to like look like the same thing. But then they and so they kind of do that back and forth like throughout the series where they move it to like a more like wooded area, then to like more urban area. But back to Predator Badlands, you know, this is interesting because this is we've had and what was it? It's Yuja, Yao Yao Yaocha Yaucha, yeah. Yaocha. This is the first time that I've actually heard them called that. And but I think that they are called that somewhere in a book, like back in the 90s. Yeah. But I think in actual like movie media, like this is the first time we actually hear the name, right? And I think this is like the first canon movie that we have like a full-on protagonist of one of these, you know. Most of them are like bloodthirsty, they're trying to like kill everybody. But in this one, this one is and his name is Deck, the protagonist of this one. And so he's so like this one gives you a little bit more lore about like like how they are, right? They they've got these like, you know, kind of clan tribalistic societies where the way to to earn your spot in the clan is that you have to bring in like the biggest trophy, right? And so Deck is the like he's the runt of the group. And he's kind of watched out by his brother um was it Dwayne. Quay. His brother Quay, the father doesn't like that. The father doesn't like that at all. And ends up killing the brother. Deck has this like whole plan that he's gonna take down this creature that even his father's afraid of.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I the Kalisk, uh, which Yes, you know, it's so I mean to start, I think some of the things that are weird, obviously it's super weird when you take the strong silent, right? Like protagonist or character, and now suddenly they're not. There's almost something that I liked about the original Predator that there was like silence, and there was like a little bit of silence in here. Like I and what I mean by silence is like not talking, you know, like just no dialogue. There's music or there's there's action, but you just you're kind of silently following this hunter, you know, and I feel like that happened a lot in Predator. And here it's kind of weird because it was like slightly comedic, you know, like he makes like crazy faces, um, he emotes a lot. Like they the CGI, I gotta say, did a really good job, I thought, with him with his face. Like I thought that like he he conveyed emotion. Deck was able to convey emotion super well, but it was weird, right? It was weird to have that emotion. It was other predator movies.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, and it and it was because he he's like an outlier, yeah, right. He's probably displayed this type of stuff that was seen as weak, and that's why he was getting pretty much ousted, and that's why you know when when he's meeting, you know, when he meets Thea, that he tries to really kind of like put on that front because you know the there the the whole reason why he's here is to take down the callus. And yeah, like he I mean that that that that goes away pretty quick, right? Like you you start to kind of really see like you know how he is that he is strong, but he's he's better with like a pack man. mentality kind of, you know? What do you think about Thea?

Synth Morality And Double-Cross

SPEAKER_00

I thought the actress like did a really so I did feel like there's a separation in the two characters of Thea and then it was Teresa? Tessa Tessa, Tessa. So I thought she did like a really there was a real effort. I could really feel the effort on the filmmakers and the actress's part to really differentiate those two characters. You know, and I mean I'm let's just say I wasn't surprised. Like I was kind of always mistr like I was not trusting of Thea from like the first minute she was on screen. I was like whoa this is uh gonna be evil right like I I we ha we've rarely met synths that don't like have directives kind of laid out by the corporation where they end up turning right right but like I I mean there's definitely been been some exceptions like I would say that and actually I wanted to bring up that this kind of brings this dynamic but remember David and Walter which one was the cracked one was it Walter?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah I thought so so the other one was you know he had like kind of his directive but he was still like pretty protective where uh and then remember uh Winona Ryder's Senth character in Resurrection was was a good synth right and mind you by now this is in that timeline where it's after resurrection and remember Senth are making sense by this point. So her Murder their whole crew is nothing but synth so there's definitely there's bound to be the run the Winona rider esque kind of sense out there and I feel like Thea fit that bill.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah I mean I I thought she did a really I I guess it's not till later in the film right where she kind of double crosses deck slightly like for a little bit. And I thought that I mean I I I guess I saw that coming so I that's the only thing but maybe like again that's my own bias going into it when I see a a milk filled a juicy m just milk filled synth you know I I just don't trust him.

SPEAKER_02

They're not all bad um there I mean there was also that good one was it Bishop also he was good oh that's right okay I mean we've we've had some good synths you know yeah I mean come on you you can't forget about the the the anger of of Dakota leading you on thinking that you were gonna get Bishop and everybody back in uh Talian three I still can't believe that they Alien cubes I cannot believe that they just decided like hey you know let's just erase everything from that last movie everyone's dead kid is dead yeah you know with all that I mean that not every synth is gonna be bad but I did like that they had that that David and Walter kind of like standoff between uh Thea and and Tessa.

SPEAKER_00

Now yeah when when you got when you saw that Tessa like was getting that directive and stuff I was like oh yeah this is this is not gonna be good and um I thought it was ridiculous that um when Thea calls like like the word sister is like foreign to them right and I'm just like you're synthetic like you're basically walking human iPhones. How do you not know what the word sister means like I don't know why but for some reason that like annoyed me that like the concept was so foreign.

SPEAKER_02

I think from an emotional standpoint it was foreign. Not that they don't understand or not that they don't know what it is but I think that the emotional feeling behind it is a bit of a foreign concept but I do what what did you think about the baby calus so okay like I really liked it right like I I I I really liked the baby calus.

Baby Kalask And Tone Shift

SPEAKER_00

I liked the reveal later right when it ends up you're like oh it's the c it's a baby calus right right right like it gives you that nod when the like larger one or the mother starts to sniff deck because earlier on the baby spits on him to mark him and I thought that was hilarious when the baby just like spits on him and Thea's just like oh yeah she's just trying to mark you because he got he was pissed I would I mean honestly I would have been pissed too I you know I guess it's like I enjoyed it but again and I think this is going to be a refrain for me right like the Predator one fan in me right is like what kind of ewok return of the Jedi nonsense are we doing with this cute little animal right like I feel like Star Wars fans after Empire and they're like what's with these teddy bears you know like I just kind of felt like he's so cute he's adorable right in every way he's adorable like he looks adorable like he acts adorable and you're just like I'm like is I don't know if I want adorable in a predator movie.

SPEAKER_02

But you know you know I don't know like I just I enjoyed it I think that it added a a nice like you know there there's definitely something that was missing from the Predator movies. I mean obviously to the point to where you I mean you haven't really s watched any in a while right yeah so I I do like that they went with a different route you know that they tried something different and it paid off because this is definitely one of the best predator movies that they've come out with in a very long time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah I mean I I can tell you what the movies were missing.

SPEAKER_02

It's Arnold Schwarzenegger just give him all the money no no no I it I mean at some point you can't rely on Arnold Schwarzenegger and you know as as much as I love Arnie his style of acting worked well back then when like that type of camp made sense for those movies. Because he de I mean come on let's be real he was very campy in his movies.

SPEAKER_00

Well yeah that's why I love him so much.

SPEAKER_02

You know but look yeah that's what I'm saying like and I'm not saying that as a knock but like he I mean he's definitely campy as as the Terminator. Chill out every chill chill out okay but you know that I that's parts of of why we like it but I'm not so sh I'm not too sure if that would work now. And I mean he remember he tried to come back for Terminator and it just did not work well for him at all.

Effects, Rating, And Accessibility

SPEAKER_00

I'm hearing rumors and uh you know we'll see what you think at the end but uh that there might be like a possibility that there's like a uh a movie that collects all of these characters like Dutch like the protagonist from Prey and something like there is going to be some sort of like kind of like Avengers style team up of predator protagonists in like a future movie.

SPEAKER_02

What in the Marvel multiverse?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah man I'm telling you they're saying that Dutch would be there that he's like that there is a uh that there is a video game that is revealed that Dutch has been like given extra life possibly by the Yaucha for like being such a badass or something like that for defeating a predator. So like the it it's possible that he's technically still alive and according to the timeline Badlands takes place in 2025 I think if I'm reading this right well not tw no no not 2025.

SPEAKER_02

It takes place after Alien Resurrection which is like 2300 I was looking at a timeline that said that it was um all right so I I guess so yeah like it's like it's looking like it's like 2400 and beyond which makes sense when you think about it because of of like be because like you see how everything is pretty much synth and that's where it was headed in alien resurrection. So yeah Way Wayland Utani essentially like they have like just synth everything now or so it seems like but yeah that that's what I I looked up like where it was sitting around on the timeline and I mean I sa I saw it on a few different places that they're saying that it took place after alien resurrection and that's like the latest that's the furthest down on on the timeline for all of these. I do like that we got this movie right so this is the first predator and alien crossover that we've had since AVP too yeah and it's a legit one this is legit like this is like like a a canon one the other ones they're just like okay whatever they're not canon but like this is like an actually well done one that's putting these universes together so honestly I would be down to see Deck and um Thea throw down on some Xenomorphs.

SPEAKER_00

Ooh I I I with with their calus their calyx buddy Bud Thea call called her Bud when he got uh when that Kalusk the first time that Deck like beheads the Kalas I think I like tapped on my iPad or whatever to see how much time was left and I was like I was like buddy you're something bad's gonna happen and then the whole thing regenerates that was uh that was pretty cool. I I mean I would say that the uh the effects here are fantastic like I I don't granted you know in ten years we might look back and somehow maybe somehow for some strange reason say they're not good but I in this day and age I thought they were excellent.

SPEAKER_02

It's tough. I think we've hit a certain plateau when it comes to special effects because honestly there's still there's movies that are that that are now like 20 years old and that they're like the 2000s that still look good. Like it it's it's crazy because like it was very obvious when like a movie took place in the 80s and the 90s or older but like now it's starting to become like tough. Yeah. Unless you like you look up when these movies come out. So I mean I I can imagine that this movie's gonna still look amazing in ten years. Yeah I yeah this this movie I I thought it I really enjoyed it a lot. I thought that you know it's something that I've wanted I've been wanting to watch for a while and when it when it popped up on when I saw it on um like Disney Plus slash Hulu like I knew that originally we were going to do Iron Lung but you know we just that just didn't pan out for for both of us. It at least with Predator Badlands you know this is something that like you and I we we hadn't seen yet and we're able to see it you know without trying to figure out where to watch it you know yeah I think that I think that this was a definitely like a solid choice for this week.

SPEAKER_00

But yeah there I mean there's still there's still stuff to cover um you know we mother's back man mother is back yeah I mean they I'm telling you they did 'cause resurrection it was father but like now we have mother it has to be mother father's ridiculous uh it always has to be mother it makes more sense especially for everything that we're talking about here and you know like the generation of life forms and and I mean everything mother makes more sense. I think they like I like you were saying I think they did a really good job of just layering in enough where it really does feel like these two franchises are are kind of just one now. You know like I hope that it continues this way. I don't see a reason why they can't const like e even in alien earth. I'm hoping that we start to see some uh some predator references.

World Hazards And Predator Emotions

SPEAKER_02

There I always saw these two series as two sides of the same coin. Right? Each of the creatures are different but the vibes are very kind of similar that it's humans fighting aliens pretty much and I guess maybe because they came out around the same time you know I mean especially with uh aliens where they really tapped into the action hero part of the movies like the movies started to become a little bit more action heroes rather than like the horror aspect until we got to like you know alien romulus where like that kind of became you know like more horror-esque but I am definitely with the last alien movie that we've seen with it being Romulus which was really good and the fact that we got a really really good predator Badlands that like sets up these two franchises to intertwine I am really really looking forward to the future of both of these yeah I mean I think that you know like I said I think in Alien Earth we should be getting some oh my favorite part I think of Badlands has nothing to do with the Predator series but all to do with the alien series.

SPEAKER_00

When I saw that front loader I got so I was like wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute I'm like I remember I remember Riley using one of these and aliens I'm like yes I was like I don't know like way too excited to see just a machine but I I was like so excited that there was a front loader involved that was like a Hulk buster that was that thing was huge and it had like some extra attachments to it and Tessa v Kalisk was crazy man. Yeah that was pretty it was um they they did it I thought that the whole hey look like I said like if you just take away like if I if I'm looking at this through a lens of like every Predator movie but Predator 1 this was fun. I had a good time but like I I think that if like if you're a stallwart Predator 1 fan I think that you know this is very different. It's a very different feel. You know I thought it was a little at first like the idea that the whole planet could kill you kind of annoyed me. I was like oh like because I There's something about them being about the the Yaucha being unaccessible that I think that made them so like man what if you see it okay if if if the next if Alien Earth season two comes out and there's a xenomorph that starts emoting like you know like it gets scared and its eyes get bulged out of its xenomorph you know if I if I'm watching Alien Earth and suddenly the xenomorph starts to emote the way that that deck did here I it's gonna take me out man. You know there there's something about those characters I think needing to be they're very different though.

Ecosystem Smarts And Fight Design

SPEAKER_02

They're very different. The xenomorph is a lot more animalistic whereas the as the oh my gosh I can't Yaucha the Yaucha right they are a lot more intelligent. Okay. They build ships they build weapons they have in intelligent ways of communicating right they're not just like straight up cliques like the xenomorphs were right where you had the synth and alien earth like figured out that length right and um I I do like that and I thought it was a funny way of of like it was almost like fourth wall breaking when Thea was speaking to to um deck right and she changed her um her like software right her translation so that like to to him he's speaking Yaucha but to anybody else it was speaking their language and it was almost like like a nod to us that we because we were like the viewers like so it's like oh so that it's not them you know that you're reading the whole time so I thought that that was like a clever way that they kind of did that. The I the world being like dangerous doesn't surprise me because they said it was gonna be it that it was a dangerous world like from the the beginning and the fact that such a dangerous creature would live on a planet like that, right? Like if it's gonna be a creature that even Deck's father is afraid of right the Kalask right it's gotta be on some sort of harsh world right the Badlands the bad like when you think about the Badlands the Badlands is not an easy place. It's gonna be a tough place. That it you know it's in the name of the movie itself.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe maybe that's my problem maybe I just think that Badlands is not very alien y I don't know I I guess that you know it obviously gets the message across but I don't I feel like it could have been called you know Predator Jingua and I'd be like oh what's that you know like and that could have been the name of the world I know I know for marketing purposes I'm an idiot so like I mean you you're a Stalwart Predator one fan predator Badlands sounds badass.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah to me I it sounds cool. Like it's like oh like already right off the rip you're like Predator Badlands oh what's gonna happen in this movie?

SPEAKER_00

That's fair. Yeah I mean the the way they like that one bird or whatever that one creature that dropped a rock I mean it was incredibly intelligent where like it dropped the rock so that uh deck would get stung with the uh the uh thorns of the of the flower you know which is like that made the ecosystem kind of like really crazy you know like we're like they're using like the other animals you know or the other creatures powers to you know take down like is think this tag team effort right and and that will kind of happen I mean it happens in real life that there's creatures that will exist that'll kind of like exist together and it's like I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.

Finale Stakes And Sequel Tease

SPEAKER_02

Kind of like the Romoras on sharks there's certain creatures that'll like live on the I forgot what it was like I think the like the birds that like sit on the back of like creatures will keep bugs off of them and stuff. So it's you know like I imagine it like that right you know it's like you know like the the creatures like oh you know I've it's de it's smart like it's learned like okay there's these things over here and if this happens you know like and you know animals could be intelligent like that. I mean look you also have like the the calusk that was smart enough to know that like it's its back its like hide was tough enough to like you know stop stuff right and maybe it learned that from the razor grass. Okay. And then it that it was able to like you know rolling through the razor grass it's like okay I could stop teeth also.

SPEAKER_00

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_02

But I I did think that that that Bud was cute especially when it was doing the the mimicking of of Deck and Deck was like like he was starting to get annoyed by it and like took out his sword and then Bud just like took out a stick with like the fire on it.

SPEAKER_00

It was just like no those interactions like I it it was it's a just it's a real departure for the franchise so I think it takes a little bit of getting used to but I think it's fun. Like you know I I watched it like about two and a half times before recording and um I really enjoyed it. I this is another one where I'm not I don't know I'm not sure if I would have run to the movie theater to go see it but I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02

Like I wouldn't have been there and I obviously wasn't there an opening night you know but I definitely would have seen this one at in the movie theater I'm and and I know that this is gonna shock you but you do like to be honest with you the this movie's actually rated higher than the first one.

SPEAKER_00

Is it really?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Man I'm gonna tell you though going into it when I saw PG 13 I went what am I I'm about to watch a PG 13 Predator movie?

SPEAKER_02

I think what made it PG 13 because there there was quite a bit of blood right and like dismemberment but I think that the fact that it wasn't human blood is what made it PG 13.

SPEAKER_00

So because it's like the reviews that our our audience is gonna leave us right because there like there's juice in this movie right there's juice there's milk right it's flowing right but it's not human. So just like the reviews the juicy five star reviews You know, Anthony, I don't really understand the five-star. Could you maybe explain to our audience a little bit more about that?

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know, Dakota brought it up a while back, you know, when we were covering the Alien series, right? These scents have this milky these milky innards that are just absolutely juicy when they just come exploding outward, like whenever there's any sorts of trauma going on. That kind of milky juiciness, that's the kind of rating that we need, the reviews that we need. That's the five that's how juicy that five-star needs to be. We need it to be that milky substance that are that's inside the sense. It just it needs to be top tier.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, and you know, you know what's also juicy? The official sponsor of uh the unofficial official sponsor of our podcast, uh, Voodoo Ranger Juicy IPA, very refreshing, uh, and also not our official sponsor. But if I keep saying it, maybe it'll happen.

Verdict, Rewatch Value, And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_02

It was uh yeah, I was gonna be like, oh, it's gonna go on a tangent again because I'll be like, you know, Dakota and Jen aren't here, so I'll be the representative, but you also said it. But yes, I agree with Rich. They are not our official sponsor. If if you want to sponsor Rich's baseball podcast that he does on the side, maybe sometimes, then you can do that.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, wait, can we call it can we just can we call next week purposely? First of all, we're gonna see if Dakota listens to the show when he's not on it. Because next week, we should make every effort to constantly call him Dekoda. Because he's gonna be like Deck, so Dak, right? But no, he's Dek now. We're just gonna call him Deck or Dekoda for the entire episode until he starts questioning why we keep saying his name wrong.

SPEAKER_02

Well, uh, I I have called him Dak before, so now we can call him Dekoda.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, Dekota, and see what happens. We'll see how long it takes him.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, we we we can do that. You you hear here uh first, the the fans of the show. But yes, uh, we so we're getting a little a little bit like further in.

SPEAKER_00

I'd say long in the tooth, but deck doesn't have that fourth one, so you know it's we're short in the tooth almost on time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But yeah, so like deck goes through all of this stuff to capture the calusk. He ends up saving it from the the sense, right, at the end of the movie, and kind of includes it like or like you know, it be includes it as a as a part of his pack. Because um the mother well the mother that he saves ends up getting killed by Tessa because it eats Tessa and Tessa has that crazy it's like a I think that was a um a Yaucha like piece of tech that like freezes them and he like I thought that was crazy. That that's some like we got some new new techniques.

SPEAKER_00

That was pretty cool, yeah. I uh I really oh and you know speaking of mother, I mean this movie really mimics, I think, like a lot of the experience of children, right? Like your father's the one that you're kind of openly battling with, maybe as a young man, right? And you're scared of him, right? And but you have to prove yourself. But at the end of the day, who are you more scared of? You're scared of your mother. And the movie just perfectly ends with the ship showing up in the horizon, and you know, who is that? And Dex like, my mother, right? And just like the the fear that that might mean.

SPEAKER_02

I know that cra that they that's crazy. Uh it's crazy how um his father is like completely killed off, like finally by the callisk, and it it's almost like the creature that he fe fears is the one that actually kills him. And yeah, it it it sets up in the end of the movie for a potential sequel.

SPEAKER_00

Now imagine if the mother is like, man, I just hope it's related to Predator Predator one somehow. Uh maybe it's like the this is like the great grandkid of uh of the predator from the original. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

You know, when they come out with the next movie, Predator Goodlands, then um I'm looking forward, man.

SPEAKER_00

Let's like looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_02

So uh So yeah, um, anything else you want to add about this movie?

SPEAKER_00

Surprisingly good. I think that uh, you know, a lot of us have the ubiquitous Disney Hulu whatever set up now. Uh I would go I think it's a great it's a good way to pass a couple hours. Even if you know nothing about either franchise, I think it's fun. I think you could just kind of watch it stand alone and be like, hey, that was a pretty good action movie. But if you know if you know as much as I'm not gonna say that I'm an expert, but if you know as if you've watched as much as like say uh you know, Anthony and I have with these two franchises, then I think it's uh then I think it it rewards you for knowing stuff, and I there's nothing more that I like more than when a movie when I feel like I'm getting a little bit I'm getting rewarded for knowing things.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, no, I actually I absolutely agree with that. You can go into this movie watching it without knowing much of either franchises and really absolutely get rewarded for knowing knowing stuff from both, right? The Wayland Utani, oh, that's from the Alien franchise, and then obviously the Yaucha from the Predator franchise. And it's like, oh wow, they're these two franchises have come together again, and so like you know, they they've absolutely cooked with it. But but I I think it is really cool when you can get a when you can get something that is part of a franchise and watch it and not be like, oh wow, I I feel like I I'm totally missing something.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think that it does a good job of kind of like dancing on that line there where it really gives you a little bit of fan service, but is also very inviting.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. I don't know if we have anything I don't think we have anything set up for next week as far as um what we're gonna cover next, but we shall uh convene with Dakota and figure that out. Thank you for joining us here for episode 152 of Project Geekology. And if you want to follow us, go to the show notes and all our socials will be there. And don't forget those 100% grade A milky, juicy, five star reviews because they help us and in the algorithm and help move us up, and you know, share with your friends, share it with your family, share with your dog. We shall catch y'all next week.

SPEAKER_00

Bye the Wolverine.

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

Nerd of Mouth Artwork

Nerd of Mouth

The Last Podcast Network
Triple Click Artwork

Triple Click

Maximum Fun