 | |
List Price: $12.95 | | Label: Weinstein Company
Salesrank: 24366
Released: January 30, 2007 |
| Our Price: $3.95 |
| Used Price: $1.19 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Tom Newman (Peter Weller) can’t join his family on their first African Adventure vacation due to urgent business obligations, but hopes the trip will provide a chance for his son and daughter to bond with his new young wife, Amy (Bridget Moynahan). Their ranger, Brian, decides to add some extra thrills and adventure to their trip and takes them "off roading." All is well until Amy and the 2 kids become lost in a labyrinthine game reserve and begin to be stalked by savage lions who won’t quit until they have dinner. The film is described as "Jaws in the African bush" and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final seconds.
Prey Reviews:
I was rooting for the lions! 
2009-11-27 - This movie will have you praying for it to end quickly!!
Peter Weller (Robocop!) is an engineer in Africa, he takes his new wife and kids to Africa, and lets them go on a Safari to see wild animals, the youngest one, the Boy needs to take a dump, so the tour guide stops and allows to boy to take a Sh...t. Then some lions come out of the field, they freak-out, and basically get their tour guide killed. And they are safe in their car. After seeing him get violently killed, they whine about really stupid unrelated stuff (Unless all three of them are complete sociopaths, How can they kid around about being hungry after seeing another human being violently killed right in front of them "When we get back I want a triple hamburger!" only minutes after the blood bath)
They get keys, of course the lion tries to get them. They drive around, crash their car, and the lions are at it again. They get out of their car to look around, when they are nearly killed by a lion, but the feline is shot dead by two African hunters. The hunter help them get water. One of the hunters is killed by a lion, the other runs off.
Later, the other hunter comes back, he is killed.
Robocop hires a tracker to find them, They eventually locate the idiot family. Which the tracker is violently killed. Then the lion comes after robocop, robocop hides under the car, the kids and robocop get away, hide in a tree, while the mother turns the car into a big Molotov cocktail, killing the lion. Thee end!
This movie was AWFUL!!! Thumbs down and ZERO stars.
What made it so awful and had ZERO intrigue. It wasn't riveting, scary or even educational. I wasn't interested in the family, their well being, and could have cared less if the lived or died. Very predictable story line.
another survival movie 
2009-11-13 - One of the first things they teach you is that wild animals like lions don't like fire?
In this movie four people are killed by lions and three of them had guns.
The woman and her step children just don't have any real idea of how to survive in the open
or what to use as weapons and fear is before panic.
When she gets the keys to the land rover, she panics and crashes it,
when she should have tried to back track the way they had come.
The movie is just a dumb one about people
who shouldn't be allowed out of a city without a survival course?
These days it is getting hard enough to survive in civilization...
The Best "Cheap" Film I Ever Bought! 
2009-09-23 - Like probably every other male who bought this film, I just expected to see a dirty, blood-spattered, gorgeous Bridget Moynahan and buckets of blood! But this film was so much more. The film begins with recently divorced Peter Weller bringing his family to an African game reserve for a vacation with his new wife (Moynahan) and two children of the previous marriage. While his younger son is OK with this his pretty teenage daughter (Carly Schroeder) is having trouble getting accepting her new mom and has a big chip on her shoulder. Two days into the trip Weller goes to work supervising a local dam construction site while his family heads of into the bush to see the sights and get used to each other. I will try not to betray too much of the plot but just speak of this film strengths. The truck gets stuck and their guide is killed by lions. What struck me was not the horror of the situation but how gently Moynahan's character deals with her stepdaughter's initial antipathy and how she grows to care for her stepmom through three days of harrowing isolation in the wilderness. The males in the movie, Weller and the cute little guy who play his son unite the female characters in their shared love for them. Bridget Moynahan's character is everything a strong female character should be; courageous, loving and beautiful. A person is not "strong" just because he or she can beat up people for strength resides in a person's character. Moynahan brings this truth out very clearly in this exciting movie!
Never Go Off-Road When You're Already Off-Road!
2009-09-10 - Tom Newman (Peter Weller) brings his two children and his new, younger wife, Amy (Bridget Moynahan) to Africa to spend some time with them while he's working on an African dam project. His daughter, Jessica (Carly Schroeder), is upset about her parents' divorce, and wants nothing to do with Amy. Hoping to form a bond between them, Newman suggests that his daughter and new wife, along with his son, David (Connor Dowds), take a ride through a game reserve on their way to the lodge where they will spend the rest of their vacation while he finishes up on some work.
While touring the reserve, young David needs to use the bathroom. The guide and David leave the safety of the SUV they are riding in so that David can do a little "paper work" in the bush. With the tour guide protecting him with a rifle, David commences to relieve himself. Unfortunately for the group, though, David's moving problem has them stopped in the middle of a group of starving lions. The lions make an attempt on catching David, but the guide manages to hold them off long enough for the young boy to make it back to the truck. The guide isn't so lucky and is violently killed by the beasts. This leaves Amy, Jessica, and David alone to swelter in the African heat and do their best in order to survive until someone can find them.
Meanwhile, Tom has made it to the lodge and immediately tries to start a search and rescue mission. Unfortunately the rangers at the lodge can't assist him until daylight. He's put into contact with a local hunter/tracker named Crawford (Jamie Bartlett) who refuses to help Tom at first, but eventually gives in when a payment is offered for his services.
From here, the film bounces from extremely tense (and well-played) moments where the lions attempt to get their paws on the Newman clan to long and drawn out moments of dialogue primarily between Amy and Jessica. In an attempt to keep the story interesting, the three primary players are put into situations ranging from trying to make an escape in the vehicle once they find the keys to making friends with poachers.
The film struggled to hold my interest during its run. It quickly became a victim of its own devices. There have been many better films made where the bulk of the action centers on a small group of individuals in an isolated situation as is the case in "Prey." "The Descent" and "Jaws" immediately come to mind. However, in "Prey," having the group pinned down in a vehicle and making a number of risky and, in at least one situation, ridiculous choices does nothing to keep the story interesting.
The primary subplot of the film, the friction between Amy and Jessica, is instantly predictable and offers nothing to add to the film.
The cast doesn't do a terrible job. Moynahan is sufficient as the stepmother who takes on the task of being a hero while stranded in the bush. Weller doesn't have much to do in this film except become angry for a bit and then desperate to save his family. The children are okay, but both of them visit the overacting department a bit too often for my tastes. If I had to pick out one shining star in the film, I'd have to say it was Jamie Bartlett. His character is about the most interesting thing in the film, and adds a bit of much needed humor to the story as well.
The special effects are dodgy at times. The CGI blood is ridiculous, and fails to rise above similar effects that can be found on SyFy on Saturday nights.
In summary, "Prey" has some wonderful moments that almost make it better than it really is. In the end, however, it is nothing more than a B-movie that doesn't even fall into the "so terrible it's funny" category. Recommended to fans of SyFy channel flicks or films such as "Open Water."
Not bad. Not great. Just decent.
2009-08-03 - "Prey" is a horror film that runs straight down the middle. It borrows elements from other films, doesn't take any chances, but delivers some solid suspense, violence, and scares. Horror veterans won't see anything they haven't seen before done better, but I think casual fans looking for a thrill will find it here. This may not be saying much, but it's the second best killer lion flick I've ever seen.
The story is this: two kids go on a safari with their new stepmom, guide goes offroad, kid has to go to the bathroom, lions eat the incompetent guide, guide had the keys to the landrover, now they're screwed. But isn't that similar to an episode of "The Simpsons"? Yes. Yes it is. Thanks for noticing. And isn't being trapped in a vehicle with kids in an isolated area with no supplies and a murderous beast stalking you the plot to Cujo? Mmm-hmmm. And afterThe Ghost and the Darkness don't you think they've pretty much done what they can do with a movie about killer lions? I'd say so. But then again, originality has never really been the hallmark of the horror genre. In fact the lack of new material is the only really large complaint I can level against "Prey". Then again, it is tagged with the annoying "based on true events" tag so I guess you can overlook the similarities to other films if you want to. It's very competently directed and only real lions were used and they were used effectively. No CG to draw attention to itself or phony puppets to laugh at. Well done.
Now I have a few minor complaints to log in as well. First, haven't we seen enough stories about stepmothers bonding with the teenage stepdaughters who hate them? Also, if I see one more survival horror film where they get the vehicle working and then immediately crash it after they are scot-free I'm going to freak. Eden Lake got away with it, but it still bugs the hell out of me and I'm drawing the line now: NO MORE! Stupidity is a tenet of horror protagonists for some reason, but I think that particular element has run it's course. This one pushes it pretty far. Other then that, I think this flick was pretty realistically done. I'd also like to thank the director for not having a subplot about not being able to get the cellphones to work. Seems like every modern survival horror film has to make a huge show of how the cell-phones aren't charged or have them checking for a signal and giving constant reports about having "no bars". It's a movie, I will happily accept that this is a cell-phone free alternate universe if it will save 15 minutes of screen time spent playing with cell phones. Again, thanks.
Violence, suspense, harrowing horror, stupid protagonists; yup, this is a by-the-numbers fright flick. But it's worth a look if you have a fear of lions -which admittedly are one of the most intimidating creatures on God's green Earth- or are just looking for something to kill an hour and a half of your time. If you haven't seen it all, this will likely be a very effective thriller. It's definitely no "Ghost and the Darkness", but it's not half bad for such a low-profile film. Give it a try.
