Fox has included a pair of audio commentaries, this first of which comes from the directing team of Colin and Greg Strause who are joined by producer John Davies. They talk about the differences between the theatrical version and the unrated version, pointing out the differences in the new opening, and they discuss why the studio wanted a shorter version of the movie. They talk about how the comic books influenced the AVP films and their role in the movies before moving on to casting decisions, discussing the importance of the pizza boy role! They cover the grueling shooting schedule they had to work under, they discuss how good the performances are, and they cover what it was like shooting in Canada. They also point out what was added digitally to the film to 'add scope to the movie and squeeze that dollar as far as we can' and it's interesting to note that some of the additions are quite subtle and almost unnoticeable, whereas others are completely obvious. Overall, this is a very active commentary and while it doesn't make the film any better or more successful, you do get the impression that these guys all had their hearts in the right place and that they obviously had a good time making the movie.

The second commentary track joins up special effects supervisors Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis, the two men who make up Amalgamated Dynamics. This commentary obviously focuses on the effects work and the two participants talk about updating some of the technology that we've seen previously in the older films that predate this one while also noting that they tried to stay true to the look and feel. They discuss the use of practical effects and digital effects, and they also discuss shooting in Vancouver, Canada, noting that it was a very cold time of year to shoot there. They also note that shooting an Alien movie (generally taking place indoors) is very different than shooting a Predator movie (which generally takes place outdoors) meaning that there was shooting going on day and night. This, coupled with the cold rain, made things tricky at times. There's a bit of dead air here and there which slows down the pace of this track at times but those who enjoy learning about special effects should find some worth here even if the two men spend a little too much time simply discussing what we see up there on the screen.

Also included is a keen feature for alternate version buffs, the Added Footage Marker. If you so choose, you can enable a video icon that appears on the screen to alert you of when the footage that has been reinserted into this unrated cut appears, making it easy to see what was added to the theatrical footage.

If the commentaries weren't enough and you want more AVP-R, take a look at the five short documentaries contained on this DVD:

AVP-R: Preparing For War: Development And Production (15:50) - A look at what it was like on set by way of some interviews with the cast and crew and some behind the scenes footage. Marginally interesting, if a little promotional in nature.

AVP-R: Fight To The Finish: Post-Production (12:11) - The Strause's talk about the extended cut, and we're shown some clips from it and we learn about what was required to get the film into theaters. We also see some storyboards and some early CGI rough work in addition to some finished effects work which we see integrated into the film and we learn how the score was composed. If you enjoy the technical side of filmmaking, you'll probably enjoy this as it's fairly interesting.

AVP-R: The Nightmare Returns: Creating The Aliens (7:34) - This featurette contains some great footage of the effects technicians sculpting the aliens and creating the face hugger prosthetics. We learn, from the production art team, how these monsters compare to those seen in the original Alien and how those original Giger designs were used as inspiration and we see how the alien has evolved in the films over the years. This featurette was genuinely interesting and well worth watching.

AVP-R: Crossbreed: Creating The PredAlien (8:20) - A lot of the same artists and sculptors from the last featurette show up and talk about the work that they did creating the hybrid monster featured prominently in the film. We get a look at some interesting early concept art, and we get a look at some nifty behind the scenes photographs and footage of the rubber suit created for the film in action! Again, this is a genuinely interesting look at how a part of this film was made.

AVP-R: Building The Predator Homeworld (6:36) - The last featurette features interviews with many of the same people previously seen on camera - the directors, effects techs and supervisors - in addition to more interesting behind the scenes footage, this time concentrating on how the scenes that take place on the Predator home world were put together using CGI and miniatures. Again, expect to see some keen concept art and some test CGI footage in addition to some worthwhile behind the scenes clips and interviews.

Rounding out the extra features are seven still galleries (Designing The Predator, Designing The Alien, Designing The PredAlien, On The Set: The Rooftop, On The Set: The Sewer, On The Set: The Hive, On The Set: Cast And Crew), animated menus and chapter stops. Fox has opted to omit any theatrical trailers or TV spots for the film, which is annoying.

Even if the finished transfer turns out to be reference quality, it's not enough to make this film worth recommending. Obviously there's a built in audience for the two franchises and completists will want to own this release to keep their collections current but aside from that, there's really no reason to want to bother with Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem. It's dull, uninteresting, tiresome.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.