Prey finally arrives in physical format, offering Predator fans the opportunity to add one of the best entries in the franchise to their home entertainment collection.
Just a year after releasing directly on Hulu, Prey has finally arrived on Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD. Following on from the recent release of Loki season one, it continues to be a nice treat to get these (previous) streaming exclusives in physical format. Even better that they continue to be incredibly well done.
Here’s the thing…Prey is a great movie. I talked about it (at great length) when it first premiered, and frankly, my opinion of the movie has only improved with time. I’ve watched it more times over the past year than I care to admit here, and it just hasn’t gotten old.
Prey (Blu-Ray)
Directed By: Dan Trachtenberg
Written By: Patrick Aison
Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane Diliegro, Michelle Thrush
Release Date: October 3, 2023
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The way it approaches/honors the franchise elements, while making the tropes feel fresh is continually impressive. It blends together the iconic Sci-Fi elements we know with the time period to deliver some of the best action the series has seen. Top it all off with some great new characters and personal stories that excellently convey the Native experience. All in all…it’s just a blast.
Anyway, I’m not going to belabor Prey‘s selling points. If you haven’t had the chance to watch it yet, this Blu-ray release is the perfect time to change that. It’s absolutely worth it to pick up this release sight-unseen.
They sent me the Blu-Ray to review, so I can’t speak to the 4K transfer, but from what I’ve seen and discussed with others…that’s probably the one to pick up. Don’t get me wrong, though, this Blu-Ray release is no slouch. The image is sharp/crisp, with deep blacks that allow the nighttime scenes to pop without everything blending together (something I experience when I watched it via Hulu on a less than stellar internet connection). It looks clean and manages to highlight the colors and vibrancy of the action that plays out in all it’s gory goodness.
The audio side of things is equally solid with 7.1 surround sound. Sure, the 4K release brings in the Dolby Atmos soundtrack, but honestly, you’d be very hard-pressed to find the difference. The important thing here is that all of the audio is presented clearly (with dialog given proper priority) and in an immersive way. You can hear the sounds of the forest as Naru embarks on her journey and deals with being hunted.
And yes, this release DOES include the Comanche dub of the film in Dolby 5.1! If you haven’t had the chance to check out that version, I highly suggest it, and I’m glad it was included as more than just a bonus feature.
Speaking of bonus features, the Blu-Ray release comes with a handful of new things for fans to watch:
Making of Prey
Prey FYC Panel With Cast & Crew
Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Dan Trachtenberg
Audio Commentary by Dan Trachtenberg, Amber Midthunder, Jeff Cutter and Angela M. Catanzaro
All-in-all, it’s pretty barebones, but the Making Of and Panel presentation offer some interesting insights for both fans of the franchise and the movie-making process in general. To be fair, just having the film itself on physical format is more than enough on its own.
Here’s the bottom-line: there’s no reason to NOT pick up Prey. If you have the hardware for it, definitely go ahead and snag the 4K Ultra HD release, but the Blu-Ray version is impressive as well. Just buy it and help get Prey 2 fast-tracked.
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