Predator: Badlands new behind-the-scenes footage is hilarious

Check out this exclusive clip for all your "Pew pew pew!" needs

Dan Trachtenberg's Predator: Badlands just hit digital release and is getting a 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD edition in February, which means it's time for us making-of nerds to get access to extensive behind-the-scenes footage from the set, showing exactly what the effects-heavy movie looked like pre-effects. As usual, that footage is a lot of fun for anyone who likes peeking behind the curtain, but in this case, it's particularly hilarious, both because the actors seem to be having so much fun with the goofier aspects of shooting, and because the lead, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as the young Predator Dek, is running around in the equivalent of a Predator hoodie, with his human face hanging out.

Check out this exclusive excerpt from one of the BTS featurettes, "Embodying the Predator," with Schuster-Koloamatangi and co-star Elle Fanning shooting one of their action sequences. In the film, Dek is an unblooded Predator on his first major solo hunt, trying to take down a legendary beast on a lethal planet. Fanning plays a dual role as Thia and Tessa, two humanoid androids built to the same design. Thia starts the movie torn in half, so you can see Fanning lying on the ground in a half-blue-screen suit, so her lower half can be digitally removed later.

My personal favorite part of this clip is when Schuster-Koloamatangi grabs a blaster pistol off the ground and someone off-screen makes "pew pew pew" noises to indicate that it's being fired — an on-seat beat reminiscent of the stories about Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor making lightsaber noises while shooting their combat scenes in the Star Wars prequels. There's a game, goofy charm to this footage, whether it's Schuster-Koloamatangi grimacing and snarling as Dek (the Predator face mapped over his face was entirely digital) or standing in a studio booth, speaking the Yautja language.

The physical release of Predator: Badlands arrives on Feb. 17, and is available for pre-order now. It comes with an extensive array of features not available with the digital release. Here's what's on the slate:

• Deleted & Pre-Visualization Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary:
  • Sand Trap – An early animatic version of Dek’s very different first encounter with Thia.
• Squirt Canyon – The full version of Dek and Thia traversing the water-filled trench while trying to survive Genna…and each other.
• Tessa vs. Abe – Tessa faces off against a superior synth in this deleted scene and storyline.
• Razor Grass – The original previsualization of Dek, Thia, and Bud’s first hunt together…sort of.
• The Outpost – Thia takes Dek to a small Weyland-Yutani field facility where they experience a few things that ended up being used elsewhere in the final film.
• Super Power Loader Extended – Special additional moments during Dek’s climactic final battle with the Super Power Loader and the Kalisk.
• Featurettes:
  • Embodying the Predator – Meet the talented team of designers, performers, and effects artists responsible for bringing one of cinema’s most terrifying creatures to life on screen in ways we’ve never seen before!
• Authentic Synthetics – Get up close and personal with synths Thia and Tessa as star Elle Fanning walks us through the process of crafting two characters who may look the same but have evolved in surprisingly unique ways.
• Building the Badlands – With razor sharp grass, killer trees, and terrifying animals, never has a planet been more deadly than Genna. Uncover how a team of artisans built this threatening landscape, transforming real locations into the dangerous environments seen on screen.
• Dek of the Yautja – For the first time ever, director Dan Trachtenberg has given audiences an extended peek at Predator culture. Follow the evolution as filmmakers reveal the process behind developing the Yautja’s home world, spacecraft, and family dynamics.
• Audio Commentary: Watch the film with audio commentary by Director Dan Trachtenberg, Producer Ben Rosenblatt, Director of Photography Jeff Cutter and Stunt Coordinator Jacob Tomuri.